Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 1:1

Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 1:1 - 1:29

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Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 1:1 - 1:29

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

1:1 - 1:29

EXPOSITION

Col_1:1-14

SECTION I. INTRODUCTION. The Epistle commences, in St. Paul's manner, with a salutation (Col_1:1, Col_1:2), followed by thanksgiving (Col_1:3-8) and prayer (Col_1:9-14). Only in 2 Thessalonians, however, outside of the Epistles of this group, do we find a formal opening prayer. The salutation agrees closely with that of Ephesians.

Col_1:1

Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus through God's will, and Timothy the brother (Eph_1:1; 2Co_1:1). The apostle designates himself by his office, as always, except in the Macedonian Epistles and the letter of private friendship to Philemon. Timothy shares also in the greeting of the Epistle to Philemon, probably a leading member of the Colossian Church (comp. Col_4:9, Col_4:17 with Phm_1:2, Phm_1:10-12). During St. Paul's long residence at Ephesus Timothy was with him (Act_19:22), and there, probably, Philemon had come under his influence (see Introduction, § 2), and made Timothy's acquaintance. There was, therefore, at least one link of acquaintance between "Timothy the brother" and "the saints in Colossae" (comp. Php_1:1; 2Co_1:1; 2Co_1:1-24 and 2Th_1:1, where his name appears in the same way). The honourable prominence thus given to Timothy marked him out for future leadership in the Church (1Ti_1:3, 1Ti_1:18; 2Ti_2:2; 2Ti_4:2, 2Ti_4:5, 2Ti_4:6).

Col_1:2

To those in Colossae^£ (which are) saints and faithful brethren in Christ (Eph_1:1; Php_1:1; Rom_1:7; 1Co_1:2; 2Co_1:1). "Saints" in respect of their Divine calling and character (Col_3:12; 1Co_1:1-31, 1Co_2:1-16, where this title is formally introduced); "faithful brethren in Christ" (Eph_1:1) in view of the errors and consequent divisions threatening them as a Church (Col_1:23; Col_2:5, Col_2:18, Col_2:19; Col_3:15; Eph_4:14-16; Eph_6:10-18; Php_1:27 : 2Ti_2:19). Grace to yon, and peace: "as in all his Epistles." This Pauline formula of greeting combines the Greek and Hebrew, Western and Eastern, forms of salutation (comp. "Abba, Father," Rom_8:15). Χάρις is a modification of the everyday χαίρειν , hail! (Act_15:23; Jas_1:1; 2Jn_1:10); and εἰρήνη reproduces the Hebrew shalom (salam). Grace is the source of all blessing as bestowed by God (Col_1:6; Eph_1:3-6; Eph_2:5; Rom_5:2, Rom_5:17, Rom_5:21; Tit_2:11); and peace, in the large sense of its Hebrew original, of all blessing as experienced by man (Eph_2:16, Eph_2:17; Luk_2:14; Act_10:36; Rom_5:1; Rom_8:6; 2Th_3:16). From God our Father. Among the apostle's salutations this alone fails to add "and from our Lord Jesus Christ"—a defect which copyists were tempted to remedy. The omission is well established (see Revised Text, and critical editors generally), and cannot surely be accidental. In this and the twin Ephesian letter, devoted as they are to the glory of Christ, the name of the Father stands out with a peculiar prominence and dignity, much as in St. John's Gospel: "honouring the Son," they must needs "honour the Father" also (verses 12, 13; Col_3:17; Eph_1:17; Eph_2:18; Eph_3:14; Eph_4:6; Eph_5:20).

Col_1:3-8

The opening thanksgiving is full and appropriate. Its content is determined by the state of this Church, and by the apostle's relation to it through Epaphras, and his own present position.

Col_1:3

We give thanks to God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We; Timothy and I. The Revised Text omits "and" between" God" and "Father," following Lachmann, Westcott and Heft, and Lightfoot (who hesitates), on evidence numerically slight, but sufficient; especially as in every other instance of this combination the conjunction is present. "Father" is also without definite article in the better attested (Revised) reading. The words, "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," bear, therefore, an explanatory, quasi-predicative force. St. Paul wishes his readers to understand that he gives thanks to God on their account distinctly under this aspect, regarded as "Father of Christ." He has just spoken of "our Father," and now adds, "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," suggesting that it is in this relation that we know God as "our Father," the Author of grace and peace, the Object of Christian thanksgiving. So the sovereign and exclusive mediation of Christ, the ruling idea of the whole Epistle, is thrown into bold relief at the outset; and, in this light, the unique omissions of Col_1:2 and Col_1:3 explain and justify each other. This fatherhood embraces the entire Person and offices of the Son as "our Lord Jesus Christ." Praying always for you (Col_1:9; Col_2:1-3; Php_1:4; Rom_1:9). The apostle had known from the first of the existence of this Church; and had already been in communication with it (see Introduction, § 2). He had, therefore, a general prayerful interest in the Colossians (2Co_11:28), that has been quickened to joyful thanksgiving by the arrival of Epaphras. "Always" and "for you"—either or both of the phrases—may be joined grammatically to "we give thanks" or to "praying:" the latter connection is preferable (see Alford or Ellicott); similarly in Phm_1:4; in Eph_1:16 the turn of expression is different.

Col_1:4

Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have ( ἤν ἔχετε , Revised Text) toward all the saints (Eph_1:15, B.V.; Phm_1:5, R.V.; 1Th_4:9, 1Th_4:10; 1Jn_3:23; 2Jn_1:4; 3Jn_1:3, 3Jn_1:4). "Having heard "more immediately from Epaphras (Col_1:8, Col_1:9). Note the characteristic recurrence of this word: he had heard of their faith and love, as they had heard before the word of truth (Col_1:5); from the day they had heard they had borne fruit (Col_1:6), and he, in return, from the day he heard of it, had not ceased to pray for them (Col_1:9); see note on Col_1:8; and comp. 1Th_1:5 and 1Th_2:2 with 1Th_3:6 (Greek). "In Christ Jesus" is attached to "faith" (as to "brethren" in 1Th_3:2) so closely as to form with it a single idea; to be "in Christ Jesus" is of the very essence of this faith and brotherhood. "Faith in Christ," "believe in Christ," in our English Bible, commonly represent a different Greek preposition, εἰς (literally, into or unto Christ); only in the pastoral Epistles and in Eph_1:15—not in Gal_3:26 (see Lightfoot) or Rom_3:25 (see Meyer or Beet)—do we find, as here, πίστις ἐν Χριστῷ . In Christ faith rests, finding its abiding ground and element of life. In the Epistles of this period the Christian state appears chiefly as "life in Christ;" rather than, as in the earlier letters, as "salvation through Christ" (comp. e.g. Rom_5:1-21. and Col_2:9-15). The "love" of the Colossians evokes thanksgiving, as that which they have "toward all the saints;" for as the Church extended Christian love needed to be more catholic (verse 6; Col_3:11), and Colossian error in particular tended to exclusiveness and caste feeling (see note on verse 28). The iteration of "all" in this Epistle is remarkable.

