Colossians
1:15-29: “Preeminence of Christ: All Things Created By Him &
For Him, Before All Things, Holds All Together, Head Over All”
By
1. In our last study, we looked at the introduction to the book of Colossians up through verse 14 of chapter 1.
1.1. We saw that the church at Colossians was most likely started by its pastor, Epaphras, since he was the one who is credited with teaching them in the grace of God.
1.2. We saw that the letter was written because Epaphras, who was with Paul at that time, had communicated to Paul about a heresy that was in the Colossian church to an uncertain extent, a heresy which we referred to as “The Colossian Heresy.”
1.3. We looked at the tenets of “The Colossian Heresy” which was the beginnings of “Gnosticism”:
1.3.1. It was the beginnings of Gnosticism, the first heresy of the early church, one which a good deal of the NT writings addressed.
1.3.2. It was an eclectic combination of Greek “Dualism” and “Jewish Mysticism.”
1.3.2.1. “Dualism” caused the heretics to believe that matter is evil and spirit is good. This led to the “Epicurean Philosophy” of eat, drink, and be merry because you will never be anything but evil. But, it also led to the “Ascetic Philosophy” of denying the flesh any earthly pleasures and disassociating from the world.
1.3.2.2. We see in the book that the group had a large Jewish leaning for Paul addresses the mediation of angels, worship of angels, circumcision being required, observance of special days and Sabbaths, etc.
1.3.3. We saw that the Gnostics were superstitious and that they believed that they needed to do certain things to protect themselves from certain forces, or beings, and to improve their chances of being successful and happy.
1.3.4. We saw that the Gnostics promised special secret knowledge to their adherents, a knowledge that would give them insight that unavailable from any other source.
1.4. We discussed how that the Gnostic heresy is alive and well in the world today.
1.4.1. Secret societies of all types.
1.4.2. New Age use of crystals and contemplative and transcendental meditation as well as occult practices that have come into the church.
1.4.3. We saw that whenever preachers are not Christ-centered in their preaching, or they tell you that you need something else, some new wine, new anointing, visions and revelations, angelic manifestations, this is the Colossian Heresy again in operation.
1.4.4. Likewise, we discussed that whenever a group claims they are the true or only church that this is a group that you need to avoid them like the plague.
1.4.5. All of the cults claim exclusivity (Jehovah Witness, Mormon, Moonies, etc.) as well as other church groups.
2. In our study today, we are going to look at verses 15-29 of chapter 1.
2.1. To combat the Gnostic heresy, Paul will begin to declare the preeminence of Christ in all things in our study. The Gnostics were teaching that the intermediary of angels, and certain visions and special knowledge was needed in order to understand more about God and truth. However, in this study Paul refutes these ideas by demonstrating the preeminence of Christ in these ways:
2.1.1. He is before all things.
2.1.2. All things are created by Him.
2.1.3. All things are created for Him.
2.1.4. In Him all things hold together.
2.1.5. He is the head of all things, including the head of the Church.
2.2. As it comes up in our study, we will look at more of the background for this study regarding “The Colossian Heresy”:
2.2.1. We will discuss what is called the heresy of “Docetism” which denies the humanity of Christ.
2.2.2. We will discuss Jewish Mysticism some more.
3. VS 1:15 - “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” – Paul writes that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation
3.1. The Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon has the following definition for this Greek word that is translated ‘image’ here:
1504 εἰκών [eikon /i·kone/] n f. From 1503; TDNT 2:381; TDNTA 203; GK 1635; 23
occurrences; AV translates as “image” 23 times. 1 an image, figure, likeness. 1a an image of the things (the heavenly things). 1a1 used of the moral likeness of renewed men to God. 1a2 the image of the Son of God, into which true
Christians are transformed, is likeness not only to the heavenly body, but also
to the most holy and blessed state of mind, which Christ possesses. 1b the image of one. 1b1 one in whom the likeness of any one is seen. 1b2 applied to man on account of his power of command. 1b3 to Christ on account of his divine nature and
absolute moral excellence.
