No.19b. The title Head, and
its relation to the Fullness.
There is an evident connection between the title “Firstborn” and the subsequent statement ‘For’ and ‘Because’ in Him were all things created. John employs the title ‘Word’ or Logos which was much in use among the Alexandrian philosophers, Paul uses the title prototokos “Firstborn” in much the same way. This title is found in Psa. lxxxix. 27 “Also I will make Him My Firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth”, and in the Rabbinical writings the title ‘Firstborn’ (Hebrew bekov) was used as a recognized title of the Messiah. The sense of priority which this title assumed, was intended in its use of Israel ‘Israel is my son, my firstborn’ (Exod. iv. 22), for by no stretch of imagination or argument can Israel be shown to have existed before any other nation on the earth, their priority being not one of time but of dignity. So entirely removed from the idea of birth had this title become, that Rabbi Beshai, when writing on the Pentateuch, actually gives the title “Firstborn of the world” to God Himself. Other examples of this use and meaning are Job xviii. 13 ‘The firstborn of death’ and Isa. xiv. 30 ‘The firstborn of the poor’. Christ is shown to be the Firstborn of all creation by the fact that He created everything that is in heaven and in earth. The word ‘for’ being the Greek hoti means ‘because’, and “it is added to a speaker’s words to show what ground he gives for his opinion”. The Apostle gives the grounds for his opinion that Christ was the Firstborn of every creature, by immediately adding ‘Because by (or in) Him were all things created’. The Greek phrase hoti en auto “because in Him comes twice in this section, and in perfect structural balance.
C | c | CREATION. ta panta “Because in Him.”
C | c | RECONCILIATION. ta panta “Because in Him.”
In what way does the creation prove that Christ was Firstborn? If we translate “For BY Him” we see no connection, and we rob ourselves of the parallel reference in verses 19, 20. If we translate “For IN Him” we open the way to further teaching. Ta panta is used both of creation (16) and of reconciliation (20). In verse 16 ta panta moreover is said to be “For Him” eis auton, so in verse 20 ta panta is said to be reconciled ‘unto Himself’, where the Greek is identical eis auton. Further Christ is set forth in this passage as ‘The Firstborn from the dead’, indicating that whatever relation He had to the original creation, He holds to the New, and moreover, we are not left to make our own deductions, for the Apostle immediately explains in what way Christ is the Firstborn from the dead, by saying “In order that (hina) He might have the preeminence”, a phrase that is even more suggestive when read in the original. He is ‘Firstborn’ PROTOTOKOS, in order that He may have the ‘pre-eminence’ PROTEUON (first place). Yet this is not all. As the firstborn from the dead He is ‘The Head of the Body the church’. In Him as Firstborn, that creation which is denominated ta panta had its origin and being. It included things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, and the whole hierarchy of glory. This creation, ta panta was not only created IN Him, but on account of Him, and for Him. Moreover He is before all, in Him this universe consists, or is held together. In II Pet. iii. 5 this same word is used of the material creation where it is translated ‘standing’ in the A.V. and ‘compacted’ in the R.V. Recent scientific researches into the composition of the atom and the release of atomic energy enables us to perceive something of the mighty power that is involved in holding the elements of creation to their appointed place. In the year 1927 a fountain pen was given to me by a friend of The Berean Expositor. For over thirty years that pen has written many thousands of words, and is writing this sentence at the moment. Think of the power that has held the particles that compose the nib in place all these years. Then think of the whole fabric of creation upheld, and held together by the power of the Saviour. When we have in any measure comprehended this, then let us transfer our wondering thoughts from the material creation of II Pet. iii., to the spiritual creation of Col. iii. 17, and worship as we realize that it too is held together by a power that nothing can disturb or dissipate. The unity of the Spirit is held together in the bond of peace, and this is only one of many ways in which this most blessed fact is expressed.
“IN HIM” all things were created (Col. i. 16).
“IN HIM” all things in the new creation are held together (Col. i. 17).
“IN HIM” it was well pleasing that all the fullness should dwell (Col. i. 19).
