The Unseen God Made Visible

Draft, under review

Colossians 1:15–20

15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.

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

18And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,

20and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

Berean Standard Bible. Read the full chapter

Reflection

Paul is writing to a young church that he warns about empty philosophies and the worship of angels, teachings that would crowd Christ out (Col 2:8, 18). His answer is one of the highest descriptions of Jesus anywhere in Scripture.

Christ is the visible image of the God no eye can see (Col 1:15). God has never been seen by human eyes, yet the Son has made Him known (John 1:18). If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus (John 14:9).

He is also the firstborn over all creation (Col 1:15). Paul immediately explains what he means. Everything was made in Him, through Him and for Him, above and below, seen and unseen (Col 1:16). He existed before anything else, and He keeps all of it in being (Col 1:17). So firstborn here speaks of rank and inheritance, not of being created. He is not the first thing God made; He is the One through whom everything was made (John 1:3). Elsewhere God calls David His firstborn in the sense of the highest king (Ps 89:27).

Then Paul moves from creation to the church and the cross. Christ leads His church as its head, and He leads the way out of death into resurrection life, so that He holds first place in everything (Col 1:18). All the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Him, and through Him God reconciles all things, making peace by the blood of His cross (Col 1:19–20).

The One who holds the galaxies together is the One who bled for you. He is not too small to save you, and not too great to care for you (Col 1:21–22).

Word study: verified (STEPBible)

eikon (Greek, Strong's G1504): image, likeness (Col 1:15). The same word describes Christ in 2 Cor 4:4, and believers being renewed in God's image in Col 3:10. In the same verse, prototokos (firstborn, G4416) is applied to Christ again in Col 1:18 as the firstborn from the dead.

Cross-reference trail

  1. John 1:1-3: The Word through whom all things were made.
  2. Heb 1:2-3: The exact imprint of God's nature.
  3. Ps 89:27: Firstborn as the highest rank.
  4. 2 Cor 4:4-6: God's glory in the face of Christ.
  5. Col 2:9-10: The fullness of deity in bodily form.

Go deeper

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You hold all things together, and You made peace for me by Your cross. Have first place in my life.

Go deeper