bodily form.
(Colossians 2:8-9)
Why is Christ the standard? Why is He worthy to be the benchmark
by which everything else is to be measured? Because all the "fullness
of Deity" dwells in Him. Each word is full of meaning. When we read
of the "fullness of Deity," we find here a claim to the deity of Christ
that is, in some respects, stronger than if Paul had used the very word
"God" of the Lord in this passage. Why? Because the word itself is very
strong. The King James Version renders it "godhead," which is not only
ambiguous, but since the KJV elsewhere renders other less strong terms
by the same word (e.g., Romans 1:20), it can be quite confusing. The
Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker lexicon renders the word "deity,
divinity, used as an abstract noun for 06S."37 Thayer's lexicon says,
"deity, i.e. the state of being God, Godhead: Col. ii. 9."31' Dr. Thayer is
here giving us the words of Dr. Grimm. However, he then goes on to
provide some important information on his own:
[SYN. Oeotrlc, Oetotrl;: Oeot. deity differs from OEtft divinity, as
essence differs from quality or attribute]
What does this mean? Basically, this lexical source is indicating that
the word we have at Colossians 2:9 is different from the weaker term
used at Romans 1:20. The term Paul uses here of Christ refers to the
very essence of deity rather than a mere quality or attribute.39 Thayer
notes as one of his sources the work of Richard Trench on synonyms
in the New Testament. Trench said of these two terms:
... yet they must not be regarded as identical in meaning, nor
even as two different forms of the same word, which in process of
time have separated off from one another, and acquired different
shades of significance. On the contrary, there is a real distinction
between them, and one which grounds itself on their different derivations; OsotrlS being from OF-6;, and Oetotrlc not from to Oetov,
which is nearly though not quite equivalent to OF-6;, but from the
adjective 96oS ... But in the second passage (Col. ii. 9) St. Paul
is declaring that in the Son there dwells all the fulness of absolute
Godhead; they were no mere rays of divine glory which gilded
Him, lighting up his person for a season and with a splendour not
his own; but He was, and is, absolute and perfect God; and the
Apostle uses OEOitlS to express this essential and personal Godhead of the Son.40
This is why B. B. Warfield hit it on the head when he said of this
passage, "that is to say, the very Deity of God, that which makes God
God, in all its completeness, has its permanent home in Our Lord, and
that in a `bodily fashion,' that is, it is in Him clothed with a body."41
ALPHA AND OMEGA
In the book of Revelation we read the following passages:
BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will
see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the
earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha
and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and
who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:7-8).
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He
placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the
first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold,
I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades"
(Revelation 1:17-18).
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to
render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end"
(Revelation 22:12-13).
Christians have used the title "Alpha and Omega" of the Lord Jesus
from the very beginning. Alpha (A) was the first letter of the Greek
alphabet, and Omega (Q) was the last. It would be the same as saying
"the A and the Z" in the English language. It carries the same meaning as "first and last"42 and "beginning and end."43
Is Jesus identified as the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the
(Colossians 2:8-9)
Why is Christ the standard? Why is He worthy to be the benchmark
by which everything else is to be measured? Because all the "fullness
of Deity" dwells in Him. Each word is full of meaning. When we read
of the "fullness of Deity," we find here a claim to the deity of Christ
that is, in some respects, stronger than if Paul had used the very word
"God" of the Lord in this passage. Why? Because the word itself is very
strong. The King James Version renders it "godhead," which is not only
ambiguous, but since the KJV elsewhere renders other less strong terms
by the same word (e.g., Romans 1:20), it can be quite confusing. The
Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker lexicon renders the word "deity,
divinity, used as an abstract noun for 06S."37 Thayer's lexicon says,
"deity, i.e. the state of being God, Godhead: Col. ii. 9."31' Dr. Thayer is
here giving us the words of Dr. Grimm. However, he then goes on to
provide some important information on his own:
[SYN. Oeotrlc, Oetotrl;: Oeot. deity differs from OEtft divinity, as
essence differs from quality or attribute]
What does this mean? Basically, this lexical source is indicating that
the word we have at Colossians 2:9 is different from the weaker term
used at Romans 1:20. The term Paul uses here of Christ refers to the
very essence of deity rather than a mere quality or attribute.39 Thayer
notes as one of his sources the work of Richard Trench on synonyms
in the New Testament. Trench said of these two terms:
... yet they must not be regarded as identical in meaning, nor
even as two different forms of the same word, which in process of
time have separated off from one another, and acquired different
shades of significance. On the contrary, there is a real distinction
between them, and one which grounds itself on their different derivations; OsotrlS being from OF-6;, and Oetotrlc not from to Oetov,
which is nearly though not quite equivalent to OF-6;, but from the
adjective 96oS ... But in the second passage (Col. ii. 9) St. Paul
is declaring that in the Son there dwells all the fulness of absolute
Godhead; they were no mere rays of divine glory which gilded
Him, lighting up his person for a season and with a splendour not
his own; but He was, and is, absolute and perfect God; and the
Apostle uses OEOitlS to express this essential and personal Godhead of the Son.40
This is why B. B. Warfield hit it on the head when he said of this
passage, "that is to say, the very Deity of God, that which makes God
God, in all its completeness, has its permanent home in Our Lord, and
that in a `bodily fashion,' that is, it is in Him clothed with a body."41
ALPHA AND OMEGA
In the book of Revelation we read the following passages:
BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will
see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the
earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha
and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and
who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:7-8).
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He
placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the
first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold,
I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades"
(Revelation 1:17-18).
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to
render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end"
(Revelation 22:12-13).
Christians have used the title "Alpha and Omega" of the Lord Jesus
from the very beginning. Alpha (A) was the first letter of the Greek
alphabet, and Omega (Q) was the last. It would be the same as saying
"the A and the Z" in the English language. It carries the same meaning as "first and last"42 and "beginning and end."43
Is Jesus identified as the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the
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