What a wonderful thought! You cannot think beyond the One who ever was, who ever will be.
The theme of the central section of the opening chapter of Colossians is the supremacy of Christ. In verses 15-17, Paul emphasizes that the Lord Jesus is paramount in creation. He is the first-born over all creation. He called all created things into being. They exist for Him. He pre-exists the universe and holds it together. In verse 18, the apostle’s thought moves on to new creation. This is shown by the three titles he uses for Christ: the head of the body, the beginning, and the first-born from the dead. These titles are closely connected. The head of the church is the source of its life. He is so as the first-born from the dead. The new creation broke into human history with the resurrection of Christ, accomplished by the omnipotence of God (Eph. 1:19f). It is manifest afresh in each individual conversion (2 Cor. 5:17). Indeed the whole sphere of Christianity can be described as new creation (Gal. 6:15). In that realm, as in the old creation, Christ is paramount. Paul draws the two realms together in verse 18 where he declares that it is God’s purpose that in all things Christ might have the very highest place.
Christ–The Source of Life
The Greek word arch_, used in verse 18, is translated “beginning” in our English bibles. W.E. Vine defines its meaning as “the origin, the active cause.” 1 Addressing the church in Laodicea (a neighboring city to Colossae) the Lord Jesus describes Himself as “the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14). That title does not mean that He was the One whom God first created. This heresy was taught in the fourth century A.D. by Arius and it is still propagated by Jehovah’s Witnesses. This teaching is directly contradicted by many New Testament passages (Jn. 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2,10). Rather, the Lord is affirming that He Himself is the fountain and source of all creation. As we have seen, the context here is the new order introduced by the resurrection. The title “the beginning” reveals that Christ originates the new creation, just as He did the old. The Risen One “is the source of spiritual life.” 2 Paul’s teaching here parallels Peter’s declaration that the Lord Jesus is “the author of life” (Acts 3:15, ESV). Dick Lucas, a contemporary expositor, explains that Christ is “the One who gives the new life in the Spirit to all God’s people.” 3 All Christians share the risen life of the first-born from the dead. Once we were spiritually dead in our trespasses. Now Christ has made us alive together with Him. Our trespasses are all forgiven (Col. 2:13).
Every spiritual blessing we enjoy is in union with Christ (Eph. 1:3). All the grace which we have experienced flows from Him. Expounding the title, “the beginning,” John Eadie, a 19th century commentator, emphasizes that Christ “has originated salvation and He gives it.” 4 Without Him, there would be no salvation. Deliverance from sin was won by His death and resurrection alone. The risen Saviour is made to His people righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). The wonderful benefits included in the great omnibus word “salvation” all come to us through personal faith in Christ. It is the sinner who has faith in Jesus who is justified (Rom. 3:26; Php. 3:9). The high privileges of belonging to God’s family come by faith in Christ (Jn. 1:12; Gal. 3:26). It is through Jesus Christ that God has abundantly poured out upon us the gift of His Holy Spirit (Titus 3:6). John especially emphasizes that eternal life is the personal and permanent possession of every believer in Christ (Jn. 3:16, 36). He who has the Son has life (1 Jn. 5:11f).
Christ–The Sustainer of Life
Thus eternal life is bestowed by Christ—we receive this gift through faith in Him. But it is also true that our life is only sustained by communion with Him. We must continue as we have commenced. As we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so we are exhorted to walk in Him (Col. 2:6). One of the great themes of the Lord’s sermon on the bread of life (Jn. 6:25-59) is that He Himself is the sustainer of spiritual life. In that message, the Lord Jesus unfolds the significance of the sign of the feeding of the five thousand which He had just performed. He is the living bread which came down from heaven (Jn. 6:51). Everyone who comes to Him in faith has eternal life (Jn. 6:47), and it is by communion with Him that spiritual life is strengthened. This is described metaphorically as eating His flesh and drinking His blood. He who does so, says Jesus, “abides in Me and I in Him” (Jn. 6:56). In the upper room discourse, the Lord stresses the same truth using a different word picture. He is the true vine, He declares, and His Own people are the branches (Jn. 15:5). Spiritual fruitfulness depends entirely on remaining in Christ. A branch only produces grapes by drawing on the vitality of the sap as it surges through the vine. So a Christian can only produce spiritual fruit by abiding in Christ. By remaining in Him we draw fresh supplies of His grace and power into our lives. Without Him, the Lord declares, we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). With Him, we can bear much fruit. No wonder then that Paul declares that Christ “is our life” (Col. 3:4). The Lord Jesus is the inexhaustible source of life eternal to all the members of His body. He is not only our Saviour and Lord. He Himself is our life—life in all its fullness. Grasping that truth will transform us.
Christ–The Standard of Life
The great affirmation that Christ personally is the life of His people comes in a text which declares that when He appears, we shall appear with Him in glory. Christ in us is indeed the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). His present life within us guarantees our future conformity to Him in His glory. The word arch_, according to J. H. Thayer, can also convey the idea of someone’s being “the first person in a series, the leader.” 5 In his commentary on Colossians, Peter O’Brien develops this aspect of the title “the beginning” by explaining that it means that the Lord Jesus is the “founder of a new humanity.” 6 Already He indwells His people by His Spirit. Already He lives His life through them. They face the daily challenge to seek to be morally transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18). God’s purpose is that the coming universe of glory will be populated by millions of men and women who then will fully resemble Christ. That will be the consummation of the new creation. Every member of the new humanity will share the risen, glorified manhood of the Saviour. Each one of them will be totally conformed to His image, physically and morally (Php. 3:21). The first-born from the dead will then be the first-born among many brethren (Rom. 8:29). He will be utterly preeminent among the myriads sharing and reflecting His glory. The Lord Jesus rose so that others might rise through Him. He is “the first-fruits” of the coming resurrection and transformation (1 Cor. 15:20, 26). The new humanity is still also part of the old. They still bear the image of the man of dust. When Christ returns, we shall experience our true destiny. We shall bear the image of the Heavenly Man (1 Cor. 15:49). Then we shall see all the glory of the Lord Jesus, the beginning.
1 W. E. Vine, ‘The beginning’ in Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1985).
2 W. MacDonald, Believers Bible Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995), p.1994.
3 R. C. Lucas, The Message of Colossians and Philemon, (Leicester: I.V.P., 1980), p.52.
4 J. Eadie, Commentary on Colossians, (Minneapolis, MN: Klock and Klock, 1980 reprint), p.65.
5 J. H. Thayer, ‘arche’ in Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997).
6 P. T. O’Brien, Word Biblical Commentary 44,
Col., Phil., (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982), p.50, 62.