The Image and the Firstborn (Col. 1:15)

25/02/2007

After thanking God for them (1:3-8), and praying for them (1:9-14), Paul begins to exalt Jesus in a hymn that continues on from verses 12-14. This portion of Scripture (1:15-20), is one of the high points of Christology in the New Testament. Sven Soderlund writes, “In [Paul's] letters theology is born in and flows out of prayer and often returns to prayer.”

Paul calls Jesus “the image of the invisible God” and “the firstborn over all creation.” These two descriptions or names for Jesus signify how He is related to His Father. The first name can be translated as “the exact likeness of the unseen God” (AMP). F.F. Bruce writes, “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.”

In Christ, the God who is invisible to the human eye has become known to us. All that the Father is, the Son became in human flesh. John writes, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (Jn. 1:18; cf. Heb. 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:4-6). As Paul will tell us, in Christ “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).

He is called “the firstborn over all creation.” In the Jewish family, the firstborn sons was given “a special place in the family” (J.B. Lightfoot). The firstborn son was given the responsibility of managing his father’s house and was the heir of his land and possessions. This title has been given to Jesus as the beloved Son of the Father who has been given all the kingdoms of the earth (cf. Matt. 3:17; Col. 1:13).

This title almost certainly comes from the Psalms where God speaks about David as the king of Israel. He says, “Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:27). It is important to see that He is not of creation, but He is over creation. Jesus was not created, but He has been given the privilege of ruling over creation as the worthy Lamb of God. If all things were created by Him, then how could He Himself be a created one? He is the “supreme owner and master of creation” (Soderlund).

There are 2 comments in this article:

  1. 5/03/2007ruth say:

    I really do think that your blog is good…it’s a commentary in itself from someone who truly has a relationship with christ, who lives a life of prayer & fasting, although i don’t really know you i believe it! and that alone will bear much fruit. keep the blog up and keep spreading good fruit! these are things worth reading!

  2. 5/03/2007Ian say:

    Thanks Ruth. That is encouraging. I’ve been consumed with the other commentary (for school), so I haven’t been able to write as much as I would like on this here blog thing. But after the project is done, I will hopefully be able to devote more time to it.

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