Colossians 1

Colossians 1

He gives thanks for the grace bestowed upon the Colossians and prays for them. Christ is the head of the church and the peacemaker through his blood. Paul is his minister.

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P aul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, a brother:
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ Jesus who are at Colossa.
3 Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.
4 Hearing your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have towards all the saints.
5 For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard in the word of the truth of the gospel,
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6 Which is come unto you, as also it is in the whole world and bringeth forth fruit and groweth, even as it doth in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.
7 As you learned of Epaphras, our most beloved fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ Jesus;
8 Who also hath manifested to us your love in the spirit.
9 Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding:
10 That you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God:
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11 Strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory, in all patience and longsuffering with joy,
12 Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: The firstborn.... That is, first begotten; as the Evangelist declares, the only begotten of his Father: hence, St. Chrisostom explains firstborn, not first created, as he was not created at all, but born of his Father before all ages; that is, coeval with the Father and with the Holy Ghost. *

15.1 'The image of the invisible God' (eikōn tou theou)—Christ is not a created copy but the perfect manifestation of the Father. 'He who sees me sees the Father' (John 14:9).

15.2 'Firstborn of every creature'—'firstborn' (prōtotokos) denotes supremacy and sovereignty, not temporal origin. The heir of all creation, not a creature.

15.3 Cf. Psalm 89:27: 'I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.' Firstborn = supreme rank.

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16 For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him. *

16.1 'In him were all things created'—Christ is the sphere, agent, and goal of all creation. Nothing exists apart from Him.

16.2 'Thrones, dominations, principalities, powers'—the entire angelic hierarchy owes its existence to Christ, refuting the Colossian heresy that elevated angels.

16.3 'All things were created by him and for him'—creation has a Christological purpose; it exists for Christ's glory.

17 And he is before all: and by him all things consist. *

17.1 'He is before all things'—eternal pre-existence, not merely temporal priority. Christ exists outside and prior to creation.

17.2 'In him all things hold together' (synestēken)—Christ is the sustaining principle of the universe. He maintains cosmic order moment by moment.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy: *

18.1 'The head of the body, the church'—Christ's cosmic lordship culminates in His headship over the Church, which is His body.

18.2 'The beginning, the firstborn from the dead'—Christ's resurrection is the firstfruits (1 Cor 15:20), the beginning of the new creation.

18.3 'That in all things he may hold the primacy'—the purpose of the Incarnation: Christ's absolute supremacy in every sphere.

19 Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell: *

19.1 'All the fulness should dwell' (pan to plērōma)—the totality of divine being inhabits Christ bodily. Against Gnostic ideas of partial divine emanations.

20 And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven. *

20.1 'To reconcile all things... through the blood of his cross'—cosmic redemption. The Cross affects not only humanity but the entire created order.

20.2 'Things on earth and things in heaven'—the scope of reconciliation is universal, extending to the spiritual realm.

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21 And you, whereas you were some time alienated and enemies in mind in evil works:
22 Yet now he hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unspotted and blameless before him:
23 If so ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, which is preached in all the creation that is under heaven: whereof I Paul am made a minister.
24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church: head: but many sufferings are still wanting, or are still to come, in his body the church, and his members the faithful.
25 Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given me towards you, that I may fulfil the word of God:
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26 The mystery which hath been hidden from ages and generations, but now is manifested to his saints,
27 To whom God would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ, in you the hope of glory.
28 Whom we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
29 Wherein also I labour, striving according to his working which he worketh in me in power.