In this section Paul revealed in what senses Christ is preeminent. One writer observed that this passage "represents a loftier conception of Christ's person than is found anywhere else in the writings of Paul."39Paul described Jesus Christ in three relationships: to deity, to creation, and to the church.40
The concept of "image"involves three things: likeness (Christ is the exact likeness of God, a mirror image [cf. Heb. 1:3]), representation (Christ represents God to us), and manifestation (Christ makes God known to us [cf. John 1:18]).41While God made man in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), Christ isthe image of God (cf. John 1:18; 14:8-9; 2 Cor. 4:4).
The Greek word translated "image"(eikon), ". . . does not imply a weakening or a feeble copy of something. It implies the illumination of its inner core and essence."42
"To call Christ the image of God is to say that in Him the being and nature of God have been perfectly manifested--that in Him the invisible has become visible."43
"First-born"(Gr. prototokos) may denote either priority in time or supremacy in rank (cf. v. 18; Exod. 4:22; Ps. 89:27; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 1:15). It may also denote both of these qualities. Both seem to be in view here. Christ was before all creation in time, and He is over all creation in authority. In view of the context (vv. 16-20), the major emphasis seems to be on His sovereignty, however.44What "first-born"does notmean is that Christ was the first created being, which Jehovah's Witnesses teach. This is clear because verses 16-18 state that Christ existed before all things and is the Creator Himself. Other passages also affirm His responsibility for creation (cf. John 1:3; 3:16; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6; 11:28; 12:23).45
Christ is the originatorof creation ("in Him,"v. 16a). All things--in every place, of every sort, and of every rank--originated with Him. God mediated the life of the entire universe through His Son (cf. John 1:3, 10). He is the architect of creation. Paul listed various ranks of angelic beings, namely invisible rulers and authorities. He may have been using the terminology of the false teachers who taught many gradations within the angelic sphere,46or these gradations really do exist. In Gnosticism, and in its primitive development in Colosse, angels received veneration depending on their supposed rank. Probably ranks of heavenly powers are in view here (v. 16).47Thus Paul claimed that Christ is superior to all angelic beings (cf. Heb. 1:1-14).
"If it is asked whether the spiritual forces which Christ vanquished on the Cross are to be regarded as personal or impersonal, the answer is probably both.' Whatever forces there are, of either kind, that hold human souls in bondage, Christ has shown Himself to be their Master, and those who are united to Him by faith need have no fear of them."48
Christ is the agentof creation ("through Him,"v. 16b). He accomplished creation (cf. John 1:3; Heb. 1:2). He is the builder of the creation.
Christ is the goalof creation ("for Him,"v. 16b). History is moving toward a goal when the whole created universe will glorify Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 15:25; Phil. 2:10-11; Rev. 19:16).49
"Several steps are involved in the construction of a substantial building. First, an architect is obtained to design the building and prepare plans and specifications in accordance with the expressed desires of the owner. Then the plans are submitted for bids by builders or contractors, and a builder secured. After the completion of the edifice, it is occupied by the owner and devoted to its intended use. Our Lord is not only the builder of the universe; He is also its architect and owner. All things have been created in Him(the eternal plans for the creation abide in Him), by Him(He acted as builder), and for Him(the creation belongs to Him and is to reflect His glory)."50
"For centuries, the Greek philosophers had taught that everything needed a primary cause, an instrumental cause, and a final cause. The primary cause is the plan, the instrumental cause the power, and the final cause the purpose. When it comes to Creation, Jesus Christ is the primary cause (He planned it), the instrumental cause (He produced it), and the final cause (He did it for His own pleasure)."51
Paul used the verb "created"twice in verse 16. In the first instance it is in the Greek aorist tense and refers to creation as an act. In the second it is in the Greek perfect tense picturing ". . . the universe as still remaining the monument and proof of His creative might."52
Christ is the antecedentof creation ("before all things,"v. 17a). This revelation clearly separates Christ from every created entity. "He"has the force of "He and no other"in the Greek text. The word is an intensive pronoun. He is before all temporally (preexistent) and authoritatively (sovereign).53This assertion, combined with the earlier one that He is the first-born of all creation (v. 15b), proves that Christ is no creature. If He were, He would have had to create Himself. To do that He would have had to exist before He existed, which is absurd and impossible.
"The phrase before all things' sums up the essence of His designation as Firstborn before all creation' and excludes any possibility of interpreting that designation to mean that He Himself is part of the created order (albeit the first and chief part)."54
Christ is the sustainerof creation ("hold together,"v. 17b). Christ is the Person who preserves and maintains the existence of what He has created.