Col_1:5

(We give thanks) because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens (Col_3:4; Eph_1:12-14; Php_3:20, Php_3:21; Rom_8:18-25; 1Co_15:50-58; 2Co_5:1-5; 1Th_4:13-17; 1Pe_1:3-5; Mat_6:20; Mat_19:21; Luk_12:33; Joh_14:2, Joh_14:3). "Hope" is objective—matter of hope, as in Gal_5:5; Tit_2:13; Heb_6:18. St. Paul speaks most of heaven and heavenly things in the letters of this period. Heb_6:4 gives the nearest grammatical connection for this clause; and many recent commentators, following Greek interpreters, accordingly find here that which "evokes and conditions" the Colossians' "love" (Meyer, Ellicott) or "faith and love" (De Wette, Lightfoot). But this construction we reject. For it makes the heavenly reward the reason of the Colossians' present (faith and) love, reversing the true and Pauline order of thought; while, on the other hand, the heavenly hope is the last and highest ground of the apostle's thanksgivings and encouragements, and the forfeiture or impairing of it the chief matter of his fears and warnings throughout the Epistles of this group. It is better, therefore, with Bengel, Hofmann, Klopper, Conybeare, Eadie, and others, from Athanasius downwards, to refer verse 5 as well as verse 4 to the principal verb, "we give thanks" (verse 3). What the apostle hears of "the faith and love" of the Colossian brethren moves him to give thanks for "the hope which is in store for them in heaven." Of that hope this faith and love are to him a pledge and an earnest, even as the "seal of the Spirit" (Eph_1:14) and the "peace of Christ in their hearts" (Col_3:15; see note) are to themselves. Similarly, in Php_1:27, Php_1:28 and 2Th_1:4, 2Th_1:5, from the present faith and patience of the saints the certainty of their future blessedness is argued. By singling out this hope as chief matter of thanksgiving here, the apostle enhances its certainty and its value in his readers' eyes. From the general occasion and ground of his thanksgiving in the Christian state and prospects of his readers, St. Paul proceeds to dwell on certain special circumstances which enhanced his gratitude to God (verses 56-8). Which (hope) ye heard of before, in the word of the truth of the gospel; or, good tidings (2Th_1:7, 23; Col_2:7; Eph_1:13; Eph_4:15, Eph_4:21; Gal_1:6-9; Gal_3:1-4; Gal_4:9; Gal_5:7; 1Th_1:5; 1Th_2:13; 1Th_4:1; 2Th_2:13-15; 1Pe_5:12). There is a veiled polemic reference in "the word of the truth of the gospel". The word "before" (aforetime) "contrasts their earlier with their later lessons, the true gospel of Epaphras with the false gospel of recent teachers" (Lightfoot). Others interpret, less suitably: heard already (before my writing), or heard beforehand (before the fulfilment of the hope). It is in St. Paul's manner to refer his readers at the outset to their conversion and first Christian experiences (see parallel passages). Their hope was directly at stake in the controversy with Colossian error. Here we meet the first of those cumulative combinations of nouns, so marked a feature of the style of Colossians and Ephesians, which are made a reproach against these Epistles by some critics; but each is appropriate in its place.

Col_1:6

That is come unto you, even as also (it is) in all the world, bearing fruit and increasing, as in you also (Rom_1:8; 1Th_1:8; 2Co_2:14; Acts if. 47; Act_5:14; Act_6:7; Act_9:31; Act_11:21; Act_12:24; Act_19:20). The words, "and increasing," are added to the text on the testimony, all but unanimous, of the older witnesses. Their propriety is manifest; for the success of the gospel at Colossae was a gratifying evidence, both of its inherent fruitfulness, and of its rapid progress in the Gentile world. Stationary at Rome (see Introduction, § 3), and with his messengers coming and going, and news reaching him from time to time of the advance of the Christian cause, the strong expression, "in all the world," is natural to St. Paul. From Rome "all the world" is surveyed, just as what takes place at Rome seems to resound "in all the world" (Rom_1:8). Bearing fruit (verb in middle voice, implying inherent energy) precedes growing—the first "describing the inner working," the second" the outward extension of the gospel" (Lightfoot). For "bearing fruit," comp. Eph_5:9; Gal_5:22; Php_1:11; Joh_15:8,Joh_15:16 : and for "growing," 2Th_3:1; Mat_13:31-33; and parallel passages; see also Mat_13:11. In the last clause the expression "doubles back upon itself" in a fashion characteristic of St. Paul, whose sentences grow and change their form like living things while he indites them (comp. Col_3:13; 1Th_1:5-8; 1Th_4:1, R.V.): the coming of the gospel to Colossae suggests the thought of its advent in the world, and this gives place to the fuller idea of its fruitfulness and expansion, which in turn is evidenced by its effect at Colossae. Since the day that ye heard (it), and knew well the grace of God in truth (Mat_13:5; Col_2:6, Col_2:7; Eph_1:13; Eph_4:21; 1Th_2:1, 1Th_2:2, 1Th_2:13; 1Co_2:1-5; 1Co_15:1-11; 2Co_1:19; Gal_1:6, Gal_1:11; Gal_3:1-3; 2Ti_3:14). For their progress had been continuous (comp. Php_1:5). Meyer and Ellicott, with the A.V., better maintain the connection of thought in understanding "the gospel" as object of "heard." The verb ἐπέγνωτε , knew well, with ἐπίγνωσις (Mat_13:9, etc.), belongs specially to the vocabulary of this group of Epistles. Knowledge, in 1 Corinthians, is denoted by the simple gnosis. But this word became at an early time the watchword of the heretical Gnostics; and the false teachers of Colossae pretended to an intellectual superiority, asserted, we may imagine, in much the same way (comp. Col_2:2-4, Col_2:8, Col_2:23). The apostle now prefers the more precise and distinctive epignosis ( επίγινώσκω ), meaning" accurate" or" advanced knowledge" (see Lightfoot here, and on verse 9). "To hear the gospel" is "to know well the grace of God" (Act_20:24; Rom_3:21-26; 2Co 5:20—6:1; Joh_1:17); the full knowledge of which "in truth" (verse 5; Eph_4:14, Eph_4:15, Eph_4:20-24) would preserve the Colossians from knowledge falsely so called.

