COLOSSIANS 1:15-20
By Juan Baixeras
These verses are considered by many clear proof that Jesus is God, the second member of the Trinity. The main reason being they say, is that these verses claim that everything was created by Jesus, and since God is attributed with creation in the Old Testament, Jesus must therefore be God. There are also a couple of other minor reasons that will also be addressed. This reasoning is extremely flawed. These verses have in some cases been mistranslated and in most cases been misinterpreted. When they are used in support of the Doctrine of the Trinity, they are in all cases taken out of context.
Let us first write out these verses in their entirety so that we can
study them more easily and because we will be referring to them throughout the
study. Chapter 1:
15a. He is the image of the invisible God,
b. the firstborn of all creation.
16a. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
b. the visible
and the invisible,
c. whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
d. all things
were created through him and for him.
17a. He is before all things,
b. and in him all things hold together.
18a. He is the head of the body, the church.
b. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
c. that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
19a. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
20a. and through him to reconcile all things for him,
b. making peace by the blood of his cross.
This idea of Jesus having something to do with
creation stems out of four horrendously misinterpreted passages, this one being
one of them. The other three are Hebrews 1:2-3, Hebrews 1:10-12, and John 1:3.
In order to show the fallacy of this idea, we are going to have to explain all
three of the verses mentioned first, so that we can then approach Colossians
1:15-20 with the proper frame of mind.
"Through
a Son, whom he made heir of all
things and through whom he created
the world."
(sometimes it is translated as universe).
The word that is translated as "world" is the Greek word aion. It means ages, as in the present evil age and the Messianic
age to come.
Aion- This word has been translated as eternal,
world, and universe. When this word is translated as "eternal," such as "you
will have eternal life," it means "you
will have life in the age to come." The following is Strong's Greek
dictionary's (which is in the Strong's Concordance) definition of this word. It
is number 165 in Strong's, please look it up.
Age (aion) - 1. An unbroken age, perpetuity of time,
eternity. 2. This word is also used to describe this age, i.e. this time period
we are in now, and the time period to come, i.e. the Messianic age.
Hebrews 1:2
is speaking of the world (age) to come, the
Messianic world. The New Earth and New Heavens. Using Strong’s definition,
it would be better understood as:
"Through
a Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the Messianic age to come."
Hebrews 1:2-3 does not mean that Jesus is the
creator, or that the Father through Jesus created the universe. It means that
God through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has opened up a way for us to enter
the New Earth and New Heavens of the Messianic kingdom when it comes in the
future. This is how the age to come is created through Jesus. Notice also that
the age to come is created through him
(his death) not by him.
Hebrews 1:10
is a continuation of this thought. It is a passage of creation that was
attributed to God in the Old Testament. Here it is used for the Son because
through the Son’s sacrifice the New Earth and New Heavens will be created in
the future. Some people might say, “Well
how do I know for sure that it is speaking about the world to come and not this
present world?”
If we flip the page to Hebrews 2:5 it will clear up any doubt that you might have on what
world we are speaking about.
Hebrews 2:5:
" For it was not to angels that he subjected THE WORLD TO COME, OF WHICH WE ARE SPEAKING.
I cannot think of a better or clearer way of saying
which world the author has been talking about. It is that simple when you keep
verses in their context. This is now in agreement with Hebrews 1:2. If not we have a massive contradiction.
Jesus through his death is responsible for the
creation of the Messianic age (world)
to come. The universe and everything in it was created only by YHWH.
Isaiah 44:24:
Thus says YHWH, your redeemer, who formed you from the womb: I am YHWH,
who made all things, who ALONE
stretched out the heavens; when I spread out the earth, who was with me?
John 1:1-14 is the backbone of the Doctrine of the
Trinity. The Trinity is the outcome of a Greek philosophical interpretation of
this verse in the 3rd and 4th centuries from the great
intellectual center in Alexandria by such men as Clement of Alexandria, Origen
of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria, and Tertullian of nearby Carthage.
Their argument is that “the Word”
in John 1:1-14 is Jesus. With this premise they ended up with a Jesus who has
always existed and is part of a triune God. This is an incorrect interpretation
of John 1:1-14.
Can we on the other hand prove that “the
Word” is not a reference to Jesus? Yes we can, quite easily as a matter of
fact. Surprisingly, the clarification comes from John himself in his first
epistle that we will be discussing in depth.
