Christ: The Firstborn of All Creation

Colossians 1:15-28, the 2nd reading appointed for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost in the Year of Luke, is certainly one of the most, if not the most Christocentric passage in all of Scripture.  Near the end of this reading, the writer gives us a summary of his intent in writing this letter, and specifically in writing this passage:  "It is he (i.e. Christ) whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ."  There it is:  proclamation, warning, and teaching.  This is the content of this passage.  It will be the preacher's task to do this as well.

(The following questions have been developed to help answer some of the fundamental concerns of Law and Gospel preachers, specifically around the function of the Word.  For more on this method and on this unique genre of preaching, see my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock. com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  The Word functions in all the ways that it can in this passage, albeit overwhelmingly as Gospel.  Especially in the ancient creed-like hymn quoted in vss. 15-20, the Word is functioning as Gospel.  The message is a proclamation of the preeminence of Christ, and the reconciliation achieved through the Cross. 

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  The Law gets only a small role in this passage.  Verse 21 reminds us of our place outside of Christ:  "estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds."  Besides this there is precious little evidence of Law in this text.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We have two choices in this text:  the Colossians, or the writer of this letter.  If we identify with the Colossians, then we will need to claim their identity as previously "estranged, hostile, doing evil."  If we identify with the writer, then we are the proclaimer, the one sounding the alarm, the one whose job it is to "present everyone mature in Christ."

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  The call to obedience is implied in verses 22-23:  "[be] holy and blameless and irreproachable before him...Continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard."  While there is no imperative given in these verses, it is definitely implied, lest the listeners fall prey to the notion that once baptized, one's ongoing life is of no concern to Christ.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  If we borrow the writer's language in verse 21, we can come up with several couplets: estranged/embraced; hostile in mind/welcomed; doing evil/walking in righteousness.

6.  Exegetical work:  According to a number of sources, the main problem in Colossae that was being addressed here was the notion of "the stoicheia" (the 'elemental spirits of the universe'), which it was taught "constituted the pleroma (the 'fulness,' the full complement) of divine powers through whom God ruled the world. These powers were the means whereby divine revelation was given unto [humanity]; they controlled the ways of access whereby [mortals] ascended to their eternal destiny." (Price, Interpreting the New Testament, p. 465)  This heresy is what the writer seeks to address by highlighting the work and preeminence of Christ.  The writer "affirmed that 'all the fullness of God' - the full complement of divine power - dwelt in Christ alone.  The conclusion followed: the stoicheia possessed no power superior to, nor in any way qualifying, the power of the Christian redeemer." (Ibid., p. 468)  "As in no previous situation, [the writer] was led to press beyond the thoughts of Christ's eschatological role in history to a proclamation of his pre-eminence in the order of Creation, to an acknowledgment that Christ's power to reconcile was not restricted to the Church, but was sufficient to reconcile everything that exists in the universe unto God." (Ibid.)  Ralph Martin affirms Price's analysis and also reminds us what is at stake for the Colossians:  "[The writer] has given to the stoicheia (2:8, 20), the elemental forces of the universe, a changed status.  Like his Colossian readers,he believed that such cosmic agents owed their being to the creator Christ, but when they are brought into a cosmological system and treated as rivals to Christ they stand in dualistic tension with the Christ... They take on a demonic character and require him to assume  that they have broken away from their station as 'created orders' by claiming an independent status, demanding human allegiance and veneration.' (Martin, Interpretation Series, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, p. 107)

Blessings on your proclamation!