3.2. Paul says here that Christ is the ‘firstborn of all creation’, yet this does not indicate that the Son of God is a created being. He is eternal and before all that exists, just as Jesus told the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was I am.”
3.3.
Jesus said that
those who had seen Him had seen the Father.
John 14:9, “9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been
so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who
has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
3.4.
Paul told Timothy
that Christ was God in the flesh: 1
Timothy 3:16, “16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”
3.5. The Greek word that is translated ‘firstborn’ here is defined thus by Strong’s Enhanced Lexicon, indicating that the word doesn’t necessary imply a created being but rather one that was “begotten”:
4416 πρωτότοκος [prototokos /pro·tot·ok·os/] adj. From 4413 and the alternate of 5088; TDNT
6:871; TDNTA 965; GK 4758; Nine occurrences; AV translates as “firstborn” seven
times, and “first begotten” twice. 1 the firstborn. 1a of man or
beast. 1b of Christ, the first born
of all creation.
3.6.
Arius, 250-336 AD, was a
priest in
3.7. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says the following about this passage:
Christ’s
supremacy is shown in His relationship to Creation. He is the Firstborn over
all Creation. Though it is grammatically possible to translate this as “Firstborn
in Creation,” the context makes this impossible for five reasons: (1)
The whole point of the passage (and the book) is to show Christ’s superiority over
all things. (2) Other statements about Christ in this passage (such as
Creator of all [1:16], upholder of Creation [v. 17], etc.) clearly indicate His
priority and superiority over Creation. (3) The “Firstborn” cannot be part of
Creation if He created “all things.” One cannot create himself. (Jehovah’s
Witnesses wrongly add the word “other” six times in this passage in their
3.8. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says the following about Christ being called here
“Firstborn” denotes two things of
Christ: He preceded the whole Creation, and He is Sovereign over all Creation.
In the Old Testament a firstborn child had not only priority of birth but also
the dignity and superiority that went with it (cf. Ex. 13:2-15; Deut.
21:17). When Jesus declared Himself “the First” (ho prōtos; Rev. 1:17), He used a word that means “absolutely first.” “Firstborn” also implies
sovereignty. The description “firstborn” was not a fairly common Old
Testament designation of the Messiah-God. “I will also appoint Him My
Firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:27). While this
regal psalm refers to David, it also designates the Messiah, as seen in
Revelation 1:5, where Christ is called “the Firstborn from the dead (cf. Col.
1:18) and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.” So “Firstborn” implies both
Christ’s priority to all Creation (in time) and His sovereignty over all
Creation (in rank).
4. VS 1:16 - “’ 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.” - Paul tells us that all things were created by Christ, whether things in the heavens or on earth, visible or invisible, thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities, all are also created for Him
4.1. Again, the idea here is the preeminence of Christ in all. The Gnostics thought that angels were intermediaries to God and that special visions or knowledge enabled them to get through to God, but Paul’s apologetic is that Christ is preeminent in every sphere and realm, and therefore it must be through Him alone that one could get to God.
4.2. The scripture teaches throughout that Christ is the creator of all that exists, for example: 1 Corinthians 8:6, “6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”
4.3. Paul leaves no wiggle room in this verse for an area or a creature who has not been created by Christ, or for Christ.
4.4. Being the creator of all things, ‘in the heavens and on earth’, ‘visible and invisible’, ‘thrones or dominions’, or ‘rulers or authorities’, shows Christ’s superiority over all.
4.5. If I need customer service to do something for me, or somehow need to get the attention of a company on my behalf, I want to somehow get to the top guy. I don’t want some guy who isn’t qualified, doesn’t have an answer, doesn’t have the authority, or can’t bring about my request. Paul is tell us here that in this world and the one to come that we have the top guy who is over all things created, has all power, and the authority to grant us our requests. To try in hopes of getting to God through any other means but through Christ is an exercise of futility.
5. VS 1:17 - “17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” - Paul tells us that Christ is before all things and also that it is in Christ that all things hold together
5.1. The ‘He’ here is emphatic to emphasize that it was Jesus Christ who was in fact before all things and holding all together.
