Col. 1:15-17 is one of those passages in the Bible which, viewed without the baggage of religious experiences, is actually quite clear. Seen in this way, Col. 1:15-17 states about our Lord that he was the first being created directly by God, and at the same time, participated in the process of creating everything else as the Divine executor and heir of the entire created order. The fact of Jesus being created as the first among all creatures is clearly stated by the apostle Paul in referring to Jesus as the 'firstborn of all creation.' The Greek prototokos translated here as 'firstborn' is a compound of protos - first, and tikto - to give birth, to be born, which indicates our Lord as the first being directly created by God Himself. Why does 'firstborn' not mean 'first/ most important' here - because Paul writes about this three verses later when discussing Jesus' position in the Church: "And He is the Head of the body, the church, who is the Beginning, the First-born [prototokos] from the dead, that He may be pre-eminent in all things" (Col. 1:18). Jesus' preeminence in a chronological aspect related to his being born of the Spirit in the Jordan and taking leadership in the Church (the community of believers) is connected to his preeminence in the aspect of office / significance. But this is what verse 18 speaks about. Verse 15 clearly refers to Jesus' preeminence in the context of the creation process (firstborn of all creation).
Our Lord was thus created as the first by God, but as the only one created directly by God. For he himself participated in the further creative process - "For all things were created in Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers" (Col. 1:16a). The "thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers" mentioned by Paul seem to describe the ranks of spiritual beings (Eph. 1:21, 6:12; 1 Cor. 15:24). However, Jesus participated not only in the creation of the spiritual world but also in the creation of the material world, including the creation of man. It is to him that God said, "et Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness" (Gen. 1:26,27). Although Adam, created as 'very good' after the likeness of God, fell, the process of creation did not end there and continues in the transformation of believers into the image of God shown in Jesus Christ (Gen. 1:31; Rom. 8:29). Therefore, "He is before all things, and by Him all things consist" (Col. 1:17). Furthermore, the apostle writes in the examined passage Col. 1:15-17 that everything was created not only through him but also for him. Accordingly, we read in Heb. 1:1-2 that God "has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds."
There are two pieces of information contained here; two aspects of Christ's primacy, who was both created as the first and also became the first, taking authority in the kingdom of God. Similarly, the apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:20-28 - "But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruit of those who slept. (21) For since death is through man, the resurrection of the dead also is through a Man. (22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive. (23) But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ's at His coming; (24) then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power. (25) for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet. (26) The last enemy made to cease is death. (27) For He put all things under His feet. But when He says that all things have been put under His feet, it is plain that it excepts Him who has put all things under Him. (28) But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subject to Him who has subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all things in all." It pleased God to make our Lord the first in many respects: the first creation (Col. 1:15), but also the first in terms of power and office (Col. 1:18; Mt. 11:27; Jn. 3:35, 17:1,2).
All of this is related to the fact that our Lord was made in "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). The Greek word eikon conveys the idea of close resemblance, even the identity of certain traits. Undoubtedly, Jesus is the image of His Father in many respects. Above all, he is His image in terms of mind and character traits. Therefore, our Lord could say: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn. 12:45, 14:9). It is obvious that the Savior did not mean physicality, because during his ministry he was a man, in human nature, not the divine (Phil. 2:6-8; 1 Jn. 4:2,3). However, he perfectly reflected the traits of God's mind and character. That is why in 2 Cor. 4:1-6 the apostle Paul connects Christ, "who is the image of God" with "the light of the glorious Gospel", which "shone in our hearts to give the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God". "But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord" - his teachings and example - "as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18). For this is the essence of salvation that we have in Him, so that through the testimony of the truth, which he came to bear (Jn. 18:37), we might be transformed in our mind and character to a state of perfection (Mt. 5:48). For God desires a man created not only in His likeness, but above all in His image (Gen. 1:26,27).
Although we cannot know anything about the nature of God, we know that at least in certain aspects, God equipped the nature of Christ and also his most faithful followers. Peter writes in this context about "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading" (1 Pt. 1:3,4). There are no certain references in the Bible about the nature that Jesus had before the incarnation. We know that he was in the morfe of God. However, morfe does not describe nature, but rather external appearance. Being in the morfe of God, our Lord manifested himself to other beings just as his Father did. However, in order to fulfill the Father's will, he "made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Therefore God has highly exalted Him" (Phil. 2:6-9). The exaltation of our Lord was thus related to the success of his mission. Since he did not fail in the hardest trials, he was lifted to the nature of God and became, according to the words of the apostle Paul, "the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence" (Heb. 1:3). This is certainly what we can say about Jesus after his resurrection. Perhaps this aspect was also in Paul's mind when he wrote that Jesus was "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). However, Biblical references describing the nature of the Savior pertain to the time after his exaltation at the resurrection. The Scriptures do not clearly inform us about the nature of his existence before the incarnation.