The next letter we will examine as we continue the gospel story of the New Covenant is the book of Colossians. This book clearly exalts Jesus as the divine Son of God but makes it very clear that He is also simultaneously God the Son. Remember that Jesus Himself talked about the importance of getting His identity right.

He said to them, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world (of this earthly order); I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in (under the curse of) your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He [Whom I claim to be--if you do not adhere to, trust in, and rely on Me], you will die in your sins. Then they said to Him, Who are You anyway? Jesus replied, [Why do I even speak to you!] I am exactly what I have been telling you from the first.

(John 8:23-25 AMPC)

The book of Colossians describes Jesus as the one who would finally represent God well in the Earth. Humans had failed to represent Him well; Israel had failed to represent Him well. Jesus said “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.”

[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.

(Colossians 1:15 AMPC)

It is very important to understand that Jesus was literally the visible representation of the invisible God. The likeness was exact. There was no telephone game breakdown with Christ. As a human being called the Christ, Jesus was modeling what divine union looks like.

I am able to do nothing from Myself [independently, of My own accord--but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders]. Even as I hear, I judge [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision], and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.

(John 5:30 AMPC)

As we learn to walk in His Spirit we will learn over time that our aims, purpose, and desires pale in comparison to the beautiful will of God. When we are on the throne of our lives we tend to exhibit “stinking thinking,” and mess matters up. We don’t represent God well in the Earth when we walk “according to the flesh,” which simply means apart from the Spirit of God, who allows us to experience relationship with Father, Son and Spirit simultaneously.

For it was in Him [Christ] that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together). [Pro_8:22-31]

(Colossians 1:16-17 AMPC)

Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth,” Colossians 1:16 says “in Him all things were created.” Everything in all creation not only exists because of Him but they exist “for Him.” This person by whom all things were created and for whom all things exist [Christ] now lives inside of those that trust Him. He allows us to be “in on” the incredible divine fullness and reconciles us back to God by making peace through His blood. We not only become forgiven but we become “holy and faultless in His presence.”

For it has pleased [the Father] that all the divine fullness (the sum total of the divine perfection, powers, and attributes) should dwell in Him permanently. And God purposed that through (by the service, the intervention of) Him [the Son] all things should be completely reconciled back to Himself, whether on earth or in heaven, as through Him, [the Father] made peace by means of the blood of His cross. And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities, Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father's] presence.

(Colossians 1:19-22 AMPC)