This conclusion has several implications. First, that while the passage is being referenced by the letter’s author, his skillful use and manipulation of the passage suggest that early Christian christology was developing alongside Paul’s direct influence. Further since the author, writing under the endorsement of the apostle Paul, during the lifetime of the apostle Paul, incorporates the passage so deftly into his prose it suggests that early Christian christology while not solely pauline, was remarkably coherent. Paul himself often uses multiple metaphors with varying degrees of coherence^[67] to describe aspects of his personal theology. It is likely that this passage and letter, often rejected as pauline for its dissimilarity to Paul’s language, demonstrates the church’s ability, even under Paul’s leadership, to hold similar theological tension when it come to christological thought.

The hymnic passage itself has been broken up in different ways by different scholars. However, most commentators see the underlying structure of two strophes, the first reflecting on the role of the son in creation, the second reflecting on the son’s role in the new creation. F.F. Bruce divides the passage into the following structure.

The First Strophe (1:15-16)

He who is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.

For in him all things were created:

    things in heaven and on earth,

    visible and invisible,

    whether thrones or powers

    rulers or authorities;

all things have been created through him and for him.

The Transitional Link (1:17-18a)

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church;

The Second Strophe (1:18b-20)

He who is the beginning

the firstborn from among the dead,

so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

    and through him to reconcile to himself all things

    whether things on earth or things in heaven,

    by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross^[68].

(Specific translation mine)