4″The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Introduction

The first thing to observe is that this is a poem. There are rhythmic constructions, metaphors, and a highly developed structure. Because of this, we must be careful with pushing the language too far in any direction. I will briefly mention various heresies that sprung up because people pushed the language of this hymn too far. The hymn springs from the mention of Jesus in v. 14 in connection with our redemption. Also, in vv. 21f. Paul continues with the thought of redemption. It follows that redemption is an important element in the hymn. Before we draw out the meaning of this hymn, let us take a look at the structure.

Structure

Old Creation	New Creation
“he himself is before all things”, v.17	“all things hold together in him”, v. 17
image, v. 15	head and body, v. 18
firstborn, v. 15	firstborn, v. 18
for in him, v. 16	for in him, v. 19
heavens and earth, v. 16	earth and heavens, v. 20
all things, v. 16 (2 times)	all things, v. 18, 20
through him…for him, v. 16	through him…to him, v. 20

The structure indicates a balance between the role of Jesus in the Old Creation in vv. 15-16 and his role in the New Creation in vv. 18-20 with v. 17 forming the bridge. This continuity is important because elements of the Old Creation are transformed to become elements of the New Creation. This will become clear as we go along.

Image of God and Head of the Body

What are some of the ways we have of knowing God? Jesus is said to be the “image of the invisible God” in v. 15. God is said to be invisible because, according to the OT, no one can see God and live. In many places in the OT people express the desire to see God face to face. And this is a hope that many Jews had for the kingdom of the Messiah. When the Messiah became king, they believed that they would see God face to face because he would make his home among his people. Here Paul says that this has already happened. Jesus is the one in whom the invisible God has become visible. That is what an image does—it makes visible what is inherently invisible. When we take pictures, we create images for the future because in the future the past is rendered invisible.

How do you think this notion of Jesus being the image of God relates to us today? Paul says that in the New Creation Jesus is the head of the body which is the church. One striking thing about Jesus’ being the image of God is that he is no longer visible! That is, we no longer see him face to face. But has he become invisible? No! He is the head of a body. And that body is still visible. This is a striking statement. What Paul is saying is that today the invisible God is made visible through the body of Jesus, that is, through the church. It is the highest calling that the church has. For to be the image of God is to represent God to the world. It is to be the salt of the earth and a city on a hill and the light of the earth.

Firstborn

Paul uses the word prototokos twice in the hymn. What do you think the word “firstborn” means in v. 15? In v. 18?

The word means either literally the one who is born before others or the one who gets the lion’s share of an inheritance. Think of Esau and Jacob. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob. Esau still remained the one who was literally the first born. However, he sold his right to the inheritance, which included the family name.

Jesus is first said to be the firstborn of all creation. At this point the word was pushed too far. Some people argued from this word that Jesus was a created being. However, v. 16 says that “all things were created by him” which indicates that he should be kept distinct from creation. The word is ambiguous and we achieve nothing by trying to make it precise. The main idea here is that of the inheritance spoken of in v. 12. As the firstborn, Jesus is the one to whom creation belongs as an inheritance.

Jesus is also said to be the firstborn from the dead. Here it is the other meaning that makes sense. He is chronologically the first to be resurrected. We will follow as his brothers and sisters. But he will remain the first. It is to him that God gives the inheritance but we who will participate in the resurrection will share in that inheritance.

All Things or Heavens and Earth

The hymn uses the phrase “all things” four times. Why do you think Paul does this? What Paul accomplishes is to place Jesus above everything else. Even the references to the heavens and the earth do this. Also, the references to visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, and authorities do the same. They do not provide an exhaustive list of the entities that exist in the spiritual realm. Remember, this is in a poem. Poetry is ambiguous and uses flowery language. What Paul is doing is driving home the point that all things are under Jesus, not a single thing is superior to him. What? You can think of one? What is it? The thrones? No! Not even they are superior to Jesus.

Paul uses a number of prepositional phrases like in him, through him, to him, for him, etc. Since these are in a poem, we should not push them too far. All these merely help Paul to make his claims regarding the supremacy of Jesus.

The Fullness…was Pleased to Dwell

One word that is crucial to this hymn is “fullness”. What do you think Paul means by it? A phrase like “Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit” conveys inspiration. A phrase like “the Word became flesh” conveys incarnation. The phrase “in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” conveys an idea somewhat midway between inspiration and incarnation. This phrase has also been pushed too far. Imagine this scenario. God wants to dwell fully inside a human. So he considers all the humans alive and finally chooses Jesus because Jesus pleases God. But this is not what the hymn is even trying to say. It is using colorful language to express the uniqueness of Jesus.