Colossians 2:8-23

Colossians 2 [NASB]
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
11and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
16Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--
17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
18Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
20If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,
21"Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"
22(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
23These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
-


8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

What was positively stated in Colosians 2:6-7 is now negatively emphasised in verses 8-10. Paul is saying ‘Ýou have received Christ, do not allow yourself to be carried away by anything less than what you already have which is found in Christ’.

Colossians 2 [NASB]
6Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Through this whole section (chapter 2) Paul is showing his deep concern for the Colossian church and presents the reality found in Christ as the answer to any temptation they may face.
As Paul states earlier in the letter, the believer has been transferred out of the dominion of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s Son (Col 1:13-14) and so to be taken captive once more would be the greatest tragedy.

The things Paul warns against are the futile, empty deceptions which accompany the philosophies of men. These are not godly men but rather earthly, worldly. What fellowship has Christ or the Christian with such things (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)? We are to be taken captive only by those things which are according to Christ, firmly rooted, established and built up in them.

9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Here is the reality of Christ presented in all its glory. Paul has already expounded on Christ’s supremacy in chapter 1, and declared that in Him is the mystery of God and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2-3), but now Paul crowns this with the declaration that in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form. Hendriksen summarises the meaning of this phrase as ‘all the fullness of the indwelling essence of God is completely concentrated in Christ’ and goes on to say that this means that ‘there is no need of or justification for looking elsewhere for help, salvation or spiritual perfection’ (W. Hendriksen on Colossians).

Paul goes on to say literally ‘in Him you have attained to fullness’. Again, Hendriksen helpfully paraphrases ‘in Christ you have reached the Source whence flows the stream of blessings that supplies whatever you need for this life and for the next’. Why go to any other source when you have Christ? Why submit to any other rule or authority when He is head over all and all things have been put in subjection under His feet?

Ephesians 1 [NASB]
19b These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

F.F. Bruce puts it that ‘those who are in Christ have no need to pay respect to the forces over which He has vindicated His pre-eminence’.

11and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

As Paul has presented the supremacy of Christ, he now presents the supremacy of the ‘religious system’ (for want of a better term) which Christians now have a part in. It is as if he is saying: ‘if any religious system is presented to you, the Christian, which appears to have value or weight compare it to what we now have in Christ’. If someone speaks to you about physical circumcision then compare it to the spiritual circumcision which deals with the sanctification of the whole self by dealing with the body of flesh. The Christian has the spiritual circumcision in their baptism where they are buried and raised again. We were dirty sinners who were dead in our transgressions, and He made us alive and changed us from objects of wrath and condemnation to recipients of forgiveness and justification. Praise be to God! All of this is possible not simply through the physical action of baptism in and of itself, but ‘through faith in the working of God’.

Paul presents the parts involved in ‘making us alive’: forgiveness, setting aside the law (as the means to obtain righteousness) and the disarming of the rulers and authorities. Paul comforts the believers by setting out what privileges Christ has won in the cross. The battle with sin, death and the spiritual hosts of evil has been won for us in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Once again, all that we need is found in Christ.

16Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--
17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Here we begin to see more specific examples of the teachings which the Colossians were faced with. Paul has dealt with the philosophical teachings which were creeping in and now looks at the Jewish aspects of the regulations others are trying to impose on the believers. In light of the previous section Paul can say ‘therefore no one is to act as your judge’. As in Romans 8:32-34, if it is God who has justified us and who will judge us, then what can any man say regarding a way to God which exceeds the way He has outlined for us? Any man who questions the sufficiency of our salvation found in Christ is questioning God Himself because “...God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them...” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NASB). These things which people are pointing to as necessary for salvation (food, drink, festivals) take away from the all-sufficiency of Christ who came as the fulfilment of the Old Testament ‘shadows’. Paul has just listed in verses 11-15 the things which Christ’s life, death and resurrection have achieved for the believer. How can these external observances add anything at all to what we have in Him? Hendriksen points out that “if even the law of God, as a code of ceremonial ordinances and rules and as a means unto salvation, was blotted out and nailed to the cross, then surely man-made instructions regarding eating, drinking etc. must be discarded”.

18Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

Paul uses strong language here of ‘defrauding you of your prize’. Do not let others try to make you feel inferior to them with regards to their ‘spirituality’ because this special ‘knowledge’ he claims to have is a source of pride as 1 Corinthians 8:1 says: “...Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.” Note that those who live this way have a ‘fleshly’, unregenerate mind. The false humility is a disguise for sinful pride and all of this without cause. There is no real weight behind the assertions of someone like this, and Paul exposes this to encourage the believers to hold fast to Christ.

Those who take their stand on visions they have seen have not held fast to Christ, the head and they have forgotten that in Christ “...are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3 NASB). It is “to Christ that the entire church owes its growth. The church need not and must not look for any other source of strength to overcome sin or to increase in knowledge, virtue, and joy” (W. Hendriksen on Colossians).

20If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,
21"Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"
22(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
23These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Paul moves on to another area of teaching which, although it may appear to be ‘wisdom’ does more harm than good. If righteousness comes through the keeping of the Law then Paul concludes elsewhere that Christ died needlessly.

Galatians 2 [NASB]
18"For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
19"For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
20"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
21"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

How much more so for man-made ordinances and restrictions such as ‘do not taste’? The perfect God breathed Law was unable to secure our salvation. If we are putting our hope of salvation in anything which is ‘destined to perish’ then we are foolish.

Jesus spoke of this when the Pharisees questioned Him over the traditions of the elders.

Matthew 15 [NASB]
7You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
9'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN'
...
17Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?

The conclusion of this section is a scathing rebuttal of any system of religion outside of the all sufficiency of Christ. Paul says that it may appear wise, but this is a thin facade which covers something of ‘no value’. Hendriksen summarises “Any system if religion which is unwilling to accept Jesus Christ as the only and all-sufficient Saviour is an indulgence of the flesh, a giving in to man’s sinful conceit, as if he, by his own contrivances, were able to perfect Christ’s imperfect work. It makes matters worse instead of better.”


Paul in this letter has continually presented Christ in all His glory as the all-sufficient Saviour of the believer and supreme One over all. He is the answer to anyone who seeks to present a different way to God. He is our hope, our assurance, and our wisdom. “In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete” (Col 2:9-10). May we take Pauls words to heart and be protected against any judge or any who would defraud us of our prize.

Colossians 2 [NASB]
6Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

God bless.

Colossians 1:24-29

Colossians 1 [NASB]
24Now 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.
25Of 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,
26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
27to 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.
28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
29For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

-

24Now 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 the apostle was like Jesus, ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’ (Isaiah 53:3 NASB). When Jesus spoke of Paul to Ananias, as recorded in Acts 9:16 [NASB], He said of him: ‘for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake.’ In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul speaks of examples his sufferings for the sake of Christ and the church:

2 Corinthians 11 [NASB]
23Are they servants of Christ?--I speak as if insane--I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
26I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;
27I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
29Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

When I look at what he went through I am in awe. Many Christians around the world suffer today as Paul did, and we are told to expect as much.

2 Timothy 3:12 [NASB]
12Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

So what is our response to be? Paul always speaks of his sufferings with an attitude of joy, thanksgiving and humility. He says to the Colossians that ‘I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake’. I must admit that this is not my response when things get hard. Paul has just finished speaking of Christ’s supremacy in creation, the church and in redemption, and goes on to speak of the preaching of the gospel. In the light of who Jesus is, what He has accomplished on our behalf, and the work of God in the proclamation of the gospel, Paul can say that he rejoices in his sufferings. He knows that it is for the sake of the Colossian believers, and the church as a body. He says that ‘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 says that he is doing his share on behalf of His body the church. All the members of the body contribute their share, in whatever the Lord requires of them. The question remains however - was there something lacking in Christ’s afflictions? In regard to the atoning value of Christ’s sacrifice it is clear in this letter that Christ’s death was sufficient.

