John Calvin Commentary Colossians 1:15

"who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;" — Colossians 1:15 (ASV)

Who is the image of the invisible God. He mounts up higher in discussing the glory of Christ. He calls him the image of the invisible God, meaning by this that it is in him alone that God, who is otherwise invisible, is manifested to us, in accordance with what is said in John 1:18,

— No man hath ever seen God: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, hath himself manifested him to us.

I am well aware how the ancients customarily explained this; for, having a contest to maintain with Arians, they insist upon the equality of the Son with the Father, and his (ὁμοουσίαν) identity of essence, while, in the meantime, they make no mention of the chief point: how the Father makes himself known to us in Christ. As for Chrysostom’s basing his entire defense on the term image, by contending that the creature cannot be said to be the image of the Creator, it is excessively weak; furthermore, it is set aside by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:7, whose words are: The man is the IMAGE and glory of God.

Therefore, so that we may not receive anything but what is solid, let us note that the term image is not used in reference to essence, but refers to us; for Christ is called the image of God on this basis: that he makes God, in a manner, visible to us.

At the same time, we also gather from this his (ὁμοουσία) identity of essence. For Christ would not truly represent God if he were not the essential Word of God, since the question here is not about those things that, by communication, are also suitable for creatures, but about the perfect wisdom, goodness, righteousness, and power of God, which no creature is competent to represent.

Therefore, we will have in this term a powerful weapon against the Arians. Nevertheless, we must begin with the reference I have mentioned; we must not insist upon the essence alone.

The sum is this: God in himself, that is, in his naked majesty, is invisible—not merely to the eyes of the body, but also to human understanding. He is revealed to us in Christ alone, so that we may behold him as in a mirror.

For in Christ he shows us his righteousness, goodness, wisdom, power—in short, his entire self. We must, therefore, beware of seeking him elsewhere, for everything that would present itself as a representation of God, apart from Christ, will be an idol.

The first-born of every creature. The reason for this designation is immediately added: For in him all things are created, as he is, three verses later, called the first-begotten from the dead, because by him we all rise again. Hence, he is not called the first-born simply because he preceded all creatures in time, but because he was begotten by the Father so that they might be created by him, and that he might be, as it were, the substance or foundation of all things.

It was then foolish of the Arians to argue from this that he was, consequently, a creature. For what is discussed here is not what he is in himself, but what he accomplishes in others.