Colossae more relevant than we realize · 2015-04-21 · Colossae—more relevant than we realize: Paul's high Christological Hymn in Colossians 1 is the main focus of this article,

Thaddeus M. Maharaj – The Christological Hymn of Colossians 1

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Colossae—more relevant than we realize:

Paul's high Christological Hymn in Colossians 1 is the main focus of this article, it is

quite possibly one of my favourite texts of the letters of Paul and I absolutely love it!

Hopefully by the end, you will also—but we should first establish some context. Paul was

writing to the church in Colossae, in response to reports of dangerous teachings which

were rising up in the church. Colossae had been a city of high importance and success prior

to the first century as it was located on an important highway which caused a considerable

mixing of different ethnic and religious groups. However, when one of the roads was

moved, Colossae began to decline. The diversity of the city and exposure to the latest ideas

via travelers passing through made it a marketplace for philosophical and religious ideas,

not unlike what we have in our modern internet-age

contexts. "This diversity helps explain the apparently

syncretistic religious movement that was affecting the

Colossian Christians and that gave rise to the letter."1

However, the content of letter does suggest that most

of the Christians in Colossae were Gentiles. Also the

lack of OT quotations or references to the law seems to

suggest this as well.2

1 Moo, The Letters to the Colossians, 26-27

2 Moo, The Letters to the Colossians, 27

The diversity of the city and exposure to the latest ideas

via travelers passing through made it a marketplace for philosophical and religious ideas, not unlike what we

have in our modern internet-age contexts.


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It was first thought that the problem at Colossae was Gnosticism. However, because

a lot of what Paul addresses has to do with Jewish elements such as Sabbath observance,

festivals and an interest in angels, some suggest that it may have come from the local

Jewish mystic and Pagan folk belief which called on angels for help and protection from evil

spirits perhaps introduced by a shaman-like figure within the church. "For the false

teachers were apparently suggesting that Christians needed to go 'beyond' the gospel'" for

them to experience spiritual 'fullness.'3 This is often the case with false teaching, it may not

subtract from the gospel, but will instead preach "Christ and…" However, the gospel needs

no addition.

However, Paul doesn't overtly address the false teachers or teachings specifically

and it was likely a mix of several things. Instead he speaks in general terms—so much of

what it was exactly is left to speculation

and theory. Whatever the specifics are,

"[Paul] does not minimize the threat

presented by the demonic powers but

emphasizes the supremacy of Christ over

all powers. He asserts the unity of

Christians with the exalted Christ, which

entails their sharing in his power and

authority."4 In his response, Paul's first

line of attack against the dangerous false teaching is that he sets one of the highest

definitions of the deity of Christ in the hymn of Colossians 1:15-20. Paul emphasized the

sufficiency of Christ, so therefore believers did not need to add mystical experiences as a

way to relate to God.5 Because of the nature of this letter, it makes it easy for us to see

Paul's prescriptions for a solution—mainly refocusing on Christ—as applicable to a wide

range of problems we face today.

The importance of Christology:

This is vitally essential to the modern church today, where all sorts of false doctrines

and perversions have been creeping in—everything from wiccan practices, to 'Christian

mysticism'; the import of eastern religious practices like mantras, mindless trance-like

states, and meditative Hindu yoga. There are various heresies about Christ such as Kenosis

Theory, Ebionism, Adoptionism, Docetism and Arianism and even Trinitarian heresies like

3 Moo, The Letters to the Colossians, 67.

4 Crossway, ESV Study Bible, 2290

5 Moo, The Letters to the Colossians, 54–55


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Modalism and Tritheism invading mainstream Evangelicalism. Even Islam's desire to

demote Jesus to a mere prophet poses a threat to the modern Christian's concept of Christ.

There is not enough time to go through all the heresies here, however—as in the banking

system—you learn to spot a counterfeit by being thoroughly familiar with the real deal.

Christ is enough. "Because Christ stands in a unique

relationship to God, he, and only he, is able to bring all

things in creation back under God’s sovereignty and thereby

provide believers with the resources that they need to live

and flourish in a world dominated by hostile powers."6 We

should be careful of any teachings that distort the

character and identity of Christ, or which add to or take away from what is revealed in

scriptures. Jesus is the central figure to salvation, so we endanger people's eternal destinies

if we play games with the doctrine of Christology. Paul chastized the Corinthians harshly in

2 Corinthians 11:4,

"For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if

you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different

gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough."

He continues speaking of these who preach a different Jesus that, "…even Satan

disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise

themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will

correspond to their deeds." (2 Cor. 11:14-15) In Galatians he

warns, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should

preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to

you, he is to be accursed!" (Gal. 1:8) If someone is preaching

another Christ or a distorted Christology, they aren't playing

on the same team and we should beware. Right Christology

is essential to the Christian. Even John tells us to discern and test the spirits in this regard;

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from

God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the

Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from

God; 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." (1 John 4:1-3)


If someone is preaching another Christ or a

distorted Christology, they aren't playing on the same team and we

should beware.

