Colossians 1:15

who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

In the following section Paul expands upon the Son mentioned in Colossians 1:13-14. It appears that in writing this section that God through Paul is confronting. present or future error which would threaten the church.

Barclay writes, 'There was. tendency of thought in the early Church called Gnosticism...These men were dissatisfied with what they considered the rude simplicity of Christianity and wished to turn it into. philosophy and to align it with the other philosophies which held the field at that time (sound familiar?). The Gnostics began with the basic assumption that matter was altogether evil and spirit altogether good..and that it was out of this evil matter that the world was created. The Christian, to use the technical phrase, believes in creation out of nothing; the Gnostic believed in creation out of evil matter. Now God was spirit..it followed, as the Gnostic saw it, that the true God could not touch matter and, therefore, could not himself be the agent of creation. So the Gnostics believed that God put forth. series of emanations, each. little further away from God until at last there was one so distant from God, that it could handle matter and create the world. The Gnostics went further. As the emanations went further and further from God, they became more and more ignorant of him. And in the very distant emanations there was not only ignorance of God, but also hostility to him. The Gnostics came to the conclusion that the emanation who created the world was both ignorant of and hostile to the true God; and sometimes they identified that emanation with the God of the Old Testament. This has certain logical consequences. (i)...the world was not God's world but that of. power hostile to him...(ii) As the Gnostics saw it, Jesus Christ was by no means unique...They insisted that Jesus was merely one of these emanations. He might stand high in the series; he might even stand highest; but he was only one of many...' (pp. 114-115)

It is against this type of background or context that the Preeminence of Jesus Christ is set forth.

THE TRUE NATURE OF JESUS CHRIST:

'WHO' -i.e. His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13-14).

'IMAGE' -1504. eikon i-kone'; from 1503;. likeness, i.e. (literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation, resemblance: -image.

-'is more than likeness which may be superficial and incidental. It implies. prototype, and embodies the essential verity of its prototype.' (Vincent p. 468)

-'It includes the three ideas of "resemblance, representation, revelation". It expresses...such. representation as that of. face reflected in. mirror.' (Erdman p. 51)

-'the visible expression of' (Phi); 'the exact likeness of' (Wms); 'the true likeness of the God we cannot see' (Knox).

Points to Note:

1. Other passages reveal that Jesus is 'not simply. sketch of God or. summary and more than. lifeless portrait of him. In him there is nothing left out; he is the full manifestation of God, and nothing more is necessary.' (Barclay pp. 118-119)

2. Consider the following passages (John 1:1; John 1:18; John 14:6; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Peter 2:6; Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3. and the exact representation of His nature.. ').

3. Contrary to what the Jehovah Witnesses advocate, Jesus isn't an angel or even an archangel (Hebrews 1:4). Actually the Witnesses have more in common with the Gnostics than Paul. For they place Jesus on. spiritual level below the Father.

'OF THE INVISIBLE GOD' -(1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Timothy 1:17; John 1:18).

Points to Note:

1. 'To say that Christ is the image of God is to say that in him the nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed--that in him the invisible has become visible.' (F.F. Bruce pp. 57-58)

2. Eadie notes, 'A visible God can alone be the image of God, possessing all the elements and attributes of His nature. The Divine can be fully pictured only in the Divine.' (p. 43)

3. And we should carefully note that Jesus was the 'image of the invisible God' when He was upon the earth. For He was in the same invisible condition as the Father both previous to His incarnation and following His ascension. Jesus taught such while He was upon this earth (John 1:18; John 14:9). This means that Jesus was both fully God and fully man when He walked upon this earth. Jesus didn't cease to be God when He partook of flesh and blood (John 1:1; John 1:14; John 5:18; John 5:23).

4. This also infers that God can't be fully understood apart from Jesus Christ (John 1:18; John 14:9). Jesus is the perfect manifestation of the invisible God. His compassion, mercy, anger at sin, human stubbornness, etc...are exactly the way that God the Father feels about the same things.

'Such. revelation (John 1:18) as Christ gives enables man to know. God who can be trusted and obeyed and loved. Hungering human hearts are not willing to accept the verdict that there is no God; nor are they satisfied with abstractions concerning "the Absolute", "the Unknowable", or "the Reign of Law". In Christ is found. God who is near, who cares, who hears, who pities, and who saves.' (Erdman p. 52)

5. Unfortunately, even some within the church seem to be arguing that Jesus was simply. perfect man while upon the earth. Actually, this position is advocated by the Witnesses, 'Rutherford said that "In truth, when Jesus was on earth he was. perfect man, nothing more and nothing less." [Note:. Jehovah Witnesses. Volume 1. Maurice Barnett p. 15.]

But. perfect man isn't the 'image of the invisible God'. Before he sinned, Adam was. perfect man. But was the sinless Adam omnipresent, all-knowing, eternal (self-sufficient and dependent upon nothing outside of himself for his existence)? Certainly not. Jesus was much more than simply. perfect man, He was the eternal God, the Creator in the flesh (John 1:1).

JESUS AND THE CREATION:

'THE FIRSTBORN' -4416. prototokos pro-tot-ok'-os; from 4413 and the alternate of 5088; first-born (usually as noun, literally or figuratively): -firstbegotten(-born).

Points to Note:

1. While the word "firstborn" can mean the first one born (Genesis 27:19; Exodus 2:5; Luke 2:7). From the context and other passages we are forced to conclude that the word "firstborn" in this context and others refers not to the origin of Jesus, but to the position of Jesus.

2. The word "firstborn" is often used in the Scriptures with no reference to "time", but rather to. position of preeminence (Exodus 2:22; Hebrews 12:23).

3. The context of Colossians 1:15 demands that the word "firstborn" refers to position and not to origin. For the word is used again in Colossians 1:18, 'the firstborn from the dead'. But Jesus wasn't the first person raised from the dead. Rather, He is the most important one resurrected, the one resurrected to die no more, the resurrection that guarantees the resurrection of every person (1 Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 1:5).

6. Other Scriptures remove Jesus from the category of "created beings" (John 1:1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). Even from the category of created beings in the spiritual realm (Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:7). In addition, it is impossible for. created being to fully disclose God, for part of what makes God, God, is His eternal (uncreated) nature.

7. The Jehovah Witnesses have made. big mistake. For in declaring that Jesus is. created being, they only have succeeded in lowering the concept of God. For if. created being can be called "the very image of God's substance" (Hebrews 1:3), doesn't that mean that the Father is very close to being. created being Himself?

8. In reference to the Creation, Jesus is before it, separate from it and superior to it.

9. Those groups which insist that Jesus is. created being or only. perfect man while upon the earth must deal with the additional fact that: (a) Only God is to be worshipped (Matthew 4:10). (b) Worshipping any created being, even an angel is considered to be idolatry (Romans 1:25). (c) Even angels rejected worship (Revelation 22:8). (d) And yet Jesus while upon the earth, He not only accepted worship (Matthew 14:33); but clearly promoted Himself as one worthy to be worshipped (John 5:23). The apostles advocated the same thing (Ephesians 5:19).

10. The following Scriptures teach both. pre-existence of Jesus (before the incarnation or creation itself), and an eternal nature for Jesus (Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 10:5; John 1:1; John 8:58; Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13; Revelation 22:16; Isaiah 2:6)