(Colossians 2:9) Isn’t Jesus the Most High God, Equal to His Father?

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9)

This is taken by some to prove that Jesus is the Most High God, completely equal to His Father. Yet, a few verses earlier we read, “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). Here we find that the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ at the Father’s choice, showing the Father to be greater in authority than His Son.

The word “Godhead” is used here and in two other verses in the Bible as follows:

“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” (Romans 1:20)

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 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” (Acts 17:28, 29)

Some have been trained to believe that the word “Godhead” is some kind of family name that includes a group of three persons, yet when we read the Bible to see how the term is used we find that “his” and “him” are associated with the word Godhead. We also read, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3).

God, the Father, is the head, and consequently He is the Godhead. There is no case in the Bible where both the Father and Son are referred to collectively as “he,” “him,” or “his.” The Godhead is spoken of as a single person, and there is no indication in the Bible that the Godhead is more than one person.

Yet, if that is the case, why does the Bible say that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead? We have already seen that this fullness dwells in Christ as a result of God’s decision. The Bible says, “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus said, “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10). The fullness of the Godhead, or the fullness of the Father, dwells in Christ.

This should not be a surprise, for the Bible says that you can “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). If we can be filled with all the fullness of God, then we should not be surprised to read that Jesus is filled with all the fullness of the Godhead (the Father). John the Baptist said of Him, “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him” (John 3:34). The Son of God has been given the Spirit of the Father without measure and, consequently, has the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in Him.

Colossians 2:9 in no way proves that Jesus is the Most High God, nor that the word “Godhead” is a title that includes Him.