There are some scholars who believe that John wrote
his first epistle for the sole purpose of correcting the misinterpretation of John
1:1-14 that was occurring even in his own time. I believe they are correct
in this assumption because as we shall see John goes into great detail to tell
us exactly what “the Word” is. In John’s first epistle I see a strong effort
by John to clarify his position and definition about “the Word.” He leaves us with no other way to interpret “the
Word.”
In this paper we will be examining John 1:1-14 and
comparing it to verses in
1
John. John’s first epistle will shed an incredible amount of light on John
chapter 1.
Before starting one thing must be said, John’s
gospel was not written to prove that Jesus is God, but that he is
the Son of God, the Messiah. These are John’s own words.
“But these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of
God...” (John 20: 31).
In the
beginning was the Word.
The main argument with this verse is whether “the
Word” is another way of saying Jesus, or whether it is what it has always
been, a message from God. Yet, theologians have taken the liberty to
substitute figuratively and literally “Jesus”
for “Word” in this verse. Is this accurate? Judge for yourself. Let’s
first see the definition of “Word.”
It does have a real definition after all.
“Word”
in this verse is a translation of the Greek word
“logos.” In the original
Greek text, “logos” does not have
the capital first letter given to “Word”
in the English translation. It should properly be translated
“word” (with a small
“w”).
Another important point to be recognized is the fact
that the same exact word (letter for letter) “logos” is used in other Scriptures and nobody has ever capitalized
it, or claimed that it referred to Jesus.
Examples:
2
Timothy 2: 8 - 9
“This
is my gospel, for which I am suffering to the point of being chained like a
criminal. But God’s
word is not chained.”
1
John 2:7
“Beloved,
I am writing no new commandment to you but an old commandment that you had from the
beginning. The old commandment is the word
that you have heard.”
Revelation
20: 4 –5 -
“I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness
to Jesus AND for the
word of God”
Revelation
1:2 - “His servant John, who gives witness to the word of God AND to
the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
The two verses above from John’s book of Revelation
use the exact same word “logos” which
is translated in English as “word.”
It is important to notice that they were beheaded for their testimony of Jesus AND
the word (logos) of God. John gives witness to the word of God (God’s message
of salvation) AND to the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is obvious that Jesus
is not the Word. Logos is used
in many places in the New Testament, and it is never
used as a reference for Jesus.
The New American Bible
has this to say about the word “logos”
in a footnote:
“May denote
an internal reasoning process, plan,
or intention, as well as an external
word, speech, or message.”
In Greek, the word “logos” according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary means:
Logos
- The expression of thought. As embodying a conception or idea.
According to Liddell and Scott Greek Lexicon,
it also means:
Logos
- the inward thought which is expressed in the spoken word.
This unfortunately is not what it meant to Greek
philosophy. In Greek philosophies such as Stoicism, and Neo-Platonism, “logos”
was considered divine. To a Stoic, logos means “the
divine principle of life.” This is basically a definition of God. In
Gnosticism “Logos” was the actual
name of one of the intermediary gods.
Someone educated in one of these philosophies would
interpret John 1: 1 in the following
manner.
“In the beginning was the divine principle of life, the divine principle of life was with God, and the divine principle of life was God.” Verse 14. “The divine principle of life became flesh.”
Now you have God in
heaven and in the flesh at the same time. The explanation came in the form of a
dual natured Messiah who is fully God and fully man at all times (This
definition of Jesus is in the Creed of Chalcedon which is the Trinitarian creed
of all Trinitarian denominations). Thus the trinity.
How you can be fully of two different things is a mystery in itself. You can be part Italian and part French at the same time, but you cannot be fully Italian and fully French at the same time. This is why people explaining the trinity always end up saying that it’s a mystery.
To
a Hebrew like John, the phrase “word of God”
According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words
means, “The revealed will of God.”
In other words, “A message from God.”
In 2 Kings 3:12 when it says:
“He has the
word of the LORD.”
It means that God revealed His will to him. We can also compare other verses to verify this
definition.
2 Peter 3:5:
“that long ago by God’s word
the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water.”
Revelation
4:11: “for
you created all things, by your will
they came into being.”
Sirach 42:15: “At God’s word were His
works brought into being.”
As you can see, word and will are interchangeable.
God’s word represents his thoughts, which is His will. Sirach
37:16 provides us with an excellent example:
“A
word is the source of every deed;
a thought, of every act.”
