Christian Humanism: What Colossians 1:15-20 Really Says
Short answer: Christian humanism is the conviction that human beings bear God's image and that this dignity is fully revealed and restored in Jesus Christ. It is not secular humanism wearing a cross, nor a claim that humanity is the measure of all things. Colossians 1:15-20 supplies the foundation: the Son is the image of the invisible God, all things were created through him and for him, and in him all things hold together. Because the Word became flesh per John 1:14, human life has an eternal weight. Because this same Son made peace through the blood of his cross, Christian humanism is cruciform, not triumphalistic. It honors the human person as creature, fallen yet redeemable, never as autonomous sovereign.
What the term means and what it must not mean
The word humanism today usually signals a worldview that begins and ends with humanity. Christian humanism borrows the concern for human flourishing but reorders the foundation. Man is not the measure; the incarnate Son is. Genesis 1:26-27 records God saying, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness,” and that image is what gives every person non-negotiable worth. Christian humanism therefore takes creaturely dignity with utmost seriousness while refusing to absolutize the creature.
Historically, Christians have used the phrase to describe a serious engagement with literature, art, and the humane disciplines as goods that serve the knowledge of God and love of neighbor. The Reformers were classically trained; Wesley read widely. None of that displaced the gospel. Study and culture are servants, not saviors.
The danger is drift. When human dignity is detached from the doctrine of creation and redemption, it becomes a vague optimism that cannot finally answer evil or death. Christian humanism keeps the human in view, but only because God in Christ kept us in view. The center remains the Lord who is before all things, not the human subject who observes him.
Colossians 1:15-20 as the foundation of Christian humanism
Colossians 1:15 opens with the identity of the Son: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” That phrase, firstborn, in the ancient world connotes rank and inheritance rights, not createdness. The following verse makes the pre-existence explicit: all things in heaven and on earth were created in him, through him, and for him. Christian humanism is grounded in a Christ who is not a creature among creatures but the agent of creation itself.
If Christ is the one through whom all things were made, then everything human, including reason, language, and culture, is derivative from him. Humanists who reject Christ still borrow from his world. They think his thoughts after him, whether they acknowledge it or not. Christian humanism names the debt and returns thanks.
The passage then moves to the church and to reconciliation. He is the head of the body, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the preeminence. Christian humanism that stops at creation becomes mere appreciation for humanity. Full Christian humanism includes the cross, the resurrection, and the church, because human beings are not only made; they are also fallen and need to be remade.
The image of God and the recovery of human worth
Genesis 1:26-27 grounds human worth in God's own act, not in human capacity. Every person, born or unborn, healthy or disabled, brilliant or simple, bears that image. That is why Christians have historically defended the weak and the voiceless. The image is not a talent to be earned; it is a status to be received. This is Christian humanism at its most practical.
Sin did not erase the image; it marred it. After the fall, God still affirms human life, still commands justice, still hears Abel's blood. The doctrine of the image is not optimism about moral performance; it is realism about the worth God assigns to those who cannot repay. Psalm 8:3-8 marvels at a God who, in light of the vast heavens, still crowns human beings with glory and honor. That wonder is the emotional register of Christian humanism.
Yet the Psalm also places humanity under God's appointment, with dominion delegated, not seized. Christian humanism holds human dignity and human accountability together. We are dignified stewards, not owners. We are image-bearers who will give an account for what we did with what we were given.
Incarnation: why Christian humanism is specifically Christian
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh, and lived among us.” That single sentence is the charter of Christian humanism. God did not merely pity humanity from a distance; he took flesh. The material world, the human body, human culture, human language, are not embarrassments to be escaped. They were taken up by the eternal Son. Any spirituality that despises the body contradicts the incarnation.
Christian humanism therefore honors the ordinary. Meals, work, friendship, art, and family life matter because the Word entered all of it. The body is not a prison; it is the site of redemption. Resurrection, not escape, is our hope. The incarnation means the human is not a regrettable necessity but a chosen vehicle of divine self-disclosure.
This also disciplines our cultural engagement. If God became flesh, then studying human things is not a distraction from devotion. It can be an act of worship when done in truth and love. But because the Word became flesh and we beheld his glory, the human is always judged by him. We do not dissolve Christ into humanity; we see humanity restored in him.
The new creation and human identity
2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.” Christian humanism is not satisfied with the first creation. It expects a second. The human being is not merely a biological fact but a narrative: created, fallen, redeemed, glorified. Anyone who is in Christ is already a new creation, though the fullness awaits the resurrection.
This means Christian humanism is eschatological. It looks forward to resurrection bodies and a renewed creation. It can therefore tolerate imperfection without cynicism and pursue excellence without idolatry. Our anthropology is anchored in what God has done and will do, not in what we can achieve. That prevents both despair and pride.