Col_1:7

As ye learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant; literally, bondman (Eph_4:20; 2Ti_3:14). Only in Col_4:7 does the epithet "fellow-bondman" appear again in St. Paul. The dominant thought of Christ Jesus "the Lord" (Col_2:6; 3:22-4:1) possibly dictates this expression. That the Colossians had received the gospel in this way from Epaphras, a disciple of St. Paul, was a striking proof of its fruitfulness, and a further cause for thanksgiving on his own part. Who is a faithful minister of Christ on our (or, your) behalf (Col_4:12, Col_4:13; 2Co_8:22; Php_2:22). He puts his seal upon the ministry of Epaphras, and vindicates it against all questioning at home. Textual evidence for "on our" or "your behalf" is pretty evenly balanced: most older Greek copies read the first person, while the ancient versions generally adopted the second; and the critical editors are similarly divided. The Revisers, with Tregelles, Alford, Lightfoot, Westcott and Hort, prefer "our," which gives a finer and more fitting sense. It was as St. Paul's representative that Epaphras had ministered in Colossae, and to him he now reported his success; and this justified the apostle in claiming the Colossians as his own charge, and in writing to them in the terms of this letter (Col_2:1, Col_2:2, Col_2:5-7 : comp. Rom_15:20; 2Co_10:13-16). "Minister" ( διάκονος , deacon, in its official sense found in St. Paul first in Php_1:1, then in 1 Timothy) is to be distinguished from the "servant" ( δοῦλος , slave) of the last clause, and from "assistant" ( ὑπηρέτης : 1Co_4:1; Act_13:5; Act_26:16), and "attendant" ( θεράπων : Heb_3:5); see Trench's 'Synonyms of the New Testament.' It is a favourite word of St. Paul's, and points to the service rendered, while other terms indicate the status of the servant.

Col_1:8

Who also showed us your love in (the) Spirit (2Co_7:7; 2Co_8:7; 1Th_3:6; Php_4:10); i.e. your love to us. Timothy and myself, especially if we read "in our behalf" in Col_1:7 : so, many interprefers, from Chrysostom to Klopper. Epaphras had conveyed the blessings of the gospel from St. Paul to the Colossians, and they now send back the grateful assurance of their love by the same channel (comp, note on "having heard," verse 4, and parallel passages). This was a choice fruit of the gospel in them (comp. Php_4:10, Php_4:15-18), and such a reference to it gives a kindly conclusion to the thanksgiving. Ellicott and others understand here brotherly love in general—a somewhat pointless repetition of verse 4. Meyer, reading "on your behalf" in verse 7. more suitably suggests the Colossians' love to Epaphras in return for his services to them. The Spirit is the ruling element of the Colossians' love (Gal_5:22) Love-in-the-Sprat forms a single compound phrase, like "faith-in-Christ-Jesus" (verse 4). The one Spirit dwells alike in all the members of Christ's body, however sundered by place or circumstance (Eph_4:1-4), and makes them one in love to each other as to him (Joh_13:34, Joh_13:35; 1Jn_3:23, 1Jn_3:24). "Spirit" occurs besides in this Epistle only in Col_2:5 (but see "spiritual," Col_2:9), and some find in Col_2:1, Col_2:5 the explanation of this phrase (sc. "a love formed in absence, without personal intercourse:" but this is forced, and doubtful in point of grammar).

Col_1:9-14

The opening prayer rises cut of the foregoing thanksgiving, and leads up to the chief doctrinal statement of the Epistle (Col_1:15-20 : compare, for the connection, Eph_1:15-23; Rom_1:8-17). The burden of this prayer, as in other letters of this period, is the Church's need of knowledge (comp. Eph_1:17, Eph_1:18; Php_1:9, Php_1:10). Here this desire has its fullest expression, as the necessity of the Colossians in this. respect was the more urgent and their situation, therefore, the more fully representative of the stage in the history of the Pauline Churches now commencing. He asks for his readers

(1) a fuller knowledge of the Divine will (verse 9); to result in

(2) greater pleasingness to God, due

(3) to increased moral fruitfulness and spiritual growth, to

(4) patience under suffering (verse 11), and to

(5) thankfulness for the blessings of redemption (verses 12-14).

Col_1:9

For this cause we also (Eph_1:15-17; 1Th_3:6-13). Timothy and I, in return for your love to us (Col_1:8) and in response to this good news about you (Col_1:4-6). From the day that we heard (it); an echo of "from the day that ye heard it" (Col_1:6). Do not cease praying for you, and making request. The former is a general expression (Col_1:3), the latter points to some special matter of petition to follow. This second verb St. Paul only uses elsewhere of prayer to God in Eph_3:13, Eph_3:20 (see Trench's 'Synonyms' on αἱτέω , αἵτημα ). That ye may be filled with (or, made complete in) the knowledge of his will (Col_2:10; Col_4:12; Eph_3:18, Eph_3:19; Rom_12:2; Heb_13:21). On "knowledge" ( ἐπίγνωσις ), see note. to Eph_3:6, and Lightfoot's note here. "With the knowledge" represents the Greek accusative of specification (as in Php_1:11, where see Ellicott); and the verb πληρωθῆτε (comp. note on plē, Eph_3:19), as in Col_2:10 and Col_1:25, denotes "fulfilled" or "made complete," rather than "made full"—"made complete as to the full knowledge," etc. "His will" ("God's will," Col_1:1; Col_4:12) need not be limited to the original purpose of salvation (Eph_1:9), or to his moral requirements respecting Christian believers (Col_1:10; so Meyer), but includes "the whole counsel of God" (Act_20:27) made known to us in Christ (Col_1:26, Col_1:27). In all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col_2:2; Eph_5:17; Php_1:9; 1Co_14:20). Wisdom, in its highest sense, is the sum of personal excellence as belonging to the mind; it implies a vital knowledge of Divine truth, forming the sentiments and determining the will as it possesses the reason, Hence the word occurs in a great variety of connections:

