Passage Viewer

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.