...as in the banking system—you learn to spot

a counterfeit by being thoroughly familiar with

the real deal.


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How the letter to the Colossians helps us understand Christology:

"Paul’s letter to the Colossians has had an impact on Christian theology and practice

out of proportion to its size. Christian thinkers since the patristic period have turned to its

teaching about Jesus’ role in creation and his pre-eminence over the church to formulate their

Christology."7 So Paul's response in his letter to the Colossians is vital to our proper

understanding of Christology today and plays an important role in the canon of scripture.

In response to new atheist university students, N.T. Wright accounts a rather humorous

exchange that would happen:

"I developed a stock response: "Oh, that's interesting. Which god is it you don't believe

in?" This used to surprise them… they would stumble out a few phrases about the god

they didn't believe in: a being who lived up in the sky, looking down disapprovingly at

the world, occasionally intervening to do miracles, sending bad people to hell while

allowing good people to share his heaven. Again, I had a stock response… "I don't

believe in that god either."…"I believe in the god I see revealed in Jesus of Nazareth."8

Christology is important to the believer, because—as He is seen—so will He be

treasured. If our view is narrow, only from an isolated Christology developed in the Gospels

such as sections of Mark, some may conclude that Jesus was only

a humble prophet, healer or even Messiah, who "wishes to deflect

the attention given to him, especially as healer, to the true source

of the healing, God."9 However, by taking into consideration the

whole canon of the New Testament—while there is much diversity in the descriptions by

various authors of who Jesus was—we gain a more complete understanding of Christ as He

is fully revealed, especially through the writings of Paul. "Christology is the theological heart

of Colossians, and, like the spokes of a wheel, all the other themes of the letter radiate from

it."10 It is from this approach that we will examine Colossians 1:13-20.

Being "in Christ":

There is one last thing before we jump into the hymn. The first part of chapter one is

the set up for the hymn that erupts from Paul in verse 15. So I'll quickly review what has

happened prior to it. From verse 2, the phrase "in Christ" was Paul's preferred term for


8 Wright, The Meaning of Jesus, 157

9 Powell, Who do you say that I am?, 39


…as He [Jesus] is seen—so will He be

treasured.


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believers. He described them as "in Christ"—for in Christ all the life of the believer is held

and hidden in Him, as we place our whole lives in Him. This is the identity of the believer

that is so essential to Paul.

Being "in Christ" means:

Christ encompasses the entire life of

a believer—they are hidden in Him.

The believer is exclusively joined

with Him—cannot be in Christ while

being in Artemis or in anyone else.

The believer cannot be in the world

system or wisdom, Christ determines the whole behaviour of the believer.

The believer is inseparably joined with Christ—Romans 8:38-39.

The believer is joined into a new family of believers with no dividing lines—

Romans 12:5.

R.E.O. White said it this way:

"As the physical environment exerts its pressure on a man, makes its demands, shapes his

days, so the inner, psychological and spiritual environment, our being in Christ, exerts

pressures and offers resource. That was the simple but basic secret of being a saint amidst

paganism the secret, too, of astonishing endurance. For whatever the pain and peril, to be

in Christ was to be at heart out of this world and beyond the reach of harm."11

So with that in mind let's take a look at this brilliant passage of scripture. I'll be using the

NASB for English translations and utilize some quotations from the early church fathers to

shed light on how the earliest believers understood Christ.

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to

the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the

forgiveness of sins." (Col. 1:13-14)

The verb ῥύομαι (rhuomai—“rescue, deliver”) used here usually has an

eschatological final sense to it. Elsewhere, when Paul talks about sharing in the Kingdom of

11

White, In Him the Fullness, 13


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God he speaks in a future sense (1 Thes. 2:12; 2 Thes. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:1, 18). However, in this

verse, Paul says that believers have already (aorist tense) been transferred into the

Kingdom. 12 So in one sense, there is a reality which is already but also not yet—and it is

this surety of the salvation of believers, which is not yet finally realized but is so surely to

be brought to completion—that Paul at this point writes as if it has already been

accomplished. It is this 'realized eschatology' that Paul has in mind:

"Paul has been giving thanks for the Colossians' Christian experience, praying for their

growth in understanding, recalling especially the need to be constantly grateful for all

that Christ has done – and there his mind takes fire. In a rush of kindling thought, at

least fifteen tremendous statements about Jesus tumble one over the other…"13

What follows next is a hymn. The hymn in 1:15-20 erupts from Paul like a

supernova with resplendent shining glory—eclipsing

everything around it in affirming Christ's absolute

supremacy, uniqueness, incomparability, and ultimate and

total pre-eminence—demonstrating that there is "none beside

Thee" in our whole experience of salvation through Him. The

hymn is the expression of his mind responding to the glory of

the Gospel, as should be ours. While I will only be focusing on the Christology of the hymn

in Colossians here, it is essential that we have an understanding of who Christ is as

presented in the whole cannon of scripture—so I'd encourage you to do your own further

study into who Jesus is revealed in the Bible.