Your thoughts are
the source of your actions,
a word (your will or wisdom) is your thoughts
expressed. This is an important definition to remember in order to better
understand “The Word was God” which
we will explain in the next few pages.
It would be easier if John were here right now to
tell us exactly what he meant, but in a sense he is. He has left us so many
clear verses of what he meant by “word”
in his first epistle that sometimes I find it difficult to see how people have
misinterpreted his gospel. Let us look at 1 John to find the answer.
In 1 John
1:1-3 it states:
“What was from the beginning,
what we have heard, what we have seen
with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life
– and the life was manifested; and
we have seen, and bear witness and proclaim to you the
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested
to us. What we have seen and heard we
proclaim to you also.”
John 1:1 - “In the beginning was the Word.”
1
John 1:1 – “What was from the beginning, what we have heard.”
Notice that in John what is from the beginning is the word, and in 1 John what is from the beginning is something that they heard (a message). Now let us tie in these other verses of John’s first epistle.
1
John 2:7 - “Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you but an old
commandment that you had from the
beginning. The old commandment is the word
that you have heard.”
In 1 John 1:1 what was from the beginning is something that they heard, here in 1 John 2:7 the old commandment is what they have had from the beginning, (sound familiar?) and the old commandment is the “WORD” that they what? Heard! The same as in 1 John 1:1. Your next question should be,
“What commandment is John speaking about?”
He is speaking about what Jesus called the greatest commandment, (Mark 12:29) the commandment of love which God gave the Hebrews from the beginning. The message of love that the proclamation of the Kingdom of God brings with it.
How do we know for sure that
this is the message and/or the commandment that they heard from the beginning?
Because John tells you so in 1 John 3:11
and 1 John 3:23:
“For
this is the message you have HEARD from
the BEGINNING: we should love one
another.”
“And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son
Jesus Christ, and love one another.”
Loving one another is how the world will know that we are followers of Christ.
John 13:30 – “This
is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love
for one another.”
According to Paul (Romans 13:9), the law of love is the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law and it is the Law in the coming Kingdom of God which the Messiah has come to proclaim. These are Jesus’ own words.
Luke 4:43 – “To the other
towns also I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
Is Jesus’ good news about the kingdom the same thing as “the word” that John speaks about in his writings? Yes it is, this is the word that they have heard. Look at the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:19 – “The
seed sown on the path is the one who hears
the word of the kingdom without understanding it.”
The message of the Kingdom of God is a message of love. In other words, “the word” is the message of love in the coming Kingdom of God in which love is the rule, not the exception. The New Age (the Kingdom of God) which Jesus will establish when he returns will be a kingdom of love. This is what proclaiming the word of the kingdom is about, a New World order (new heavens and new earth) based on love. This is the message (“the word”) that Jesus has brought us. This is the “word” Jesus spoke about.
John 16:20 – “Remember the
word I spoke to you.”
John 17:8 – “Because the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them.”
Because of God’s love for us, God has provided us with a message of hope, the hope of entering God’s Kingdom of love. He has demonstrated His love for us and at the same time provided a way for us to enter into his kingdom as His pure, sin-free children by sacrificing for our sins the only unblemished lamb of mankind, Jesus of Nazareth.
John 3:16 – “For God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
We can also examine the writings of the Apostolic
Fathers who are the men that the Apostles or the Apostles disciples put in place
to see what they considered “the word”
to be . One of the Apostolic writings, The Epistle to Diognetus in verse
8:11 says:
“But
when he revealed it through His beloved Son, and manifested the
purpose which He had prepared from
the beginning.”
When God
revealed what? The word (message) that Jesus brought us. Notice that what was
prepared from the beginning is
God’s purpose, and it was
revealed to us by Jesus.
Another of the Apostolic Fathers named Polycarp, who
knew John the Apostle personally, wrote in his Letter to the Philippians in
verse 7:2:
“Wherefore
let us forsake the vain doing of the many and their false teachings, and turn
unto the word which was delivered
unto us from the beginning.”
Polycarp
is urging the people to turn away from false teachings and turn unto the word.
In other words, “Turn away from false
teachings and return to the original message that was delivered to them from the
beginning.” His usage of word is
very Jewish, and identical to the way that John the Apostle uses it. This is
fitting because Polycarp was a disciple of John, and one would expect his views
to coincide with John’s, which they do.
Polycarp has no idea of “the word”
being Jesus. He even says that the word was delivered unto us in the beginning.