"Wisdom and knowledge" (Col_2:3), "and prudence" (Eph_1:8), etc. For this Church the apostle asks specially the gift of understanding or comprehension, (comp. Col_2:2; only in Eph_3:4 and 2Ti_2:7 besides, in St. Paul; 1Co_1:19 from LXX), the power of putting things together ( σύν - εσις ), of discerning the relations of different truths, the logical bearing and consequences of one's principles. For the errors invading Colossae were of a Gnostic type, mystic at once and rationalistic; against which a clear and well-informed understanding was the best protection (comp. notes on "truth," in Col_1:5, Col_1:6; also Col_2:4, Col_2:8, Col_2:18, Col_2:23; Eph_4:13, Eph_4:14). This "wisdom and understanding" are "spiritual," as inspired by the Divine Spirit (comp. the use of "spirit," "spiritual," in 1Co_12:1-11; Gal_6:1 and Gal_5:16, Gal_5:25; Eph_1:17; Eph_3:16-19), and opposed to all "wisdom of the flesh," the unrenewed nature of man (Col_2:18; 1Co_2:4-6, 1Co_2:13-15; Jas_3:15).

Col_1:10

To walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing (Eph_4:1; Php_1:27; 1Th_2:12; 1Th_4:1; 2Th_1:5, 2Th_1:11; 1Jn_2:6; Rev_3:4; Heb_13:21); so as to please him in every way. "The end of all knowledge, the apostle would say, is conduct" (Lightfoot). Spiritual enlightenment (Col_1:9) enables the Christian to walk (a Hebraism adopted also into biblical English) in a way "worthy of the Lord" (Christ, Col_2:6; Col_3:24; Act_20:19, etc.), becoming those who have such a Lord and who profess to be his servants. And to be "worthy of Christ" is to "please God" (Rom_8:29; Eph_1:4, Eph_1:5, Eph_1:11; 1Co_1:9). This is the ideal and the aim of the religious life throughout the Bible. The characteristics of this walk are set forth by three coordinate participial phrases (Col_1:10-12), standing in the half independent nominative case instead of the more regular accusative. In every good work bearing fruit (Eph_4:28; Gal_6:9, Gal_6:10; 1Th_5:15; 2Th_2:17; 1Ti_5:10; Tit_3:8; Heb_13:16; Act_9:36). "Good work" is that which is beneficial, practically good (see parallel passages). "In every good work" might grammatically qualify the foregoing" pleasing ', but appears to be parallel in position and sense with "in all power" (Col_1:11). On"bearing fruit" (active in voice where the subject is personal: comp. ἐνεργέω in Col_1:29 and in Php_2:13), see note to Col_1:6. While doing good to his fellow-men, the Christian is growing by (or, in) the knowledge of God (Col_2:19; Eph_4:13-16; 2Pe_3:18; 1Co_3:1, 1Co_3:2; 1Co_14:20; 1Co_16:13; Heb_5:12-14). His own nature becomes larger, stronger, more complete. Here it is individual (internal) growth, in Col_1:6 collective (external) growth (of the gospel, the Church) that is implied; the two are combined in Eph_4:13-16. The dative τῇ ἐπιγνώσει (so best copies and Revised Text: the Received, unto the knowledge, is a repetition of Eph_4:9) is "dative of instrument" (Alford, Lightfoot) rather than "of respect" (in the knowledge; so R.V.).

Col_1:11

In all power being empowered, according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness (Col_1:24, Col_1:29; Eph_1:19; Eph_3:16; Eph_6:10; 1Co_16:13; 2Ti_1:7, 2Ti_1:8; 2Ti_2:1, 2Ti_2:3, 2Ti_2:9, 2Ti_2:10; 1Pe_5:10). The same word is repeated as noun and verb ( δύναμις , δυναμόω , power, empower) with a strong Hebraistic sort of emphasis (otherwise in Eph_3:16). In all (every kind of) power gives the mode, according to the might of his glory the measure, and unto all patience, etc., the end of this Divine strengthening. "Might" ( κράτος ), in distinction from power ( δύναμις ) and other synonyms (comp. Col_1:29; Eph_1:19; Eph_6:10), implies "mastery," "sovereign sway," and, except in Heb_2:14 ("might of death"), is used in the New Testament only of the power of God. "Glory," as in Php_3:21, bears a substantive meaning of its own, and is not a mere attributive of "might." It is the splendour of God's revelations of himself, in which his might is So conspicuous. Gazing on this glory, especially as seen in Christ (2Co_4:6) and the gospel (1Ti_1:11, R.V.), the Christian discerns the might of him from whom it streams forth, and understands how that might is engaged in his behalf (Eph_1:19, Eph_1:20; comp. Isa_40:28, Isa_40:29; Isa_42:5, Isa_42:6); and this thought fills him with invincible courage and endurance. Patience is steadfastness and stout heartedness under ill fortune (not a mere resigned patience); long suffering is gentleness of temper and magnanimity under ill treatment (comp. Col_3:12; and see Lightfoot, in loc., and Trench's 'Synonyms'). Christ, in his earthly life, was the supreme example of patience (2Th_3:5, R.V.; 1Pe_2:21-23; Heb_12:3, Heb_12:4), which is "wrought by tribulation" (Rom_5:4): long-suffering finds its pattern in God's dealing with "the unthankful and evil" (Rom_2:4; 1Ti_1:16; 1Pe_3:20; 2Pe_3:15). "With joyfulness" belongs to this clause (Theodoret, Calvin, Bengel, Alford, Lightfoot) rather than the next, and lends a more vivid force to the foregoing words, while comparatively needless if prefixed to those that follow (so, however, Chrysostom, Erasmus, Meyer, Ellicott—"with joy giving thanks," etc.). This paradox is genuinely Pauline, and arises from personal experience (comp. verse 24; Php_1:29; Rom_5:3; 1Th_1:6; 2Co_1:4-8; 2Co_6:10; 2Co_12:9, 2Co_12:10).