"He is the image of the invisible God..." (Col. 1:15a)

In verses 15-20, most scholars agree that Paul is quoting an early hymn as the

phrases fall into matching rhythmic units in Greek and there is a clear structure of two

strophes.14 However, what is this image in verse 15? In this question we deal with the very

incarnation of God in Christ. The image of God could mean something belonging to God, but

from the context it has the connotation of Christ "imaging" God.

12

Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians, 77 13

White, In Him the Fullness, 38 14

Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians, 84

The hymn in 1:15-20 erupts from Paul like a

supernova with resplendent shining

glory…


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"In Greek philosophy, however, the image has a share in the reality that it reveals and

may be said to be the reality. An image was not considered something distinct from the

object it represented, like a facsimile or reproduction."15

The Greek term used, εἰκὼν [eikōn] may mean simply "resemblance," however

because of the close identification between the Son and God implied in verse 9, the word

refers to "complete likeness." Also, the second element of the word's meaning is

"manifestation" which meant that the symbol was more than just a mere symbol. "The

symbol brought with it the actual presence of the object."16 The early church father, Origen

(182-254 CE) said, "Now this image contains the unity of nature and substance belonging to

Father and Son. For if the Son do, in like manner, all those things which the Father doth, then,

in virtue of the Son doing all things like the Father, is the image of the Father formed in the

Son, who is born of Him, like an act of His will proceeding from the mind."17 So, Christ is the

exact, visible, representation of God, illuminating the very essence and activity of God

Almighty (See John 5:19). Origen continues:

"Our Saviour, therefore, is the image of the invisible God, inasmuch as compared with

the Father Himself He is the truth: and as compared with us, to whom He reveals the

Father, He is the image by which we come to the knowledge of the Father, whom no

one knows save the Son, and he to whom the Son is pleased to reveal Him. And the

method of revealing Him is through the understanding. For He by whom the Son

Himself is understood, understands, as a consequence, the Father also, according to His

own words: 'He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father also.'"18

It is important to note the adjective (ἀόρατος—aoratos—"invisible") which Paul

uses to describe God. God is spirit, and thus invisible. John makes it clear that no man has

seen God. So how can we know a

God which is imperceptible to our

natural senses? It is through the

only begotten Son that God is

made to be understood. Origen

makes the analogy that it is like a

statue so enormous that it filled

the whole world. However, due to

its immensity we are unable to

perceive it. But, if a smaller statue

15

Garland, The NIV Application Commentary, 87 16

Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 215 17

Origen, “De Principiis,” in Fathers of the Third Century, 248 18

Origen, “De Principiis,” in Fathers of the Third Century, 248


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were made perfectly in its likeness so that we could perceive it, we could acknowledge that

we have seen the former because we saw the latter. Similarly, Jesus is made the express

image of God the Father by divesting Himself of His 'equality', or rather, His imperceptible

magnitude of glory which we cannot contain or perceive, "so that we, who were unable to

look upon the glory of that marvellous light when placed in the

greatness of His Godhead, may, by His being made to us

brightness, obtain the means of beholding the divine light by

looking upon the brightness."19 The invisible God is made

visible in Christ; the incomprehensible is expressed in human

terms.

If the invisible God was to be represented and embodied in the flesh, Christ would

be the substance of all His essence. All that God is 'abstractly' to us, Christ expounds visibly.

Some may argue that this 'belittles' God or makes Him less great by coming down, however

C.S. Lewis eloquently expands on this divine mystery of the incarnation saying:

…it is the show of "the power of the Higher, just in so far as it is truly higher, to come

down, the power of the greater to include less. Thus solid bodies exemplify many truths

of plane geometry, but plane figures are not truths of solid geometry; many inorganic

propositions are true of organisms but no organic propositions are true of minerals;

Montaigne became kittenish with his kitten but she never talked philosophy to him.