Jesus was not delivered unto us in the beginning, He was revealed to us in the
final days, the last days. Hebrews 1:2
states:
“In
these last days He spoke to us
through a son.”
1 Peter 1:20
says:
“He
was known before the foundations of the world, but
revealed in the final times for you.
But God’s message, or will, (the Kingdom of God
based on love and ruled by the Messiah,) was delivered unto us in the
beginning through the Patriarchs and the Prophets. What is from the
beginning is God’s love and His message (logos) for our redemption and
salvation that He revealed to us through Jesus. Ephesians
3:11 confirms this.
“This was according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What is God’s eternal purpose for us? That we live a life of love and not perish. This is provided for us through His Son Jesus. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice we are able to enter the Kingdom of God when Jesus returns.
John 3:16 – “For God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him might not perish but might have eternal
life.”
And the Word
was with God.
If John was really trying to say that Jesus is God, he would simply have
written; “in the beginning was Jesus,
and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God.” I do not think that he would
have written it in a kind of code that would not be understood until the 3rd
century by Greek philosophers.
When John says that the word
was with God, he simply means that the
“word” (message, plan) was
present in His mind. It was with Him, just like a person’s thoughts are with
them until they speak. The New American Bible defines
“word” as:
“Was
thought to be a reality lodging within
the person, and that it goes out from that person when spoken or written and
then lodges within the person to whom it is directed.”
This idea is confirmed by Jerimiah:
Jeremiah 4: 14:“How long must your pernicious thoughts lodge
within you”.
Now let’s look at 1 John 1:1-2 to shed some light on this verse. John refers to the Word as the “Word of Life.”
“Concerning
the Word of life – and the life was manifested;
and we have seen, and bear
witness, and proclaim to you the eternal
life which was with the Father
and was manifested to us.
Notice that in the verse above
it is the eternal life that was with the Father. In John 1:1 it is the Word that was with God. This is why John calls
it the Word of Life in 1 John 1:1.
Word of Life is another way of saying “The
message that brings us eternal life.”
This is the message that they heard, this is the message that was with God from the beginning. God’s Word of Life (His plan for our salvation) was known to God from long ago. It was with Him from the beginning.
Acts 4:28
- “To do what your hand and your
will had long ago planned to take place.”
Acts 20:27 -“For I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.”
And the word
was God.
The word is God’s expressed will that He uses to communicate with us.
God’s will is God. What John is saying is that God’s word expresses God’s
mind.
Word = God’s
Will = God’s mind = God.
The Trinitarian (Catholic) New American Bible
states the following on this verse:
“Lack of a
definite article with “God” in Greek signifies predication rather than identification.”
According to Webster’s Dictionary,
predication means, “to affirm as a
quality or attribute.” Even the Roman Catholic Bible tells us that it does
not signify identification. We can also cross-reference other Scriptures to
prove that the Word (His thoughts, will) is God. Examples:
It says the
word (revealed will of God) of the
LORD came to Jonah, then it says that Jonah ran away from the LORD.
God came to Jonah and told him His will
or plan (which was to go to Nineveh), and Jonah ran away from God. The Word
(God’s will) is God.
Isaiah
55: 11 - “So shall my word be that
goes forth from my mouth; It shall
not return to me void, but shall do my
will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”
In this verse, when God speaks, His thoughts and
power (His word) go out from Him to
do His will. God’s will is God. The
Word is God.
The gospel, the
good news of the kingdom of God which is based on love is God’s plan of salvation for us. This is His will. It reflects the mind
of God. My mind is reflective of me. It reflects who I am as a person. The
gospel is referred to many times in the New Testament as “the word of God,” or just “the
word.” The gospel (His word) is the expression
of God’s mind. In other words, the gospel
is the mind of God. The mind of God is God. Another way of saying it is, “the gospel is God,” or: “The
Word was God.”
Through him all things were made
John is describing how God made the world and the
universe through his word (his wisdom, Proverbs 3:19). In other
words, because of his love for us, God created the world and the universe.
Furthermore, although in Greek “logos”
is a masculine noun, this is no proof of personality. This comes into play in
this verse. The Greek word that has been translated as “him” can be translated as “it,”
“he,” or “she” depending
on the noun it is describing. In this case, since theologians were claiming that
“Word” is a reference to Jesus,
they obviously chose “him” instead
of “it.”
This unfortunately reflects more theology than it does strict accuracy.