Col_1:12

Giving thanks to the Father, who made us (or, you) meet for our (or, your) share in the lot (or, portion) of the saints in the light (Col_1:3-5; Act_20:32; Act_26:18; Tit_3:7; Eph_1:5, Eph_1:11-14; Gal_3:29; Rom_8:15-17). The reading "us" is very doubtful. Westcott and Hort, with Tischendorf, prefer "you," as in the two oldest manuscripts: for the transition from first to second person, comp. Col_2:13, Col_2:14 (Col_2:9-12). In the same strain the apostle gave thanks on their account (Col_2:5). Thanksgiving" is prominent in this letter (Col_2:7; Col_3:15, Col_3:17; Col_4:2), as "joy" in Philippians. The title "the Father" frequently stands alone in St. John's Gospel, coming from the lips of the Son, but St. Paul employs it thus only here and in Eph_3:14, R.V.; Rom_8:15; Gal_4:6; see note on Gal_4:2. Those "give thanks to the Father" who gratefully acknowledge him in "the spirit of adoption" as their Father through Christ (Rom_8:15; Gal_4:1-7; Eph_1:5). And the Father makes us meet for the inheritance when he enables us to call him "Father"—"If children, then heirs." "To make meet" ( ἱκανόω , the verb found besides only in 2Co_3:5, 2Co_3:6 in the New Testament, "to make sufficient," R.V.) is "to make competent," "to qualify" for sonic position or work. This meetness, already conferred on the Colossians, consists in their forgiveness (verse 14) and adoption (Eph_1:5-7), which qualify and entitle them to receive the blessings of Christ's kingdom (verse 13; Rom_5:1, Rom_5:2; Gal_3:26-29; Eph_2:5, Eph_2:6; Tit_3:7), and which anticipate and form the basis of that worthiness of character and fitness of condition in which they are finally to be presented "perfect in Christ" (verses 10, 22, 28; 1Th_5:23, 1Th_5:24); "not qui dignos fecit (Vulgate), but qui idoneos fecit" (Ellicott). "Called and (made us meet)" is one of the few characteristic readings of the great Vatican Manuscript, which Westcott and Herr reject. "The lot of the saints" is that entire wealth of blessedness laid up for the people of God (Eph_1:3; Eph_2:12; Eph_3:6; Eph_4:4-7), in which each has his due share or part (Meyer, Ellicott, Lightfoot, less suitably: "parcel of (consisting in) the lot"); comp. verse 28; Eph_4:7. Κλῆρος ("lot," Act_8:21; Act_26:18), scarcely distinguishable from the more usual κληρονομία ("inheritance," Col_3:24; Eph_1:14, etc.; Act_20:32; Heb_9:15; 1Pe_1:4), is used in the Old Testament (LXX) of the sacred land as "divided by lot," and as "the lot" assigned to Israel (Num_34:13; Deu_4:21, etc.), also of Jehovah himself as "the lot" of the landless Levites (Deu_10:9), and of Israel in turn as "the lot" of Jehovah (Deu_4:20). It is the divinely allocated possession of the people of God in his kingdom. It belongs to them as "saints" (Eph_4:2; Eph_2:19; Act_20:32; Act_26:18; Psa_15:1-5.; Num_35:34; Jer_2:7); and it lies "in the light," in "the kingdom of the Son of God's love" (Eph_4:13) that is filled with the light of the knowledge of God proceeding from Christ (2Co_4:1-6; Joh_1:4; Joh_8:12), light here manifest "in part" and in conflict with Satanic darkness (Eph_4:13; Eph_5:8-14; Eph_6:11, Eph_6:12; 1Th_5:4-8; Rom_13:11-13; Joh_1:5), hereafter the full possession of God's saints (Col_3:4; 1Co_13:12; Rom_13:12; Joh_12:36; Rev_21:23-25; Isa_60:19, Isa_60:20).

Eph_4:13 and Eph_4:14 proceed to show how this qualification has been gained.

Col_1:13

Who (sc. the Father) rescued us from the dominion of the darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love (Eph_5:8; Eph_6:12; Ro 7:14-8:4; 1Co_15:56, 1Co_15:57; 1Th_1:9, 1Th_1:10; 1Pe_2:9; 1Jn_1:5-7; 1Jn_2:7-11). To "rescue" ( ῥύομαι : 1Th_1:10; Rom_7:24; 2Co_1:10; 2Ti_4:17, 2Ti_4:18,—to be carefully distinguished from other Greek verbs rendered "deliver") implies the evil state of the rescued, the superior power of the rescuer, and a conflict issuing in deliverance. St. Paul repeatedly associates the figure of darkness with the language of warfare. "Dominion of darkness"—same as "dominion of Satan" (Act_26:18). Εξουσία , as distinguished from δύναμις ("power," Col_1:11, Col_1:29), is "right," "authority": the power of Satan is not mere external force, but takes the form of established and (as it were) legalized dominion (1Co_15:56; Luk_4:6; Joh_12:31). "The darkness" is precisely opposed to "the light" (Col_1:12), being the region of falsehood and hatred, whether in this world or outside of it, where Satan rules (Eph_6:12; Eph_5:8, Eph_5:11; 2Co_4:4; 1Jn_2:8-11; Mat_8:12; Luk_22:53; Joh_3:19, Joh_3:20; Joh_12:35). To "translate" ( μεθίστημι ) is to remove from one place, office, etc., to another; Josephus ('Ant.,' 9:11, 1) uses it of the deportation of the Israelites by the Assyrian king. The Father, rescuing his captive children, brings them "into the kingdom of the Son of his love." Here we touch the central and governing idea of this Epistle, that of the supreme lordship of Christ (Col_1:15-20; Col_2:6, Col_2:10,Col_2:19, etc.); and this passage affords a clue which will, we trust, guide us through some of the greatest difficulties which follow. (On "the kingdom of the Son," comp. Eph_1:20-23; Php_2:6-11; Rom_14:9; 1Co_8:6; 1Co_15:24 - 28; Heb_1:1-4; Heb_2:5-10; Rev_1:5-7, Rev_1:18; Rev_5:1-14., etc.; Joh_5:22-27; Joh_17:2; Joh_18:36; Mat_25:31-46; Mat_28:18-20.) Only here and in Eph_5:5; 2Ti_4:1, 2Ti_4:18; 1Co_15:24, 1Co_15:25, does the apostle speak of the kingdom as Christ's; otherwise as God's (and future). The "Son of his love" is not simply the "beloved Son" (Eph_1:6; Mat_3:17, etc.), but the representative and depositary of his love: "Who is his love made manifest", being at once our "Redeemer King "(1Co_15:13, 1Co_15:14) and the" Image of the invisible God" (1Co_15:15).

