For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form, and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Colossians 2:9-10 NET
In the extended passage these two verses come from, Paul encouraged the Colossians not to be captured by empty and deceitful philosophies (Col. 2:8). Philosophies built around what he called the world’s elemental spirits. Spirits that were in competition with Jesus for the hearts and minds of people. And apparently, these philosophies had some appeal to the Colossians.
But Jesus is wholly unlike the spirits behind these empty and deceitful philosophies. Paul tells us two things that make Jesus superior to these deceitful spirits. The first is that in him, all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.
Fully God and Fully Human
Jesus is fully and completely God. He is fully God, but not all of God. He is the Son, but not the Father or the Spirit. As fully God, he is missing none of the divine attributes he has shared with the Father and the Spirit throughout eternity.
Jesus is also fully human. The bodily form he lived in was not just a temporary shell that he put on for a few years and then left behind. He became fully and completely human (Hebrews 2:17). And he remains fully human, even today. Paul’s word, translated above as “lives,” is a present tense verb. When Paul wrote, Jesus was fully human and filled with all the fullness of God.
The Head Over All Things
Given who Jesus is, why would anyone even consider giving their allegiance to a pretender to the throne? But, if that was not enough, Paul goes on to say that Jesus is the head of all those spiritual beings seeking to lead people astray. He is their creator (Colossians 1:16), and they submit to him (Colossians 2:15).
Don’t be deceived by those who claim that Jesus is less than fully God and fully human with authority over all of creation. Give your allegiance to him, the one who is the fullness of deity living in bodily form—the one who is the head over every ruler and authority, both physical and spiritual.