This is evident in 1 John 1:1-3 which is a parallel to John 1:1-3 in which “the
Word of life” which is the same as “the
word” is translated as “it”.
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of Life, for the life was made visible; we have seen IT and testify to IT and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us, what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you.”
The translation “through
him” should be “through it”
(His word). Here are a few more examples:
Isaiah
55: 11 –
“So shall my word be that goes
forth from my mouth; It shall not
return to me void, but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.”
These two verses are excellent examples. In both
verses “word” is not capitalized. You can also see that the “word” is referred to as “it.”
This is the correct way to translate the Greek word that was translated as “him.” This is the way it should have been translated in John
1: 1 - 3. It should be noted that the “Word”
was not assumed to be a second person in Bible translations prior to the KJV.
The Bishop’s Bible of 1568, replaced by the KJV in 1611, understands the word to be impersonal, and uses the
pronoun “it,” as does the Geneva
Bible of 1560.
It is through God’s word, which is his expressed
will that all things were made, through “it”
not “him.”
2
Peter 3: 5 “But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed.”
Revelation
4: 11: “for you created all
things; because of your will they
came to be and were created.”
Ephesians
1:1: “In accord with
the purpose of the one who accomplishes
all things according to the intention of His will.”
Wisdom
9:1 says,
“God of my fathers, LORD of mercy, you who have made all things by
your word” (will).
Sirach
42:15 says, “At God’s word (will)
were His works brought into being.”
Everything
was created by God’s word (His
will), not by Jesus. In other words, God has a plan (logos) to create the
universe. When He speaks (word), he is expressing His thoughts.
His thoughts are His will, and whatever
God wills happens. This is how everything was created by the word (His
will).
John
1: 14
The Word became flesh
What John is
saying is that the prophecies that God had spoken of in the past to the fathers
and the prophets about the Messiah were fulfilled when Jesus was born. In order to better understand this verse I am going
to use an analogy that most of us can relate to. Say that you and your spouse
decide to have a child. You have an idea, (logos) a plan in your mind to have a
child. That plan becomes flesh when
your child is born. God’s logos
(plan) became flesh, became a reality when Jesus
was born. We can see this type of expression used again by John in 1 John 1:1-2.
“Concerning
the Word of life – and the life was
manifested; and we have seen, and
bear witness and proclaim to you the
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested
to us.
Notice that in John 1:14 it is the Word that became (is manifested) flesh, and in
1 John 1:1-2 it is the life, the eternal life that is manifested.
The life is not Jesus, it comes to us through Jesus. John 1:2:
“What came to be through him was life”
So if we use the definition
that Word = Jesus, then we have the Word being manifested in John’s gospel and
the life being manifested in John’s epistle.
Now we have two different things being manifested, the Word and the life. If Jesus is the Word then who is the life.
If we understand “Word” to mean a message that brings life (Word of life), then there is no conflict, we are speaking of the same thing.
In other words, God’s message of love that brings us eternal life was manifested (revealed) to us by Jesus.
1
John 4:9 – “In this the love of God was
MANIFESTED toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world
so that we might live through him.
In other other words, by seeing Jesus, how he lived, how he loved, how he perfectly followed God’s will, God’s word (His message) was no longer an abstract idea, it was being acted out in the flesh. It was manifested in the flesh. You could actually touch it.
God’s works are also said to
be manifested. A good example is the blind man that Jesus cures in John
9:3.
(The blind man) “Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
The outcome of the Greek philosophical interpretation
of the Word becoming flesh is Dualism.
Dualism - The view that reality may be divided into two
essential forces. There are two forms of this understanding. From a cosmic
perspective, the world struggles between two opposing forces - typically, one of
evil and one of good. From a philosophical approach, the essence of a person is
divided between two incompatible natures - that of the body and that of the
soul. Early Christianity incorporated both views from those religions and
philosophies with which it came in contact.
This is the same concept used not only in Greek philosophy, but also in
Greek mythology. Hercules is the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. He had a
dual nature, he was a man that had supernatural strength which he inherited from
his father Zeus. The Pharaohs were godmen and so were the Caesars. The Bible
even provides us with an example of this belief in Acts 14:11 when God healed a crippled man through Paul and Barnabas:
"When
the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried out in Lycaonian, "The gods have come down to us in human form."
