Letters from Paul

A taste of the study room coming with Paul — pull open whatever you'd like to sit with.

The reading — Colossians 1:15-23

¹⁵who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. ¹⁸He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. ¹⁹For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; ²⁰and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross. ²¹You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, ²²yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, ²³if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

World English Bible

The words behind the words

When I call the Son "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15), the word I use means more than a likeness painted on a wall — it is the very stamp, the true showing-forth of God himself made visible; look on Christ and you have looked on the Father. And "firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15) — do not hear "first thing made." The word I reach for is the word of rank and right, the heir over all, the one who was before all things and by whom all things hold together. He is not the eldest brother among creatures; he is the Lord over creation, for in him it was all made.

Where else you say this

I take up this same thread when I write that in Christ "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9) — the same fullness I speak of in that hymn. And of his lordship over every power I wrote to the Philippians, that at his name "every knee should bow" (Philippians 2:10). And of the reconciling of enemies by his blood, hear what I said to the Romans: "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Romans 5:10). It is one gospel; I only turn the same jewel to the light.

The situation

There were teachers at Colossae pressing the young church toward other things — the worship of angels, visions, hard rules laid on the body, whole ranks of spirits set between man and God. So the little congregation began to wonder if Christ were enough, or only one power among many. I answer with this: he is not one among the thrones and dominions — he made them, and he holds them, and he has stripped them bare (Colossians 2:15). I write it in chains, myself under a lesser power, Rome, that cannot touch the fullness I preach.

The hard question

A thoughtful reader stops at verse 23: I say you are reconciled, holy, blameless — "if indeed you continue in the faith" (Colossians 1:23). Does the whole thing then hang on my own holding fast, and where is my assurance? Do not soften it, and do not let it crush you either. That "if" is not a threat dangled over the anxious; it is the mark by which living faith is known — for the faith that saves is the faith that continues, and the God who began the work is the one who keeps you continuing (Philippians 1:6). Read it as the fruit, not the price. Go back and see who does the reconciling in verses 20 and 22 — it is all his doing, from first to last.

This is a small window into what a study room with Paul will hold — word by word, letter by letter, and the maps and journeys behind them. Get notified when it opens →

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