"He is the principle of cohesion in the universe. He impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos instead of a chaos."55
"So the thought passes from creation to preservation."56
Verse 17 summs up the thought of verses 15-16 and completes the statement of Christ's relation to creation.
So far everything Paul had written about Christ other New Testament writers also revealed, but what follows in verse 18 is uniquely Pauline.
In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and Romans 12:4-8 Paul used the human body to illustrate the unity and diversity present in the church. Here he used it to illustrate the sovereignty of Christ over Christians (cf. Eph. 4:11-13). Our Lord supplies authority and direction for His body.57
1:18 The term "head"(Gr. kephale) here does not point to Christ as the ruler of the church but to His being the beginning and the principle in creation and redemption.58
"In St. Paul's day, according to popular psychology, both Greek and Hebrew, a man reasoned and purposed, not with his head,' but in his heart' . . ."59
He is sovereign because He is the first-born from the dead. Christ is the "beginning"of the church in that He is its power and source of spiritual life. He became this at His resurrection when He became the first-born from the dead in time. Christ was the first Person to rise from the dead with a glorified body never to die again. He broke death's hold on humanity (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). Thus Christ became preeminent also in the new creation, the church, as well as in the old creation (vv. 16-17).
"Paul did not say that Jesus was the first person to be raised from the dead, for He was not. But He is the most important of all who have been raised from the dead; for without His resurrection, there could be no resurrection for others (1 Cor. 15:20ff.)."60
"Prototokos["first-born"], used in both parts of the passage (vv. 15, 18) unites His supremacy in the two realms, creation and salvation (cf. Acts 26:23)."61
1:19 The reason for His preeminence in the new creation is the Son's work of reconciliation (v. 20). Verses 19-23 give the reason Paul could say what he just did about Christ's supremacy.
Later in Gnostic literature "fullness"(Gr. pleroma) referred to the entire series of angelic emanations that supposedly mediated between God and humankind.62Here Paul used this word of the totality of Christ's saving grace and power (cf. Acts 5:31, 17:31). His point was that all divine power resides in Christ as a result of His resurrection (v. 18) and there are no other mediating agents (cf. 2:9; Eph. 1:23; 3:19; 4:13; 1 Tim. 2:5).
". . . the importance of the language is to indicate that the completeness of God's self-revelation was focused in Christ, that the wholeness of God's interaction with the universe is summed up in Christ."63
The word translated "dwell"(katoikesai) means to dwell permanently. This contradicts the idea that Christ possessed divine power only temporarily, which Christian Science teaches. In short, "fullness"here probably refers to Christ's official power given Him following His resurrection rather than to His essential power that was always His by virtue of His deity.
1:20 God's ultimate purpose in all of this was to reconcile all things to Himself. The Cross made reconciliation possible. Now it is up to people to accept God's provision and "be reconciled"to God by faith in Christ (2 Cor. 5:20).
"The implication is that the purpose, means, and manner of (final) reconciliation have already been expressed by God, not that the reconciliation is already complete."64
". . . Paul never looks at reconciliation as mutual concession after mutual hostility. Reconciliation is manward, not Godward, in its direction. It is God's reconciling of man unto himself' (v. 20). God never has had need to be reconciled to man; He has always loved man. It is easy to see the importance of holding right views here, since our attitude to Christ's work and our very idea of God are affected."65
"All things"would include the angelic world and the rest of creation besides humanity. Christ's death has dealt with the defilement sin caused as well as with its guilt.
In what sense did Christ reconcile all things in heaven to Himself, including Satan and his angels? He did not do so in the ordinary sense of bringing them into salvation but in the wider sense of bringing them into subjection to His will. Christ's death has pacified Satan and his angels. They now have to submit to Him (cf. 2:15) even as He created them.66
This passage (1:15-20) contains one of the greatest Christologies in the Bible.67Scholars have often referred to verses 15-18 as "The Great Christology"68and to verses 15-20 as "The Christ Hymn."69
"The Christ-hymn of Colossians 1:15-20 is a powerful statement about the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ's supremacy is seen at every turn. The first portion focuses on His preeminent role in creation, while the second emphasizes His work as Redeemer. To any Christian, in Colosse then or elsewhere today, who may have been or is confused about Christ's role in the world, these six verses testify to Christ's absolute authority, which is not to be shared with any person, angel, or demon."70