The idea of gods becoming men was very prevalent in
the Roman-Greco world. This is why it was so natural to inject this belief into
Christianity. As you can see, the idea of Dualism is the exact definition that Trinitarians have used for
Jesus, that he has two natures. He is fully God and fully Man. This is stated in
the Chalcedon Creed of 451 AD. Jesus is not a godman, he is the Anointed (the Messiah).
With the proper definitions a proper understanding of
John 1:1-3 & 14 is not difficult. The problem arises when you bring a lot of
preconceived ideas with you when trying to interpret this verse.
We today have to do the exact opposite of what Bible
scholars of the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries did. They
injected Christianity with a huge and dangerous dosage of Greek philosophy. We
have to remove all the erroneous interpretations that that philosophy brought
with it in order to understand God’s message for us. These verses are a good
starting point. As you can see many people have been falsely lead to believe
that John 1: 1 - 3 is saying that
Jesus is God, when in fact it has nothing
at all to do with the deity of Jesus.
Now we can proceed to Colossians 1:15-20 with a
Scripture based background and not a tradition based background.
To start with, Colossians 1:15-20 is not one of the easier passages to understand in the New Testament. We are going to have to approach it with much patience as we compare its verses to other verses in the New Testament in order to understand what Paul is trying to say. We are going to explain this passage verse by verse. First let us begin by reviewing what this passage is about. In other words, what is the context that we should try to understand this passage in? We can gather the topic that leads to this passage from Colossians 1:12-14. It states:
“Giving
thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the
power of darkness and transferred us to the
kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.”
The topic is the inheritance of the holy ones, which as the verse goes on to say is the kingdom of his Son (the Messianic kingdom). The topic in Colossians 1:15-20 is still the kingdom of the Son. It s purpose is to show the preeminence of the Son in his kingdom and how through Jesus’ sacrifice we become new creations in Christ.
This passage is neither about the creation of the universe nor the deity of Christ. To do so would be to take it out of context. If we did, it would contradict the first chapter of Hebrews which is very clear about which world Jesus is responsible for creating, the world to come.
Hebrews 2:5:
" For it was not to angels that he subjected THE WORLD TO COME, OF WHICH WE ARE SPEAKING.
We are going to go verse by verse, let us begin.
15a. “He is
the image of the invisible God,”
First we must discard the traditional idea that this
verse implies that Jesus is God. It means that he is the image of God. An image is not the original but a representation
of the original. A photograph shows the image of a person, but the photograph is
not the actual person, it is a representation. Saying that Jesus is the image of
God (2 Cor.4:4) or that Jesus is the image of the invisible God means the same
thing. God is invisible, he is a spirit (John 4:4).
Let us first get a working definition of the word “image.”
According to Strong’s Greek Dictionary # 1504, image
– a likeness, i.e. statue, profile,
or fig. representation, resemblance.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New
Testament Words has this to say on the word “image”
and its relation to how man (Adam), was made in the image of God:
“Man
even after the Fall still has Godlike qualities, such as love of goodness and
beauty, none of which are found in mere animal; In the Fall man ceased to be a
perfect vehicle for the representation of
God.”
The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible
Volume 2 pg. 254-256 says the following on the phrase “image
of God:”
“Linguistic studies bring out no sharp distinction between the two nouns, “image” and “likeness.”
“Seems
to be attempting a very difficult idea in which he wants to make clear that man
is in some way the concrete reflection of
God.”
“Christ
is the prototype of essential man perfectly
reflecting God.”
“Adam
was by nature endowed with original righteousness. He had a moral likeness to
God; he possessed holiness although he was in no sense equal to God. What he
lost in the Fall was original righteousness, and thenceforth the slant of his
life was affected by sin. But there are elements in man which he did not
lose-elements having to do with the image of God as a person or
personality-traits such as self-consciousness, self-determination, superiority
over nature, creativity, and the like. The restoration
(a
process) of these human powers plus original righteousness awaits the
new creation, the new birth, the indwelling of Christ, so that a Christian
may say with Paul, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in
me.’ The hope of the Christian faith is the full attainment of that new
nature...after the image of its creator."
So what does it all mean? Christ is the image of God
in that he possesses the righteous attributes which God gave man in the
beginning, this is how God made man in His image (Genesis 1:26), he made him
righteous and holy, living a life of love. After man sinned he lost those
attributes, he is not therefore in the image of God anymore. But through Christ,
God has given us the opportunity to discard the old self and put on the new
self, a new creation which is again
in the image of God as Christ is.
