Sunday Explanatory Notes: The Colossian Hymn

1:15 ... who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation,
The same questions are raised about these verses in Colossians that are raised about Philippians 2:6-11: is this a hymn? If so, did Paul or Timothy (or some pseudonymous author) compose it on the spot as they were writing this letter?

We also face the same basic evidence as with Philippians. We have a somewhat self-contained digression from the letter's train of thought set off by "who..." We have a clearly poetic structure, even if the precise structure is not fully obvious or consistent. It is indeed hard to determine the structure of this poem, even when you pose additions to it. But the likely presence of additions speaks to it being placed here from somewhere else.

Parallels are often made between some of the imagery here and the figure of Wisdom in Jewish tradition. However, the parallels with the logos or Word of God are even stronger. Since John explicitly uses logos imagery in relation to Christ, we have good evidence that some early Christians were thinking in this vein. The parallels with Philo's logos in these verses are significant.

For example, Philo certainly speaks of the logos as the image of God and the firstborn of all creation:

"Even if no one is yet worthy to be called a son of God, nevertheless work to be adorned according to his firstborn logos, the eldest of his angels… the image of God is his most ancient logos” (Conf. 146-47).

One of the most fascinating parallels appears in Her. 206:

"the logos rejoices in the gift, and... boasts of it, saying, "And I stood in the midst, between the Lord and You, neither being uncreated like God, nor yet created like you, but being in the midst between these two extremities, like a hostage, as it were, to both parties."

Here the logos stands on the divide between what is created and God who is uncreated.

In the context of Colossians, the hymn gives pre-eminence to Christ in relation to the entire creation. As God's word, Christ is God's will in action for the world. As the hymn and elsewhere in Colossians, Christ is the one who fully embodies the purposes of God for the world. He is the world's path to knowing God for he reflects all that is God for the world. And he is the authority God has appointed over the creation.

1:16 ... because in him all things were created,
(in the heavens and on the earth, the visible things and the invisible ones,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities)
all things through him and for him have been created.
If we have a poetic scheme in these verses, then the extensive delineation of those things created "in him" or "by him" is likely an addition by Paul, Timothy, etc. to the pre-existing hymn. Since Colossians seems to address a "philosophy" in the Colossian environment that involves significant interest in angels, the point here is the complete preeminence of Christ over everything in the creation, including the highest spiritual powers imaginable.

This is perhaps an issue that was bound to be addressed at some point. Jesus has been exalted to God's right hand, even though he was a human who just recently walked among us. Well, how exalted is he. He is clearly an authority over all humanity, but what authority does he have in the heavenly realm.

The Colossian hymn puts Christ in the position of the logos in relation to the creation. The logos was God's instrument of creation: "the shadow of God is his logos, which he used like an instrument when he was making the world” (Leg. 3.95). As such, all spiritual powers are subsequent to him and enabled through him.

The original point here was not likely to comment on Christ's pre-existence, and the later issue of whether Christ was the first thing God created (Arius) is not in view. The hymn would seem to equate Christ's identity in relation to the creation as that of the logos. The full purposes and will of God for the creation are embodied in Christ. He is thus God's logos for the world, that same logos by which God created all things, including all spiritual powers.

The expression "through him" is never used of wisdom in relation to creation. It is, however, a known expression for the logos as the agent of creation: “And the logos is the image of God, through which all the world was put together” (Spec. 1.81). The idea that everything holds together is attested both of God's word and His wisdom (Wis 1:6-7; Sir 43:26).

1:17-18a And he himself is before all things and all things in him have held together, and he himself is the head of the body, the church.
This verse is somewhat transitional and might not have been part of any original hymn. It serves as a nice link between the first stanza of the hymn, which focuses on Christ's preeminence over the creation, to the second stanza, which focuses on Christ's preeminence over the church.

One distinction between Colossians and Paul's earlier writings is his conception of Christ as the head of the body rather than the body itself (cf. 1 Cor. 12). We might be able to correlate this slight shift to the shift from Christ waiting for his enemies to be put under his feet in 1 Corinthians 15 and Colossians where Christ is portrayed as already preeminent in every way.

Similarly, Paul now seems to use the word church in a more universal sense than is typical of his earlier writings. In his earlier writings, church primarily refers to a local assembly such as a house church. Now it refers to all who are in Christ.

1:18b Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
(so that in all things he himself might come to be preeminent)
The parallel of this verse with 1:15 is clear, a two fold comment beginning with "who," the second line of which depicts Christ was the firstborn. Firstborn here is of course now a familiar Pauline theme from 1 Corinthians 15. Within the church, Christ is the firstborn from the dead.

Christ is thus the beginning of the new age, of the eschatological people of God. If the first stanza of the hymn is about the origins and functioning of the creation, this stanza is about the origins and functioning of the new people of God.

1:19 ... because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
This statement is parallel to the "in him" statement in 1:16. In 1:16, all things are created "in him." Here, God's fullness dwells "in him" for all eternity for God's people, the church. Colossians will make this statement again in chapter 2. There, the implication would seem to be that the audience should not be tempted by a Jewish "philosophy" boasting special access to the spiritual realm. They are in no need of such things because all the fullness of God's presence and identity is to be found in Christ.

1:20 ... and through him to reconcile all things for him,
(having made peace through the blood of his cross, whether the things on earth or the things in the heavens).
Some have suggested a slight tension between this statement and later statements about defeating spiritual powers, which would be another indication that this poetic material was drawn from somewhere else. Here the theme would seem to be the reconciliation of all things rather than the defeat of some things.

The phrase "through him" is once again parallel to the final part of 1:16. Through him all things have been created and hold together as a creation. Now through him all things will be reconciled in the eschaton. The mechanism of this reconciliation is the blood of the cross, an interesting parallel once again to the later mention of disarming hostile powers through the cross.