Colossians 1:18

The false teachers not only wrongly represented the relation of the angel powers to the universe, but they assigned them a false position in the work of redemption and a false relation to the Church. Hence Paul passes from the pre-eminence of the Son in the universe to speak of Him as Head of the Body. He is thus supreme alike in the universe and the Church. ἡ κεφαλὴ τ. σώματος (cf. Colossians 2:19; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 4:15-16; Ephesians 5:23). For Christ as Head simply, cf. 1 Corinthians 11:3. For the Church as the body of Christ, Colossians 1:24, Ephesians 4:2, 1 Corinthians 12:27; Romans 12:5. For Christians as the members of Christ's body, Ephesians 5:30; 1 Corinthians 12:27. For Christians as “severally members one of another,” Romans 12:5. By this metaphor of “the head of the body” is meant that Christ is the Lord and Ruler of His Church, its directing brain, probably also that its life depends on continued union with Him. The Church is a body in the sense that it is a living organism, composed of members vitally united to each other, each member with his own place and function, each essential to the body's perfect health, each dependent on the rest of the body for its life and well-being, while the whole organism and all the individual members derive all their life from the Head and act under His guidance. And as the body needs the Head, to be the source of its life and the controller of its activities, and to unify the members into an organic whole, so the Head needs the body to be His instrument in carrying out His designs. It is only in Colossians and Ephesians that Christ appears as Head of the Church, but the emphasis in Colossians is on the Headship, in Ephesians on the Church. τῆς ἐκκλησίας : often taken as in apposition to σώματος. For this we should have expected τ. σώμ. αὐτοῦ τ. ἐκκλ. (cf. Colossians 1:24). It may also be taken as epexegetical of σώματος (so Weiss and Haupt, who quotes 1Co 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:5; Romans 4:11; Romans 8:21; Romans 15:16 as parallels, all of which, however, are not clear). ἐκκλ. is here the universal Church. ὅς ἐστιν : inasmuch as He is. Paul is giving a reason for the position of the Son as ἡ κεφ. τ. σώματος. ἀρχή is not to be taken in the sense of ἀπαρχή, nor is it certain that it has, as Lightfoot and others think, the sense of originating power. It is defined by πρωτότ. ἐκ τ. νεκρῶν, and this seems to throw the stress rather on the idea of supremacy than that of priority. There is perhaps a tacit reference to ἀρχαὶ (Colossians 1:16). πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν : “firstborn from among the dead”. In Revelation 1:5 we have ὁ πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν, which expresses a different idea. If the temporal reference in πρ. is the more prominent, the meaning will be that He is the first to pass out of the dominion of death. But if sovereignty is the leading idea, the meaning is that from among the dead He has passed to His throne, where He reigns as the living Lord, who has overcome death, and who, before He surrenders the kingdom to the Father, will abolish it. ἵνα … πρωτεύων : the purpose for which He is ἀρχή, πρωτότ. ἐκ τ. νεκρῶν. He is supreme in the universe. He has to become supreme in relation to the Church. αὐτὸς is emphatic; ἐν πᾶσιν neuter not masculine, on account of the context.