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COLOSSIANS - Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Studies in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians
Part 1 - The Foundations of Christian Faith (Colossians 1:1-29)
Background 1 - The apostolic blessing
Peace
After assuring his readers in the church of Colosse of grace freely given to believing sinners, through the blood of Jesus, the apostle went on to explain about real spiritual fruit arising from their conversion. In his letter to the Romans he wrote: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2). We should not only read this promise, but memorize it and turn it into an offering of praise and thanksgiving.
Paul summarized the fruits of the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit and calls them the peace of God in his apostolic greeting. It is this peace from God that has been given us. It came through the New Covenant and the death of Christ on the cross, and resulted in our reconciliation. The wrath of God towards man´s rebellion against Him, their Creator, Lawgiver and Lord has been stilled for all who put their trust in Him. Through Christ´s death of atonement they have received peace from God. “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified Heb. 10:14).
This is further testified of the Holy Spirit in the word of the Lord: “This is the covenant that I will make with them after these days, says the Lord: I will put My law into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them…their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb. 10:16-17). The Son of God has reconciled us with His Father through His sacrifice of atonement and bound us to Himself in His own peace. We need have no more subliminal fear of God, for the blood of Christ speaks for us. It keeps us in continuous peace with the One who is “thrice holy”.
The peace of which Paul speaks is no political peace between quarrelsome nations, but a spiritual peace with God. It was not the primary purpose of Jesus to reduce the stress or improve the circumstances of our world. Rather, He wanted to bring an inward change to the people of earth, to uncover their sin, to forgive them and to rescue them from their state of enmity with their Creator. He wanted to live with them in harmony and love; He wanted them to remain fixed to Him. Only then would very needy circumstances change in their environment. The non-Christian world does not know the peace of God; the church of the Son of God, however, has already received it.
Peace between nations has been removed from the earth since the second seal was broken by the Lamb of God (Rev. 6:3) and will only be restored when the true Prince of Peace appears again on earth.
True spiritual peace with God does not come about by the own achievement of a penitent sinner come to faith. Much more, it is a gift of the triune God to us. It is not we that establish a covenant of peace with Him, but He with us. Our duty is to submit ourselves to Him and to obey Him. Jesus Himself continually worked while yoked to His Father (Matt. 11:29) and summons us to take “His yoke” upon ourselves. That is equivalent to the conception of an elephant and an ant being yoked together. The elephant needfully bears the entire yoke – ant included! We need to grasp that without submitting ourselves to the yoke of Jesus there will be no lasting peace with God. Only when we allow ourselves to be changed into the meekness and humility of Jesus will we find rest for our souls.
Jesus revealed to us: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). The Saviour of the world thus showed that His peace – the peace He had with God and which He bears within Himself – is the Holy Spirit. The Son of Mary was sinless from birth, so that the power and the blessing of God could work in Him without restriction. Since His followers receive forgiveness of their sins and reconciliation with God, they are cleansed and sanctified, so that the Spirit of Peace can dwell within them. Where the Spirit of God enters a human heart there begins true, eternal peace. Jesus called it His own inherent peace that transforms, comforts and overcomes us. This does not happen, however, without our own self-denial. Jesus, therefore, admonishes us, saying: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27c).
The peace of God trains us to practice peace with others and inspires us to love our enemies. It humbles us to confess our own sin and guards us from a self-righteous condemnation of our adversaries. The Spirit of Peace is a Spirit of Love, for the peace of God arises from His love (1 John 4:16).
Paul had experienced the power of this Spirit of Peace and testified: “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). With his testimony the apostle overcomes the self-satisfaction of the Indo-Germanic nations, along with their arrogant rationalism, and reveals to them the Holy Spirit as the Peace of God. This Spirit possesses an incomparably higher capacity to think and reason than all human geniuses and scientists. Natural man remains a prisoner of his own limitation. But the Spirit of God searches even the depth of the Godhead and reveals to us the mind of God and His Son. Paul could, therefore, boldly testify: “But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:14-16).
The peace of which Paul writes of in his letters is not only the peace of God, but also the peace of Christ and the peace of the Holy Spirit. It is an intrinsic quality and strength of the Holy Trinity. There is no self-critical unrest because of guilt and failure troubling the Godhead, for the Holy One remains forever righteous in wisdom and love. The Spirit of Peace did not abandon Paul, not even during his long years of imprisonment. He was able to discern the spirits and remained comforted, continuing in peaceful obedience toward his Lord.
To You!
Jesus said that His followers were blessed who were peacemakers, who passed on to other people the peace they had received from God and His Son (Matt. 5:9). The one who does not know how that is to occur should humble himself and ask the Lord to give him the Spirit of Peace, so that this Spirit can lead him to bring about peace in families, schools and churches. It is not we who are the peacemakers, but rather the Holy Spirit, who compels us to testify to this peace of God, so that the Spirit of Peace can take up His dwelling in new believers. Woe to the ones who only want to keep divine peace for themselves, who are only interested in quietly enjoying the grace and peace of God in their own spiritual egotism. They are like the Dead Sea, which only has a river flowing into it but none out of it, unlike the Sea of Galilee, which teems with fish and life.
Paul did not just impart his apostolic blessing upon individuals, but, above all, upon entire churches. Count Von Zinzendorf is reported to have said: “I recognize no Christianity without fellowship!” Yet precisely when saints live together does the unholiness of their inherited nature come to the fore. It is unbelievable how much quarrelling and arrogance tear apart the bond of love and truth in churches and fellowships. Hardly a person is ready to humble himself and be the servant of others. Following Peter´s confession of faith (Matt. 16:16), Jesus laid great importance upon the character training of His disciples. He prescribed for them in His new law that they should love one another, just as He loved them (John 13:34). Jesus prayed for the unity of His churches in His high priestly prayer, that they would be one, as He was one with His Father. But since they could not bring about this unity of spiritual love alone He supplemented the words “you in Me, and I in you (John 17:21-26) to His prayer.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank You that You have granted a valid and everlasting peace, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, for the rebellious creation. Grant that Your Spirit of Comfort may dwell in us and many other penitent sinners, so that Your peace and joy can spread out in our hate-filled world. Help us to truly become the peacemakers You are sending to the nations.
Question 9: What is most special about the peace of Christ?