It appears, therefore, that in 1 Co 15^^ St. Paul has nothing to tell about the pre-existent Christ ; and the same is probably the case in regard to the other factors in St. Paul's description of Christ — the recognition of Him as eiKuv rov deov and the declaration that in Him dwells ' the whole fulness
of the Godhead.' In both passages (2 Co 4* and Col 1'^) where lie refers to Christ as ' the image of God,' the context suggests that the idea is more than that of simple likeness, reflexion, or even representation. Christ as eiKihv rod deov is and has all that Adam had in consequence of being made iv elKovi deov without suffering any of the subsequent diminution or cancelling of powers or privileges which in Adam's case followed upon transgression. This phrase, therefore, like ' the Second Adam,' sets Him forth as the archetypal man. But the phrase has had a history since its origin in Hebrew literature, and St. Paul may have had that also in mind. It appears in a modified form in Wis. (7-^) in a description of the Divine Wisdom personi- fied : aTraijyaafxa yap eaTt (purbs dl'Siov , . . Kal eiKwv rrjs dyadorrjTos avTov. From an Egyptian inscrip- tion of 196 B.C. Wendland quotes the description of an apotheosized prince as elKdvos ^locttjs tou deov (Hellen.-rom. Ktiltur, 1907, p. 75). But there is no need to go beyond the passage in Wis. , Avhich indeed seems also to have influenced the language of 2 Co 4^ and He P, and possibly Col I'^. The e'lK^v evidently connotes light, glory, radiant eflul- gence ; and when St. Paul apj^lies the description to Christ, he means that the otherwise invisible God is manifested and revealed through Him (cf. Jn 14-* ifxtpaviau) ifiavrdv). Its true significance is in fact explained by 2 Co 4'' : ' Seeing it is God . . , who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' St. Paul neither denies nor asserts that Christ had been ' the image of God ' from the beginning ; but what he does say on the subject is properly referred to Christ as Exalted.
(5) The fullness of the Godhead. — It pleased God that ' in him the whole fulness of the Godhead should make its abode ' (Col P^ ; cf. 2^ iv avrw KaroLKet wdf to TrXripui/xa riis OeorrjTOs ffiOfiariKuts, Kal €<tt^ iu avTi2 weirXTjpu/jLevoi). It has now been made clear that as the foregoing description has its roots in the Hebrew record of creation, so this one is not unre- lated to contemporary theosophic speculation. St. Paul makes this assertion regarding Christ in re- sponse to a challenge, which had been delivered, tacitly at least, by the false teachers at Colossse against the sole and suflicient supremacy of the Lord. On the lips of those whom he was controverting, as well as on his own, the phrase stood for the totality of the Divine powers or agencies. But for the false teachers the totality was distributed among a plurality, a countless host, of mediators — ' thrones, dominions, principalities, powers,' rd aroi- Xeia Tou Koafxov. St. Paul had found in Christ another view of the universe, according to which all this imagined hierarchy of intermediaries be- came irrelevant. Thus it is probable that in both sentences in which the phrase occurs a strong emphasis should be placed on the words iv avrip. Not in that cloud of unknown spiritual forces but in Christ resides that whole fullness of which they speak ; and it resides awfjcariKuis, i.e. not 'in bodily form,' but 'in completeness and abiding reality' (so Klopper, Dibelius).
' The term, in its orig-in, or as used by the theosophists of Colossse, may be metaphysical or not ; in the mouth of the apostle it expresses a religious truth, a truth of reflection based on religious experience, the truth learnt in communion with the Risen Lord, that in Him there is a full endowment of life by the Spirit of God that answers to all the religious needs of human nature ' (SomervOle, op. cit. p. 158).
It is to be noted in connexion Avith each of these later aspects of Christ recognized by St. Paul, that it is held or revealed by Him in order to be im- parted or conveyed to men. If He is the Son and the Image of the Invisible God, it is in order that men who believe on Him may become sons of the same Father and conformed to the same Image. If the fullness of God has taken up its abode in
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Him, that has had for a result ' ye have been ful- filled in him,' and then we find the Apostle in Eph 3'^ praying that the brethren may by the in- dwelling of Christ be ' fulfilled ' till they attain to the pleroma of God. At the same time, this participation of believers in the highest attributes of Christ is (i.) mediated through Him, is theirs only through their organic union with Him ; and (ii.) only partial and fragmentary at any time in the individual believer. No individual believer, however closely he may resemble his Master, can ever reproduce all that Christ is. It is the body of believers, believers as a body, who are destined to attain ' to the perfect man, to tlie measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ' (Eph 4'3). All the attributes of the iieavenly Christ have refer- ence to, and are applied to, the salvation of man ; but they are conveyed by Him ; apart from Him they are not within the reach of men.