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
