All Gospel teaching is based upon and derives its authority from the fact of the Divinity of Christ. The apostles and prophets were so fully imbued with this truth that it appears everywhere in their writings. In the very first verse of this epistle we find it in the statement that Paul was not an apostle of men, nor by any man, but by Jesus Christ, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), “the effulgence of His glory, and the very image of His substance” (Hebrews 1:1-3, R.V.); He was in the beginning with God, and was God, before the world was. John 1:1; 17:5. “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:17, R.V. GTI 13.1