Colossians
3:10: “Stop lying to one another, since you have
taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the
image of its creator.”
This is why we are told to conform to the image of
God’s Son. To be righteous and loving like Christ. When we reach that point,
then we also will be in the image of God.
Romans 8:29:
“For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image
of his Son.”
1 Corinthians
15:49: “Just
as we have born the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly one.”
2 Corinthians
3:18: “All
of us are being transformed into the same
image from glory to glory as from the Lord (Jesus).”
1 Corinthians
11:7: “A
man, on the other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the
image of God.”
Ephesians 5:1:
“So be imitators of God, as
beloved children, and live in love as Christ loved us.”
If
we took this verse to mean that because Christ is the image of God that he is
therefore God, then we would also have to conclude that man, especially Adam, is
also God because he and they were made in the image of God. We would then have
to conclude that we are also Christ because we will bear the image of Christ, or
that we will also become Gods at some point in time because we are being
transformed into the image of God. After reviewing the verses above you can see
how absurd these ideas really are.
In this passage all verse 15a means is that in his
kingdom, Jesus is the representation of God. A lot of writing to explain
something basically simple.
15b. “The
firstborn of all creation.”
Trinitarians will claim that this verse is proof
that Jesus preexisted before his birth to Mary as the second member of the
Trinity. This of course, is based on tradition not Scripture. This passage is
not about the time-frame of the birth of Christ nor of the Trinity, it is about
the Messianic kingdom and Jesus’ position in it. Firstborn does not mean the
first to be born, it is used in the sense of the superiority of position. The
firstborn is the one who inherited the majority and most important holdings of a
family. In Jesus case he is inheriting the promises that God made to Abraham,
which together are the basis for the kingdom of God, or the Messianic kingdom.
This is exactly what Colossians is referring to in the verse that leads up to
Colossians 1:15-20. Let us review Colossians
1:12-14 once again. Notice the word “inheritance.”
“Giving
thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from
the power of darkness and transferred us to
the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins.”
Let us see what a few sources say about the meaning
of firstborn. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says
the following about “firstborn”:
“Is
used of Christ as born of the virgin Mary, Luke 2:7; further, in his
relationship to the Father, expressing his priority
to, and preeminence over, creation, NOT
in the sense of being the “first”
to be born.”
Zondervan’s Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible
on pg. 540 states the following on “firstborn.”
Firstborn
– He enjoyed prerogatives over his brothers, like receiving the father’s blessing (Gen. 27:1-4, 35-37), preferential treatment by
the father (43:33) respect as leader among the brothers (37:22), and a double
portion of the inheritance, twice
that of any other son.
Christ is
the “firstborn” of the Father (Heb.1:6), having preeminent position over others in relation to him. He is the
firstborn over many brethren (Romans 8:29) as one sovereign above those related to him in the new creation.”
Notice how Zondervan’s Encyclopedia mentions “inheritance”
just as it is in Colossians 1:12-14.
Zondervan’s Encyclopedia then goes on to say
specifically about Colossians 1:15:
The
proper meaning is that Christ stands in a relationship of
priority or sovereignty over all creation.”
Vine’s Expository Dictionary
and Zondervan’s Encyclopedia both mention in their explanations the preeminence of the firstborn, which is echoed in Colossians 1:18c:
“That
in all things he might be preeminent.”
So what does it all mean? It means that Jesus as
God’s firstborn in the Messianic kingdom holds the preeminent position as our king.
16a. “For in
him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
b. the
visible and the invisible,
c. whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
d. all
things were created through him and for him.”
Here is the main argument for the deity of Jesus. Creation. Some people
will claim that this verse means that Jesus created the universe. As we
mentioned earlier, this passage has nothing to do with the creation of the
universe. It is about the kingdom of the Son and his role in it.
The key words in this verse are “in him.” Make no
mistake, the words are “in
him” and not as a few translations have it as “by
him.” Most translations have it correctly as “in
him.” Zondervan’s Greek and English Interlinear Bible has it in
the Greek as “in” and not “by”.
You can judge yourself which word it should be by comparing it to 16d which says
that all things were created “THROUGH”
not “by” him.
This is the same thought that we covered in Hebrews 1:2 in which we proved with very strong evidence that the author was speaking about the world to come and not the present world.
“Through a Son, whom he made heir
of all things and through whom he
created the world (age to come).