In the new and spiritual creation Christ is not only ‘Firstborn’ or ‘Pre-eminent’, but He is ‘Head’, for this new creation is a ‘Body’, and as Head all fullness dwells in Him, and as a Body, this new company is the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. Before the overthrow of the world, this church was chosen “IN HIM” (Eph. i. 4). “IN HIM” they have redemption (Eph. i. 7), “IN HIM” they are made nigh (Eph. ii. 13), Christ is all and in all to this company. Colossians, like Ephesians is devoted to the teaching and revelation of the Mystery, and the references to creation at the beginning and to reconciliation at the end, have this dispensation of the Mystery in view. This dispensation is intimately associated with the creation of ta panta “the all things” (Eph. iii. 9). The Greek verb ktizo ‘to create’ occurs 14 times in the N.T., seven of which occurrences are found in the Prison Epistles. The limitations indicated by the words ta panta show us that, like the term ‘all Israel’, we must limit the extent of this creation to those who were viewed ‘in Christ’, just as we must limit the term ‘all Israel’ to those who were called ‘In Isaac’. In the Firstborn of all creation this company were chosen, and in the fullness of time they, though fallen, were redeemed and reconciled. He Who was the Firstborn of all creation now becomes the ‘Firstborn from the dead’, and as such is Head of the Body the church. The ‘fullness’ the pleroma, that which nullifies all rents and divisions occasioned by sin of the past, whether human, angelic or satanic, is at last achieved and God becomes all in all. It is the privilege of the church of the Mystery to anticipate that great consummation, and here and now to hold Christ the Head and confess that He is ‘all in all’ to them.
A seed was known to God at the creation of Man. That seed was attacked in the earliest times. The conflict of the ages has been the conflict of the two seeds. Nevertheless, He Who upholds all things by the word of His power, in Whom all things consists or are held together, brings that chosen seed, ta panta,whether earthly or heavenly, whether human or angelic, gloriously and triumphantly through to victory. In order that the Headship of Christ may be seen to include principality and power we turn to Col.ii.:
“For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power” (Col. ii. 10).
These are the principalities and powers who are said to have been created ‘in Him’ in Col. i. 16. That there are other principalities and powers who are not included in Col. ii. 10 is made evident by reading on. In verse 15 He ‘spoiled principalities and powers’, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them by His cross. These, like the principalities and powers of Eph. vi. 12, are associated with the rulers of darkness of this world, and are called ‘spiritual wickednesses’ over which Christ is not Head. The one reference left, namely Col. ii. 19, takes us back to the position already indicated in Eph. iv. 15, 16. “Not holding the Head” is the signal for disaster, even as ‘Not after Christ’ is the index of all that is untrue (Col. ii. 8). Here in this last reference to Christ as the Head, we are brought back to the church of the One Body with its many members, and with it we must close our examination of this great title, a title that is not only peculiarly characteristic of the dispensation of the Mystery, but a title which we have seen gathers up into itself all other titles by which the Christ of God and the purposes of grace associated with Him, have been unfolded down the ages. We who live at the end of time, who see with our own eyes the approach of prophetic days, have been highly favoured among the redeemed, in that Christ to us is more than Prophet, Priest or King, He is Head, and we are more than subjects of a kingdom, more than a royal nation or a holy priesthood, more than the Bride of the Lamb, we are the very ‘members of His Body’. Let us therefore heed the exhortation ‘Hold the Head’, that we may ‘increase with the increase of God’.
“Fullness” looks to ‘Emptiness’ as its opposite, and both terms are ones of Christ. Indeed before all the fullness could dwell in Him as the one Mediator and Head, He emptied Himself for our sakes, that we through His poverty might be rich. ‘Fullness’ is the glory of Ephesians and Colossians, but ‘Self-Emptying’ is equally the glory of Philippians. “He made Himself of no reputation” (Phil. ii. 7) translates the Greek word kenoo. For a detailed examination of Phil. ii., see the book entitled The Prize of the High Calling.
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