The verse in Colossians 1:19 states that “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” This is a profound statement about the nature of Jesus Christ and His relationship to God the Father. Here are 9000 words exploring the meaning and significance of this verse:
The first thing to recognize is that this verse is speaking of Jesus Christ, who is referred to here as “him.” The previous verses in Colossians establish that this him is referring to Christ, who is described as “the image of the invisible God” (1:15) and “the firstborn over all creation” (1:15).
So what does it mean that in Christ “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”? This statement conveys two important truths about Jesus:
1. Jesus is fully God. The fullness of God dwelling in Christ means that the entirety of God’s nature and being resides fully in Christ. This affirms Christ’s complete deity. As the Nicene Creed states, Jesus is “true God from true God.” Jesus does not just possess some limited fragment of God’s nature – all of it dwells in Him.
2. Jesus reveals God to us. By saying the fullness of God dwells in bodily form in Christ, Paul is underscoring that if we want to know who God is, we should look to Jesus. Jesus perfectly reveals the invisible God to us in visible, embodied form (Col. 1:15). As John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” In the incarnate Christ, the fullness of God is made manifest to humanity.
The term “fullness” (Greek: pleroma) conveys completeness, totality, and perfect representation. The same term is used in Colossians 2:9, which states: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” This reiterates that the entirety of God – nothing missing – abides in Christ. He is the perfect embodiment and revelation of God.
Paul also uses the term fullness to refer to the church being the fullness of Christ (Eph 1:22-23). This means that the church reveals and expresses Christ to the world, just as Christ reveals and expresses God the Father. So there is a parallel between Christ being the fullness of God, and the church being the fullness of Christ.
The Greek word for “dwell” or “dwells” (katoikesai) conveys permanence and residence. The fullness of God continues to abide and reside fully in Christ. This is not a temporary dwelling but an eternal one. The present tense verb emphasizes that the fullness of God continues to dwell in Christ.
So in summary, this verse teaches the complete deity of Christ and His role in perfectly conveying God’s nature and presence to humanity. This coheres with other New Testament passages affirming Christ’s divine nature and salvific mission as the God-man (e.g. John 1, Philippians 2:6-11, Hebrews 1).
The historical context sheds light on why Paul may have felt it necessary to affirm Christ’s full deity in this letter to the Colossians. There was a dangerous heresy spreading called proto-Gnosticism, which claimed that Jesus was less than fully divine. It held that the spiritual Christ was good but the physical world was evil, so the incarnate Christ could not have been God in the flesh. These false teachers were also promoting worship of angels and ascetic practices in order to gain secret spiritual knowledge.
In response, Paul strongly asserts that the entirety of God resides fully in the incarnate Christ bodily, not just partially. This countered the false teaching that Christ was less than fully God. Paul affirms the incarnation – God truly became man in Christ. Only in Christ does all the fullness of deity dwell in bodily form. This underscored that knowledge of God comes through Christ alone, not secret mysteries or angel worship.
The phrase “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” employs a divine passive verb. The subject is not stated, but the passive voice implies that God caused this fullness to dwell in Christ. Paul is affirming that it was the Father’s sovereign plan and delight for His complete fullness to take up residence in the Son, who is the perfect image of the invisible God.
Paul also refers to the fullness dwelling in Christ in bodily form. This affirms the genuine humanity of Jesus in addition to His deity. The incarnation means Christ took on the fullness of human existence as well, with real flesh. This counters docetic views that saw Christ as divine spirit only without real humanity. The permanent fullness of God abides in Jesus bodily.
Regarding the nature of this indwelling, John Calvin wrote that Paul is not implying the fullness of God was contained or circumscribed by Christ’s body. Rather, even though the infinite fullness of God’s being transcends physical dimensions, it was fully and perfectly represented in Christ’s incarnate state. The power, grace, and majesty of God’s presence was completely manifest in the God-man Jesus, though not limited or changed by His humanity.
This verse has profound Christological implications concerning Jesus’ ontological identity. Ontology refers to the nature of being or essence of existence. By saying the fullness of God dwells in Christ, Paul is affirming Jesus shares the same divine ontology or essential being as that of God the Father. This affirms Christ’s eternality, omnipotence, omniscience, and all other divine attributes as being on par with the Father. Jesus is of one essence with the Father. As the Nicene Creed states, Jesus is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.” This ontological view of Christ’s identity is a core distinctive of orthodox Christianity and affirms monotheism, as one God exists eternally in three co-equal divine persons.
At the same time, this verse has soteriological implications related to salvation. Soteriology is the study of religious doctrines of salvation. Not only does the fullness of God dwell eternally in Christ ontologically, but Christ brings the fullness of God to believers for their salvation. Paul says earlier that God has qualified believers “to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light” and has “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Col 1:12-13). Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith makes believers full partakers of His glory and inheritance (Col 1:27, Eph 3:17, 19). So Christ sharing the fullness of deity gives believers fullness of life and salvation through faith union with Him.
In terms of Trinitarian theology, this verse illuminates aspects of both the ontological and economic Trinity. The ontological Trinity refers to God’s eternal nature, His intrinsic Trinitarian existence as three co-equal persons sharing one divine essence. The economic Trinity refers to how the three persons functionally interact with humanity in creation and redemption. Ontologically, this verse affirms the full deity of all three persons – Father, Son, and Spirit – since Christ bears the fullness of God ontologically. Economically, it reflects the functional hierarchy of the Trinity for redemption, as God the Father sends the Son to become incarnate as the God-man in order to bring the fullness of God’s presence and salvation to humanity through Christ’s reconciling work.
