It’s possible that as you were growing up you were asked a popular question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s also possible that you answered with a popular answer, “I want to be an astronaut.” Do you know the most important aspect of launching a spacecraft? The success of the entire mission depends on the correct starting point. Long before telemetry tracking and navigation and monitoring the health of the crew, the team must determine the launch trajectory and timing. They must determine the precise launch angle, speed, direction, and time to launch. A single error in these calculations could result in the spacecraft burning up in the atmosphere or drifting off into space. Correct starting points are crucial. Paul wrote to the church at Colosse to correct a heresy that had crept into the congregation. They had begun to get some things wrong concerning Jesus, the ultimate starting point to the Christian faith. If you get everything else right, but miss on Jesus, you’ve missed the scarlet thread of every book of the Bible. 

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While he speaks more to wrong beliefs in the following chapters, Paul jumps right into clarifying the person of Jesus. In verses 13-23, we have a summary of His role and activity. He is our hero. He is the agent of redemption through whom God uses to rescue us, transfer us, and buy us out of that which enslaves us, sin and death. He is no mere human, He is the exact visible representation of God the Father, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. 

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Jesus was not created but reigns over all creation. He was the agent of creation. In the beginning, God created all things by the firstborn Son. He is eternal and sustainer of all things. He is the head of His church and He also reigns over death. With His resurrection a new creation within the creation was made possible. He is the great reconciler. You were once alienated and hostile toward God in your sin, but He made peace through His shed blood. He intends to present you holy and blameless to the Father and yet your participation affects this process. You must remain steadfast, grounded in the faith and not shifted away from the hope of the gospel. We must cling to the correct beliefs about Jesus or we risk burning out in the atmosphere of culture or drifting off into ineffectiveness.