5.2. Being ‘before all things’ implies that He was the creator of all, and being the creator of all implies His divinity.
5.3. In order to convince the Colossians that Christ truly has the authority and ability to do all things, Paul realized that he needed to explain to them Christ’s relationship to the material world itself, the universe all that is in it. Paul says that Christ is even before all things in this material world, but also that He is the glue that is needed and from which ‘all things hold together’ (or “consist”).
5.4. Astrophysicists have speculated about what force or properties of the universe keep it from collapsing upon itself since gravity causes attraction and yet instead of all of the universe collapsing inward towards itself, astronomers have observed that every observable thing in the universe is moving away from us.
5.4.1. This is what has led to the theory of the Big Bang that secular scientists have formulated. They think a big explosion caused this.
5.4.2. Einstein came up with the theory that it was “ether” that was the invisible material of space and that some of its properties kept everything from collapsing together.
5.4.3. Astrophysicists have also postulated that an invisible “anti-matter” is what is keeping everything from collapsing together.
5.5. Paul explains that it is Christ Himself who in whom ‘all things hold together’ or “consist.” Christ is the glue, and He is involved in this from the quantum (smallest) particles to the largest of galaxies in all the universe.
6. VS 1:18 - “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.” - Paul tells us that Christ is the head of the body, the church, and the beginning and firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself can have first place in everything
6.1. In both this book and the book of Ephesians, which was written near the same time, Paul expounds upon the nature of the church. Here he speaks of Christ’s headship over the church.
6.2. Paul seeks to combat the Gnostic heresy in this verse by declaring Christ’s headship over the church, and the fact that Christ is the first raised from the dead, and that He will have ‘first place in everything’.
6.3. The Pulpit Commentary says the following about Christ as head of the church: “There is a real essential union of the Head and the members. 1. Christ is the Centre of the Church’s life. He is its Life. “Because I live ye shall live also.” (John xiv. 19). The union is strictly vital. “The second Adam is a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. xv. 45). 2. He is the Center of its unity. Believers are all one in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. xii. 12). We are baptized by the Spirit into one body (1 Cor. xii 13). 3. He is the Source of all its blessings and comforts. (1) He loves it (Eph. V. 27). (2) He sympathizes with its distresses (Matt. xviii. 5). (3) He supplies it with abundant grace. “Of his fullness have we all received, even grace for grace” (John i. 16). 3. He is the Mainspring of all of its holy activity. “I can do all thi8ngs through Christ which strengthens me” (Phil. iv. 13); “Without me ye can do nothing” (John xv. 5).”
6.4. Christ shall never come in second place to any creature in all of the universe, nor any power, nor any dominion. When you have Christ you don’t need more, and if you have something else instead of Christ whatever it may be could only be second-fiddle in comparison to Christ.
7. VS 1:19 - “19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,” - It is in Jesus Christ that ‘all the fullness’ dwells
7.1. I believe that the fullness that Paul is speaking of here in reference to Christ is the fullness of deity. Jesus Christ wasn’t just a manifestation of deity, the entire godhead dwells in Him. He is very God of very God.
7.2. The apostle John referred to this about Christ here: John 1:14-16, “14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”
7.3. The author to the book of Hebrews wrote about deity dwelling in Jesus Christ and thus He being the exact representation of His nature: Hebrews 1:1-3, “1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
8. VS 1:20 - “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.” - Paul tells the Colossians that it was the Father’s will to ‘reconcile all things to Himself’ through Christ, since through Christ peace was made through the blood of His cross, things on earth or things in heaven
8.1. Jesus Christ’s death for our sins, and the blood that He shed, ‘made peace’ for those who will believe on Him for salvation, just as these verses say:
8.1.1. Romans 3:24-25, “24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.” Propitiation means “full payment” or “full satisfaction.”
8.1.2. Romans 5:10, “10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Enemies must be reconciled to have relationship.
