Yesterday I preached from Colossians 1:15-23, an absolutely glorious passage and one in which you could easily spend multiple weeks without exhausting everything it has to say about the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are a few issues and topics I would have liked to spend more time on that didn't make it into the sermon.
The firstborn over creation - verse 15
That's the way our church Bible (NIV) translates this phrase, in line with various other English translations (e.g., CSB). I was aware, though, that people using other translations (e.g., ESV) might be reading 'firstborn of creation'. Both legitimate translations. Sometimes verses like this will be picked up by movements which subscribe to heretical views of Christ - for example, Jehovah's Witnesses, who hold something very like the ancient Arian heresy. In this view, the Son of God is a created being, albeit the first and most highly exalted creature. 'Firstborn of creation' certainly sounds like it leans that way! However, the very next verse makes it clear that every created thing was created in, through and for the Son - placing him very clearly with God the Father as the Creator. Some of our English translations try to avoid the confusion by translating 'over creation'; this is not an attempt to be deceptive, but reflects the background to Paul's use of this title in, for example, Psalm 89:27, where the Davidic King of Israel is given the title of God's firstborn to reflect his rule as the greatest of the kings of the earth. To be the firstborn of creation is indeed to be supreme over creation - not as the greatest creature but as the great Creator.
All the fullness - verse 19
All God's fullness dwelt in Christ - that, of course, makes sense, since Christ himself was the eternal Son of God. But doesn't God dwell fully in every believer by the Holy Spirit? Yes, he does - but not in this way. In Christ, we see the personal union of human and divine nature; he is truly God in the flesh. And in fact his humanity has no independent existence - it is not like there was a human being called Jesus, who was subsequently indwelt or taken over by the Son of God. No, the fullness of God dwelt in Christ in an utterly unique way, such that his whole life was the life of the eternal Son lived out in our flesh. On top of that, Christ in his human nature received the Spirit without measure, whereas believers, it seems, can be filled to a greater or lesser extent by the Spirit. (It is hard to explain exactly what that can mean, since the Spirit can not be split up into parts, or be partially present; perhaps we should think of it in terms of the human experience?) Moreover, our being filled with the Spirit is dependent on his fullness - he is the original and the ongoing power of our fullness.
The interplay between the universal and the particular
Christ is supreme over all creation (universal), but he is specifically head of his church (particular). In Christ all things are reconciled to God, in heaven and on earth (universal), but to continue to enjoy that reconciliation in their own lives the Colossians believers must persevere in their trust in Christ (particular). It seems very important to me that we not underemphasise one or the other of these angles. If we lay all our stress on the universal, we might end up denying the importance of the church, and we may well end up teaching that everyone will be saved no matter what - a viewpoint which is at odds with the general perspective of Scripture. If, on the other hand, we only talk about the particular, we run the risk of becoming quite narrow, missing the doctrine of creation (or at least missing its link to the gospel in Christ), and only valuing 'churchy' activities; we might also make the gospel quite individualistic, as if everything in the end depended on our decision. We need to say both that Christ is universally Lord and reconciler, and that he is particularly Lord in his church and invites particular faith.
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