Hi, this is Abner Chow, one of the translators for the Legacy Standard Bible. Now, I know you're not looking at me, and there are really two reasons for this. For one, you're looking at something far better looking, which is the scriptures. And second, that relates to the question that has come across my desk.

And the question kind of goes like this. Earlier, you were talking with Dr. MacArthur in a video about the layout of Colossians 115 through 20. Could we see that and get more detail on what exactly you meant by that? Now, and I'm just kidding here, I don't know if this is just pure curiosity, or if this is a clever way of seeing more of the Legacy Standard Bible.

And again, I'm just kidding here quite a bit. But in all seriousness, in the end, this is a great opportunity for edification, and that is the goal of these videos, and so the question is so worth it. And in light of that, let's just think about this together. But before jumping in, there is one side note that I should mention, which really sets the tone for this entire discussion.

And that is this, that we often try to memorize things like the Bible through all kinds of mechanisms. We use acronyms, we use alliteration, we use rhyming to help us memorize lots of different things, including the Scripture. But what I found to be best for learning and memorizing the Bible is to rigorously study it.

Because when we know what it says, and why it says what it says, and why it says what it says in the order that it says it, the Scripture just flows out from our heart, because we thoroughly grasp and comprehend it all. That's the best way to memorize the Scripture, is to thoroughly learn it.

And I hope to lay a foundation for that through this. In Colossians 1:15-20, the context of it, the context of the entire book, is about the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is defending Christ against false teachers and false teachings, which would try and attempt falsely to compete with his preeminence.

And Paul is so focused on this goal, that even in his opening prayer in Colossians 1, he is urging us, praying for us, that we would give thanks to God for putting us in the kingdom of the Son of his love. Why should we be so thankful that God put us in the kingdom of God's Son?

That we should be so thankful to know the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, it all revolves around who Christ is. And that leads us to the very discussion of Colossians 1, 15-20. Now, how does this all work, and how is this laid out? This is what we call a chiasm.

A chiasm. It's after this Greek letter here, which kind of looks like an X. And it's meant, no matter how you slice and dice it, to be a mirror image of itself. And that's the nature of a chiasm. You have two parts that mirror, or many parts, that mirror each other.

Another way to think about a chiasm is a sandwich. A sandwich has bread on top, usually, and bread on bottom, and something in the middle. And just like you don't name a sandwich after its bread, you don't say, "I want a white bread, or a wheat bread, or a rye bread sandwich." We name it after what is in the middle.

In the same way, a chiasm often punctuates what is at its center. And that's exactly what we have here in Colossians 1, 15-20. Notice with me that we have this opening line of "Who is the image of the invisible God?" And down here, we have the same phrase. "Who is the beginning?" Notice right here, we have the word "firstborn." And notice down here, we have the word "firstborn." Notice right after that, we have the word "for" in verse 16.

And in verse 19, it begins with the word "for." We have this really important set of parallelism, where these two sections have the same key words in the same exact order, bracketing them off. And in the middle, "and, and, and." You can see it. "And he is," and then the bottom of this section, "and he is," and in the center of it all, "and in him," because it's all about Christ.

And with that, we have this nice chiastic, or sandwich structure, with two parts with the exact kind of verbiage on the outside, and on the inside, a very punchy and powerful declaration about Christ. "And he is," and "in him," and "he is." And we try to preserve this in the layout of these verses.

And this chiastic structure, this sandwich structure, declares the glory of Christ. Because the opening section, this first part, shows that he's over all creation. It actually declares that. Who is the image of the invisible God? The firstborn, the preeminent one, the first of all creation in that regard. And why is he this preeminent one of creation?

Well, verse 16 explains that to us. Because all things that were created were created in him. By the way, that means Christ could not be created, because he created everything that was created. So he is outside of that category of creation. He is creator, not created. And furthermore, it is not just that all things have been created through him, but they've been created for him.

He is both the foundation of all creation, and the goal of all creation. Therefore, he is the most preeminent of all creation. He is head first, unquestionably so, of creation. Well, what about the parallel section at the bottom? That shows he's over new creation. Again, look at the text.

Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead? He's the one who starts a new creation. And furthermore, he's the firstborn from the dead. Those who are dead and then come back to life in a new life, in a new beginning, in a new creation. And how can he do this?

Well, verse 19 explains, because he is God himself. The full embodiment of everything divine is him. And because God is the only one who can begin a new creation, God is the only one who can overcome death. And so Christ alone, as God, is the one who initiates and establishes and sets a new creation.

Well, since Jesus is over creation, and since he's over new creation, if you're over old, and if you're over new, you're over everything. And that is the point. He is preeminent. He is exalted. There is no one like him overall. And that's exactly what the center of this sandwich or chiastic structure says.

Verses 17 and 18. And he is before all things. He's head over creation. And he is the head of his body, the church, the redeeming work. He's head of that too. The work of new creation. He's head of that as well. And that's why in the middle, it says, "And in him all things hold together." Everything that there is, everything that exists, everything in the plan of God revolves around Christ.

There is no one like him. He is exalted overall. He is totally sovereign. He is in a category altogether himself. He is first, exactly like the text says. He is first in everything. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why in context, Paul is urging us, praying for us, that we would give thanks that God allowed us to be in the kingdom of his son.

Because instead of trying to look for the next best thing, trying to look around to find satisfaction somewhere else, trying to be distracted by all these other things, we should instead be the most content and thankful people because all we have is Christ. And Christ is everything. And Christ is exalted.

He is the most preeminent, glorious one over all created cosmos and over all new creation, over everything in the plan of God. It is all about him. And he is, and it's all in him. It is all that way. And so all we have is Christ. And he is more than we need.

It is our honor to know him. Well, I hope through this, we have learned a little bit about this passage, even how it's organized. And we know, yeah, the first part, creation. The last part, new creation. The middle part, it's, and he is, and in him, and he is.

And we remember these things. And that begins to help us form a foundation to memorize this whole text, to learn it all really well and really easily. And the goal isn't just to memorize it. The goal is to worship Christ. And I hope through this, that's what we end up doing, that we love Christ with greater clarity.

We worship him with greater precision. We exalt him for all the preeminence that he has and that he is. And so I expect that in days to come, in the providence of God, Lord willing, that we'll have more questions and more discussions. But in the meantime, my hope is that we study this text more and more, and we focus on the Lord Jesus Christ.