1:16 False teachers use verse
15 (especially in the
KJV) to teach that the Lord Jesus was a created being. Error can usually be refuted from the very passage of Scripture which the cultists use. That is the case here. Verse
16 states conclusively that the Lord Jesus is not a creature, but the very Creator. In this verse we learn that
all things—the whole universe of things—
were created not only
by Him but
through Him and for Him. Each of these prepositions conveys a different thought. First of all, we read that
by Him all things were created. Here the thought is that the power to create was in His Being. He was the Architect. Later in the verse we learn that
all things were created through Him. This speaks of Him as the Agent in creation. He was the Person of the Godhead through whom the creative act was performed. Also, all things were created
for Him. He is the One for whom all things were created, the goal of creation.Paul goes to great lengths to emphasize that
all things were created through Christ, whether things
in heaven, or things
on earth. This leaves no loopholes for anyone to suggest that although He created some things, He Himself was created originally.
The apostle then goes on to state that the Lord's creation included things
visible and things
invisible. The word
visible needs no explanation, but doubtless the Apostle Paul realized that when he said
invisible he would arouse our curiosity. Therefore, he proceeds to give a break-down of what he means by things
invisible. They include
thrones, dominions, principalities, and
powers. We believe that these terms refer to angelic beings, although we cannot distinguish between the different ranks of these intelligent beings.
The Gnostics taught that there were various ranks and classes of spirit beings between God and matter, and that Christ belonged to one of these classes. In our day the Spiritists claim that Jesus Christ is an advanced spirit of the sixth sphere. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that before our Lord came into the world, He was a created angel and none other than the archangel Michael! Here Paul vigorously refutes such absurd notions by stating in the clearest possible terms that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator of angels—in fact, of all beings, whether
visible or
invisible.
1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Paul says, "He
is before all things," not "He
was before all things." The present tense is often used in the Bible to describe the timelessness of Deity. The Lord Jesus said, for instance: "Before Abraham was, I AM" (
John 8:58).
Not only did the Lord Jesus exist before there was any creation, but also
in Him all things consist. This means that He is the Sustainer of the universe and the Source of its perpetual motion. He controls the stars and the sun and the moon. Even while He was here on earth He was the One who was controlling the laws by which our universe functions in an orderly manner.
1:18 The dominion of the Lord Jesus not only covers the natural universe, but it also extends to the spiritual realm.
He is the head of the body, the church. All believers in the Lord Jesus during this dispensation are formed into what is known as
the body of Christ, or
the church. Just as a human body is a vehicle by which the person expresses himself, so the Body of Christ is that vehicle which He has on earth by which He chooses to express Himself to the world. And
He is the head of that
body. The head speaks of guidance, dictation, control. He occupies the place of
pre-eminence in the church.
He is
the beginning. We understand this to mean
the beginning of the new creation (see
Rev. 3:14), the source of spiritual life. This is further explained by the use of the expression
the firstborn from the dead. Here again we must be careful to emphasize that this does not mean that the Lord Jesus was the first to rise from the dead. There were cases of resurrection in the
OT as well as in the
NT. But the Lord Jesus was the first to rise from the dead
to die no more, He was the first to rise with a glorified body, and He rose as the Head of a new creation. His resurrection is unique, and is the pledge that all who trust in Him will also rise. It proclaims Him as supreme in the spiritual creation.
Alfred Mace put it well:
Christ cannot be second anywhere. He is "firstborn of every creature," because He has created everything (
Col. 1:15,
16). He is also firstborn from the dead in connection with a redeemed and heavenly family. Thus creation and redemption hand the honors of supremacy to Him because of Who He is and of what He has done; "that in all things He might have the pre-eminence." He is first everywhere.
The Lord Jesus has thus a double pre-eminence—first in creation, and then in the church. God has decreed that in
all things HE may have the preeminence. What an answer this is to those who, in Paul's day (and our own), would seek to rob Christ of His deity, and to make of Him only a created being, however exalted!
As we read
that in all things He may have the preeminence, it is only proper that we should ask ourselves, "Does He have the preeminence in my life?"
1:19 Darby translates verse
19 as follows: "For in Him all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell." The King James tradition could make it sound as if at some point in time the Father (notice italics for words not in the Greek) was pleased to make all fullness dwell in the Son. The real meaning is that
the fullness of the Godhead always dwelt in Christ.
Gnostic heretics taught that Christ was a kind of "halfway house" to God, a necessary link in the chain. But there were other, better links on ahead. "Go on from Him," they urged, "and you will reach the fullness." "No," Paul answers, "Christ is Himself the complete fullness!"
All fullness
dwells in Christ. The word for
dwell here means to dwell permanently, and not simply to visit temporarily.
1:20 Verse
19 is connected with verse
20 as follows: "For it pleased
the Father by Him (Christ)
to reconcile all things to Himself... having made peace through the blood of His cross." In other words, it was not only the Godhead's good pleasure that all fullness should dwell in Christ (
v. 19), but also that Christ should
reconcile all things to Himself.
Believer's Bible Commentary: A Thorough, Yet Easy-to-Read Bible Commentary That Turns Complicated Theology Into Practical Understanding.
