Colossians 1 — That in All Things He Might Have the Preeminence
Paul thanks God for the Colossians' faith and love. He prays they be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Then he sets forth the supreme greatness of Christ — the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the Creator of all things, the head of the church, in whom all fullness dwells, who has reconciled all things through the blood of His cross. Paul rejoices in his sufferings for the church.
“That in all things he might have the preeminence.”
— Colossians 1:18
- v.1-8 Thanksgiving for the Colossians
- v.9-14 Prayer for spiritual knowledge
- v.15-20 The supremacy of Christ
- v.21-29 Reconciliation and Paul's ministry
The image of the invisible God. Christ is the visible representation of the invisible God. John 1:18 — the only begotten Son... hath declared him. To see Christ is to see God (John 14:9).
The firstborn of every creature. Not first created — the next verse says He created all things. Firstborn (Greek prototokos) denotes rank and priority, the heir and head over all creation, not chronological origin. He is before all and over all.
By him were all things created. The full deity of Christ — He is the Creator of everything, including the angelic hierarchies (thrones, dominions, principalities, powers). The Colossian heresy exalted angels; Paul declares Christ their Creator.
All things were created by him, and for him. Christ is both the agent and the goal of creation. Everything exists through Him and exists for His glory. The universe is Christ-centered by design.
He is before all things — He preexisted creation. By him all things consist — Greek sunistemi, to hold together, to cohere. Christ is the cohesive force that sustains the universe moment by moment.
Hebrews 1:3 — upholding all things by the word of his power. The atoms hold together, the stars keep their courses, the laws of physics remain constant — all by the active sustaining power of Christ. Remove Him and creation would dissolve.
The head of the body, the church. Christ's relationship to the church is organic — He is the head, the church the body. The body is directed by, dependent on, and united to its head.
That in all things he might have the preeminence. The purpose statement of the whole passage. In creation, in resurrection, in the church — Christ is to be first in everything. The chapter exists to establish His absolute supremacy.
All fulness — Greek pleroma, the totality of divine being and power. Colossians 2:9 makes it explicit — in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Christ is not a partial revelation of God but the complete one.
The Colossian false teachers spoke of pleroma as distributed among various spiritual beings. Paul declares it dwells wholly in Christ. There is no fragment of deity to be sought elsewhere; all of it is in Him.
Peace through the blood of his cross. The reconciliation is accomplished by the cross. The same Christ who created all things reconciles all things — and the means is His blood.
The cosmic scope — whether things in earth, or things in heaven. The reconciliation Christ accomplished addresses not just individual souls but the whole alienated cosmos, ultimately restoring all things to their proper relationship to God.
Christ in you, the hope of glory. The mystery now revealed — Christ indwelling the believer. Not just Christ for us (the cross) but Christ in us (the indwelling). This is the believer's hope of future glory.
Among the Gentiles. The scandal and the glory — Christ now indwells Gentile believers, not just the covenant nation. The mystery hidden in past ages is the inclusion of all peoples in the indwelling life of Christ.
Does Christ have the preeminence in all things in your life — or only in the religious compartment? The whole point of Colossians 1 is that the One who created and sustains the universe deserves first place in everything. Your work, your money, your relationships, your leisure, your ambitions — examine where Christ is not yet preeminent, and surrender that territory to its rightful King.
Colossians 1:15-20 is one of the towering Christological passages of Scripture. It establishes Christ as the image of God, the Creator and sustainer of all things, the head of the church, the firstborn from the dead, the fullness of deity, the reconciler of all things by His cross. The Colossians were being tempted to add other spiritual powers and philosophies to Christ. Paul's answer is simply to display the immensity of who Christ is. When you truly see Him, you stop looking for supplements. He is enough — preeminent in all things.
Two kingdoms, two domains. The believer has been delivered from one and translated into another. Translated — Greek methistemi, to transfer, the word used for relocating a population from one country to another.
Conversion is a change of kingdoms, not just a change of behavior. The believer no longer belongs to the domain of darkness; he has been moved, citizenship and all, into the kingdom of Christ. The transfer is already accomplished — past tense.