Well, this post will wrap up our study in Colossians…but what a great way to end a study. What we have seen, thus far, within this chapter is that Christ is presented and described as:
1. The Image of the Invisible God
2. The Firstborn of Creation
3. The Creator
4. Before All Things
5. The Sustainer
Within this concluding verse of our study, we will see Christ described as the “head of the body, the church” as well as “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (1:18). I know that this may seem like a lot to take in at once, but we will break this down into more consumable and applicable pieces.
To begin this verse, Paul describes Christ as being the “head of the body.” There are a couple of interesting aspects to note about this particular section. First, Paul uses the metaphor of the “the body” to refer to that of the church. This is something that is not uncommon in Paul’s writing, as it can be seen and referenced in various passages throughout Colossians and Ephesians (Colossians 1:24; 2:19; Ephesians 1:24; 4:4; 4:15-16; 5:23). It has been said that the exact derivation of this metaphor is not entirely known for sure. Regardless of its derivation and influence, Paul is pretty clear with his point. What he is implying is that the “church” is not simply to be contained to the local body of believers, but that the “ekklesia” is to denote the world-wide body of believers that acknowledge Christ as Lord.
The second interesting aspect of this particular phrase is that Paul references Christ to be the “head.” This has significant meaning; in the ancient world, the “head” was seen to be the governing member of the body. Further, the “head” was seen as that which controlled the body, provided life, and provided sustenance for the body. By Paul stating that Christ was the “head of the body” he was implying that Christ was the center, source, direction, and sustenance of the church. This specific phrasing could have been provoked by the false teaching that was prevalent within the Colossian church. Much of their teaching was focused around seeing a spiritual experience in things outside of Christ alone. Paul was refuting this teaching and stating that Christ was the true and only source for the “body.”
Following this, Christ is described as being the “beginning.” This verse parallels with what was mentioned in verse 15, as Christ is described as being the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The basic idea that Paul is attempting to bring out through this word is that Christ is the beginning; He is the source or the beginning of new creation. The same word that is used here in this passage can also be found in Revelation 3:14 as John states that Christ is the beginning of God’s creation.
Another aspect of this verse that is worth noting is that Christ is described as the “firstborn from the dead” (vs. 18). This portion of the verse seems to parallel with that of verse 15, as well; specifically, Christ being the “firstborn of all creation.” With this being said, this verse could denote that Christ is of highest rank to the entire created world; more precisely, of all that have ever been raised from the dead, Christ is superior and in higher rank. Obviously, there have been others that have been raised from the dead, but of all the individuals that have ever been raised Christ was the only one that was raised to immortality. All of the others that have experienced resurrection have also experienced death after their resurrection. This is not true of Christ, as He was raised never to die again.
Concluding this verse is a phrase that, I believe, puts everything into perspective. Paul states “so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything” (vs. 18). Specifically, this is in reference to what has been mentioned previously, that Christ is the “firstborn from among the dead.” What this can imply is that a result of Christ’s resurrection is His supremacy in everything. Paul was essentially stating that Christ was to be held in a place of supremacy higher than anyone or anything. This included all men, angels, and false gods; he was debunking all of the false teachings that had been presented by the Colossians. Even more directly, Paul was implying that Christ was to be preeminent, personally, within the hearts, minds, thoughts, and desires of the Colossians.
The message that Paul was delivering is true and very applicable for us today; Christ is to be preeminent in everything…in every area of our lives. If this is to happen, it means that we are to personally forfeit this position. Let’s be honest; this is an area that no one has perfected. No one has perfected this because it is one of the hardest things that we must do. We all feel the pull for self-entitlement in many different areas…our titles, jobs, relationships, and even our ministries. As we have seen through Colossians, Christ is so much more than we will ever be; He is so much God and we are so much fallen. Ephesians 2 teaches that we were dead in our sin, but even when we were dead in our sin, Christ made salvation available (2:1-5). Even logically speaking, Christ deserves this place in our lives as we are only what we are because of Him.
It is my prayer that we would willing submit to Christ’s preeminence as we allow Him to have that place of superiority within our lives. May we willingly humble ourselves before the Creator of the world and willingly lay our lives down for His service out of a heart of gratitude and thankfulness for who He is and what He has done for us.
Happy Reading,
CBMaxwell
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