THE COSMIC CHRIST

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father."
Colossians 1:1-2

Colossae was a city of mercantile importance on the Lycus River, about 12 miles from Laodicea. Most likely the church had been founded by Epaphras. Paul had probably never visited there. The modern town of Chonas is at the Colossian ruins.

Apparently, Epaphras and his colleagues went to Rome around 60 A.D. to see the Apostle Paul about problems in the Colossian church. Paul was in the middle of a two-year imprisonment in Rome, so he dealt with the problems through a letter he sent to Colosse with Tychicus and Onesimus.

The problem in the Colossian church was the teaching of false doctrine. The heresy would be given the name of "Gnosticsm" in the second century because of its emphasis of redemption through knowledge. The heresy could adapt itself to Jewish, Christian or pagan religions as the ocassion required. General ideas included metaphysical dualism, mediating beings, and the redemption through knowledge. These people taught that because man was bound in the world of evil matter, he could approach God only through mediating angelic beings. By the aid of these powers and through allegorical and mythical interpretations of the sacred writings, spiritual enlightenment could be achieved and one's redemption from the world of sin and matter could be assured.

In a strategy used elsewhere, Paul took the terminology of the errorists to attack their teaching and, in the process, presented the Christian Church with the doctrine of "The Cosmic Christ."

The first two chapters of Colossians are doctrinal (what to believe). The last two chapters are practical (what to do with what you believe). Its dominant theme is the fullness and pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, and the full completeness of Christian believers in Him, as against the mysticisms and asceticisms enjoined by the philosophies and traditions of men.

The Supremacy of Christ

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firsborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Colossians 1:15-20

Here are some basic observations of this portion of Scripture:

Important Words: image, invisible, firstborn (2), all (7), creation, created (2), before, head, beginning, supremacy, fullness, reconcile
Pronouns: He (5), him (6), his (2), himself -- 12 of the pronoun refer to to Christ. This paragraph centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Verse 15

"He" is Christ Jesus.

"image" is eikon . It means "likeness, representation, manifestation."

"invisible" is aoratou . It means "unseen."

Jesus is the "firstborn" over all creation. Though the word "over" is not in the original text, it does help us to understand the meaning of the word. Dr. Wuest wrote: "The Greek word implied two things: priority to all creation and sovereignty over all creation." ("Word Studies in the Greek New Testament," Dr. Kenneth Wuest, 1953, Eerdman's Publishing) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states: "Christ, as the 'firstborn of all creation,' is not only prior to it in time, but above it in power and authority...it denotes His status and character and not His origin; the context does not admit the idea that He is part of the created universe."

The term "firstborn" is used in relation to Christ in five passages:

Colossians 1:15 where His eternal relationship with the Father is in view
Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5 in reference to His resurrection
Romans 8:29 for His position in relationship to the Church
Hebrews 1:6 where it speaks about His advent

Bishop J.B. Lightfoot wrote in his work "Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: "The Person of Christ is described first in relation more especially to Deity, and secondly, in relation more especially to created things. The fundamental conception of the Logos involves the idea of mediation between God and creation. A perverted view respecting the nature of the mediation between the two lay at the root of the heretical teaching at Colossae, and required to be met by the true doctrine of Christ as the Eternal Logos."

Verse 16

"For" should be "because."

"By him" is more correctly translated "in him" because it is locative of sphere rather than instrumental. Dr. Marvin Vincent in "Word Studies in the New Testament" wrote: "In Him, within the sphere of His personality, resides the Creative will and the Creative energy, and in that sphere the creative acts takes place. Thus creation is dependent on Him."

"Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible." Paul is taking all of creation here: physical and spiritual, everywhere.

"Whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities." Paul aims these words at the heresy. Dr. Vincent wrote: "The passage is aimed at the angel worship of the Colossians; showing that while they have been discussing the various grades of angels which fill the space between God and men, and depending on them as media of communion with God, they have degraded Christ who is above them all, and is the sole mediator."

Dr. Earl Ellis wrote: "Whatever cosmic powers there may be, they have nothing to offer or deny a Christian; in Christ he has all things."

Verse 17

Christ is "before" all things. He is in front of, prior to, superior to all things. The heresy made Jesus lower or at the most only equal with other mediating powers.

"In him all things hold together." This means they "stand or are compacted together" in Him. Jesus is the Cosmic Glue Who holds everything together! Bishop Lightfoot wrote: "He is the principle of cohesion in the universe. He impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos (an ordered system) instead of a chaos (an unformed mass). Thus (to take one instance) the action of gravitation, which keeps in their places things fixed and regulates the motions of things moving, is an expression of His mind."

Verse 18

"And" connects the truths about Christ. Just as Jesus is Lord and Soverign of the physical creation, so He is Lord and Sovereign of the new spiritual creation, the Church.

Christ is the "beginning": the chief, the origin. He is the firstborn from among the dead. That refers to His resurrection from the dead. He is first in the physical creation which began at the beginning. He is also first in the spiritual creation which began at the resurrection. In all things Christ is first!

"so that" speaks of purpose

"in everything" speaks of sphere

"he might have supremacy" speaks of position (supremacy is "first in rank and influence")

Jesus is first in everything and should be acknowledged as such. He is Supreme!

Verse 19

"For" is "because"

God was pleased to have all His Fullness dwell in Christ. God thought well of having His completeness housed permanently in Christ.

The heretical teachers of Colossae used the term "fullness" in a technical sense to express the sum-total of the divine powers and attributes. They believed that mediatorial beings had some of God's powers, but in diluted form. They were only partial and blurred images. They ranked Christ with these inferior images of the divine. However, Paul wrote that Christ is the likeness of God and that all the divine powers and attributes were housed permanently in Him.

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority."
Colossians 2:8-10

Verse 20

"reconcile" means "to change completely"

"making peace" means "binding together, harmonizing"

The false teachers at Colossae aimed at affecting a partial reconciliation between God and man through the interposition of angelic mediators. The Apostle spoke of an absolute and complete reconciliation of universal nature to God, effected through the mediation of the Incarnate Word. (Hebrews chapters 9 & 10 have great insights into how the Blood of Christ made peace with God.)

Application

We can apply Colossians 1:15-20 to our lives and practice in at least two ways:

Be aware of any false teaching and either stay away from it or put it out of your midst, if it's in your church
In light of Who Jesus is, obey His every command.

Christians around the world are surrounded by false teaching and heresy today. Thousands of religious groups place Christ Jesus into a realm that is inferior to He really is. Paul's warning to Christians of the 1st Century A.D. is still true today as we get ready to enter the 21st Century A.D. We must be wise and on our guard at all times.

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Last Updated: 12/20/1999