Everywhere the great enters the little—its power to do so is almost the test of its

greatness."20

Christ is the testimony to the greatness of God, as the embodiment of the Divine

essence and co-equal with God the Father. Shirley Guthrie puts it this way:

"He is not like a king who preserves his majesty and honour only by shutting himself up

in the splendour of his palace, safely isolated from the misery of the poor peasants and

the threat of his enemies outside the fortress. His majesty is the majesty of a love so

great that he leaves the palace and his royal trappings to live among his subjects as

one of them, sharing their condition even at the risk of vulnerability to the attack of his

enemies. If we want to find this king, we will find him among the weak and lowly, his

genuine majesty both revealed and hidden in his choosing to share their vulnerability,

suffering, and guilt and powerlessness."21

19

Origen, “De Principiis,” in Fathers of the Third Century, 249 20

Lewis, Miracles, 134 21

Guthrie, The Nearness and Distance of God, 41-42

The invisible God is made visible in Christ; the incomprehensible is expressed in human

terms.


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"...the firstborn of all creation." (Col. 1:15b)

"Firstborn of all creation" is another phrase which has been problematic even from

as far back as the heretic, Arius in the fourth century, who contended that this was

evidence that Jesus was a created being.22 Though thoroughly refuted by the early apostolic

church fathers and deemed a heretic in 325 A.D., he laid the foundations for others such as

Charles Taze Russell—who sprouted the Jehovah's Witnesses and other heresies such as

the Eternal Generation of Christ. Of the term used—πρωτότοκος [prōtotokos]—scholars

consider that when it "was used in NT times the force of the second half of the term (born,

from tichtō, to give birth) was lost unless it referred literally to a birth (as in Luke 2:7). In

other words, the term could refer to rank, rather than birth or origin."23 Furthermore, the

Jewish concept of birthright

influences the meaning of the

word. So, "the term 'firstborn'

referred to a rite (ritual) that

accorded the first son a special

place in the family. The term

soon lost the meaning of the first

in time and developed the

meaning of first in priority."24 The metaphor distinguishes Jesus from creation—which is

why He is "firstborn OVER all creation" (as some translations—NIV, NLT, NET, etc.—

correctly render it) and not "in" all creation (which NO major translation renders it).25

Unlike what the Arian controversy in the fourth century disputed, the focus is on

Christ's primacy which is made clear in the following verse. The connecting word, ὅτι [hoti]

means "because". So what follows is the explanation that Christ is supreme over all creation

"because" it was by him all things were created as the "firstborn of creation." We can see

this echoed in Romans 8:29-30 where Christ is described as the firstborn of a new

community of believers that is to be glorified. In being the "firstborn", Jesus has

appropriately become what He always was. That is, the pre-existent Lord of all creation has

become the human Lord of the world, reflecting the God whose human image He has now

come to bear. God's salvific purposes from before creation are embodied in Christ.

"A humanist Christ, however sympathetically portrayed, will not serve us here, can

bring no unique revelation, no authoritative divine disclosure. Only He who stands over

22


MacDonald, Colossians and Ephesians, 58-59 24


Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 216


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against us on God's side of the great divide and steps toward us, the unique revealer

and redeemer, unrivalled in all that relates to God, can meet our need."26

It is important for us to maintain the transcendent-immanent tension which expresses the

continuum between the unknowable God and His self-revelation in creation.27

"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."

(Col. 1:16)

Paul continues to reveal Christ as Creator in verse 16. In Colossae, some may have

been toying with the idea of other powers filling the void between God and the world. It

seems like they thought there was some sort of chain of spiritual intelligences to bridge the

gap in place of Jesus—somewhat similar (though not entirely) to the way Roman Catholics

view praying to the saints or Mary as 'mediators' to God.

"[Paul] stresses the superiority of Christ over these supernatural beings, but the

proponents of the false teaching in Colossae may have believed that these beings were

Christ's rivals or, what is more likely, they may have thought that veneration of these

beings provided additional access to the benefits of salvation."28

Paul lists the names of some of these supposed lords of the spiritual world almost

contemptuously and emphatically

declares that Christ is before them,

above them and if they exist—He

made them! All things were

created for Him—the ultimate

goal and purpose of the existence

of all things is to the glory of God,

which Christ shares. "The extent of

this supremacy is emphasized by

citing three specific ways in which

26


Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians, 90 28

MacDonald, Colossians and Ephesians, 60


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Christ and the creation are related: in him all things were created … all things have been

created through him and for him."29 Similarly, in John 1, it reveals Jesus as the Word—

λόγος [logos]—or the "reason" for all that is and life itself. Christ is the highest end for all

creation. There is no need for 'mediators' for, "there is ONE mediator between God and

mankind, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. 2:5)

Paul's stress on Christ's supremacy over all powers, dominions and authorities—

both spiritual and natural—can be seen as emphatically opposing the Pagan and mystic

influences which encouraged reliance on angels and spiritual forces. Equally, all our trust

should be in Christ and put no confidence in men or created things. Paul encompasses

everything by his first statement in the clause—"all things" (τὰ πάντα) being created by

Him, then if that wasn't clear enough, goes on to explain every

conceivable thing to reemphasize the point. The image of

Christ we get at the end of this verse is massive—He towers

high above everything created, is supreme over both

heavenly and earthly realms, Lord over the visible and

invisible, the uncontested Sovereign over every power,

position or authority and all of these were not only made by and through Him, but He also

made them for His own glory!