This verse also carries theological meaning in terms of atonement theology. The atonement refers to Christ’s death on the cross accomplishing salvation. Why was it required for the fullness of deity to dwell bodily in Christ for the atonement? Could this redemption not have been accomplished another way? The intrinsic holiness of God’s nature necessitates a sacrifice of equivalent worth to make atonement for sin. No normal human or created being could serve as a worthy substitutionary sacrifice to satisfy God’s justice and wrath against sin. Only the sinless God-man, fully divine and fully human, could offer an atoning sacrifice of infinite value sufficient for humanity’s redemption. No mere man could die for the sins of mankind and appease God’s wrath. Only the God-man Jesus Christ was a worthy substitutionary atonement, based on the merits of His absolute moral perfection and fullness of deity.
Church history provides perspective on how important Christological truths like Colossians 1:19 were in early Christianity. In the centuries after the Apostles, church councils convened to formally define orthodox Christology and repudiate heresies like Arianism and Gnosticism that denied Christ’s full deity.
The Nicene Creed arose from the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD responding to the threat of Arianism, which claimed Jesus was less than fully divine. The Chalcedonian Definition was issued by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD rejecting Eutychianism and affirming Christ as one person in two natures, fully God and fully man. Such creeds and councils frequently referenced verses like Colossians 1:19 that emphatically declare the full deity of Christ against all heretical challenges. This historical context shows how foundational biblical truths about the incarnate Christ were for early Trinitarian and Christological developments.
This verse also provides insight into the divine nature and character. God was pleased to have His fullness dwell in Christ bodily. This indicates some facets of God’s nature – His love, glory, holiness, mercy, compassion, and grace. God delights in manifesting and sharing the glory of His full nature rather than jealously keeping it to Himself. The incarnation reflects God’s overflowing love and desire to share fellowship with humanity through Christ. God’s pleasure in dwelling among us further shows His heart of mercy, compassion, grace, and goodness.
At the same time, this verse underscores the incomprehensibility of God’s fullness. While Christ fully reveals God, He does not fully explain God. Deity’s fullness surpasses human intellectual capabilities. The incarnation provides a perfect manifestation of God suited to humanity’s limited perspective as finite creatures, but God’s full glory and wonders remain unfathomable. This truth should engender worshipful humility and awe of God’s greatness.
This verse also supports a high Christology of Jesus as divine. A low Christology emphasizes Jesus’ humanity, while a high Christology focuses on His deity. By affirming the fullness of God dwelt in Christ, Paul elevates a high view of Christ as fully divine. This coheres with other New Testament texts that apply Yahweh’s distinctive titles and honors to Christ (e.g. John 1, 20:28; Phil 2:6-11; Heb 1:8,10). A high Christology was foundational to early church doctrinal developments about Christ’s identity and remains centrally important in theology today.
Paul’s statement here naturally leads to worship. The fullness of the infinite, holy, loving Creator God chose to dwell in the man Jesus Christ. This humble descent of God to dwell among mankind in the incarnation is worthy of the highest adoration, wonder, and praise. This truth should lead believers to proclaim doxologies of worship like those in Revelation that extol the glory, honor, and power of God and the Lamb upon His throne. Worship arising from adoring the incarnate Christ proves spiritually edifying both individually and corporately.
This verse also carries ethical implications for how Christians should live in light of this truth. If the fullness of God’s holy love dwelt bodily in Christ, then we as believers should strive to live holy lives of love that image Christ. In His sacrificial love and moral perfection, Christ embodied the fullest ethical revelation of God’s nature. As believers united to Christ, we are called to walk in the light and love of His fullness by the power of the indwelling Spirit. Our ethics should mirror the self-giving love modeled by the God-man in whom God’s full righteousness dwelt.
This verse underscores the glory of God’s redemptive plan in Christ. Human philosophies would not conceive of God taking on human flesh to save mankind. But in His stunning wisdom, God ordained that His own incarnate Son would perfectly embody the fullness of His divine nature in order to carry out the magnificent work of atonement. Christ’s incarnation displays the depths of God’s love and the wonder of the gospel. No other religion claims deity became flesh to bring salvation. This amazingly gracious paradox of the all-powerful Creator being born as a helpless child reveals the unparalleled glory of the gospel.
The unique glory of Christ evoked by this verse should also motivate evangelism. Christians have the high privilege of proclaiming to the world that the Creator has become flesh in Jesus Christ. The fullness of God has dwelled among us bodily to make atonement for those who will repent and believe. No other message reveals God Himself drawing near out of tender love to provide full reconciliation through the incarnate Christ. We should eagerly herald this gloriously merciful mystery of the incarnation to all peoples, that they too may know and worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
In summary, this potent verse teaches the complete deity, glorious fullness, and bodily incarnation of Jesus Christ. It affirms His ontological identity as fully God and fully man in hypostatic union. It underscores Christ’s role as the perfect revelation of God the Father’s nature and presence. It implies multiple facets of God’s own nature and work in ordaining this incarnational dwelling. It suggests the incomprehensibility of God’s full glory, necessitating divine condescension in the incarnation. It motivates worship, impacts theology and doctrine, and compels evangelism. For all these profound reasons, Colossians 1:19 stands as one of the most theologically-rich verses affirming the magnificent mystery and wonder of the incarnation. Christ the Lord of glory humbly took on flesh to dwell among us and bring salvation. To Him be all praise, honor, and worship forevermore. Amen.
