Moe Bergeron

For this reason also, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created, things 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.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

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Notes

Paul’s prayer flows from gospel hope and aims at gospel fullness. Because the Colossians had truly embraced Christ, Paul is eager that they now be filled—with the knowledge of God’s will. But this is not abstract theology or mystical speculation. It is knowledge granted in all spiritual wisdom and understanding—the kind revealed by the Spirit through union with Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 2). This is a New Covenant dynamic: no longer external commandments written on stone but inward transformation written on the heart by the Spirit (cf. Jeremiah 31).

The goal of this knowledge is practical holiness—to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way. This walk is marked by spiritual fruitfulness, increasing knowledge of God, endurance through trials, and joyful gratitude. These are not works of the flesh but outcomes of divine strengthening “according to His glorious might.” The Christian life is not about self-reliance but Spirit-empowered perseverance (cf. Galatians 5; Ephesians 3).

“The Father…has qualified you.” This is pure grace. God qualifies the unworthy, not through the law but through the finished work of His Son. The Colossians now share in the inheritance of the saints in the light—language that recalls Israel’s inheritance in Canaan but now finds its greater fulfillment in the kingdom of Christ (cf. Ephesians 1; Hebrews 9). The light has come, and the inheritance is spiritual, eternal, and secure.

This qualification came by rescue. God did not reform the dominion of darkness; He delivered us out of it and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. This is the great New Exodus—a transition from slavery to sin into the rule of grace and glory (cf. Acts 26). In this kingdom, we are not under condemnation but enjoy redemption and the forgiveness of sins—accomplished once for all in the cross of Christ.

Then comes Paul’s majestic hymn to the supremacy of Christ. “He is the image of the invisible God.” He does not merely reflect God; He reveals God. Jesus is what God looks like in human form (cf. Hebrews 1). He is the firstborn over all creation—not in the sense of being created, but as the preeminent heir and origin of all that exists.

In Him, through Him, and for Him all things were created—heavenly and earthly, visible and invisible, including every power and authority. This surpasses even the grandest messianic expectations. Christ is not just Redeemer; He is Creator. Not just Savior of the Church but Sustainer of the universe. “In Him all things hold together.”

Christ is also Head of the body, the Church—the beginning of a new humanity. His resurrection makes Him the firstborn from among the dead, inaugurating a new creation. He is not only first in time but first in rank: “that in everything He might have preeminence.”

In Christ, the fullness of God dwells. This is the glory that once rested above the ark, filled the tabernacle, and radiated from the temple—now bodily present in Jesus (cf. John 1; Colossians 2). He is the true and final dwelling place of God. And through Him, God is reconciling all things—not just people but the entire cosmos—by making peace through the blood of His cross.

This is the gospel: Christ the Creator, Christ the Redeemer, Christ the Reconciler. He is the fulfillment of all shadows and types: the better Adam, the greater Moses, the final High Priest, and the truer Temple. He is the Image, the Center, and the Goal of the New Covenant.