8.1.3. Hebrews 9:11-14, “11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
8.2. This verse has brought lots of speculation among people about what exactly was brought about through the death of Christ upon the cross. What is Paul saying was reconciled besides sinful men?
8.3. Origen, an early church father, thought that Paul was indicating that the cross of Christ would one day also reconcile fallen angels to God. Of course, Christ had to become a man in order to be our kinsman redeemer, and thus we would think that His death and the blood of His cross could only cover sinful fallen men.
8.4. It has been speculated that when Paul says that through the blood of His cross that He reconciled all ‘things on earth of in heaven’ that Paul was referring to the curse of the earth that will be reversed when Christ returns and sets up His Millennial kingdom, as passages such as this reveal: Isaiah 11:6-9, “6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.”
9. VS 1:21-22 - “21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—” -
9.1. Paul makes it a point here to point out that Christ’s atonement for the sins of mankind was achieved ‘in His fleshly body’ and that body died, for it was ‘through death.’ The phrase ‘in His fleshly body’ has a double emphasis on the fact of Christ’s humanity, the fact that He came by flesh and blood.
9.2. One of the tenets of Gnosticism that Paul is combating here is that of “Docetism.” Dictionary.com has the following definitions of this teaching:
Docetism
1846, heresy holding that the body of Jesus was a phantom, from
Gk. Doketai, name of the sect, lit.
"believers," from dokein "to seem,
have the appearance of, think," related to doxa
(see decent).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Docetism
(from
Greek dokein, "to seem"), Christian heresy and one of the earliest
Christian sectarian doctrines, affirming that Christ did not have a real or
natural body during his life on earth but only an apparent or phantom one.
Though its incipient forms are alluded to in the New Testament, such
as in the Letters of John (e.g., 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7), Docetism became more
fully developed as an important doctrinal position of Gnosticism, a religious
dualist system of belief arising in the 2nd century AD which held that matter
was evil and the spirit good and claimed that salvation was attained only
through esoteric knowledge, or gnosis. The heresy developed from speculations
about the imperfection or essential impurity of matter. More thoroughgoing
Docetists asserted that Christ was born without any participation of matter and
that all the acts and sufferings of his life, including the Crucifixion, were
mere appearances. They consequently denied Christ's Resurrection and Ascension
into heaven. Milder Docetists attributed to Christ an ethereal and heavenly
body but disagreed on the degree to which it shared the real actions and
sufferings of Christ. Docetism was attacked by all opponents of Gnosticism, especially
by Bishop Ignatius of
9.3. The apostle John also combated this philosophy of Docetism, both in his gospel and in his epistles, for example:
9.3.1. John 1:1, 14: “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
9.3.2. 1 John 4:2-3: “2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”
9.4. What alienates a person from God is his sin, just as the Lord spoke to Isaiah: Isaiah 59:1-2, “1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
9.5. The Colossians, as all believers, were in their natural state before coming to salvation ‘alienated’ or “estranged” from God. Their ‘mind’ or “thoughts” were ‘hostile’ towards God because they were in sin and rebellion against Him, or ‘engaged in evil deeds.’
9.6.
The reconciliation of
man to God could only be accomplished through the ‘death’ of Christ for
all of our sins upon
9.7. When we are in Christ, we have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Thus, Paul writes to the Colossians that Christ died, ‘to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach’.
10. VS 1:23 - “23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.” - Paul states here that the genuineness of any person’s salvation experience will be demonstrated and validated if they ‘continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel
10.1. This verse reads like it came right out of chapter 3 of the book of Hebrews, and in my opinion is an indicator that Paul was the author of that book:
10.1.1. Hebrews 3:6, “6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”
10.1.2. Hebrews 3:14, “14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.”.
10.2. If anyone doubts whether or not they have truly been saved, they merely need to ‘continue in the faith’ and allow God to work in them and “establish” them and make them “steadfast” in their ‘hope of the gospel’.
10.3. Continuing on steadfast in our faith in Christ is evidence that we have genuinely be saved. The genuine saint will persevere faithful unto the end, though he may at times get off the track.
