Col 1:15-17 | PNT | STEP | Who is the image of the invisible God . He came in order to reveal the Father in his own person. See . The love of God is revealed in Christ. He was the visible representative of the invisible God. The firstborn of every creature . The thought is that he existed before creation began; born of God instead of being created by the divine fiat; born before any creature was called into existence. The passage does not say that he was the first created, but the first-born. He was before creation. See .

‏ Colossians 1:15-17

Who is the image of the invisible God. He came in order to reveal the Father in his own person. See Joh 14:10 Heb 1:3. The love of God is revealed in Christ. He was the visible representative of the invisible God.

The firstborn of every creature. The thought is that he existed before creation began; born of God instead of being created by the divine fiat; born before any creature was called into existence. The passage does not say that he was the first created, but the first-born. He was before creation. See Joh 1:1,2. By him were all things created. Hence he must have existed before any creation. Compare Joh 1:3 Heb 1:2. As God manifested himself by means of the Son in the gospel, so in creation he manifested himself through the Son. The visible universe is a manifestation of God through the Son. THE WORD is the power that gives all things existence that exist.

Thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. The angelic hierarchy; different ranks of angels, according to the teachings of some of the Jewish doctors. A heresy had already been proposed that divided these into ranks, assigned them an undue prominence, and held that Christ was only an angel. Paul does not pause to say whether these divisions are correct, but declares

All things were created by him, and for him. That Christ is above them all, created them, and that they were created for him. One of these heresies he wished to counteract was the doctrine of angel worship. And he is before all things. He was before them all in time, by him all things consist. Through him they came into existence.