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (Col 1:17)

After, in verse 17 Paul states that, "He is before all things," after listing these things,

he re-asserts that Jesus was God's pre-existent agent in creation. Paul seems to be on a

merciless rampage through the use of this hymn to utterly destroy these false teachings

against the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. John Chrysostom (c.349-407 CE) said that

Paul was "tearing up the deadly doctrine by the roots."30 Since He is before and behind all

things, we can keep Him out of nothing. All life, all truth, goodness and beauty are His and

nothing is inherently evil since it was all created by Him

with its ultimate being and goal being found in Him.

Because of this, Christian faith is all-encompassing and

cannot be kept in any special corner of a person's life.

Creation and redemption, secular and spiritual, all are

united in Christ—He is the cosmic Lord, King of the universe—the Saviour of all.

29

Moo, The Letters to the Colossians, 120 30

Chrysostom, Saint Chrysostom: Homilies, 271

The image of Christ we get at the end of this verse is massive—He

towers high above everything created…

…all are united in Christ—He is the cosmic Lord, King

of the universe—the Saviour of all.


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Paul follows this by stating that, "in Him all things hold together". They are held in

being by His divine hand, even the very molecules of the hands of those who crucified Him!

Paul doesn't just answer the question about where to put Christ in the scheme of things, he

silences it. Since they are created and sustained through Him, Chrysostom said, "Not only

did He Himself bring them out of nothing into being, but Himself sustains them now, so that

were they dissevered from His Providence, they were at once undone and destroyed."31All

created things originate from previous things and

are dependent on something prior which is not

themselves. Not so with Christ, He depends on

nothing! Rather, He is the source of all being—all

things depend on Christ, He is the 'sustainer' of

creation.

A mechanic may construct his machine and then leave it to work because when he leaves, God's laws take it up and the materials keep their solidarity—the steel continues to be strong and elastic and the vapor keeps its expansive power. However, when God constructed His machine—the Universe—he cannot leave it. There is no second God to take care of it. "Not from a single atom of matter can He for a moment withdraw his superintendent and support. Each successive moment, all over the world, the act of creation must be repeated. The existence of the world witnesses to a perpetuity of creating influence. Active omnipotence must flood the universe, or its machinery stops, and its very existence terminates.

The signs of an all-pervading supernatural energy meet us wherever we turn. Every leaf waves in it, every plant in all its organic processes lives in it; it rolls round the clouds, else they would not move; it fires the sunbeam, else it would not shine; and there is not a wave that restlessly rises and sinks, nor a whisper of the wanton wind that 'bloweth where it listeth,' but bespeaks the immediate intervention of God."32

The universe is not self-sufficient, nor are people,

no matter how much we may deceive ourselves into

thinking we are. We are not self-made men and women.

God is active in the creation of all things AND in the

sustaining of all things—He is not a deistic god who

creates and leaves His creation to run on its own.

Instead, it speaks of God's current sustained interest and activity in all of creation through

Christ, and by further extension—all of the Christian's life is held together also by Christ,

every tiny to great detail.

31

Chrysostom, Saint Chrysostom: Homilies, 271 32

Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, 488

"…[Jesus] Himself sustains them now, so that were they

dissevered from His Providence, they were at once undone and

destroyed."

The universe is not self-sufficient, nor are people, no

matter how much we may deceive ourselves into

thinking we are.


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"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." (Col. 1:18)

For verse 18, our modern understanding of the head as the seat of intellectual

direction would probably be

anachronistic to place on

Paul's understanding. The

Hebrews would instead speak

of the thoughts of the heart.

The head to Paul would be

speaking of the position of

ultimate leadership and

authority over the church. In

Paul's time, philosophers

were known to compare the

cosmos to a body. Paul here applies this metaphor to the church. The church is subject to

Christ as her Head and Lord, Christ is chief in the church.

Therefore, a church which has lost touch with Christ has in effect, "lost its head."

Without Jesus as the head, the church becomes a corpse, a husk and pretence of dead

traditions fossilized in an institution without any real function, beauty or strength. The

destinies of creation and the Church are bound together. The Church does not exist to

merely meet the needs of its members or institution, but

rather to carry out the redemptive purposes of its head

through the preaching of the Gospel and living worthily

of Christ.

