A Hymn to Jesus Christ

He is the icon of the God we cannot see,
The firstborn, the image-bearer, of all creation!
The true Adam, what we were supposed to be.
 
Yet not just man, the best part of creation,
For by him all of creation has come to be, 
The things in the heavens and upon the earth,
The things we see and those we cannot,
Thrones and dominions! Rulers and authorities!
By him and for him it all came to be!
 
He is first of all! It all exists because of him!
And what is more—glory of glories—
He crowns the church, his body
He is her head, her leader, her fount.
 
He is beginning itself, before anyone else,
Before anyone else, he rose from death’s womb.
He is the heart; in beauty and strength,
In glory and love, he is the first.
 
To the Father, to the Spirit, to Jesus himself,
It was fitting, pleasing, beautiful—
That all things might find fullness in him.
To the Father, to the Spirit, to Jesus himself,
It was fitting, pleasing, beautiful—
That all might find a home of peace in him.
Even the ants and bees, the plants we were to have tended,
The mountains and rivers, yet still more you and me!
 
But this fullness, this home, the peace,
All this through him, through blood dripping down,
On a cross of shame
The things of heaven and earth, reconciled, made full.
 
This fullness, our home, the peace,
In his body, through blood dripping down,
On a cross of victory.
 
 
A translation of Paul’s hymn from Colossians 1:15-20