Godhead

2016-10-22

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: (Colossians 2:8-10)

Colossians 2:9 is a good verse used by many to defend the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became a human being. He did not merely possess God the Father’s attributes and character (see A. J. Ayers’ article). What does Godhead mean? Let us see what it means in other passages. The Greek word is a hapax legomenon in the New Testament, but the word Godhead is used twice in the King James Bible:

Acts 17:29: “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” The context is Paul’s preaching to the Athenians, whose city was given over to idols (cf. Acts 17:16, 22). Paul is explaining to his audience that divinity is not a created entity and cannot be depicted with any materials.

Romans 1:20: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” Here, we see that His divinity is evident by the observable created order, which we call general revelation. We look at creation, and know that someone greater and distinct from everything seen with infinite, divine power must have created everything.

So what does it mean in Colossians 2:9? The Son of God is fully deity. He is a human being, but He is also 100 percent divine. Without this understanding of Colossians 2:9, we cannot proceed to Colossians 2:10. We are complete in the Lord Jesus Christ, fully equipped for the Christian life and service. Our commissioning to His service depends on divinity of the Son of God.