Colossians 1 · WEB
The Supremacy of Christ
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints,
5because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News
6which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth,
7even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf,
8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don't cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,
11strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy,
12giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,
13who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love,
14in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.
17He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
18He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,
20and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
21You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,
22yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,
23if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the assembly,
25of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,
26the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints,
27to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,
28whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;
29for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
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Summary
Paul greets the Colossians and gives thanks for their faith, love, and hope, praying that they would grow in spiritual wisdom and bear fruit in every good work. The heart of the chapter is a soaring hymn declaring Christ's supremacy: he is the image of the invisible God, creator and sustainer of all things, head of the church, and the one through whom God reconciles all things by the blood of the cross. Paul describes his apostolic labor to make known the mystery now revealed — "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Themes
- The supremacy and preeminence of Christ
- Reconciliation through the cross
- The mystery of Christ revealed to the Gentiles
- Spiritual wisdom and fruitful growth
- Apostolic labor and suffering for the church
Key verses
- Col 1:15 — “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
- Col 1:17 — “He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.”
- Col 1:20 — “Through him to reconcile all things to himself... having made peace through the blood of his cross.”
- Col 1:27 — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Context & background
Paul wrote Colossians around AD 60-62 from prison in Rome (modern Italy) to the church at Colossae, a small city in the Lycus Valley of Phrygia in modern southwestern Turkey, near Laodicea and Hierapolis. Paul had not personally visited Colossae; the church was founded by Epaphras (1:7), one of Paul's converts. The letter responds to a syncretistic heresy that combined Jewish legalism, mystic philosophy, and proto-Gnostic ideas that diminished Christ's role. Paul counters by exalting Christ as fully God, creator of all, and sufficient for salvation.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 1:7 — Redemption and forgiveness through his blood
- Genesis 1:26-27 — The image of God, fulfilled in Christ as the true image
- Hebrews 1:3 — Christ as the radiance of God's glory upholding all things
- John 1:1-3 — Christ as the creating Word, paralleling 1:16
- Philippians 2:6-11 — Christ's fullness and exaltation