Colossians 1:12-20
Chapter 1
12
giving thanks to the Father, who has empowered us to receive our portion in the inheritance of the saints in light.
13
He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
14
In him, we are redeemed and forgiven.
15
Christ, Savior and Firstborn of All Creation
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
16
For, in him, all things were created:
Things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible:
Thrones, rulers, authorities, powers.
All was made through him and for him.
17
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
18
He is the head of the body,
the Church, he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
that he himself might be preeminent
in everything.
19
For God was pleased to dwell fully in him.
20
Through him, God chose to reconcile all things to himself,
and through his blood shed on the cross,
God establishes peace on earth and in heaven.
Commentaries
Prayer for the Colossians.
Clear and consistent Christian practice is the main focus of Paul’s ongoing prayers for the believers in Colossae. He requests wisdom and spiritual insight (9), gifts of the Spirit that help the community personally know God and understand His will, “pleasing him in everything, bearing fruit in good works” (10). The task is challenging, so he continues to ask God to grant them the strength and perseverance needed to fight daily to expand God’s kingdom (11). Finally, he urges them to thank the Father who “brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son” (13), which is the kingdom of light (12), after rescuing them “from the power of darkness” (13), meaning from the life of sin they once lived (cf. Eph 1:7).
Christ, Savior and Firstborn of All Creation.
To clarify the truth of the Gospel, Paul begins by quoting and adapting a liturgical hymn from early Christian communities, vividly describing the person of Christ, who is both Creator and Savior, the center and key of the universe and human history. Although the foundation of all the Apostles’ preaching is the “historical saving event” of Christ—his death and resurrection—this event was not a spontaneous decision. Paul views Christ, who died and rose again, as the central figure from the very beginning, the true protagonist of God’s creative act: “in him all things were created” (16), and the true “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (15). Since all humans are made in the image of the “living God” (cf. Gn 1:27), it is the image of his Son, the conqueror of death, that governs and encompasses all humanity and all creation that came from the loving hands of the Creator. This absolute lordship of Christ places him at the center of the Christian community, which he describes as ‘the head of the body… of the Church’ (18), because through the Church, the extension of his body, he announces and proclaims salvation and reconciliation to the entire universe. This is where the missionary calling of all the baptized resides, making the Church the sacrament of universal salvation. From here, Paul derives the tangible effects of faith in everyday life.