Alastair's Adversaria - Christ the Beginning

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

The following was first published on the Anchored Argosy: https://argosy.substack.com/i/172262433/christ-the-beginning. Follow my Substack, the Anchored Argosy at https://argosy.substack.com/. See my latest podcasts at https://adversariapodcast.com/. If you have enjoyed my videos and podcasts, please tell your friends. If you are interested in supporting my videos and podcasts and my research more generally, please consider supporting my work on Patreon (www.patreon.com/zugzwanged), using my PayPal account (bit.ly/2RLaUcB), or by buying books for my research on Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3…3O?ref_=wl_share). You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035.

The following reflection is entitled Christ, the beginning. It was first published on the Anchored Argosy. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things, together, and he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. That text is from Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 20. In several In several places, New Testament authors take very familiar words of the Old Testament and rephrase them in a way that puts Christ at the heart of them. In the first chapter of his gospel, for instance, John uses the opening words of Genesis, the very first words of the Bible, to introduce his account of Christ. In the beginning God created becomes, in the beginning was the word. The theme of creation continues in the chapter. Jesus is related to the light, and there is a sequence of days in the first.

and second chapters, which many commentators have related to the days of creation. Within his broader account, John presents Jesus as a last Adam and as beginning a new creation. First Corinthians 8, verse 6 is another striking instance. Paul takes the words of the Shama from Deuteronomy chapter 6 versus 4 and 5, and rewords them, placing Christ within Israel's monotheistic confession. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord. Lord is one, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words from Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 4 and 5 are taken up in 1 Corinthians chapter 8 6. Yet for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist,

and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 to 20, is a comparable re-articulation of Israel's fundamental witness in terms of Christ. Following C.F. Burney, N.T. Wright argues that this passage is a riff upon the opening word of the Bible, Bereshit, in the beginning. Paul takes different senses of the Hebrew term Rashid, firstborn, supreme, head, beginning, and one by one relates them to Jesus Christ. the sequence of terms climaxes with Arche, the Greek for beginning. In addition to this, we could see Paul taking the prepositional bare and exploring some of its possible senses, in, with, by, in reference to Christ. For instance, for by him all things were created.

All things were created through him and for him. In him, all things hold together, and through him to reconcile to himself all things. Wright relates Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 to 20, to traditions concerning wisdom's role in creation, most notably in Proverbs chapter 8, verse 22, but also in apocryphal literature. The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old, Proverbs chapter 8, verse 22. Wisdom chapter 7 verses 25 and 26 reads, For she is a breath of the power of God and a pure emanation of the glory. of the Almighty, therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her, for she is a reflection of

eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. And in chapter 9 verses 1 and 2 of wisdom we read, O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy, who have made all things by your word and by your wisdom have formed humankind. Wisdom chapter 9 verse 9 reads, With you is wisdom. She who knows your works and was present when you made this. the world. Wright outlines the progression of the associations Paul makes, highlighting the implicit wisdom Christology that he sees in his book, the climax of the covenant. First, in verse 15A, he is the image, like wisdom herself, and evoking Genesis 1 verse 26. Second, verse 15c, he is the firstborn, like wisdom herself, the first meaning of Rashid. Third, 17A and B, he is supreme. He is supreme.

propantone and the consummation of all things, to Apanta as soon as taken, the second meaning of Rashid. Fourth, 18A, he is the head, the third meaning of Rashid. Fifth, 18c, he is the beginning, the fourth and climactic meaning of Rashid. Sixth, 18D, he is the firstborn, this time from the dead, like wisdom again, but now firmly as a human being. As the image Christ is the one who manifests, represents, and displays God's sovereignty. As the firstborn of all creation and in redemption from the dead, he is the heir, the one who represents

the father, and the one who, as the chief and first among them, leads the other children. As the supreme one, he is the one above all others. As the head, he is the one who stands for and represents all, and the preeminent one. As the beginning, he is the one preceding all and the one through whom all others come. In Christ we find the fullness of both divinity and humanity. Describing Christ as the image of the invisible God, Paul recalls the creation of humanity in the image of God, in Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 and 27.

The uniqueness of Christ as the image, and the creation of humanity in the image, might suggest an implicit account of Adamic humanity as the ect type of a Christic archetype. Christ is also the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells. Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 20, which many have suggested is a poem or a hymn, divides into two halves versus 15 to 17 and 18 to 20. These two halves are rhetorically paralleled, as we can see in, among other things, their common phrases. Who is the, or he is the, firstborn, in or by him, in heaven and on earth,

through him all things. The first half focuses on creation, the second half upon redemption. The message is that the purpose of creation is completed through redemption, also that through his work in redemption, Christ occupies the place that is rightfully his by virtue of creation. The story climaxes in redemption. The prominence and glory of the firstborn son is revealed through his great act of reconciliation, with which the second half, verse 18c to verse 20, of the bipartite poem is concerned. Christ's status as the firstborn in creation is reaffirmed and secured in his status in its redemption as the firstborn from the dead, whereby the once alienated creation is restored to its rightful ruler, air and soul.

source. This joining together of Christ's creational supremacy and centrality and his triumph in redemption is also seen in places like Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 to 4. Long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high,

having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 20 is a stunning presentation of a Christological monotheism. The one god, the creator above all creation, is known in the sun, the intensity of the creator's authority, is concentrated in him, and the cosmic scope of the poem corresponds to this.

If Christ's role in the creation is as the poem describes it, there is nothing that falls outside of his authority. The sun is the firstborn over all creation, supreme in all things, summing up all in himself, the head, the beginning, the source, and the purpose of everything, and the reconciler and ruler of the cosmos. This gospel declaration must provide the starting point for all Christian thought and reflection. Without such a starting point, our thinking would cease to be truly evangelical. That is, it would abandon the authoritative gospel proclamation that should provide its heart. Just as Paul argues in the verses following this poem in this passage, the heart of the Christian message is not some teaching that Christ taught, nor some moral example

that he said, important though both of those things are, but Christ himself and the unique work he has done. As Paul will say in verse 28, him we proclaim. It is the uniqueness of Christ and his status within the creation that grounds the absolute authority of his message and example. Only with him as our starting point will everything else come into focus. In its unpacking of the term Bereshite is referenced to the image of God and its expansive cosmic sweep. Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 to 20 evokes the creation account and situates the sun at the heart of its meaning. Paul never wants us to read the words in the beginning in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 without thinking of Christ's supremacy and primacy and of all the different ways that everything is created through and by

subordinated to held together and redeemed in him. In the beginning can be another way of saying in Christ. Just as in 1 Corinthians chapter, 8 verse 6, Paul makes Jesus integral to Israel's core monotheistic confession. So in passages like Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 to 20, creational monotheism is redrawn around Christ. Within this triumphant poem, one of the most fundamental and familiar scriptural passages of all reveals a transfigured aspect, as from its words the light of the glory of Christ shines forth, veiled in the very opening word of the Bible. Paul discovers the incomparable majesty of the risen Christ, the one who has always been there, yet has only now in the fullness of time been disclosed.

If you'd like to read this and other reflections, you can do so over on the anchored Argosy. The link to that will be in the show notes, as will the link to the Patreon and PayPal accounts by which you can support this and other work that I do elsewhere. Thank you very much for listening. God bless.