The basic logic of the Gospel is that whatever Christ has done he has done it for us and for our salvation. He lived a perfect life, died an innocent death, and conquered death by rising from the grave. In so doing, he lived for us, died for us, and rose for us. We now by faith receive all that he has and is: his righteousness, atonement, and life. 

If Christ is God, why does Paul calls him “the firstborn of all creation”? Does Paul mean that God created Christ? Is Christ a creature of God?

No. Christ certainly is the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15) as well as the firstborn of the dead (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5) and the firstborn among many brethren (Rom 8:29; Ps 89:27; Heb 1:6; 2:11). Yet this language when read in context does not deny Christ’s deity.

Instead, it affirms that Jesus is preeminent over all creation as well as the firstborn of the new creation, the first fruits of the new-creation harvest by his death and resurrection.

(1) The Firstborn of all Creation (Col 1:15)

The basic logic of the Gospel is that whatever Christ has done he has done it for us and for our salvation. He lived a perfect life, died an innocent death, and conquered death by rising from the grave. In so doing, he lived for us, died for us, and rose for us. We now by faith receive all that he has and is: his righteousness, atonement, and life.

By union with Christ, we have everything. “It is because of him,” reasons Paul, “that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30).

While speaking of the resurrection, Paul insightfully uses an agricultural metaphor that furthers our understanding of Gospel logic. Jesus, explains Paul, is the firstfruits of the full resurrection harvest (1 Cor 15:20, 23). Since Jesus rose as the firstfruits, then all subsequent fruit (us) will rise too. The underlying logic is that by uniting to Christ through the Spirit, we become all that he is—we die and rise with him because of our spiritual union with Christ.

“Therefore,” as Paul writes, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). The entire economy of the old creation has been done away with: “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal 6:17).

We are (re)created in Christ Jesus because we have “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col 3:10; cf. Eph 4:24). And so we are one new human being in Christ Jesus being built up into the temple of God through the Spirit’s indwelling presence (e.g., Eph 2:18–22).

Now, with this theological framework in mind, we possess key theological ideas to help us grasp what Paul means in Colossians. In the context of Colossians 1:9–14, Paul describes Christ’s work of salvation and redemption. According to the apostle, Christ has transferred believers from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light—a new and complete transfer. And this new kingdom comes about through the redemption of Christ (Col 1:14). Consequently, Paul may call Jesus “the firstborn of creation,” that is, of the new creation.

If this view is correct, then Paul particularly finds proof of Christ’s ability to recreate us and so move us into the kingdom of light precisely because Christ created the universe (Col 1:16). If Christ created everything, then how much more can he recreate us into his image? And not only did Christ create all, he providently orders all things whatsoever (Col 1:17).

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