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Colossians
1:15-20
(The
Pre-Eminence of Christ)
(From The Orthodox Study Bible):
15 He is
the image(1) of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For
by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers(2).
All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And
He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And
He is the head of the body(3), the church, who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For
it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness(4) should dwell,
20 and
by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
***Verse-by-Verse
Study Notes Provided in This Bible***
(1) Verse 15:
No clear distinction is made between Christ as God and Christ as Man, but the
point of the verse is obvious. As God, Christ is eternally and consubstantially
(of one essence) the image (Greek eikon, or “icon”) of the
Father. As Man, Christ is the image in which man was made and toward which man
is moving. In both natures, He fully represents and manifests the Father. As
God, Christ is the firstborn over all creation in that the Father
created everything through Him, as the Only Begotten Son of God. As Man, Christ
is the firstborn over all creation in that He has authority over
creation. In either case, creation is fully subject to Him. Contrary to the
Colossian heresy, in which He was considered one of the created mediators,
Christ is the only Mediator and Lord of all.
(2) Verse 16:
Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers are ranks of
angels. Christ is not only the source (through Him) of creation—of all
things, on earth and in heaven—but also its goal (for Him; see Ephesians
1:10).
(3) Verse 18:
The head and the body have one and the same nature. In this case the
body comes from, submits to, and continues to exist in the head, so
the one nature is the glorified humanity of Christ. As Christ has supreme and
life-giving authority (the firstborn) over the original creation, where
life is temporary, so He has supreme and life-giving authority over the new
creation, where life is eternal. But now He is Head through the body, the
church. The Church, then, is the source of the restoration and fulfillment
of creation in Christ.
(4) Verses 19, 20: The fullness
was a term used by the gnostic heretics to describe all the spiritual beings
and forces they saw as intervening between man and God. Of these, Jesus was
seen as but one mediator in one level of existence with one force. Paul
differs, saying Christ is Himself the fullness. Jesus is everything, God
in all fullness; and in His human nature, resurrected and ascended, He is the
glorified Head of all creation. Jesus Christ ends the alienation between God
and creation, bringing creation as a sacrament into a living union with God.
(From The New Analytical King James Study
Bible):
15 Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature [all creation](1):
16 For by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before(2)
all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the
body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in
all things he might have the preeminence(3).
19 For it pleased the Father
that in him should all fulness dwell;
20 And, having made peace
through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by
him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
***Footnotes***
(1) – In this sentence, the term “creature” comes
from the original ancient Greek word “ktisis” (Strong’s G2937).
Its original ancient script, spelling, pronunciation, and definitions include: κτίσις ktísis, ktis'-is;
from G2936; original formation (properly, the act; by implication, the
thing, literally or figuratively):—building, creation, creature, ordinance.
(2) – In this sentence, the
term “before” comes from the original ancient Greek word “pro”
(Strong’s G4253). Its original ancient script, spelling, pronunciation, and definitions
include: πρό pró, pro;
a primary preposition; "fore", i.e. in front of, prior (figuratively,
superior) to:
—above, ago,
before, or ever.
(3) – In this sentence, the
term “preeminence” comes from the original ancient Greek word “proteuo”
(Strong’s G4409). Its original ancient script, spelling, pronunciation, and definitions
include: πρωτεύω prōteúō, prote-yoo'-o;
from G4413; to be first (in rank or influence):—have the preeminence.
(From The Amplified Holy Bible):
15 He is the exact living image
[the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of
the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator]
of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were
created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist
through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him.
17 And He Himself existed and is
before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the
controlling, cohesive force of the universe.][See Proverbs 8:22-31]
18 He is also the head [the
life-source and leader] of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will occupy the first place [He
will stand supreme and be preeminent] in everything. [See 1 Corinthians 15:20] (1)
19 For it pleased the Father for
all the fullness [of deity – the sum total of His essence, all His perfections,
powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son),
20 and through [the intervention
of] the Son to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace [with believers]
through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say,] whether things on earth
or things in heaven.
***Verse-by-Verse
Study Notes Provided in This Bible***
(1) Verse 18: This refers to the
entire body of born-again believers (whether past, present, or future), not a
local congregation.
Christ is the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible,
immortal body. Others who were raised had to die again.
(From The Complete Jewish Study Bible):
15 He is the visible image of
the invisible God(1). He is supreme over all creation(2),
16 because in connection with
him were created all things – in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities – they have all been created
through him and for him.
17 He existed before all things,
and he holds everything together.
18 Also he is head of the Body,
the Messianic Community – he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so
that he might hold first place in everything.
19 For it pleased God to have
his full being live in his Son
20 and through his Son to
reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace
through him, through having his Son shed his blood by being executed on a
stake.
***Verse-by-Verse
Study Notes Provided in This Bible***
(1) Verse 15: He is the visible image of
the invisible God: Yeshua, like Adam, is the visible image of the invisible
God (see Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:44-49). Such
incarnational imagery is not foreign in Jewish thought.
(2) Verses 15-17: He is supreme over all
creation: Literally, he is the “firstborn of all creation.” Sha’ul [Paul]
reveals three ways in which ADONAI is “supreme,” while ascribing those
attributes to Yeshua [Jesus]. As a normative devise within the New Testament,
we find the reality of Messiah’s divinity and eternal Sonship, where his
firstborn-ness does not merely antedate the creation of the material world, but
is an essential and eternal element to the inner nature of ADONAI
himself. “He existed before all things” (or “over all things”), and “he holds
everything together.” The moment-by-moment existence of the universe directly
depends on Yeshua’s continued oversight, providence, and deliberate action as
its creator.
(From The New American Standard Bible):
15 He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were
created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created
through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and
in Him all things hold together.
18 He is also head of the body,
the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He
Himself will come to have first place in everything.
19 For it was the Father’s good
pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
20 and through Him to reconcile
all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross;
through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
(From The Knox Bible – The Latin Vulgate):
15 He is the true likeness of
the God we cannot see; his is that first birth which
16 precedes every act of
creation(1). Yes, in him all created things took their being,
heavenly and earthly, visible and invisible; what are thrones and dominions,
what are
17 princedoms and powers? They
were all created through him and in him; he takes
18 precedency of all, and in him
all subsist(2). He too is that head whose body is the Church; it
begins with him, since his was the first birth out of death(3); thus
in every
19 way the primacy was to become
his. It was God’s good pleasure to let all
20 completeness dwell in him(4),
and through him to win back all things, whether on earth or in heaven, into
union with himself, making peace with them through his blood, shed on the cross(5).
***Verse-by-Verse
Study Notes Provided in This Bible***
(1) Verses 15 and 16: “His is that first
birth”; literally, ‘he is the first-born of all (or, every) creation’; the
rendering given assumes that Saint Paul is talking of Christ as God. It is
possible he meant that Christ as Man enjoys primacy over the rest of creation.
(2) Verse 18: “in him”, at the
end of the verse, should rather be translated ‘for him’ (literally ‘into him’)
if we follow the Greek.
(3) Verse 18: “His was the first
out of death”; literally, ‘he is the first-born from the dead’. Christ as
Man is the Head of a new creation, the Church of the redeemed.
(4) Verse 20: “All completeness”;
it is not certain whether we should understand this of the Divine essence, or
of a plenitude of graces, or of mankind, and indeed creation as a whole, as
mystically identified with Christ.
(5) Verse 20: “With himself”
may refer to God the Father, or (like the other pronouns in the sentence) to
our Lord.