Bible Study Colossians: 1: 15-29

 

A Commentary of the Book of Colossians 

By Dr. Barry L. Jenkins

Text Used: Legacy Standard Bible

Bible Study Colossians: 1: 15-29

Text:

The Firstborn of All Creation

15 [a]Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For [b]in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 And He [c]is before all things,
And in Him all things [d]hold together. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church;
Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For in Him [e]all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in [f]heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, 22 but now He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in [g]the faith firmly grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, [h]was made a [i]minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I [j]was made a minister according to the stewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might [k]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 [l]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. 28 Him we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man [m]with all wisdom, so that we may present every man [n]complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His working, which He works in me in power.

Verse by verse commentary

In verses 15-20, Paul breaks into a doxology to the grandeur and glory of Jesus Christ. Many believe Paul is writing an early Christian hymn. 

Verse 15: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

For Paul, belief in the deity of Christ is practical. Since He is by nature God, Christ reveals the God who is otherwise invisible.  John Calvin wrote that “we must be careful not to look for Him anywhere else, for apart from Christ whatever offers itself to us in the name of God will turn out to be an idol”. We know that God is too awesome to look directly at. No one could see His face and live. However, since Christ was 100% human and 100% Divine, those alive in the first century could behold Him face to face. The Lord Jesus Christ was the physical image of an invisible God. Paul was not saying that Christ was the first born in the time of earth. Used of Christ, the term “firstborn” meant that He has such honor and dignity, not that He was the oldest child in a family. Christ is especially loved by His Father, and all things were created in Him, by Him, and for Him. In the Old Testament, the first born had special privileges. In is in this way Paul uses the word “firstborn.”

Verse 16: “For in 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.”

These are various categories of angels whom Christ created and rules over today. There is no comment regarding whether they are holy or fallen, but He is Lord of both groups. The false teachers had incorporated into their heresy the worship of angels, including the lie that Jesus was one of them, merely a spirit created by God and inferior to Him. Satan has used this deception many times. The lie goes that either Jesus was just a man, or He was only a Spirit, or that he was only a man until His baptism and then he became Divine. The Trinity is essential to salvation. The Father chose His elect, the Son agreed to redeem the elect through the cross, and the Holy Spirit agreed to place this truth into the hearts of the elect. Salvation is a work of the Trinity. Groups that deny the Trinity, e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Oneness Pentecostals, are doomed unless they repent and believe the Gospel. Paul closes the verse stating that Christ is the cause and sustainer of all things created.

Verse 17: “And He is before all things,

And in Him all things hold together.”

The word “is” means has existed prior to to. “Hold” means to endure. It is clear that Paul is making sure that the Colossians understand that Christ is not only the Creator, but also the 

Sustainer. The Lord Jesus Christ is above all and there is nothing above Him.

Verse 18: “And He is the head of the body, the church;

Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Christ is the head of the church. Sadly, most churches in the USA have replaced Him with dreams, visions, spiritual gifts and human reasoning. Christ has caused His Words to be written in a book, the Holy Bible. He has said all He is going to say about how to operate His church. Christ is the first born from the dead and He provides us hope that we will rise again as well. Christ must be first in everything for the believer. He will take no second position. This is another reason why Christ must be Lord of your life if you are going to be converted. If He is not in first place, you are not born again. This is called “Lordship Salvation.” There is no salvation that is not Lordship Salvation.

Verse 19: “For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,”

The words “all the fullness” was likely used by those in the Colossian heresy to refer to divine powers and attributes they believed were divided among various emanations (an abstract but perceptible thing that issues or originates from a source). Paul responded by asserting that the fullness of deity, all the divine powers and attributes, were not spread out among creation, but completely in Christ alone. 

Verse 20: “And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

This is the high point of the hymn. Man’s fall into sin brought with it the corruption of all creation, seen and unseen including man’s free will. Through the Gospel, man can be saved. The Gospel is Christ born of a virgin, crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended into heaven, and His coming again. Christ redeemed the elect through His shed blood. He made peace between God and humankind and the eventual glorification of the created order is guaranteed, and the demonic spirit beings have their powers limited.

Verse 21: “And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds,”

Evil actions begin with thoughts in an evil mind. Paul is showing the link between thoughts and actions. The flesh is pleased to unite with a mind ruined by sin and seeking to violate God’s laws. Paul is making the point that these activities belonged to the Colossians' former lives before salvation, but not part of their current practices.