In Revelations 1:5, we see the term "firstborn

from the dead" also used as it is here in Colossians

referring to the resurrection. The title "firstborn" here

implies more than just Christ's own resurrection as the first to conquer death, but also has

an eschatological push of the promise that He will bring many sons to glory as expressed in

Hebrews 2:10. If He is the firstborn from the dead, then there must be more to follow Him

after as the second, third, etc. It is with this in mind that the late Rev. R.E.O. White wrote;

"He is the first fruits of all that sleep in him. So the risen Christ within the church

becomes the ground and focus of all Christian hope: through Him the church tastes

The Church does not exist to merely meet the needs of its members or institution, but

rather to carry out the redemptive purposes of its

head through the preaching of the Gospel…


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already a future life, and belongs already to another world. Set within the present

world to live, to minister, to evangelize, perhaps to suffer, she yet holds her citizenship

in another country, and enjoys a timeless communion."33

The verse continues that Christ is firstborn of the dead so that in everything He

might have supremacy or be preeminent. "What Christ had by natural right he had not yet

exercised. "The puzzle caused by sin: though always Lord by right, he must become Lord in

fact, by defeating sin and death.""34 This is also seen in Hebrews 2:9, where, because of Him

suffering death, Jesus is crowned with glory and honour. "But we do see Him who was made

for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death

crowned with glory and honour, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for

everyone."(Hebrews 2:9)

"To the query 'Why is there but one God?' a child

answered: 'Because God fills every place, and there’s no

room for another one.'"35 If Christ is your Lord, there is

no room for any other. By the end of verse 18, Christ has

been described as equal to Yahweh (v.15), Creator of

everything, the reason for creation and the One to

whom creation exists to glorify (v.16), before everything and the One holding it all together

(v.17), and finally the ultimate ruler of all authority/governance, not just there at the

beginning—but IS the Beginning, and the first fruit of the resurrection from the dead

(v.17). It is here that Paul forcefully, categorically, and vigorously slams the flag down on

the universe—"PREEMINENT! SUPREME!" in everything. He lays claim to the entirety of

reality. No contenders. We should pause to ponder the implications of this—for how

terrifying is it then when anyone would attempt to negate, usurp, belittle, deny, or disobey

this ultimate authority of Christ?! How great the multiplication of any sin or offense against

Him? How can we stand a chance against such a Power or bring any sliver of earned merit

to His greatness? Thanks be to God that Christ is for us. Only in light of this can the

statement, "then who can be against us?" finds its true force! You want to know the secret

to bold, uncompromising witness that will willingly give up its life? It's found here in a

massively glorious and enormous view of Christ as He is—the Sovereign Lord uncontested

of all!

33


Garland, The NIV Application Commentary, 92 35

Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, 503

"To the query 'Why is there but one God?' a child

answered: 'Because God fills everyplace, and there's no

room for another one.'"


15

"For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,"

(Col. 1:19)

In verse 19, the question must be asked of what exactly is the "fullness" spoken of

here? The Greek πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα [pan to plērōma] translated "all the fullness" means the

totality of the essence of God. Christ was not lesser to God, but co-equal. The Gnostics (a

heretical cult in the early centuries) used "fullness" language and some tried to say that the

hymn was actually a praise to a Gnostic redeemer figure. "A more plausible variation of this

thesis suggests that the hymn may have picked up the language from the Colossian false

teachers and turned it against them."36 So it seems to have a polemic thrust. Paul was

responding to the false teachers who were trying to convince Christians to experience true

"fullness" by following their teachings by saying, actually, the "fullness" you seek is only to

be found in Christ.

Ambrose of Milan (337-397 CE) said, "In regard of His Godhead, therefore, the Son of

God so hath His own glory, that the glory of Father and Son is one: He is not, therefore, inferior

in splendour, for the glory is one, nor lower in Godhead, for the fullness of the Godhead is in

Christ."37 Furthermore, the phrase "was pleased to dwell" calls to mind the Old Testament,

where God chooses his dwelling place. Also some connect it to Mark 1:11, "You are my Son,

the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." So, in Jesus, God finds full satisfaction with Him.

The word for dwell used κατοικῆσαι [katoikēsai] is an active aorist infinitive and means to

permanently settle or inhabit. It simply states, God was pleased to dwell fully and

permanently only in Christ. Christ supplants the temple or any other divine dwelling place

made by human hands and represents God directly in person.

"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." (Col 1:20)

Concluding the hymn in verse 20, it seen in Paul's other letters that we were once by

nature, "children of wrath" (Romans 8:7) and "hostile to God" (Ephesians 2:3). The word

ἀποκαταλλάσσω (apokatallassō), meaning "reconcile", is used in the literary Greek of the

time only in 3 places—here, in verse 22 and in Ephesians 2:16—so it may well be a term

36

Moo, The Letters to the Colossians, 132 37

Ambrose, St. Ambrose: Select Works and Letters, 234


16

coined by Paul. The word "presumes a state of estrangement or hostility."38 It is part of the

irony in our self-estrangement from God that we also blame God for it.

