Colossians
Colossians 1:13-23: .odt | .doc
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
For (what is the “for” here for?) – giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share, previous verse. He (The Father) has rescued – rhoo-om-ay – delivered, drawn to oneself – like pulling in a line hand over hand, is the word picture. Us – see verse 2 – “to the saints and faithful brethren”. What have we been rescued from? “the domain of darkness” ex-oo-sia – also used in Ephesians 6:20, the “powers” just after “rulers”. This “domain” is the “powers” of darkness – Satan and his demons, the demonic realm, whose kingdom is this world that is passing away. This is also the darkness of sin, of unbelief, by the gift of faith in Him. By His power, we are drawn up into light, into visibility, against which no darkness can compete.
We are then transferred – meth-is-tay-mee – transposed, transported, moved from one place to another. That new place is the kingdom – basilieia of His beloved (aga-pace – from agape) Son.
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
And in this beloved Son, we have redemption – ap-ol-oo-tro-sis – the ransom in full. This ransom in full entails the forgiveness, af-es-is – release from bondage or imprisonment – freedom from – sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Now we are told more about this beloved Son; This Son is the image – eikon – statue in the likeness of, picture, likeness – of the invisible God. In other words, He is the visible image of the invisible – ah-or-at-os – God. This Son is the “firstborn” of all creation. Now, this might give us pause; The eternal Son wasn’t the “first” creation, was He? He didn’t take on flesh until the time of the Romans! This is the word pro-tah-toh-koss, which starts with proto, like prototype, and tokoss, birth. This term is used 8 times in the NT, 6 times of Christ. In Romans 8:29, he is the “first born among many brethren”. In Hebrews 1:6, we read “And when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” Here the idea of pre-eminence is obvious, as all of God’s angels are instructed to worship Him, a privilege rightly reserved only for God (Luke 4:8). The term prototokos is used here as a title, and no idea of birth or origin is seen. In both Colossians 1:18 (later on in this passage) and in Revelation 1:5, Christ Jesus is called the first-born of the dead (or from the dead). These would refer especially to the leadership of Christ in bringing about the resurrection of the dead and inauguration of a new, eternal life. Some think that Colossians 1:15-20 is an ancient Christian hymn, and the Greek words prototokos and proteouon are a play on sound.
The Expositor’s Greek Testament defines prototokos in this way:
…prototokos in its primary sense expresses temporal priority, and then, on account of the privileges of the firstborn, it gains the further sense of dominion.
Essentially, the conclusion drawn from this information is that Christ, by virtue of His status as monogenes, the unique Son of the Father, is the first in status, dominion and power, and is above all of creation. Which is why the next verse goes on to say…
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Again, we have “hah-tee”, a demonstrative conjunction – it says that preceding thing happens because of the following; for by Him all things were created -ek-tees-thay ta panta. In the heavens – en tois ouranos, kai epi tays gace (the root word from whence we get “gaia”) – and on the earth. Horatos kai aoratos – visible and invisible – whether thrones, or dominions or rulers or authorities – sound like Brother Jake’s lessons about the demonic powers and the unseen realm yet? Those are the invisible. So, by Him were all things created; both in the heavens, or on the earth. Whether visible or invisible. Thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities – all things have been created through (dee) Him and for (eis) Him. Christ is the Creator as well as the One for whom it was created!
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
The idea here is that He is pre-eminent over as well as pre-existing all things. He is above everything which He created, yes – but He also exists eternally, and therefore existed before anything created could have, being the Creator of it all. Much like the Carmen Christi in Philippians, this is a hymn of sorts to Christ. In Him – all things hold together – soon-iss-tay-mee. This is the term from which we get the word system, and is very similar to synthesis as well. Christ is the one that makes creation systematic. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that He is the radiance of His glory – and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. That word “upholds” basically means that He “carries”, or “bears” all things – by His word. Like, but in a much greater sense, Atlas carrying the world on His shoulders, Christ sustains all of existence by His will alone, expressed by His command – “be”.
He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Paul continues – He is also the head of the body – kef-al-ay, from where we get the English “Cephalic”, meaning head, especially in medical and zoological fields. It generally means chief, or pre-eminent when used metaphorically, as it is here. He first says “body” (soma), then defines his own term – the church. He is the ar-khay – beginning, origin, first place – from where we get archetype, architect. He is also the firstborn (prototokos) from the dead – so that He himself will come to have (prah-teu-on) – first place, pre-eminence – in everything.
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
For – hah-tee again – because – in Him (this is the order of the Greek text) all the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell. The verb, though, is probably referring to the Father – so the translation might be something like; For in Him the Father was pleased for all the fullness of deity to dwell
and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
And, not only did He create all things – through Him all things will be reconciled to Him. Apoka-tallax-ai – bring back into a state of harmony, from katallasso, which Brother Jake mentioned last Sunday – to return to favour, mend, exchange one state for another. Having made peace – aye-renno-poy-ee-sas – ireeno – from where we get the uncommonly used word, irenic – peaceful, conciliatory. Christ is the peacemaker. How? Through the blood of His cross. Through him (I say), whether things on earth, or things in heaven. Christ has harmonized everything.
And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
and although you were formerly alienated, estranged – ah-pello-trio-men-oos – and hostile (ech-thross) – hateful in mind (dee-an-oy-ah), in evil deeds (literally; in the deeds of evil)
yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
Yet now, he has reconciled you – (same word as above) – the Greek word order says, literally, in his body of flesh through death (thanatoo, the Greek word for death, personified by “Thanatos” in Greek mythology – and yes, this is the inspiration for “Thanos” from the Marvel movies) in order to present you holy, blameless (without blemish), and beyond reproach – ah-neg-klay-toos – before Himself.
if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
If indeed you continue (abide) in the faith firmly established – teh-theh-meh-lio-mehnoi – this is a perfect passive participle – participles have the -ing ending, typically – but this is also a perfect tense, which means “completed once and for all” – so this means something like “having been firmly established” – So, In indeed you continue in the faith, having been firmly established – and steadfast (immovable – see 1 Corinthians 15:58); and not met-ak-ee-neh-o – meta – away, behind and kineo – going (where we get words like kinetic) – moved away from the hope – el-pee-doss – of the gospel that you first heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister (diakonos – servant, steward).
So, what can we take away from this? Jesus is big. Very, very big. He is God. He is Pre-eminent. He is the Creator, He is the Sustainer. He is the Reconciler. He is the Head of the Church. He is the one in whom we both should and must abide in, by the power of His Spirit.