Jesus Christ: The Riches Of The Glory Of This MysterySample

The Teleological Christ 

  Christ is not just the “who” of creation. He is also the “why” and “wherefore” of creation. While the world may be created and sustained through Christ, there is still the question: Why was the universe created? And where is the world and all therein, including us, heading? What, in other words, is the purpose and goal – the telos – of life? Paul here says that the universe, and everything in it, exists for Christ: “all things were created through him and for him” (v. 16). Just as, say, a carpenter knows best for whom and for what a certain thing is being created, God knows best the purpose of the universe: for Christ. Jesus Christ is, as it were, the Carpenter who is fashioning the world, and all of us in it, for Himself. 

Paul also says that Christ is “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (v. 18). Again, just as a carpenter knows what the final product of his creation will be, only God knows the teleology or destiny of the universe. For Christians, the end or destiny of humankind and the universe is not physical or cosmic death. This is so because Christ went through the dark tunnel of suffering and death only to come out on the other side, resurrected and glorified. And he did this on behalf of the world. The resurrection of Christ bores through the impenetrable wall of death and connects this world and reality of death to a new and eternal world. 

And He, the resurrected Christ, is the forerunner, the prototype, and the template of what creation is heading towards. He stands at the end of history and beckons us to join Him there. Individuals find their purpose and destiny in life when they find their identity in, and are identified with, Christ and His destiny. Christians are those who have hitched their wagons to the resurrected and eternally living Christ. Creation also, even though it presently languishes in the chaos of death and destruction, will finally be consummated in new creation, fashioned in the manner of the resurrected Christ. The Christian claim is that creation finds not just its origin, but also its purpose and destiny, in Christ. 

Moreover, just as someone who purchases something knows best the purpose of the purchase, the purpose of everything that exists is found in Christ. This is so because Christians believe that the world is not only created through Christ, but also purchased by Christ. And that leads to Christ and His work of salvation.