"Man turns against the God whose love he has outraged; the alien becomes an enemy

alien, bitter at heart, "hostile in mind." The gulf of estrangement widens as man

refuses every overture of love, every invitation to return; he disbelieves every promise

of mercy and erects barricades against every approach of God – then blames God for

his self-isolation and despair."39

On this point, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386 CE) said this:

"For we were enemies of God through sin, and God had appointed the sinner to die.

There must needs therefore have happened one of two things; either that God, in His

truth, should destroy all men, or that in His loving-kindness He should cancel the

sentence. But behold the wisdom of God; He preserved both the truth of His sentence,

and the exercise of His loving-kindness. Christ took our sins in His body on the tree,

that we by His death might die to sin, and live

unto righteousness. Of no small account was He

who died for us…"40

So we find God as the active party in reconciliation, not that man pursues an elusive

God through long nights of soul seeking, or merit for accumulating good deeds, but that God

has done it through Jesus as He cries, "it is finished" on Calvary's hill—God invites us home.

Christ is peacemaker between God and man. God has reconciled all things—as we've seen

previously—to Himself through Christ by His blood and sacrifice on the Cross. The Gospels

show us vividly Christ's humanity

and now He stands in the gap

between this world and Heaven, as

fully divine and fully man, the God-

man bridges the divide. "As the

arms of the cross spread wide to

embrace all men, so they reach up

and down to draw heaven and earth

together."41 Our separating sins are

borne and carried away in the

sacrifice of Christ as a new covenant is established.

38

Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians, 102–103 39


Cyril, S. Cyril of Jerusalem,, 91 41


"Of no small account was He who died for us…"


17

Not only that—the reconciliation of the Gospel is not limited to humanity along but

rather to all things, on earth or in heaven. "The scope of reconciliation includes the material

creation, the animal world, humanity, and spiritual beings."42 It is a universal reach of the

Gospel's implications. Creation itself is being restored

and redeemed—as all creation groans in anxious

expectation of its liberation from bondage and decay

(Romans 8:19-22). We usually think of reconciliation in

terms of a broken relationship involving the willingness

of both parties to be reconciled. "Here, however, reconciliation involves more than a

voluntary movement. The natural creation was subjected to sin 'not by its own choice' (Rom

8:20), and its reconciliation will be of God’s choosing in his time."43 It is the restoration and

achievement of the Old Testament idea of Shalom or peace which is accomplished through

"the blood of His cross." This is not to say that there is some sort of 'universal salvation'—

that all people will be saved—but rather that it is a "cosmic restoration or renewal"

through Christ's redemption of those in Him and conquering of those against Him.44

Concluding thoughts:

In conclusion, we live in an increasingly secular society today which regularly scoffs

at the Christian faith. When confronted with the scorn of modern-day scoffers, nominal

church goers may be tempted to water down the Gospel and accommodate the culture or

altogether abandon their faith. When Christians have little confidence in their faith, they

will be overly tentative in their claims and shaken by challenges. Paul wrote to the

Colossians to strengthen their grasp on who Christ is so that they would treasure Him more

greatly and hold unwaveringly to Him. By seeing Christ in light of His supremacy in all

things, gratitude can overcome anxieties which would otherwise overtake a person who

looks for security in something other than Christ. Christ

is at once the scandal and the glory of Christianity. It is

exclusively in "none but Thee" that God's redemption

plan is enacted.

"He is the One in whom, according to all Hebrew ideas of sonship, God's own character

is reproduced, and God's own life finds full expression. In Him, God Himself has entered

human history. Originally in the form of God, Christ emptied Himself, and was made

42

Melick, Philippians, Colossians, 225 43

Melick, Philippians, Colossians, 225 44

Moo, The Letters to the Colossians, 136

It is a universal reach of the Gospel's implications. Creation itself is being

restored and redeemed…

Christ is at once the scandal and the glory of Christianity.


18

Man – such is the grace of the eternal Son. Of no other in all creation could that be

said. Christ stands unrivaled in rank, as the only begotten Son of the everlasting God."45

This is the central wonder of the Gospel, that the Saviour appeared, that Word

became flesh, that He was sent and came, that He took upon Himself the form of a slave,

found in human form. Language fails to express it adequately, this is why we see the Gospel

and New Testament writers struggle in so many different ways to convey this wonder as

their imaginations fail to picture what this really means.

Christ—the timeless Lord—belongs in eternity, but He

chose to be in time.