Col_1:14

In whom we have (or, had) our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins (Eph_1:7; Gal_3:10-13; Rom_3:19-26; 2Co_5:18-21; 1Pe_3:18, 1Pe_3:19). Eph_1:7 suggested to some later copyists the interpolation "through his blood," words highly suitable in the Ephesian doxology. This verse is the complement of the last: there salvation appears as a rescue by sovereign power, here as a release by legal ransom ( ἀπο λύτρωσις ). The ransom price Christ had declared beforehand (Mat_20:28; Mat_26:28; comp. Rom_3:24-26; Gal_2:20; 1Ti_2:6; Heb_9:12-14; 1Pe_1:18; Rev_1:5, R.V.; Rev_5:9). "We have redemption" ("had it," according to a few ancient witnesses) in present experience in "the forgiveness of our sins "(Eph_1:21, Eph_1:22; Col_2:13, Col_2:14; Col_3:13; 2Co_5:21; Rom_4:25; Rom_5:1; Rom_8:1; Tit_2:14; Heb_9:14; Heb_10:1-18; 1Pe_2:24; 1Jn 1:7-2:2; 1Jn_4:10). Rom_3:24 gives its objective ground. The "redemption of the body" (also bought by the same price, 1Co_6:20) will make the work complete (Eph_1:13, Eph_1:14; Rom_8:19-23; 1Co_1:30). Lightfoot suggests that the apostle intends to contradict the doctrine of redemption taught by the Gnostics, who made it consist in initiation into their "mysteries" (see note on Rom_3:27); and supposes that this notion may already have existed at Colossae in some incipient form. But such an abuse of the term seems to imply a well established and familiar Christian use. Philo, who speaks the language of the Jewish philosophic mysticism of the first century, has no such usage. In firm, clear lines the apostle has retraced, in Rom_3:12-14 (comp. Rom_3:20-23; Col_2:11-14), the teaching of his earlier Epistles on the doctrines of salvation. Here he assumes, in brief and comprehensive terms, what in writing to the Galatians and Romans he had formerly been at so much pains to prove.

Col_1:15-23

SECTION II. THE REDEEMING SON AND HIS KINGDOM. We now approach the real subject of the apostle's letter, and that which is its distinction and glory amongst the Epistles, in the great theological deliverance of Col_1:15-20 concerning the Person of Christ. This passage occupies a place in the Christology of St. Paul corresponding to that which belongs to Rom_3:19-26 in regard to his Soteriology. Here he treats directly and expressly of the sovereignty of Christ and the nature of his Person—subjects which elsewhere in his writings are for the most part matter of assumption or mere incidental reference. But the paragraph is no detached or interpolated piece of abstract theology. It depends grammatically and practically on the previous verses (12-14). It sets forth who he is and what place he fills in the universe that Son of God's love in whom we have redemption, and in whose kingdom the Father has placed us; and what cause, therefore, there is for the Colossians to give thanks as having such a Person for their redeeming King. The passage fails into two parts, closely corresponding both in form and sense, and governed, like other of the apostle's more fervid and elevated utterances, by a Hebraistic antithetical rhythm of expression, which should aid us in the difficulties of its interpretation. A twofold headship is ascribed to the Lord Christ—natural (verses 15-17) and redemptional (verses 18-20): the first the source and ground of the second; the second the issue and consequence of the first, its reassertion and consummation. This symmetrical structure we may attempt to exhibit in the following way:—

I. Col_1:15

(a) Who is Image of God the invisible, Firstborn of all creation:

Col_1:16

(b) For in Him were created all things,

(c) In the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible—whether thrones, whether lordships, whether principalities, whether dominions—

Col_1:17

(d) All things through Him and unto Him have been created;

(e) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

II. Col_1:18. (e) And He is the Head of the body, the Church;

(a) Who is (the) Beginning, Firstborn out of the dead, that in all things He might become pre-eminent:

Col_1:19

(b) For in Him he was pleased that all the fulness should dwell;

Col_1:20

(d) And through Him to reconcile all things unto Him, having made peace through the blood of his cross,—through Him,

(c) Whether the things on the earth, or the things in the heavens.

I.

(a) In virtue of his relation to God, Christ is at once

(b) ground of creation,

(c) both in heaven and on earth, and at the same time

(d) its means and its end; he is, therefore,

(e) supreme over the universe, preconditioning its existence, constituting its unity.

II. In a similar sense he is

(e) Head of the Church,

(a) in virtue of his new relation to man, which makes him

(b) ground,

(d) means, and end of reconciliation also,

(c) whether on earth or in heaven.

