The church at Colosse, around the 1st or 2nd century, had some false teachers creeping in (not unlike churches in our modern world). They were teaching that Christ Jesus is not the way to slavation. Rather, knowledge of secret things, among other things was the way to redemtion. A teaching referred to as Gnosticism.
There was also the old classic legalism. That is disheartening to find in any church.
Epaphras went to Rome and met with the Apostle Paul. He let Paul know his concerns about what was happening in Colosse, and asked for some advise on how to approach a solution to the false teachings.
Paul wrote a letter to the church at Colosse in response to the concerns of Epaphras.
It's the section on the preeminence of Christ that I would like to focus on here.
The bible is filled with warnings about false teachings. 1 John 4:1, 2 Peter 2:1, Matthew 7:15, just to name a few. In his letter to Timothy, Paul goes as far as to say they are doctrines of demons(1 Timothy 4:1).
In our current "woke" culture, there are blasphemous teachings creeping into some of the more liberal congregations. The bible warns against that too (Isaiah 5:20 and Romans 1:25).
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul reminds them who, exactly, the head of the church is (Colossians 1:15-18). There are two little words in verse 16 that we can't miss. Colossians 1:16 - For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.
It's not about us. It is all about Christ Jesus. This is all His. Everything known and unknown in our universe is His. Created by Him and for Him. And it all holds together in Him. That's why when He died on the cross, creation began to unravel (Matthew 27:41-52).
There is no salvation with Jesus plus fill in the blank. There is salvation only in Christ alone. He alone qualifies us to be able to stand before our God with no fault in us, clean and free of the stain of our sins. (Colossians 1:11-22 and Jude 24).
God is AWSOME!