10.4. Does the Bible teach us that we have eternal security in Christ? Yes, as long as you continue on in your faith and let God work in your life and make you ‘steadfast’ in your faith.
10.5. I think that it is interesting that Paul speaks of the gospel has having been ‘proclaimed in all creation under heaven.’
11. VS 1:24 - “24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” - Paul tells the Colossians that he is rejoicing in his sufferings in his flesh on behalf of Christ’s body, for he saw himself as ‘filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions’
11.1. Christ’s sufferings provided our salvation and our sins being forgiven. Paul’s sufferings were for the sake of ministry, they were for others, so that others could come to faith in Christ and grow up in their faith.
11.2. Paul saw his own suffering for the sake of the gospel as ‘filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflications’.
12. VS 1:25-27 - “25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” - Paul speaks to us about his stewardship he had received from God for the preaching of God’s word and proclaiming the mystery that had been hidden from past ages and generations
12.1. The ‘mystery’ that Paul speaks about in his writings is better understood as being something that is revealed by Paul, something that no longer remains unknown.
12.2. Paul’s use of this word ‘mystery’ was a way to refute the teachings of the Gnostics who had their secret knowledge and visions. Paul is saying that the real ‘mystery’ of existence and the knowledge of Christ is revealed in Jesus Christ, and that knowledge is open to all.
12.3. As I have studied Jewish Mysticism this week, I was struck by how quickly and to what an extent it made inroads into mainstream Judaism. If you look at the Kabbalah, which is a set of documents and teachings that is supposed to contain all of the Jewish mysticism teachings, you realize how vast it is and how intermingled these teachings are to the very heart of Judaism.
12.4. The Greek word translated ‘willed’ in verse 27 is emphatic emphasizing God’s direct intention to reveal spiritual knowledge and understanding through His Son Jesus Christ.
12.5. The ‘riches of the glory of this mystery’ most likely refers to all of the blessings that belong to us by being “in Christ”, including a resurrection and resurrected body and a sharing of the inheritance of Christ.
12.6. The mystery is “Christ” Himself, whom God has revealed to us in His word. The Pulpit Commentary says the following about this: “All the relations which nature holds to God centre in Christ. (1) If the world rests on God, is grounded in him, refers secretly and everywhere to God as the immanent, perpetual Cause of its being and its energy; if in him “we live and move and are;”—then we are to understand this of Christ. “In him were created, in him consist all things” (vers. 16, 17). “God was in Christ” creating the heavens and the earth; is “in Christ” sustaining, co-ordinating, directing the march of the circling worlds, the evolution of their teeming, endlessly varied forms of life. The “winds and the sea” that “obeyed him,” disease and death and the mighty spirits of darkness that fled at his word, knew something of this secret, if men do not. (2) If through God the universe came to be (Rom. xi. 36), if he supplied the agencies of creation, the matter and the force (unless matter is really force) out of which it was generated, the laws which shaped its form and governed its development;--then it appears that all this was done through Christ. (3) If the world moves towards God (Rom. Xi. 36), in spite of all divergence and confusion; and if throughout the unmeasured cycles of its duration past and to come it advances towards the fulfillment of its destiny, “that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. xv. 28);--then its course is direction also unto Christ.”
12.7. Note here that Paul describes salvation as being ‘Christ in you’.
12.8. If Christ dwells in someone, then they have that ‘hope of glory’, or confidence and assurance in their salvation through Christ.
13. VS 1:28-29 - “28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” – Paul tells us that his ministry was to proclaim Christ, admonish every man and teach every man with all wisdom, and this so that he could present every man ‘complete in Christ’
13.1. Notice the urgency in Paul’s life and ministry, He says that they proclaimed Christ, and that they were ‘admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom.’
13.2. Pastors and teachers have a ministry to perform as long as everyone is yet incomplete in their faith in Christ.
13.3. Paul described his ministry as ‘striving according to His power which mightily works within me’.
14. CONCLUSIONS:
14.1. Do you know Him?
14.2. Is He your sufficiency?
14.3. Is He preeminent in your life?