Col_1:15

Who is Image of God the invisible (Col_2:9; Php_2:6; 2Co_4:4; Heb_1:1-3; Heb_11:27; Joh_1:1-3, Joh_1:18; Joh_5:37, Joh_5:38; 1Ti_1:17; Exo_33:20; Job_23:1-17. 8, 9). On "image" (Elsie), see Lightfoot's full discussion; and Trench's 'Synonyms.' The word is well defined by Philo ('On Dreams,' 1. § 40): "The image—no imitation, but the very archetypal representation itself ( αὐτὸ τὸ ἀρχέτυπον εἷδος )." This title the apostle had before conferred on Christ in 2Co_4:4. There it is in the moral and redemptional attributes of the Godhead, manifest in "the illumination of the gospel," that Jesus Christ (2Co_4:6), the incarnate Redeemer, appears as "the Image of God:" hero the title is put upon him as representing the invisible God in all that pertains to nature and creation. The Colossian error rested on a philosophical dualism. It assumed an absolute separation between the infinite God and the finite, material world, which was viewed as the work of lower and more or less evil powers. To counteract it, therefore, the apostle's argument must go down to the foundation of things, and seeks for a true conception of the universe on which to ground itself. Accordingly, in this and the following verses, he bases the redeeming work of "the Word made flesh who dwelt among us," set forth in his previous Epistles, upon that of "the Word who was with God in the beginning, who was God, and through whom all things were made." He avoids, however, the term Loges, which must have been perfectly familiar to him in this connection—possibly to prevent misunderstanding (see Introduction, §§ 4, 7). Firstborn of all creation (Rom_8:29; Heb_1:2, Heb_1:6; Joh_1:18; Psa_89:27). (On "firstborn," see again Lightfoot's invaluable note.) Primogeniture in early ages carried with it the rights of full heirship, involving representation of the father both in his religious and civil capacity, and in his sovereignty within the house (Gen_25:31; Gen_27:29; Gen_49:3; Deu_21:17; 1Ch_5:1). But natural precedence, as in the ease of Esau and Jacob, may yield to Divine election, which gives a unique sacredness and separateness to the position and title of the firstborn. So Israel is Jehovah's firstborn among the nations (Exo_4:22, Exo_4:23; Jer_31:9). What belonged to the chosen people under this title is, in the language of Psa_89:27, concentrated on the person of the Messianic King, the elect Son of David; and firstborn became a standing designation of the Messiah. The apostle has already applied it to Christ in his relation to the Church (Rom_8:29; see below, Rom_8:18), as being not the eldest simply, but one intrinsically superior to and sovereign over those whom he claims for his brethren (comp. Rom_14:9). Here the historical birthright and actual sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ within the Church are affirmed to rest upon an original primacy over the universe itself. He is not the Church's only, but "all creation's Firstborn" (comp. Heb_3:3 - 6, "Son over his own house"—the house of him "who built all things'). The phrase is synonymous with the "Heir of all things" of Heb_1:2, and the "Only-begotten" of Joh_1:18. So far were the titles Firstborn and Only-begotten from excluding each other in Jewish thought that Israel is designated "God's firstborn, only-begotten," in the apocryphal Psalms of Solomon (Psa_18:4; also 4 Esdr. 6:58); and so entirely had the former become a title of sovereignty that God himself is called "Firstborn of the world" (Rabbi Bechai: see Lightfoot). Philo uses the equivalent πρωτόγονος of the Divine Word as the seat of the archetypal ideas after which creation was framed. This phrase has been a famous battle-ground of controversy. It was a chief stronghold of the Arians, who read "of (out of) all creation" as partitive genitive. This interpretation, while grammatically allowable, is exegetically and historically impossible. For verses 16 and 17 expressly and emphatically distinguish between "him" and "the all things" of creation. The idea of the Son of God being part of creation was foreign to St. Paul's mind (Col_2:9; 1Co_8:6; Php_2:6-8), and to the thought of his day. Had such a misunderstanding occurred to him as possible, he would, perhaps, have expressed himself differently. Some of the early opponents of Arius gave to πρωτότοκος , against all usage, an active sense—"First-begetter of all creation." Athanasius, with ether Greek Fathers of the fourth century, in the stress of the same controversy, were led to propose whatsubsequently became the standard Socinian interpretation, understanding "creation" to mean "the new (moral) creation" (so also Schleiermacher)—against the whole scope of the context, and cutting the very nerve of the apostle's argument. The Jewish theosophy of the day distributed the offices of representing God, and of mediating between him and the creatures, amongst a variable and nebulous crowd of agencies—angels, words, powers—neither human nor strictly Divine. The apostle gathers all these mediatorial and administrative functions into one, and places them in the hands of "the Son of his love." Looking up to God, he is his Image: looking down on creation, he is its primal Head and Lord. "Creation," standing collectively without the article in antithesis to "Firstborn," is used qualitatively, or (as the logicians would say) intensively. This is better than making κτίσις a quasi-proper noun (Winer, Lightfoot), or rendering distributively, "every creature" (Meyer, Ellicott). (On this occasional collective use of πᾶς without article, see Kruger's 'Griech. Sprachlehre,' 1:50. 11.9.)

Col_1:16

For in him were created all things (Col_1:17; Joh_1:3, Joh_1:4). Ἐν is "in," never "by," in St. Paul. Τὰ πάντα (collective plural with singular predicate, literally, was created) corresponds nearly to our "the universe." Joh_1:4 is the true parallel to this sentence. St. John sees in "the Word" the animating principle of creation; St. Paul in "the Son of God's love" its ground and raison d'etre. "He is the Source of its life, the Centre of all its developments, the Mainspring of all its motions" (Lightfoot). As the spiritual life of believers was formed "in Christ" (Col_1:2, Col_1:4; Col_2:10-15), so, in its measure, the natural life of creation. The added in the heavens and on the earth (verse 20; Php_2:10; Mat_6:10) reduces to the same subordination to the Lord Christ the two worlds so widely separated in common thought and in the religious philosophy of the time. The polemic bearing of this distinction comes out more clearly when to the distinction of sphere is added that of nature—the things visible and the things invisible (Col_2:18; 2Co_4:18; Rom_1:20; Heb_11:3); and when amongst the latter are specified those highest orders of invisible beings whose power might be most readily supposed to come into comparison with that of the Son,—whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or dominions (Col_2:10, Col_2:15, Col_2:18, Col_2:19; Eph_1:21; Eph_3:10; Eph_4:10; Eph_6:12; Rom_8:38; 1Co_15:24; Heb_2:5; Rev_4:4). By their low and vague conceptions of the position of Christ, and by over-exalted notions of that of the angels, the Colossian errorists had all but, if not altogether, identified their powers with his. The apostle, therefore, declares that the invisible beings of the worlds above us, however lofty their names or mighty their powers, are his creatures as much as the lowliest objects within our sight (comp. Heb_1:2, where also false views are corrected of the importance of the angels, exaggerated at the expense of Christ). This list of angelic titles is not intended to be exhaustive, or authoritative. It is rather quoted as current at the time, and in a certain tone of "impatience with this elaborate angelology" (Lightfoot). All things through him and unto him have been created (1Co_8:6; Heb_1:2; Joh_1:3). "In him" carries us back to the beginning of creation (with verb ἐκτίσθη in aorist, indefinite past); "through him" leads us along its process; and "unto him" points us to its end (verb ἔκτισται in perfect tense, of abiding result). Comp. Philo ('On Monarchy,' it. § 5): "Now the image of God is the Word, through which the whole world was framed." Already St. Paul had said, "Through Christ are all things" (1Co_8:6). Hitherto the "unto (for) him" has been reserved for "the Father" (1Co_8:6; Rom_11:36; comp. Heb_2:10). Baur finds in this change of expression a radical theological contradiction and a sign of unauthenticity, as also in the contrast of Col_3:11 with 1Co_15:28. But the apostle speaks from a standpoint different from that of the earlier Epistles. In the Roman and Corinthian passages he is concerned with the relations of God to man, and his dealings with mankind through Christ; here, with the relations of Christ himself to his own kingdom. The final "delivering up of the kingdom to the Father" lies outside the scope of this passage, which begins with the delivering up of us by the Father to "the kingdom of the Son" (1Co_15:13). Till "the end," which is "not yet," Christ must reign (1Co_15:25), and all things owe allegiance to him; they are created unto this end (Eph_3:9, Eph_3:10), and therefore unto him, to serve his kingdom (Php_2:10). The apostle asserts of creation what he has already said (2Co_5:15; Rom_14:9; Act_20:28) and is about to say again (1Co_15:20) of the redeemed Church. That both exist for Christ (relatively and proximately) is a truth perfectly consistent with their existing for God (absolutely and ultimately); 1Co_3:23 gives the unity of the two ideas.

