Sunday, October 16, 2022

G. K. Beale on Jesus as the "image" of God in Colossians 1:15a

  

In contrast to Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 4:4; and Col. 3.10, here Col. 1:15a refers not to Christ as the “image” in his human incarnational and exalted form. Rather, . . . Christ’s preexistence as God’s divine “image” is the focus, though his status as the divine image still applies to his incarnational state and eternal exalted status. The reason for this widely temporal understanding is found in εστιν (estin, is) in verse 15a, which is a timeless or gnomic present in that Christ is eternally and originally “the image of the invisible God” . . . (G. K. Beale, Colossians and Philemon [Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2019], 81)