Now, Christ the Creator. The passage relates christology to every other major doctrine in Scripture. We have considered the doctrine of Christ in relation to the doctrine of revelation, and now we will consider the doctrine of Christ in relation to the doctrine of God, as well as other topics that sometimes fall under this heading or are closely associated with it, such as creation, angelology, and demonology. In other words, at this point, we proceed from epistemology to ontology, or metaphysics.

The deity of Christ is indicated at the outset by the same statement that stresses his revelatory function: "He is the image of the invisible God." In fact, he is able to reveal God in a complete and perfect manner because he himself is deity. He is the exact representation, or image, of deity because he is deity. Verse 19 says that all divine fullness dwells in him. His ontological status is the basis of his revelatory power. His own explanation is that he is able to tell us about God because he has been with God from the beginning, and has "seen" and "heard" the things of heaven. Again, these terms cannot denote empirical sensations, but a spiritual-intellectual apprehension. In any case, epistemology and metaphysics must be consistent with each other in a system of thought, as it is in the Christian religion.

As with many other biblical passages, although Scripture describes Christ in a way that he cannot be anything other than deity, and sometimes applies to him the word "God," its language often makes a distinction between Christ and "God." That is, although Scripture asserts the deity of Christ, it does not portray him as identical in every way to the person that it often designates as "God." This is consistent with and explained by the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all deity, equal in every way in terms of their divine attributes, but the word "God" is most often used to refer to the Father.

Since Christ is the exact image of the Father, then of course he is God. But since he is an image of the Father, then even though he is God, as in divine, he is not identical to the Father. Adding to this what Scripture teaches about the Holy Spirit, the biblical doctrine is that the Godhead is one and triune. This is not a contradiction, and there is not even a hint of paradox in it, since he is one in one sense, and three in a different sense. Our passage does not offer the complete doctrine on this, but it assumes and applies it throughout its discussion on christology.

The second part of verse 15 says that Christ is "the firstborn over all creation." This does not mean that he was born first or the first to be created. Scripture indicates in other places that he is not a creature, but that he has always been with God. And here it does not say, "He is the firstborn over all creation, the first to be created"; instead, it says, "He is the firstborn over all creation, for by him all things were created."

The word "firstborn" can indeed indicate a temporal priority, as in one who is born first, but it can also indicate a hierarchical priority, as in the superior rights of the firstborn. These two meanings do not bear a necessary relationship, so that it is possible to have one without the other. As one commentator writes:

In Exodus 4:22 God says, "Israel is my firstborn." There was no secondborn. Literally and physically Israel was the secondborn and Esau was the first. Hence the meaning is not temporal priority but the legal rights of the boy whose father designates him as the head of the family. Exodus 4:22 refers to God's choosing a nation. Even though the next verse has the literal meaning, as God threatens to kill Pharoah's firstborn son, the position of Israel as a nation is not one of temporal priority, but one of favor and privilege. Psalm 89:27 records the Lord's promise to or about David: "I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the Kings of the earth." Obviously this refers to office and dominion; not to any temporal priority, for David was neither the eldest child in his family, and all the more clearly he was not the first king who ever ruled on earth.

The fact that Christ is God, or deity, already means that he cannot be a creature, and that "firstborn" here cannot refer to the temporal priority of a creature. The passage itself speaks of Christ as a creator and not a creature, and stresses his "supremacy" over all things (v. 18). Thus the word "firstborn" is to be taken as a reference to rank and status.

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