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Colossians 1 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Who has ever seen God? Jesus answered this question.
“Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
John 14:8-9 HCSB
Here in Colossians 1, Paul makes the same point.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:15 HCSB
The Son of God existed before all things. (Col 1:17) He was there when creation began and man was made in God’s image. It was created in Him and through Him and it will be completed in Him and through Him as well.
The question we might ask is, why would Paul need to reiterate this point? The problem at Colossi was the infiltration of Gnosticism. A form of this in modern times would be the New Age movement. The Colossians were being overrun by “intellectuals” who had a “secret knowledge.”
One of their philosophies dealt with the creation of the world. They believed that between God and matter was a host of spiritual powers that controlled the world. Specifically, they believed in a demiurge who was a subordinate to God. He is the one considered to be the creator and controller of the material world and over all that is spiritual. Confused yet? It really just sounds like a bad Sci-Fi film.
The point is, these so-called higher functioning elite Gnostics claimed to have a special knowledge of the spiritual realm. The problem was, Paul knew it was all hogwash. So, he fired off a letter to Colossi to remind them of the truth. There was no demiurge. If we go back and read what Paul has written here, it makes a lot more sense.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God. His ministry, life, and death are not just “theories” of special knowledge, but are verifiable, historical events confirmed by eyewitness testimony. I really believe the church today is wrestling with a brand of Gnosticism that seeks to explore “hidden knowledge” over Scripture. Many Christians today trust the feelings and voices in their heads over the black and white letters written in the Word.