The supremacy of Christ: image, creator, head and reconciler

Colossians is a letter from 'Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother' to the believers at Colossae. Colossae was a small town in the Lycus valley in Phrygia, in what is now western Turkey, near the larger towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis (4:13). Paul had not visited the church (2:1). It was begun by Epaphras, a native of the town, whom Paul calls a faithful minister of Christ (1:7; 4:12). Paul writes as a prisoner (4:3, 10, 18). The traditional view is that he was in Rome about AD 60 to 62, and the letter is closely tied to Philemon: Onesimus, the slave in that letter, is a Colossian and travels with the letter (4:9). Some scholars suggest Caesarea or Ephesus instead.

Pauline authorship has been questioned by some critical scholars because of the style, vocabulary and its similarity to Ephesians. Many scholars defend it as Paul's, explaining the differences by the subject and by co-workers such as Timothy. The class reads it as Paul's, as the early church did.

The occasion was a danger. Epaphras brought news of the church's faith and love (1:4, 8), and also of a 'philosophy' threatening it (2:8). The letter does not describe this teaching in full. It seems to have mixed Jewish practices (food, festivals and Sabbaths, 2:16), a stress on visions and angels (2:18), and ascetic rules (2:21-23). Scholars have proposed Jewish mysticism, local folk religion, Greek philosophy, or a blend, and none of these can be proved. Paul's reply is to set Christ before the readers in full. Chapter 1 gives the foundation.

Colossians is a letter and the hymn in 1:15-20 is its center. Like the hymn in Philippians 2, it is balanced and rhythmic, with a repeated 'firstborn' and a repeated 'all things', and many scholars think Paul adapted an existing hymn or composed it himself. The class does not need a decision. The hymn has two stanzas that mirror each other: the first speaks of Christ's relation to creation (15-17), and the second of his relation to the new creation of the church and the reconciled world (18-20). The two halves are joined by the word 'firstborn'.

The key principle is that Paul answers a particular threat by affirming positive truth about Christ, not by describing the error in detail. We cannot reconstruct the opponents with confidence, so interpretation should rest on what the text says and on the Old Testament, which Paul assumes his readers know. The hymn draws on Genesis 1 ('in the beginning'), Psalm 89:27 (the Davidic king as firstborn) and the portrait of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:22-31, where Wisdom is with God at creation. Jewish writers spoke of Wisdom and the Word as God's agent in making the world, and Paul gathers these themes and applies them to Christ.

The words 'all things' and 'reconcile' (1:20) also need care. They should be read in the light of the context, which describes reconciliation of people who were alienated (verses 21-22) and the defeat of hostile powers (2:15), and the condition of continuing in the faith in verse 23.

Verses 1 to 8. Paul thanks God for the Colossians' faith in Christ and love for all the saints, which spring from the hope stored up for them in heaven. Faith, love and hope are named together, as in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. The gospel has come to them and is bearing fruit and growing 'all over the world', as it has among them since they heard and understood the grace of God. They learned it from Epaphras, who also told Paul of their love 'in the Spirit'.

Verses 9 to 14. Paul prays that they would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. This knowledge leads to a life 'worthy of the Lord', fruitful in every good work, strengthened with power, and marked by endurance and patience. The prayer turns to thanksgiving to the Father who 'has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light'. Paul describes salvation as a rescue: God 'has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins'. The language of rescue and kingdom recalls the exodus, when God brought Israel out of Egypt and into his inheritance.

Verses 15 to 17. 'The Son is the image of the invisible God.' The Greek eikon means a representation or likeness that makes the original visible. God is invisible, and the Son shows him. The Son is also 'firstborn over all creation' (prototokos). The word speaks of rank and inheritance, not of being the first created thing: Psalm 89:27 calls the Davidic king 'firstborn' as the highest of the kings of the earth, and Exodus 4:22 calls Israel God's firstborn. The next verse gives the reason: 'in Him all things were created', things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. Paul lists the powers some Colossians may have wished to honour and places them under Christ as creatures. The Son is also 'before all things', and in him all things hold together. Creation has its origin, means and goal in him.

Verses 18 to 20. The second stanza begins with the new creation. He is 'the head of the body, the church', and 'the beginning and firstborn from among the dead'. 'Firstborn' now refers to resurrection: he is the first to rise to life that does not end, so that in everything he might have first place. The reason is that 'God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him'. 'Fullness' (pleroma) is a word for the totality of God's nature and presence; Paul says in 2:9 that in Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself 'all things', whether on earth or in heaven, 'by making peace through the blood of His cross'. The one through whom all things were made reconciles them at the cross.

Verses 21 to 23. The cosmic claim is now applied to the Colossians. They were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds. Now God has reconciled them by Christ's physical body through death to present them holy, unblemished and blameless. The phrase 'physical body' may be a point against any teaching that despised the material or made Christ's work spiritual only. Verse 23 adds a condition: 'if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm'. The condition does not make the reconciliation uncertain; it tells the readers that persevering faith is the mark of those who have been reconciled.

Verses 24 to 29. Paul now speaks about himself. He rejoices in his sufferings 'for you' and says he fills up in his flesh 'what is lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church'. This is one of the most discussed sentences in Paul, and the tradition note below sets out the main readings. Paul's commission is to proclaim the word of God fully: 'the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints'. The mystery in the New Testament is something hidden in God's plan and now made known, and its content is 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' among the Gentiles. The Greek can mean 'Christ in you' or 'Christ among you'; both fit the context. He proclaims Christ, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, to present everyone mature in Christ, and he labours, striving with Christ's energy which works powerfully in him.

The hymn of 1:15-20 is one of the main sources of Christian teaching on the person of Christ. It teaches that the Son is the image of the invisible God, that all things were made through him and for him, that he holds creation together, and that all God's fullness dwells in him. These statements place him on the side of God the Creator, not among created beings. John 1:1-3 and Hebrews 1:2-3 say the same.

The church's early debates show the importance of the text. In the fourth century Arius and his followers cited 'firstborn over all creation' to argue that the Son was the first creature. Athanasius and the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) replied that the text speaks of the Son's rank over creation and that the next verse says all things were created in him, which cannot be said of a creature. The church confessed him as 'begotten, not made'.

The passage also teaches that creation and redemption belong together. The one through whom the world was made is the one through whom it is reconciled, so that salvation is not a rescue from creation but its renewal. The church is the body of which he is head. The final doctrine is Christian hope, the hope stored up in heaven (1:5) and 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' (1:27).

Colossians 1 is a direct statement of who Christ is and what he has done. He is the image of God, the agent of creation, the sustainer of all things, the head of the church, the first to rise from the dead, and the one in whom God's fullness dwells. By his cross he makes peace, and he reconciles those who were far from God.

The Old Testament connections are ones Paul himself invites. The opening words of verse 16, 'in Him all things were created', recall Genesis 1 and the creation by God's word and Wisdom (Proverbs 8:22-31; Psalm 33:6). 'Firstborn' draws on Psalm 89:27 and Exodus 4:22, and the hymn gives to Christ the rank promised to David's line and Israel as a whole. The image language recalls Genesis 1:26-27, where humanity was made in God's image; Christ is the true image, and 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Romans 8:29 speak in the same way. The reconciliation by 'the blood of His cross' belongs with the Old Testament sacrifices that dealt with sin and restored peace with God, and the New Testament says Christ's death accomplishes what they could only picture (Hebrews 9:11-14). The mystery of 'Christ in you' among the Gentiles is the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8).