Here is the one thousandth and thirty-fourth picture in the verse picture series, which is also the third and fourth pictures planned for inclusion in the upcoming Colossians Board Book. This picture will span two pages and the associated text will be Colossians 1:16.
‘For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him.’
All things, in heaven (the seven traditional planets, representing the totality of the visible heavens), or on earth (the mountains and the seas), whether visible (again, planets, earth, created world) or invisible (the angelic beings, both righteous and fallen), whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities (including both earthly structures of power and the fallen spiritual authorities that wield these institutions toward Christ-opposing ends) — ALL of these things have their existence *through* and *for* the slain and risen Jesus Christ.
In Hebrews 1:10-12, The heavens and earth are called the work of the Son’s hands and are referred to as a ‘garment’ or a ‘robe.’ Thus here, all creaturely reality is depicted as / within a single garment to emphasis its nature as created through and contingent upon the Crucified One who is Risen. As the One who bears the Godforsaken dissolution of the created realm in Himself through death and reconciles all things to God through His resurrection, the anastasiform Lord wears the cross-conquered cosmos as the robe of His splendor.
If all things are ‘for Him,’ then the end and telos of every thing (and, therefore, the true form of every thing) is to herald the beauty of Christ; therefore the cosmic garment comes to an end as the crown of Christ’s glory, decked with the five red jewels of His wounds, now transfigured to the emblems of His majesty.
Beyond the bounds of created time and space, forming the framework of reality, is the cross-shaped the radiance of the glory of Him who—from (and, arguably, *as*) the foundation of the world—is the slain and risen Lamb, the image of the invisible God.
