Paul wrote this Epistle because the tradition of men, the elements of the world, were prevailing in Colosse. The saints were being deluded and carried off as prey. Furthermore, they were being judged and defrauded of their prize. The best inventions of culture were deceiving the saints and depriving them of Christ. These aspects of culture were replacing Christ. In the experience of the saints, they had become substitutes for Christ. Therefore, Paul wrote this book to deal with this problem.
In Colossians, a book that is higher in revelation than either 1 Corinthians or Galatians, Paul deals with culture made up of religion and philosophy. For human society, philosophy and religion are necessary and good. If society were without religion and philosophy, people would be barbaric. They would behave like wild beasts. Although religion and philosophy are necessary for human society, there is no place for them in the church life. These two things are substitutes for Christ. The church needs Christ, a living, all-inclusive Person, not religion or philosophy.
Some of Paul’s statements in the book of Colossians have troubled theologians and Bible translators. One especially troubling expression is the “firstborn of all creation” (1:15). Although some theologians talk freely about Christ as the image of the invisible God, they are reluctant to expound this troubling phrase. But Paul says that the One who is the image of the invisible God is the firstborn of all creation. Theologians may be happy to point out that as the firstborn from among the dead, Christ was the first to be resurrected. However, very few are willing to point out that, as the firstborn of all creation, Christ is also the first of the creatures. Anyone who follows Paul to make such a statement may be condemned as heretical. Nevertheless, we cannot remove from our Bibles Paul’s word which says that Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
In 1:16 Paul tells us that all things were created in Christ. This includes things both in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible. Even those things which Jews regard as unclean, including turtles, frogs, snakes, and swine, were among the things created in Christ. The first time I read this verse according to the Greek-English Interlinear translation, I was greatly surprised. I said to myself, “Is Paul saying that even turtles and snakes were created in Christ?” No doubt Paul’s word includes these creatures also. Colossians 1:16 is a hard blow to Gnostic philosophy. We have pointed out that, according to Gnosticism, the material world, including man’s body, is inherently evil. But Paul declares that all things were created in Christ and that Christ Himself is the firstborn of all creation. These statements deal with the concepts of both Greeks and Jews. Since all things were created in Christ, we should not regard creation as intrinsically evil, nor despise any aspect of God’s creation in Christ.
Paul’s desire concerning the Colossians was that they would not teach others according to the tradition of men, but only according to Christ. It is crucial for us to learn to estimate all things and to evaluate them, not according to our cultural mentality, but according to Christ. For example, our viewpoint with respect to marriage should be not according to our culture; it should be according to Christ. I very much appreciate the expression “according to Christ.” We should not allow anything to be a substitute for Christ or to replace Him. Christ and Christ alone is the standard and basis of measurement. This means that we should not evaluate things according to culture, according to tradition or the elements of the world. In the church Christ is the only measurement, standard, and basis. This is a basic principle in the practice of the church life.
In Colosse culture had pervaded the church, replaced Christ, and carried off the saints as a prey. The saints were distracted from Christ, not by sin or worldliness, but by some of the most developed aspects of culture. The principle is the same today. Although we in the church life hate sin, not many of us hate culture. On the contrary, subconsciously and unconsciously we all treasure our culture. We place a high value on our particular cultural background. In the church life Christ is replaced more by culture than by anything else. We live according to culture much more than we live according to Christ.
After Paul points out in chapter one that Christ is the firstborn of all creation, that all things were created in Him, through Him, and unto Him, and that all things subsist in Him, he tells us that the all-inclusive Christ is the mystery of God’s economy. God intends to work Christ into us. Christ is in us to be our hope of glory. Now we need to grow in Him until we reach maturity and are full-grown. Hence, God’s economy is focused on Christ.