Col. 1:15-23; Christ in Us and We in the World

"15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— 23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel."

Introduction

This remarkable Christ hymn (15-20), followed in its wake by Paul's address to the Colossians (21-23), is one of the two most memorable such hymns in the NT. The other, in Phil. 2:5-12, stresses the self-emptying of Christ, the renunciation of divine prerogatives in order to identify himself with us on earth. It ends with Christ's exaltation over all. This hymn, in contrast, emphasizes the cosmic reach of Christ's Lordship, and in striking and evocative language places Christ back on the throne which he left in Phil. 2 to accomplish the work of redemption. Seen in this light, Col. 1 "fulfills" or "completes" the movement of Phil. 2.

This passage can profitably be studied under two heads: (1) the "Christ" work (15-20); and the (2) "You" work (21-23). Some denominations include the rest of the chapter in the reading, which will emphasize the "Paul" work. The first two are rich; they can easily take all our "space" here.

I. Christ In and Over All (vv. 15-20)

Four things about Christ are stressed in this hymn: (a) He is the Image of God; (b) He is responsible for Creation; (c) All things hold together in him; and (d) God's fullness is in him. (a) The phrase that Christ is the "image" (Greek--eikon) of God is suggestive. In antiquity the "image" of a ruler was his picture on a coin. The coin made the ruler visible and "omnipresent" among his subjects. It "stood for" the ruler. That is what is being said about Christ. He bears the very stamp of God, the image or likeness of the divine. We see Christ and we know something about God. In this connection I discovered something about the word "vicarious" this week. We speak of Christ's "vicarious" sacrifice for us, meaning it is "substitutionary." We speak of "vicarious pleasures" we might get in life through seeing our kids perform in ways we wish we could have or could still perform. The origin of vicarious, however, is in the theological realm, as someone taking the place of another. Behind "vicarious" exists the word "vicar," and a "vicar" is one who is an "earthly representative of God or Christ." This terminology is very old, going back at least to Chaucer and Wycilffe in the 14th century. Thus, we have "pictures" out there of what it means for someone to stand in the place of someone else or, in our Col. 1 word, to be the "image" of another. Christ is that for God. We see him, and we see God. The Gospel of John stresses that point, also. It is as deeply rooted a concept in Christian theology as anything else.

(b) By stressing that creation took place in Christ (v. 16), the author is again showing that earliest Christianity had a vigorous understanding of Christ's pre-existent power--his power before his earthly life. It doesn't actually say that Christ created things but that all things were formed "in him." It is like the Psalmist's talking about the fact that he was secretly formed in the bowels of the earth (Ps. 139:15). But what is significant about the creation language is that the hymn writer (if it is not Paul) then enumerates the things that were created "in him": thrones and dominions and rules and authorities. To us this language probably means next to nothing, since we don't have beings that constitute these categories, but in ancient Colossae and in the intellectual world of the 1st century this made sense. We only need read some of the gnostic writings from slightly later than the epistle to realize that these were the realms or the inferior divinities themselves which occupied the space between the supreme God and this (lower) creation. Already in the hymn is a bit of polemic against the style of thought that would eventually be condemned by the church. Intermediate powers, powers that determine our lives (and therefore must be invoked or served), are said to be created "in Christ," and thus are completely subjected to him.

(c) The concept I like the best from this section of Col. 1, however, is how all things "hold together" in Christ (v. 17). The verb used here (sunistemi) has several meanings, but the two that are most relevant for this passage are "put together or establish" and "continue, endure, exist." Indeed, the standard New Testament dictionary (Bauer, trs. by Arndt and Gingrich) says that this passage the meanings are probably "blended." Thus, the hymn stresses that in Christ everything originated with him and that they continue in him. It is a bold and even breathtaking assertion, and our life in the world seems to belie it in so many ways. We witness the world as broken, fragmented, pained, but the eyes of faith see it as being held together by the sinews of Christ's caring love. Rather than depressing us, this ought to stimulate our engagement with this world, to try to figure out how, indeed, Christ's arms embrace it today.

(d) Then, there is the emphasis on "all the fullness" dwelling in Christ (v. 19). Again, the word translated "fullness" (pleroma) is a term that will eventually receive lots of attention in Gnostic theology. In Gnostic theology, the "fullness" is the entire universe, the world in which the powers and authorities and rulers operate. So, not only is Christ said to be the source of these entities, the one in whom they were formed, but he is said to have the entire fullness of the universe dwell in him. The whole Gnostic or protognostic theology, which developed specialized terminology and secret rituals, will be completely unnecessary for the Christian to whom Paul writes because Christ has "covered" all these things in his own person.

Why make life more theologically complex than necessary when Christ is the one who brings all these things together in himself? Paul's exhortation through this hymn is a wonderful reminder of the simplicity and power of the Gospel of Christ.

II. "And You" (vv. 21-23)

The Gospel doesn't just consist of teaching about Christ--it also includes words to us. Three things that come out of these three verses are: (a) the "distance" we have traveled in Christ (from "far off" to "near"); (b) the memorable alliteration in the Greek of v.22; and (c) the "foundation-type" language of v. 23. Again, a very brief word about each will suffice.

(a) The language of reconciliation in v. 21 and the beginning of v. 22 is very visual. Paul uses the preposition "apo" (from, or away from) in both operative verbs. We were at one time "far off." Indeed, the first verb emphasizes not simply our distance from God but also our estrangement. We were simply "other" with respect to God. But now, in v. 22, we have been "reconciled" to God. The verb apokatalasso literally means we have been "exchanged back" to God, a sort of transaction where we are the ultimate winners. Thus, we were far away but have been brought close, all with the same preposition.

(b) Perhaps encouraged, or even emboldened, by his use of language, Paul then carefully uses alliteration in v. 22 to stress our new condition in Christ. Each word begins with alpha and the threefold chain of "holy" and "blameless" and "irreproachable" cannot quickly be broken. It is, as we might say, "the 'a's' have it!'

(c) Finally, he concludes with the notion that this life is ours if we stay rooted and steadfast. The word translated "steadfast" here is the same word Paul uses in I Cor 15:58 to express Christian confidence in our ethical action once we know that the resurrection of the dead and Christ's resurrection assures ours. The word translated "securely established" here is from the Greek vocabulary of construction. It is the term for "foundation," the lowest but most important floor in order for the building to hold. Thus, all things are ours in Christ (a similar thought to Rom. 8), if we remain in faith, founded and steadfast and not shaken from our hope.

Conclusion

Paul has taken us on a linguistic journey of humongous proportions in these few verses. By patiently paying attention to all the words, in the context in which they were written, we see the great scope of Christ's work and life for us. Our lives will never be the same if we embrace this Christ.

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