Verse 22: “but now He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—”

Christ’s death in the flesh on the cross means that the reconciliation God has accomplished is not merely in name only. There is imputed and imparted righteousness. Imputed righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus credited to the Christian, enabling the Christian to be justified; imparted righteousness is what God does in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit after justification, working in the Christian to enable and empower the process of sanctification. Imputed righteousness does not describe our auctions, but rather those of Christ. Imparted righteousness is a synergistic approach that actually makes us more Christlike everyday.

Verse 23: “if indeed you continue in the faith firmly grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

Saving faith is a faith that perseveres and endures. For most of my Christian life, I have been in denominations that were Arminian. Those groups made man’s free will their God and believed that since you were in control of your salvation, you could choose to be unsaved. Man’s will became the most powerful force in the universe. I have repented of those heresies. Let me be as clear as I can be, if you are genuinely saved, you will persevere and endure. You will not lose your salvation. How can I be so sure? Because it was not you that saved you. God the Father chose His children before Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden. Revelations 17: 8 reads: “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.” Notice when the saved person had his or her name written in the book of life. It was written before you were born. Paul is making clear that your faith will make it to the end of your life. Because it was God’s choice to save you before the foundation of the world.

Verse 24: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of His body, which is the church,”

Remembering the context of this passage, which stresses the total sufficiency of Christ, as well as what he previously wrote, Paul does not mean that Christ’s saving work on the cross is deficient in any way. Rather, because the church is called to suffer for Christ, there is a divinely appointed requisite of suffering to be endured by Christians. Paul may also have in view here the sufferings which will accompany the tribulation. It is heretical to tell someone, “Come to Jesus and all your problems will be solved.” No my friend, you can expect more problems from Satan, his demons and the world. They hate you and will try to destroy you. However, as the previous explanation states, because it is God Who saved you, you will preserve and make heaven. Suffering is part of the Christian life, notwithstanding what the rich prosperity preachers say on television or the Internet.

Verse 25: “of which I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,”

A steward was a slave who managed his master’s household, supervising the other servants, and handling business and financial affairs. Paul viewed himself as a slave to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a slave to our Lord. We are to view our efforts to promote the Gospel the same way. We are slaves. This is not just for ministers, but for the entire body of Christ.

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

This refers to the truth of the Gospel message, hidden until Christ’s First Advent, but revealed for the first time to the saints in the New Testament. The Old Testament saints had prophecies but the believers today have the complete Word of God and things hidden now are made plain. There are no excuses. We are so blessed to be alive and have an understanding of Christ’s message. But, to whom much is given, much is required. We are responsible for taking the true Gospel message to the entire world.

Verse 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.”

The Old Testament prophecies predicted the coming of the Messiah and that the Gentiles would partake of salvation, but it did not reveal that the Messiah would actually live in each member of His redeemed church, made up mostly of Gentiles. While the Old Testament saints had the prophecies, there is no way they could have understood them the way we can with almost 2000 years since Christ had His first advent. In Hebrew prophecy, you treat it like the way you row a boat. When rowing, you look at the direction you are coming from and not where you're going. Many times things make more sense with hindsight. Many times I have said the phrase, “So that is what that meant.” Often, we understand what God was doing after we see the effects of His doing.

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

Paul is reminding the Colossians of the scope of Christ’s Lordship and the way Christ’s redemptive work has come to impact on their lives. No one is the same when they are born again. I have jokingly remarked it is like a train wreck. By this I mean, when you see a train wreck you cannot help but notice the crash. There is a difference in the train and what it looks like. In the same way, when someone is saved, they are different. They are not the same person and it is noticeable. God’s redemptive plan will bring the person to completion. The King James Version uses the word “perfect.” This does not mean sinless perfection, but rather a state of completeness in Christ. This means that person sees Christ as 100% in charge of his salvation. It is all God and zero man. Salvation is of the Lord. (Jonah 2:9)

Verse 29: “For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His working, which He works in me in power.”

This verse speaks of the sanctification process. Paul states he labors and strives. He does so by cooperating with the Holy Spirit when the Spirit works in him. Whereas salvation is 100% God, sanctification is synergistic with God and man working together. Man responds to the grace placed in his new heart in faith and repentance and as he does so, he will be complete in Christ.