Notice that in Hebrews 1:2 we have the mention again
of “heir” as in Colossians. We
also have the thought that God through Jesus has created the world to come. This
parallels Colossians 1:16. If Colossians 1:16 is speaking about Jesus creating
the present universe, then we have a massive contradiction in the Bible. Right
off the bat either Hebrews chapter 1 is wrong or Colossian chapter 1 is wrong,
but they both cannot be correct.
Once we can see past this false tradition, we can now
start to try and understand the true meaning of this verse. What did Paul mean
when he said,
“For
in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.”
When you are “in
Christ,” it means that you believe in and follow the teachings of Christ.
When you are in Christ you are born again (John 3:3). Being born again means
that you are a new creature, not of the flesh (following your own desires) but
of the spirit (following the will of God). It is this new self that is in the
image of God.
Colossians
3:10: “Stop
lying to one another, since you have taken off the
old self with its practices and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the
image of its creator.”
2 Corinthians
5:17: “So
whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.”
Ephesians 2:10:
“For we are his handiwork, created
in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance, that we
should live in them.”
Just as those of us are created new in Christ, so
will the earth and heavens. This is what is referred to as the New Earth and the
New Heavens in the Messianic kingdom.
Revelation
21:1: “Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had
passed away.”
Creation was also made subject to sin, but in Christ,
in his kingdom, it too will be a new
creation.
Romans 8:20-22:
“For creation was made subject to
futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope
that creation itself would be set
free from slavery to corruption and share
in the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
Creation will be set free and share in the glorious
freedom of the children of God in the Messianic kingdom, the age to come.
This is how everything is created “IN
CHRIST.”
The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible
Volume 2 pg. 254-256 sums it up best:
“Adam
was by nature endowed with original righteousness. He had a moral likeness to
God; he possessed holiness although he was in no sense equal to God. What he
lost in the Fall was original righteousness, and thenceforth the slant of his
life was affected by sin. But there are elements in man which he did not
lose-elements having to do with the image of God as a person or
personality-traits such as self-consciousness, self-determination, superiority
over nature, creativity, and the like. The restoration
(a
process) of these human powers plus original righteousness awaits
the new creation, the new birth, THE INDWELLING OF CHRIST, so that a
Christian may say with Paul, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives
in me.’ The hope of the Christian
faith is the full attainment of that new
nature...after the image of its creator."
17a. “He is
before all things,”
This has nothing to do with time. It does not mean
that Jesus preexisted before his birth to Mary. It has to do with rank
or position. It is an echo of 15b and 18c.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary
# 4253 states the following on the word “before:”
Before – in front of (fig. superior).
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
states:
Before
– of superiority or preeminence.
Thayer’s definition mentions preeminence. Where
have we heard that word before? That’s right, 18c.
So what does it all mean? It means that Jesus is
above all things, preeminent in the Messianic kingdom.
17b. “and in
him all things hold together.”
Let us compare this verse to Ephesians 2:21-22:
“Through
him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in
him you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God.”
Notice in the above verse that it is through
Jesus that it is held together, and that “in him” we are being built into a dwelling place for God.
So what does this all mean? It means simply that in
the Messianic kingdom everything will be based on Christ and his teachings.
Christ is the cornerstone of the kingdom. Without him the whole structure falls
apart. Without Christ there is no Messianic kingdom.
18a. “He is
the head of the body, the church.”
Just as the body follows the head, the church follows
Jesus.
18b. “He is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.”
He is the first to resurrect.
18c. “That in
all things he might be preeminent.”
Because Jesus is the first to resurrect due to his
sacrifice, he is preeminent in the Messianic kingdom.
19a. “For in
him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,”
Let us compare this verse to Colossians 2:9-10:
“For in him
dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and you share in this fullness in
him.”
This is what Messiah means. Messiah means “anointed.” Anointed by the Spirit of God. This is how God dwells in Jesus. Notice in the verse above that we also share in the fullness. If we are in Christ we will also share in the benefits of Jesus’ anointing
Combine the next two verses together and you have the
meaning of 19a.
Acts 2:22:
“How God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the holy Spirit and
power. He went around doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”
John
14:10: “The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who
dwells in me is doing his works.
What does it all mean? It means that God dwells in Jesus because He has anointed him with His Spirit.
20. “And
through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his
cross through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.”
That through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we have
been reconciled to God. Those in heaven might be a reference to fallen angels.
May God always
bless you in your search for truth.
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