Colossians 1:20-22 [NASB]
20and 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.
21And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
22yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--

Colossians 2:14 [NASB]
14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

There are two main schools of thought that I could find regarding this passage. The first (supported by William Hendriksen) is that the enemies of God were not satisfied and so are trying to fill up their measure of the sufferings they desired of Christ by causing sufferings in His followers (Revelation 12:13, John 15:18-21). The second interpretation is that Paul had not yet suffered as fully as Christ had, or as fully as Christ had assigned to him. There was still more for Paul to suffer, and so he was filling up what was lacking (supported by Matthew Henry and Albert Barnes). I am inclined to follow the second, however they are not mutually exclusive.

25Of 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,

Paul was divinely appointed to his position as a minister to the church in rather spectacular fashion. His apostleship was bestowed on him, and his teachings carried with them a weight of authority because of this. The Colossians needed to remember his authority when faced with contrary teachings. We need to remember that those who are in authority as teachers are called to their position by God.

Ephesians 4:11-13 [NASB]
11And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

All teachings need to be tested against Scripture, as even those at Berea tested the teachings of Paul.

Acts 17:10-11 [NASB]
10The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

It is a great responsibility for teachers, they are charged with ‘fully carry(ing) out the preaching of the word of God’. We should pray for them and support them in their ministry.

26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,

Hendriksen states ‘In Pauline literature a mystery is a person or a truth that would remain unknown had not God revealed him or it’. In 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, Paul speaks of a veil still being over the hearts of those who do not know Christ. The veil is however lifted when one turns to Christ. Praise the Lord for God’s mercy and glory. What was hidden from past ages and generations is revealed to us!

1 Peter 1:10-12 [NASB]
10As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,
11seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look.

This greatly humbles me, and convicts me of the way I treat the Bible. I should treasure the privilege I have to be able to access the whole canon of Scripture. This scripture states that the great men of old who were said to have served God with all their heart (David, Abraham, Hezekiah, Josiah) did not have as full a revelation of the mystery of God as I do. And yet Christ says regarding a parable about stewards and masters:

Luke 12:48b [NASB]
48bFrom everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

We have been entrusted with the mystery of Christ, fully revealed as never before. What do we do with this treasure? Are we good stewards of what we have been entrusted with?

27to 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.

God willed to make known this mystery to His saints. The mystery is glorious, richly glorious. Christ has taken down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles, reconciling both to God in one body through Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22 esp. 16).

Ephesians 2:8-9 [NASB]
8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The mystery of salvation available to Jews and Gentiles is summed up in ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’. Through Christ, we have an expectation of the glory to be revealed in us in the future.

Colossians 3:4 [NASB]
4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul speaks of the resurrection hope which Christians have, that our body will be sewn in dishonor but raised in glory. We have not only been forgiven our sins, transferred into the kingdom of God, declared to be the sons of God, and given everlasting life in Christ, but given the promise of glory also! Praise the Lord!

28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

Whatever Paul preached, wherever and whenever, he proclaimed Christ. He proclaimed the One who is supreme in creation, the church, redemption, who has purchased us by His blood, and who guarantees our future glory. To admonish is to warn, stimulate, encourage. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 he pleads, and in 2 Corinthians 2:4 and Philippians 3:18 he sheds tears. Paul knew that this Christ is the only hope for every man and so He is presented to all through admonition and teaching. This needed to be done with all wisdom because the goal is so important. Paul (and his fellow-workers) proclaimed Christ that they ‘may present every man complete in Christ’. This ‘complete’ could also be ‘perfect’. This role is usually attributed to Christ (Ephesians 5:27) and God the Father (2 Corinthians 4:14). In God’s good plan the wise faithful proclamation of Christ in the form of admonition and teaching is able to accomplish this goal. What a glorious privilege and responsibility. This is in view of Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:23), as F. F. Bruce states: “it is then that the work of grace in the believer’s life is complete, it is then that perfect conformity to the likeness of Christ is attained”.

29For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Knowing that God has bestowed on him this ministry and that he has a role to play in presenting these believers complete in Christ, Paul says that he labors – literally labor to the point of weariness and exhaustion. However he knows that he is not in this alone. It is also God’s work as seen in Ephesians 5:27 and 2 Corinthians 4:14, and Paul knows that he works according to His power. This power of God is the same power which raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20). Paul records in his letters that his striving included earnest prayers, listening to God, careful planning, letter writing, directing, mentoring, personal witnessing, living as an example. How did Paul accomplish so much? It was Christ in him, God’s power at work.

