Colossians 1: 15-20 New American Standard"And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fulness (fulness of deity) to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven."
Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament
By Kenneth S. Wuest:
The word "firstborn" is prototokos. The Greek word implied two things, priority to all creation and sovereignty over all creation. In the first meaning we see the absolute pre-existence of the Logos (Word see John 1: 1-18). Since our Lord existed before all created things, He must be uncreated. Since He is uncreated, He is eternal. Since He is eternal, He is God. Since He is God, He cannot be one of the emanations from deity of which the Gnostic speaks, even though He proceeds from God the Father as the Son. In the second meaning we see that He is the natural ruler, the acknowledged head of God's household. Thus again, He cannot be one of the emanations from deity in whom the divine essence is present but diffused. He is Lord of creation. The prototokos (firstborn) is not other things of a like nature'; for the expression used is not 'the other things of a like nature' or, 'the rest of the things,' but 'the all things were created'--words which are absolute and comprehensive, and will admit of no exception."
"By Him" is en autioi; here, not instrumental but locative; "in Him" were all things created. Vincent says: "In is not instrumental but local; not denying the instrumentality, but putting the fact of creation with reference to its sphere and center. In Him, within the sphere of His personality, resides the Creative will.
(page 186) In the words, "the firstborn of the dead," Paul shows how Christ is the beginning of the new spiritual life in the Church, by His resurrection. "He comes forth from among the dead as the first-born issues from the womb. (Vincent). A new relation into which Christ came in the course of time: is the firstborn of all creation states a relation of Christ's absolute being. He became head of the Church through His incarnation and passion, as He is head of the universe in virtue of His absolute and eternal being" (Vincent).
Colossians 2: 9 New American Standard
"For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form."
"Because in Him God was well pleased that all the fulness should dwell." The word "fulness" is pleroma. Vincent says: "The word must be taken in its passive sense--that with which a thing is filled, not that which fills. The fullness denotes the sum-total of the divine powers and attributes. In Christ dwelt all the fullness of god as deity." Lightfoot says; "to pleroma, the plenitude, a recognized technical term in theology, denoting the totality of the divine powers and attributes." The word "dwell" is katoikeo, to be at home permanently" in a certain place. Katoikeo used here speaks of the fact that all the divine fulness is at home permanently in the Lord Jesus, at home in the sense that this divine fulness was not something added to His essential being that was not natural to Him, but that it was part of His essential Being as part of His very constitution.
Word Studies Ephesians and Colossians In the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest, LL.D. WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids Michigan 1981-1985. pages 183-187. s 183-187