"In an age of dissolving standards and fading traditions, when cleverly posed questions

are taken for answers, and the challenge to ancient insights is itself taken for wisdom,

to be confused becomes the badge of modernity, and agnosticism becomes a

convenient evasion. Yet if Christ be indeed the self-disclosure of God in human

experience, there is no room left for agnosticism… Light has come: men may continue

to love darkness and ignorance if they will, but now it is self-chosen."46

We are left then with a choice for each of our lives, either Christ be Lord of all—or not Lord

at all.

The death of an obscure Jew on a seemingly God-forsaken hill in a backwater corner

of the Roman empire should have attracted no notice and been quickly forgotten in history,

however His story has come to transform modern thought and religion. Paul does not

abandon Jewish monotheism, but rather he modifies it

to a Christological monotheism to place Jesus Christ

within the description and definition of the one God.

The Christological hymn in Colossians 1 expands and

elevates our view of Christ and presents a diversity of

titles for Jesus: He is the visible image of the invisible

God, the firstborn of all creation, through Whom and

for Whom all things have been created, He is before all

things and 'sustainer' of all things. He is the head of

the church, firstborn from the dead, in Whom all the

fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and the

peacemaker between God and man redeeming all

things to God. Therefore, all who claim to know or

hear God must also recognize Christ and hear His

45


White, In Him the Fullness, 41-42

Christ—the timeless Lord—belongs in eternity, but He

chose to be in time.


19

words.

"In the end, the high doctrine must nourish high devotion. Only when we think adequately

about who Jesus is do we give Him the rightful place within our lives."47

Our status of being redeemed of Christ has an eschatological thrust forward toward

its perfect fulfillment in the Heavenly courts as we stand in God's presence holy and

blameless, but at the same time we do not wait for reconciliation to relationship with

God—we have it now—in the reality of being at all times accepted by the Beloved. The

experience of this reality though is predicated on the three conditions Paul lays out for the

enjoyment of Christ's reconciliation; "…that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast,

not shifting from the hope of the gospel…" (Col 1:23) The endurance and perseverance of the

saints is vital to a true salvation experience of Christ as Reconciler and Redeemer. When we

give Him His rightful place as Lord of all, only then does "faith become sight" and can what

we profess be actually seen as true in our lives. It is for this same reason that Jesus Himself

asked in Luke 6:46, "why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

I'd highly recommend R.E.O. White's book – "In Him the Fullness" – which is listed below in

the Bibliography for further reading if you can get your hands on a copy—it was really well

written and very inspiring to read!

47



20

BIBILOGRAPHY

Ambrose of Milan, “Exposition of the Christian Faith,” in St. Ambrose: Select Works and

Letters, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. H. de Romestin, E. de Romestin, and

H. T. F. Duckworth, vol. 10, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of

the Christian Church, Second Series. New York: Christian Literature Company, 1896.

Chrysostom, John. “Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the

Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Colossians,” in Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and

Philemon, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. J. Ashworth and John Albert Broadus, vol. 13, A

Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First

Series. New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889.

Cyril of Jerusalem, “The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem,” in S.

Cyril of Jerusalem, S. Gregory Nazianzen, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. R.

W. Church and Edwin Hamilton Gifford, vol. 7, A Select Library of the Nicene and

Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series. New York: Christian

Literature Company, 1894.

Crossway, The ESV Study Bible, Wheaton, Illinois. Crossway, 2008.

Dunn, James D.G., The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: A Commentary on the Greek

Text, Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996.

Garland, David E., The NIV Application Commentary: Colossians and Philemon, Terry Muck,

Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan, 1998.

Guthrie, Shirley C. Jr., The Nearness and Distance of God, International Documentation 71,

1976.

Harris, Murray J., Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Colossians & Philemon,

Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991.

Lewis, C.S., Miracles: A Preliminary Study, New York, Macmillan, 1947.

Melick, Richard R. Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American

Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991.


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Moo, Douglas J. The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, The Pillar New Testament

Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2008.

MacDonald, Margaret Y., Colossians and Ephesians, Daniel J. Harrington, Sacra Pagina Series

Volume 17, Collegeville, Minnesota. The Liturgical Press, 2000.

Origen, “De Principiis,” in Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius

Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second, ed. Alexander Roberts, James

Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Frederick Crombie, vol. 4, The Ante-Nicene

Fathers. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885.

Powell, Mark Allen and David R. Bauer. Who Do You Say That I Am? Essays on Christology.

1st ed. Louisville, Kentucky. Westminster John Knox Press, 1999.

Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible

Communications, Inc., 1996.

White, R.E.O., In Him the Fullness: Homiletic Studies in Paul's Epistle to the Colossians,

London. Pickering & Inglis, 1973.

Wright, N.T. and Marcus Borg. The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions. 1st ed. New York, NY.

HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.

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Colossae more relevant than we realize · 2015-04-21 · Colossae—more relevant than we realize: Paul's high Christological Hymn in Colossians 1 is the main focus of this article,