Colossians

1

v. 15b “the firstborn over all creation”

Does this phrase mean that there was a time when Christ was born, i.e. is Christ a created being like you and me?  The term, 'firstborn', has more than one meaning and because of our cultural background the obvious meaning to us of the phrase, 'firstborn son', is firstborn in the sense of time, the son that was born first in time.  However, that meaning is not intended here; and that meaning may not have been the first one that would have come to the minds of the original readers.

In Eastern cultures the phrase, 'firstborn son', would have certainly carried with it the meaning of the one who is heir, to whom authority belongs. And I believe that is the intended meaning here.  Jesus is the heir of all Creation. Hebrews 1v2, "whom He has appointed heir of all things".  You see Christ is not the first in time, but the first in authority.  As we will see clearly in the next two verses Christ is in fact before, after, and over all created things.  This surely follows on logically from the first half of verse 15, as William Hendrickson points out: "Now if the Son is the very image of the invisible God, and if this invisible God is from everlasting to everlasting, it follows that the Son too must be eternally God's image."

v. 18 “the firstborn from among the dead”

            Only Christ alone can claim this status as He died and subsequently rose from the dead.  Although others before him rose from the dead (Lazarus) Christ was the cause of His own resurrection. 

v. 29 “striving (KJV)”

            Also seen in Colossians 2:1 and 4:12 this particular word is a metaphor from the Greek games.  It translates as straining every nerve in earnest conflict.

2

v. 18 “worship of angels”

            The heretics in Paul’s day and age claimed that by worshipping angels it was possible to become closer to God as God could only be reached through a host of angelic mediators.  Paul, here, is encouraging the believers to ignore such practices and display true humility.

3

v. 11 “barbarians and Scythians”
            The barbarians described here by Paul are those that could not speak Greek.  Hence their unintelligible utterances made no sense (barbarbarbar) and they were considered ‘uncultured’.  The Scythians were considered by the Greeks to be even worse than barbarians were.  The point that Paul was trying to make to the Colossians is that Christ makes no distinction between them and died for one and all.

v. 18 “wives, submit to your husbands”

            In this day and age, many view this passage as contrary to society itself.  No longer is the man seen as the dominant figure in the house, but there is equal partnership in a marriage.

Paul, however, states that in a household the man is the head of the family (Ephesians 5:23) not only established by creation but also in redemption.  But note the end of the verse, ‘as is fitting in the Lord’. Therefore the woman must realize that although the man is the head of the marriage, the phrase ‘in the Lord’ sets a limit to their complete obedience’.  This does not endorse complete liberty, but means that the wives are only subject to the authority of a husband when he is using his authority as a husband.  Therefore a wife is not held to the husband’s authority when it is contrary to God.