What does this mean for us? What ministry has God given us? We may not be called as Paul was to proclaim Christ before kings and rulers, but we are called to live excellent lives among the Gentiles (1 Peter 2:12), to go and make disciples, teaching them of Christ (Matthew 28:19), to be subject to our husbands (Colossians 3:18), to do our work heartily as for the Lord (Colossians 3:23) etc. We are called to follow Paul’s example given here. He suffered with rejoicing, knowing what it was achieving. He knew the stewardship God had given him and was seeking to fully carry it out. We need to value the mystery which has been revealed to us, and treasure and study the Word in all its fullness. We need to appreciate the riches of the glory of the mystery which is Christ in us, the hope of glory. We need to proclaim Christ as Paul did, warning, stimulating, encouraging, teaching EVERY man. We need to work hard, to strive and labour, in God’s strength with works within us. Lord help us to this end!

God bless, Taliah.

Colossians 1:15-23

Colossians 1

13For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers of authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.

17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

18He 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.

19For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,

20and 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.

21And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,

22yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach –

23if 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.

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Jesus, the beloved Son of verse 13, is the image of the invisible God. “To say that Christ is the image of God is to say that in Him the nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed – that in Him the invisible has become visible” (F. F. Bruce on Colossians).

This idea of ‘image’ is given more detail in Scripture.

Hebrews 1

1God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

3And 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,

John 1

18No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

John 14

9Jesus 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'?

This speaks of Christ’s divinity, that in seeing one you have seen the other. It is quite clear through the whole Old Testament that God alone is to be worshipped, that YHWH is the only God.

Isaiah 42

8"I am the LORD, that is My name;

I will not give My glory to another,

Nor My praise to graven images.

God will not give His glory to another, yet Christ is the radiance of His glory. How is this possible, how can God allow another being to be spoken of in this way, unless they are one and share the same attributes.

This same Jesus is said to be the firstborn of all creation. What are we to understand this word – ‘firstborn’ – to mean? In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the LXX, the same word is used approximately 130 times. Of these about half refer to the literal physical first-born from the womb. In the other usages we start to see alternative treatments of the word. In Deuteronomy 21:17, Genesis 27, and Genesis 43:33 the firstborn was associated with special rights and privileges. In some instances ‘firstborn’ was given as a title of honour with relation to God’s special choosing, as in Exodus 4:22 for Israel (second born of Abraham), Jeremiah 31:9 for Ephraim (second born to Manasseh) , Psalm 89:27 for David the king (the youngest of his brothers).

So the question remains, when Paul by the inspiration of the Spirit calls Jesus the firstborn of all creation, what does He mean? Was Jesus the first created being of all of creation (as the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe)? When we look at verses 16 and 18 it becomes clear that this word is used as a title to distinguish Him above all of creation as supreme.


16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers of authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.
If Jesus Himself was a creation of God, then what part of creation would that be? This list which Jesus created is all inclusive, and laboriously so. Paul could have said Jesus created all things, but he chose by the inspiration of the Spirit to list these things. Things in heaven, on earth, invisible, visible – is there any realm which is not included? So if Jesus created ALL things, this excludes Him from being a part of that creation. To be the firstborn of all creation thus can be seen to be a title of God’s special choosing of Him ‘so that He himself will come to have first place in everything’ (verse 18).

God is clear in the historical narrative of Moses and the prophecies of Jeremiah that He alone is the Creator, and so by crediting Jesus with creation, the Holy Spirit testifies to Jesus’ divinity.

Genesis 1

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Jeremiah 10

10But the LORD is the true God;

He is the living God and the everlasting King

At His wrath the earth quakes,

And the nations cannot endure His indignation.

11Thus you shall say to them, "The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens."

