Jesus Is Lord Over All Things: How the Gospel Answers Paganism and Spiritual Hunger

Many Christians today feel unprepared when they encounter people drawn to neo-paganism, alternative spiritualities, or occult practices. The good news is that the Bible gives us a clear and powerful answer. Paul's letter to the Colossians shows us exactly how to respond, and it starts with understanding who Jesus really is.

Why Has the Church Struggled to Engage the Spiritual World?

Much of Western Christianity drifted away from the invisible, spiritual world after the Enlightenment. Scientific and technological advances made the church uncomfortable with anything that couldn't be seen or measured. As a result, the Gospel was slowly reduced to a self-help tool, a coping mechanism for daily life.

Books about having your "best life now" filled Christian bookstores. Sermons focused on healthy marriages, strong families, and personal morality. These things are not wrong, but they are incomplete. Paul told us in 2 Corinthians to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. The church largely forgot to do that.

Meanwhile, neo-paganism and alternative spiritualities were offering people exactly what they were hungry for: a connection to the spiritual world, a sense of mystery, and personal experience. The church was handing out cold pizza while paganism was taking people into the woods for something that felt transcendent.

What Was the Colossian Heresy and Why Does It Matter Today?

Paul wrote to the church in Colossae to confront a powerful form of spiritual paganism. Scholars have debated its exact nature for over a century, with more than 40 distinct views on what it was. But the major contours are fairly clear.

The Colossian philosophy taught that human beings needed to interact with intermediate spiritual beings, such as angels, elemental spirits, and cosmic powers, in order to access the fullness of the divine realm. It required ascetic practices, strict dietary rules, participation in religious festivals, and self-abasement. It also offered ecstatic visionary experiences as proof of spiritual progress.

This should sound familiar. Many people today are drawn to spiritualities that promise personal spiritual experiences, connection to cosmic forces, and a sense of dignity and belonging in the universe. The Colossian heresy and modern neo-paganism share the same basic shape.

How Did Paul Respond to Paganism?

Paul did not tiptoe around the Colossian philosophy. He called it hollow, deceptive, dependent on human tradition, and a shadow of things rather than reality. He said it involved false humility, an unspiritual mind, and had an appearance of wisdom but lacked any real value.

But Paul's negative critique was not his primary strategy. His main method was to overwhelm paganism with a positive, full presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He buried the false teaching under the weight of the Gospel. As one way to think about it: he killed the fly with a sledgehammer.

This is the pattern throughout Paul's writings. Whatever the problem, he brings the full weight of the Gospel down on it. The answer to every false claim, every alternative spirituality, every human struggle is the good news of Jesus Christ.

What Does Colossians Teach Us About Who Jesus Really Is?

Colossians 1:15-20 contains what many scholars call the Creed of Christ's Preeminence. It is a poetic, worshipful passage that communicates deep truths about Jesus in a way that is meant to be felt, not just understood.

Paul writes:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross." - Colossians 1:15-20 English Standard Version (ESV)

This passage has two main stanzas. The first focuses on Jesus as Lord of creation. The second focuses on Jesus as Lord of redemption. At the center stands a single breathtaking statement: in Him all things hold together.

What Does "Firstborn" Mean and Why Is It Important?

The word Paul uses is prototokos, which means firstborn. In the Old Testament, the firstborn son was the heir, the ruler of the family, and the one who received the greatest share of the inheritance. God called Israel His firstborn son in Exodus 4:22. He appointed David as firstborn and most exalted of the kings of the earth in Psalm 89:27.

When Paul calls Jesus the firstborn over all creation, He is saying that Jesus is the ruler and heir of everything that exists. Every angel, every spiritual power, every visible and invisible thing was created by Him and for Him. Nothing was left out of His hands.

And when Paul calls Jesus the firstborn from among the dead, He is saying that the resurrection established Jesus as Lord of the new creation as well. He is before all things, and He is also before death itself. He rules over both.

Does Jesus Rule Over Spiritual Powers and Pagan Forces?

Yes, and this is central to how Christians should engage with neo-paganism. Jesus created every spiritual being that exists, good or bad. He is superior to all of them. Paul makes this explicit in Colossians 2:15:

"He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to shame, by triumphing over them in him." - Colossians 2:15 English Standard Version (ESV)

The spiritual forces behind paganism have already been defeated. They know it. When a Christian prays in the name of Jesus, they are reminding those forces of what has already happened at the cross. The cross changed everything.

This means Christians do not need to fear spirits or supernatural forces. There is no divinity outside of Jesus. There is no other mediator, no other cosmic power that can reach God on our behalf. Jesus alone holds that place.

Why Does Creation Groan and What Does That Mean for Us?

Paul addresses this in Romans 8. Creation was subjected to frustration, not by accident, but by God's decree in response to human sin. The suffering and groaning we experience in this world is not random. It is a judicial reality, a consequence of the fall, designed to show us how hideous sin is against a holy God.

But Paul uses the image of childbirth. The groaning of creation is not the groaning of a burn unit. It is the groaning of a labor and delivery room. There is a good outcome coming. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, creation itself will one day be liberated and brought to glory.

As C.S. Lewis wrote through the character of Aslan, when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, death itself would start working backwards. And Tolkien captured the same hope when Sam asks, "Is everything sad going to come untrue?" The answer the Gospel gives is yes.

What Dignity Does the Gospel Offer That Paganism Cannot?

Neo-paganism attracts people because it promises dignity, a connection to the earth, and a sense of cosmic belonging. But only the Gospel actually delivers on that promise.

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers. The same title He holds over all creation and over death, He now shares with His people. We are elevated by grace into His family, made heirs alongside Him of the new creation.

We are not just saved from something. We are saved for something. We are called to be agents of His recreative power in the world right now. When we pray "thy kingdom come," we are also being sent to go and make it visible. That is a dignity and a calling that no alternative spirituality can match.

How Should Christians Talk to People Drawn to Paganism?

The approach is not primarily defensive. You do not need to argue that the Bible is true before you can say anything. Instead, go on the offense with the Gospel. Point out what the alternative spirituality cannot offer, and then tell them about Jesus.

You might ask someone: Have you ever felt like something is wrong? Have you ever felt like someone is missing? Most people will say yes. The answer is that they were made by Jesus and for Jesus, and until He has them, something will always feel missing and something will always feel wrong. That is the truth of the Gospel, and it speaks directly to the hunger that drives people toward paganism in the first place.

Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, as He wrote in Romans 1:16. We should tell it to everyone, and we should tell it like it is joyful. Because it is.

Life Application

This week, take time to read Colossians 1:15-20 slowly and out loud. Let the weight of who Jesus is settle into your thinking. Then identify one person in your life who is spiritually searching, whether through alternative spiritualities, a vague sense that something is missing, or open skepticism about Christianity.

Rather than leading with an argument or a defense of the Bible, try leading with wonder. Share something about who Jesus actually is, not just what He does for you personally, but who He is on a cosmic scale. Tell them He made everything, He holds everything together, and He made them for Himself.

Ask yourself these questions as you prepare:

• Have I reduced the Gospel in my own mind to just a personal salvation story, or do I see Jesus as Lord over all of creation and all of life?
• Am I fixing my eyes on what is seen, or am I cultivating an awareness of the invisible, spiritual reality that surrounds me?
• When I encounter someone drawn to alternative spiritualities, is my first instinct to argue, to withdraw, or to overwhelm them with the wonder of who Jesus is?
• Do I live and worship as someone who truly believes that in Jesus, all things hold together?

The Gospel is not one more coping mechanism. It is the true story of God reclaiming all of creation through Jesus Christ. We have the story to tell. Tell it with joy.