Colossians 1:15-20 appear to have been an early Christian hymn. There is evidence this was poetry, perhaps pre-dating Paul and well known to the congregation. Paul uses material like this in other contexts (Phil 2:5-9, for example). It is likely Paul is drawing on a well-known “statement of faith” passed along to the church as part of their education in who Jesus was and is, then drawing some implications from this hymn which are specific to the problem at hand – a group within the church which has some misunderstandings about who Jesus is.
Why use a hymn to relate theology? One possibility is that it is a call back to the foundational understanding of Jesus they received through Epaphras (and hence through Paul). A second possibility is this hymn may have been used and adapted by the false teachers in the Colossian community. We know that in the first…
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