Most Bible commentators I've read believe that Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians because that little church was being unduly influenced by Gnostics. (Sounds like a group of aliens from Star Trek, doesn't it?) We'll look more deeply into the beliefs of Gnosticism later, but let's start by confronting a couple of their false beliefs. The first is that Jesus Christ was merely one of God's manifestations (appearances, emanations) to an evil, material world. Gnostics also believe that all physical matter is evil and that God could have no contact with it.1
Because of this alarming incursion of Gnosticism into the Colossian church, Paul launches into a series of verses in which he describes who Jesus Christ actually was and is.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,
16for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.
17He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.
18He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.
19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son
20and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Paul begins with establishing the deity of Christ by detailing His various interactions with mankind, as you see in the verses above.
Today, we are going to focus on verses 15-16: incarnation versus emanation.
I do not fully understand the mystery that happened between God the Father and God the Son, when the decision was made to give the Father "form" - - material, physical form. This is not fully explained in the Bible, perhaps because we don't have the capacity to understand. Most certainly, this occurred before any other created thing was created, because both verses 15 and 16 state that it occurred prior to creation AND that Christ WAS the creator of ALL things. So, in a move that runs totally counter to Gnosticism, we see the Creator God the Son making the material and constructing the spiritual realms. The apostle Peter also confirms this in 1 Peter 1:20.
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake.
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A little bit ago, I was musing...does God the Father or Son or Holy Spirit EVER in the Bible manifest as any created thing? Oh, He inhabits created spaces, such as when "His glory filled the Temple". In other scriptures He is referred to (in his Christ form) as "the angel of the Lord". But, He never manifests as an eagle or a bear or a serpent (as Satan did). He is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and C.S. Lewis portrayed Him as the lion, Aslan, in his fictitious allegory series, The Chronicles of Narnia. But....He always takes the form of a man, the God-Man, whom we learned at his birth to call, Jesus.
Man was created by Jesus Christ, the God-Man, in His image. Jesus is the image of God the Father, who Himself is Spirit, invisible. And we are created in His (Jesus') image.
"Through him and for him" - - -
Having expounded upon the first, let's consider the last. We, mankind, were created FOR God, for Jesus Christ, who knew what the future held for Him, who knew that, even in creating us we would fall into sin; we would need a Redeemer, and that He was the only One who could save us.
"Slain, from the foundation of the world"....
(Revelation 13:8 KJV)
Not only did He create all things, He became us, became a human, ultimately the human named Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man. The incarnation (the "en-fleshing", encasing in human flesh) of the invisible God. The human body is not evil, as Gnostics claim. If it were, Jesus would never have incarnated Himself into one!
As a result of The Fall, all human love, all of it, is tainted by self-interest. I am unable to conceive of a love like Jesus Christ's, a love so pure and holy. A love that could not bear to see us forever lost, forever separated from Him, a perfect love which constrained Him to snatch us back from the pit of Hell at an incalculable personal cost.
This is not an aloof, removed God, afraid to get His hands dirty. This is a God who not only plunged right into the fallen world, to abide with us, but who also longs to be with each of us in every way, every day, even now. This is a God who finished redemption's work so that all of Gnosticism's rule-following is rendered void, and replaced those heresies with grace, pure grace alone.
Hallelujah for that!
https://youtu.be/YnM3lc-LyzY
Source:
1 Wiersbe, Warren W., and Warren W. Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete New Testament in One Volume. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007. Print, p. 659.
