I was asked to speak of Paul's understanding of Christ as according to Colossians 1:13-18 and I figured I post my response here.
Who is Christ to the Apostle Paul and in what manner do we who preach Christ think of Christ as according to Colossians 1:13-18? In following the line of thought from the context immediately preceding the text, Paul thanks God for and prays for the Christians at Colossae for their work in the ministry. In this prayer Paul seeks strength from the power of Christ for the purpose of their endurance and joyful patience in sharing the grace that has been bestowed upon them. To what extent does Jesus Christ have power? Under what authority does Jesus govern the heavens so that they might live lives fully pleasing to God?
Paul begins in verse 13 with explaining that it is by means of Jesus Christ that they who are inheritors of God's grace are delivered from their own sin and God's wrath by way of transferring them into the kingdom of God. By way of Jesus' authority as God's beloved Son those who were enemies of God, slaves of sin, receivers of the curse of Adam, and servants of Satan are welcomed into the kingdom and family of God with full pardon of sin and an inheritance of being saints of light in both this life and even more so in the kingdom to come.
He who imparts this undeserved gift is one who is the visible manifestation of the invisible God. The infinite is bound and expressed within the person of Jesus Christ, the Son and visible manifestation of God himself. He is the representative of God the Father and the one through whom the will of God is most exceededly accomplished. The visible representation is not the only way in which God expresses himself through Jesus, but it is by way of Jesus, the Word of God made incarnate, that the creation itself came into being. As God spoke, the speaking was through Jesus – by him all that has breath is to call creator, by him all that exists finds its origin, by him every law of the created order, whether moral or within physics, finds its law-giver. There exists nothing within the created order that comes before him or is above him because it is by way of Jesus Christ that everything has its being.
Jesus Christ, being of utmost power and authority is the one through whom the laws of the universe is defined. Through nothing but his grace and joy does the creation itself continue to exist because by him, through him, and for him does all that exist continue to be.
As governor and lord of all of creation, he is also the head of the church. Under his authority, will, and work do those who call themselves of God find their mercy, grace, power, and allegiance. Through this power that is bestowed upon Jesus Christ the church as his bride and his body find their own power. As the body of Christ, the church itself represents as ambassadors the one through whom the creation finds its origin and redemption. Through him, his creation of the world, his atoning death upon the cross, his defeat of sin and death by way of resurrection, and his continued lordship of all of creation at the right hand of God does the church and the world find its God, its savior, and its soon coming king.