It also gives a basis for community. If identity is found in Christ, then the human race is not a collection of competitors but a fellowship of those being remade into his image. Christian humanism is therefore missional and pastoral. It seeks the good of the city because it seeks the glory of the Christ who is remaking all things.
Work, vocation, and the dignity of ordinary callings
Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.” Christian humanism takes work seriously, not as a means of earning salvation, but as a sphere of obedient love. The nurse, the teacher, the farmer, and the programmer all serve the neighbor. Work is not a punishment added to the gospel; it is part of the creation that grace redeems.
This corrects two errors. The first is sacred-secular dualism, the idea that only church work counts. The second is careerism, the idea that our worth comes from output. Christian humanism rejects both. Work is dignified because God made it, and it is limited because God saves us by grace, not by our productivity.
Wesley's tradition, echoed in the sermon studies linked below, insisted on both inward holiness and outward good works. Ephesians 2:10 supplies the logic: we are created in Christ Jesus for good works. Those works are not the foundation of our standing. They are the fruit of it. Christian humanism is therefore restful and industrious at the same time.
How Christian humanism relates to secular humanism
Christian humanism and secular humanism share some practical concerns: education, human rights, the relief of suffering, and the value of reason. But their foundations differ. Secular humanism grounds dignity in human consensus or evolutionary accident. Christian humanism grounds it in the Creator's act and the Redeemer's cross. One foundation can shift with the culture; the other cannot.
The difference becomes sharpest at suffering and death. Secular humanism often treats death as the final enemy to be avoided or ignored. Christian humanism faces it with the crucified and risen Christ, who is the firstborn from the dead. Death is real, and death is defeated. That changes how we care for the dying and how we mourn.
Faithful Christians may differ about how far to cooperate with secular humanist movements. Some see common ground on specific justice issues; others fear the underlying worldview. The New Testament does not settle every prudential question, and we should be honest where it does not. What it does settle is that dignity is not ultimately a human achievement. It is a gift.
Pastoral care and the human person
Christian humanism is finally pastoral. It says to the forgotten: you are not an accident. To the ashamed: your worth does not depend on your record. To the dying: your body is not discarded; it will be raised. Colossians 1:15-20 assures us that the one who holds all things together also holds his body, the church. He is the head; we are members.
This generates a practical ethic. We honor the aged and the unborn. We pursue justice without hatred. We engage the mind without pride. We care for minds and bodies together, since the Word became flesh and will raise the flesh. Christian humanism does not despise the world. It loves the world as God does, while refusing to make it ultimate.
It also keeps us humble. We did not invent human dignity, and we cannot sustain it on our own. We receive it and pass it on. The image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, has made peace through the blood of his cross. That is the ground we stand on when we honor the human person.
Biblical fidelity check
Colossians 1:15-20 establishes that the Son is before all things, that all things were created through him and for him, that he is head of the body, and that he is reconciling all things through the blood of his cross. It does not establish that every person will be saved, nor does it teach that human nature is inherently divine. It teaches the supremacy of Christ and the cosmic scope of his work, not the sinlessness or sovereignty of humanity.
A common misreading is that Christian humanism means affirming everything humans desire or produce. That is wrong because the passage is about reconciliation, which presupposes estrangement. If all things needed to be reconciled, then not all things were already right. The image of God gives dignity; the cross gives hope; neither gives autonomy. We honor the human person most faithfully when we point them to the Christ who is the image of the invisible God.
Other passages that speak to Colossians 1:15-20
For further study, see Scriptural Christianity: A Bible Study from John Wesley’s Classic Sermon, which explores how inward holiness and outward mercy belong together. Consider also The Almost Christian: A Bible Study from John Wesley’s Classic Sermon on the difference between nominal religion and real faith. What does Psalm 23 mean for Christians today? speaks to the shepherd care of the Christ who holds all things. And What Does 1 Corinthians 1:10 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application addresses the unity of the body under its head.
Frequently asked questions
Is Christian humanism the same as secular humanism?
No. Secular humanism grounds human value in human achievement or consensus. Christian humanism grounds it in creation and redemption. Genesis 1:26-27 says humans are made in God's image, and Colossians 1:15-20 says all things were created through the Son and reconciled by his cross. The practical concerns may overlap, but the foundations are different. One can survive without God in theory; the other cannot survive without Christ in fact.
Does Colossians 1:15 call Jesus a created being?
No. The term firstborn in this context means preeminence and inheritance rights, not chronological origin. The very next verse says all things were created in him, through him, and for him, which would be impossible if he were himself created. The passage presents the Son as the agent of creation, not a part of it. This reading has been consistent across historic Christian orthodoxy.
How should Christian humanism shape daily life?
It should shape how you treat people, do your work, and think about your body and future. Treat every person as an image-bearer, because Genesis 1:26-27 says they are. Do your work as service to the neighbor, since Ephesians 2:10 says you are created in Christ Jesus for good works. Face death with hope, because the firstborn from the dead holds all things together. These are not abstractions; they are daily orientations.
