​Colossians 1: 15 – 20
 
In Scripture, God expressed Himself in anthropomorphic terms largely for our benefit, but is He anything like man? How we think and imagine God to be is important, as our constrained and skewed human perception and imagination tend inevitably to orientate towards humanoid behavioural expressions, at times negatively impacting our attitude and views of Him. We are aware that Jesus Christ incarnated, but in our mind’s eye, how do we ever comprehend or embrace the totality of His divine-human personality? Paul’s Colossians acclamation is one of these revelatory descriptions of the Christ through a sequence of divergent imageries: viz., the invisible and the visible, the uncreated firstborn over His creation, being fully human and fully God, and achieving peace through His blood. We may still see through a glass darkly, but Paul obviously saw aspects of the Alpha and the Omega in His glorious detail, so that Colossian believers may continue to trust in Christ, instead of the heresies that had gripped them.
 
Although the fourth evangelist said that no one has ever seen God (Jn 1:18), Paul’s own confrontation by the resurrected Christ on the Damascus road traumatically evoked within him a recognition that Jesus is none other than the visible form of an invisible God; where, in Him the nature and being of God is perfectly revealed (i.e., eimi eikon ‘be image’ means having the quality of being that’s a visual representation of God; Col 1:15). Jesus Himself attested too that ‘he who has seen Me has seen the Father’ (Jn 14:9). And when this precious creative Word, who was in the darkness at the beginning of time, shines into our hearts, revealing in the depths of our soul the glorious face of God in Christ, it will transform and transcend our earthy relationship beyond our human ability to comprehend the divine spirituality (2 Cor 4:4-6).
 
Read in its context, the firstborn over all creation implies that Jesus is the pre-existing One by whom the whole creation came into being (Col 1:15-18; cf., Jn 1: 1-2; Heb 1:2; Rev 22:13). The richness of this description of the pre-incarnate Christ is beyond human comprehension: His creation spans the heavens and the earth, including both seen and unseen, the down-to-earth rulers and dominions, and the hidden realms of powers and authorities. He incarnated, died, and resurrected to be the head of the Church, which is His body. In a sense, the whole created order is held together by Him, and will eventually be consummated in Him (c.f., Eph 1:10).
 
There are discernible human limits to exploring the subject of the fullness of God dwelling in Christ (Col 1:19). What is clear from our limited perspective is that God had defined that the totality of divine essence and power is resident in Christ (c.f., Col 2:9); that is, all of God’s attributes are disclosed in Him. This remains the mystery of the Oneness of the Trinity!  
 
The Fall corrupted everything, and God purposed that redemptive reconciliation had to be initiated (cf., Rom 8:19-23), whereby the hostility and conflict with the Creator is to be replaced by conciliation and peace. Finally, Paul centered on Jesus’ momentous ransomed sacrifice on the Cross, where for eternity, all sinful life in heaven and on earth was reconciled to Himself, and through Him peace with God was secured (c.f., Rom 8:20-23). This leads us into the final summing up of all things into Christ, which is yet to be accomplished (Eph 1:10). So, if there is any desire to know what God is like, a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ is the way to go; for a day will arrive when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:1-11). Christ beckons, how do we respond? (c.f., Rev 3:20).

​The Song of Solomon
 
King Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), and the Song of Songs exemplified the pinnacle of his efforts. The biblical canon of this Song is well established, but its celebration of love and sexuality has raised eyebrows as to its purpose within the Scriptural corpus. For centuries, Rabbinic and early New Testament scholars have allegorically interpreted this piece of wisdom literature as God’s intimate relationship to Israel or the Church respectively, but its genre parallel many of the Near and Middle Eastern love poems and songs. Nevertheless, this unusual literary narrative needs to be read within its intended context. As God’s Word, it emphatically reminds us that we are created to love, and despite all our failings, to whom we focus our love and on what basis seem critical.
 
There has been some contention whether there are two ‘participants’ or perhaps three in these poems: the Shulammite bride (Song 1:2) and King Solomon (Song 2:2; where the king and the shepherd are fused as the same person), or the unidentified shepherd as the third person (Song 1:7). Although the King and the shepherd appear to speak, the whole script is in fact like a monologue, where the young beauty narrates throughout. She also ‘addresses’ three groups, which act as her sounding board: the watchmen (Song 3:3), the daughters of Jerusalem (Song 3:5), and the King’s retinue (Song 6:12). 
 
Assuming there are 3 parties, we have a semblance of a love triangle, where a young beautiful innocent country girl, is caught between her initial excitement and affection for her king (Song 1: 2-6) and her first love, a shepherd (Song 1:8). She has been prepared well by the king’s courtiers (much like Queen Esther in the Book of Esther) and will soon be presented officially as the king’s bride (Song 3:6-11). The longer she stays at the palace, her isolation and alienation yearns increasingly for the one whom she had been separated from (Song 3:1-4; 5:2-6:3), and her forlorn affections reach out to her shepherd even in the presence of her king (Song 1:12-16; 2:3-16). The descriptions of their relationship are affectionate and warm, interspersed with the changing of the seasons. The words she used to describe how the shepherd wooed her are very similar to those the king used to describe her in his desire to possess her (Song 4:1-5:1). The depth of her beauty that had captivated both men is much more than skin-deep, however, the comparison in all aspects is stark; between a secluded and privileged life hidden within the harem, with the occasional companionship of her king (Song 2:1-2; 6:8-9), or a carefree life in her own village with her beloved, who is ‘dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand’ (Song 1:8; 5:10). The tussle continues as she dreams of spending the coming spring with him (Song 2:10-17), while she is closeted within the palace.
 
Towards the conclusion of the Song, the intensity of her love for the shepherd increases, as she finally makes up her mind and gives her heart to him as a symbolic seal of ownership and identification (Song 8:6). As the final stanza reaches its climax, she explains her reason for her choice – a moralistic statement that true and faithful love cannot be bought with money (Song 8:7), thereby turning away from King Solomon’s enticements and wealth (Song 8:11-12). Of course, if this were not poetic license, she would have lost her head literally or been incarcerated. Her reflective wise judgment becomes the song of her independence and freedom to choose whom she would love and eventually marry (Song 8:14). Generally, the choices of the heart, which usually is much broader than the love life depicted by the Shulammite in this Song, will stretch anyone’s sense of judgment and integrity, as the fallen human heart grapples with its appetites and conflicting desires. Ultimately, the Song of Songs focuses on the choices love and desire produce in everyday life, and the need for wisdom to safely navigate its moral and ethical minefields for righteousness’ sake.