12It is He who made the earth by His power,

Who established the world by His wisdom;

And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

16The portion of Jacob is not like these;

For the Maker of all is He,

And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;

The LORD of hosts is His name

God the Father and God the Son are intimately linked in 1 Corinthians 8. Whereas in Colossians creation is by, through, and for God the Son; in 1 Corinthians 8 creation is from and for God the Father, and by and through God the Son. This is only consistent when we understand the godhead as a Trinity, one God three persons.

1 Corinthians 8

5For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

6yet 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.

17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Any other so-called gods have no claim to glory or right to worship, for there is One who was before them and who sustains all things. Christ existed before anything else.

John 1

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2He was in the beginning with God.

His power and wisdom are shown as He acts to hold all things together.

18He 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.

Christ is supreme not only in creation but in the church also. The idea of Christ being the head of the body is familiar to us now, but it was peculiar of Paul when he first wrote his letters. He conveys the “picture of Christ’s power, wisdom, life and will directing the body, protecting and nourishing it” (F. F. Bruce on Colossians).

And He has first place in the resurrection from the dead. Again we have the term ‘firstborn’, but this time coupled with ‘beginning’. Many rose from the dead before Christ did (e.g. Lazarus in John 11:44), but it was by the power of Jesus that this was possible. Those who rose again did not rise to eternal life, but perished later. Christ was the first to rise by His own power, vindicating His claims to divinity, and the first to rise again to eternal life. Thus He has the title of being ‘firstborn’; He is the Supreme One who rose from the dead ushering in the new way. It is in the power of Him and His resurrection that we have hope for our own.

1 Corinthians 15

20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

21For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming,

24then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

Paul says that Christ has first place in creation, in the church, in the resurrection – that He has first place in everything. With this in mind, what do other gods have to offer? If the Colossians were ever tempted to follow after another god they only had to look at Christ and see that He was the Supreme One, the First, the only Creator and Sustainer of all things.

19For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,

God was ‘pleased’. It was His foreordained will that Christ should have all the fullness dwell in Him. What was this fullness?

Colossians 2

9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

“All the attributes of God, His Spirit, word, wisdom and glory are disclosed in Him” (F. F. Bruce on Colossians).

20and 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.

The Father was well pleased to send Christ and reconcile us to Him. The question however remains that if all things were by Christ, through and for Christ, why did they need to be reconciled to Him?

Romans 3

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The peace which we have is through the blood of the cross. The cross brings redemption, forgiveness of sins and the right to be a part of the kingdom of God. Praise God!

Colossians 1

13For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

21And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,

Paul speak of this often in his letters, he wants us to know of our former state before God, that we were lost and now we have been found, blind and now we see.

Ephesians 2

1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

2in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

3Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

4But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

5even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

Do we know and rejoice in the change God has wrought in us, or do we not even consider that we were once hostile to God? It is key to the message of the gospel to know our fallen-ness before God, and the hope in Christ.

22yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach –

Praise the Lord for the incarnation!

Romans 8

3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

What we couldn’t do, Christ did – in the flesh. He knows our frame, He knows our temptations, but He lived the perfect life for us.

God was well pleased to send Christ, for He had a distinct purpose – to present (us) before Him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

23if 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.

This is the first statement in the passage which focuses on our response. Everything else has been on who God is, what God has done, what we were like before we came to Him. Now Paul turns to us. Paul says ‘if’. We will stand before God, presented by Christ as holy and blameless and beyond reproach, IF we continue in the faith not moved away. Considering the proceeding 10 verses, when we understand the true gravity of who Christ is, and what He has done, how can we be moved away from the hope found in Him to any other belief which is offered to us? As we saw in Jeremiah 10 any god which did not create the heavens and the earth will perish. We cannot place our hope or trust in any other than Christ who was before all things, created all things, who reconciled us to God and who is our head. Anything else is insufficient, is in subjection to Christ.

Paul wants to make this clear to the Colossians who were being surrounded by all sorts of contrary teachings. We also have a world where every belief is considered equally valid, equally true - ‘if it works for you’. The Word of God is clear, Christ is first in everything. We need to continue in our faith, firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Christ is our hope, so let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith (Hebrews 12:3).

God bless you, and may you be encouraged by Christ, who He is and what He has done. Praise the Lord.