Col_1:17

And he is before all things (Col_1:15; Joh_1:1; Joh_8:58; Joh_17:5; Rev_3:14; Pro_8:22-31). This emphatic "he" ( αὐτός ) meets us in every clause and in every possible grammatical form, as though in the very grammar of the sentence Christ must be "all in all." "He" is kept ringing in the cars of those who were in danger of forgetting him in the charm of other sounds (Col_2:4, Col_2:19 : comp. Col_2:9-15; Eph_2:14-18, for the same rhetorical feature; also Eph_4:11; 1Jn_2:2; Romans 19:15, Greek). We now pass from the origination (Col_1:16 a), through the continuance (Col_1:16 b, present perfect ἔκτισται ), to the present constitution (Col_1:17 b) of the universe as Jesting upon this antecedent and perpetual He Is, which affords the underlying basis uniting in one the redemptional and the creative offices of Christ (Col_1:17, Col_1:18). In the mouth of a Hebraist like St. Paul, the coincidence of the doubly emphatic "He Is" with the etymological sense of Jehovah (Yahweh; ὁ ὤν , LXX), as interpreted in Exo_3:6., can scarcely be accidental (see Lightfoot). And Greek readers of the LXX might be reminded of such declarations as those of Isa_41:4; Isa_44:6; Isa_48:12 (comp. Joh_1:1, Joh_1:2; Joh_8:24, Joh_8:28, Joh_8:58; Joh_13:19; Rom_1:8, Rom_1:17; 21:6). In St. Paul's Christ, as in Isaiah's Jehovah, sovereignty of redeeming, rests upon sovereignty of creative power, and both alike upon that perpetuity of being which "the Son of God's love" shares with the Father. Socinian exegetes give to "before" an ethical sense ("at the head of," "superior to"), in harmony with their reference of verses 15-18 to the relation of Christ to the Church. But πρὸ never has this sense in St. Paul: comp. also the "Firstborn" of verse 15, and again "Beginning," "Firstborn" (verse 18). If verse 15 left us in any doubt as to the writer's intention to assert Christ's pro-mundane existence, this expression ought to remove it. Language can hardly be more explicit. And all things in him consist; i.e. have their common standing, are constituted a whole. The apostle speaks here the language of philosophy. In Plato and Aristotle, the term consist (consistence) is found expressing the essentially philosophical conception of the inherent unity, in virtue of which the universe is such and forms a single, correlated whole. The Alexandrine Judaists had already found this unifying principle in the Loges: "He is the Image of God, to whom alone fulness belongs. For other things of themselves are loose; and if they happen to be consolidated anywhere, it is the Divine Word by which they are tied fast. For it is the cement and the bond of things, that has filled all things with its essence. And having chained and woven together everything, it is itself absolutely full of itself" (Philo, 'Who is Heir of Divine Things?' § 38). St. Paul's declaration meets the questionings indicated by language of this kind (see the more extended references of Meyer and Lightfoot).

Col_1:18

The words, And he is the Head of the body, the Church (Col_2:10, Col_2:19; Eph_1:22, Eph_1:23; Eph_3:8-10; Eph_4:15, Eph_4:16; Heb_1:3; Joh_15:1-6), identify the mediatorial Lord of creation (Col_1:15-17) with the redeeming Head of the Church, and claim the prerogatives belonging to him in the former capacity as the basis of his position and offices in the latter (comp. Eph_1:22). The Pauline doctrine of the Church as the body of Christ is developed in Colossians and Ephesians, especially in the later Epistle, where it receives its fruitful application. Here the doctrine of the Person of Christ and the doctrine of the Church find their meeting-point as mutually implying each other, and together opposed to the double effect of early Gnosticism, which tended first to lower the dignity of Christ, and then to impair the unity of his Church (see Col_2:19, note). In 1Co_12:12-27 and Rom_12:4, Rom_12:5 the figure of the body and members is merely a passing illustration of the mutual relation of believers in the Church; now the body of Christ becomes the formal title of the Church, expressing the fundamental and fixed conception of its nature as related to him, who is the centre of its unity, the source of all vital energy and directing control within it (comp. the vine and branches, Joh_15:1-27.). In Rom_12:16, Rom_12:17 the writer passed from the thought of the origin to that of the constitution of the cosmos; now he proceeds in the reverse order. (He is the head) who is (the) Beginning (Rev_3:14; Rev_21:6; Rev_22:13; Act_3:15; Act_5:31; Heb_2:10; Heb_12:2). Αρχή is without article, used as a proper noun. It is arbitrary to identify it with ἀπαρχὴ ("firstfruits") of 1Co_15:20, 1Co_15:23; Rom_11:16. As explained by the following words, it denotes, as in philosophical Greek, a first principle, originating cause, fens et origo (see Lightfoot's note and references). To borrow "of the dead" from the following parallel clause weakens the force of both. His body, the Church, begins in him, dating and deriving from him its "all in all" (Col_3:11, Col_3:4; 1Jn_5:12; Rev_21:5; 2Co_5:17). This is quite consistent with the "all things are of God" of 2Co_5:18; for the apostle is thinking here of the relative, historical beginning of "the kingdom of the Son" (2Co_5:13), there of the absolute beginning of the Divine work of redemption. St. John, writing to the neighbouring Laodicea, echoes, apparently, this language of our apostle (Rev_3:14) As Firstborn out of the dead (Col_2:12, Col_2:13; Col_3:1; Eph_1:19, Eph_1:20; Rom_1:4; Rom_6:1-14; 1Co_15:13-18; 2Co_13:4; Act_13:30-39; 1Pe_1:3, 1Pe_1:21; Rev_1:5, Rev_1:18; Rev_2:8; Joh_11:25), this Beginning actually begins; Christ becomes the source, of a new humanity, a new creation (2Co_4:14 and Rom_8:21). T