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COLOSSIANS - Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Studies in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians
Part 2 - The Recognition of the Mystery of Christ Guards Against False Teaching (Colossians 2:1-23)
11. Are We Complete in Him?
Paul wrote to the followers of Christ in Colosse and Laodicea powerful contents of faith from his prison cell. He assured them that they were spiritual members of Christ´s resurrected body, and that He was their pre-eminent and all governing Head (Col. 1:18). He declared to them that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their hearts also meant the personal dwelling of Christ in them (Col. 1:27). Furthermore, he assured them that they lived in Him, and were also to walk in Him (Col. 2:6). Following his breathtaking testimony to the full deity of Jesus Christ, he went even further, writing that they, as born-again Christians, had already received a portion of the deity of their Saviour. Some translators write: “You are complete in Him!” (Col. 2:10).
If one is honest, he has to be shocked by this confession. Who are we, and who is He?! We are mortal, He is eternal! We are sinful, He is holy! We are self-confident, proud egoists, He, however, even in His glory, remains meek and humble of heart, full of compassion and love. All 350 names of God given in the Bible and their attributes are contained in Him. In His glorious light we are revealed as nothing but detestable scoundrels! Our sins and deficiencies are as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Whoever does not realize that has not yet recognized God as his standard.
It is, however, just at this point that our salvation begins. Jesus took all the sin of mankind upon Himself. He atoned for it and forgave it (John 1:29-36; 1 John 2:1-2). Since then every believer is justified in Him and appears guiltless before God. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 3:1) the substance of God entered into the followers of His Son (Acts 2:1-4; 16-21). The reception of the Spirit, however, only became possible following the atoning death of Jesus. To that end, He assured His disciples at His last communion meal with them, when He gave them the bread: “Take eat; this is My body” When He offered them the cup of wine He said: “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:26-28). The body of Christ, His blood, His Spirit, His power and His love enters into everyone who confesses to Him his sins, who unconditionally opens himself to the words of Jesus. The deity of Christ fills all who unite themselves to Him in humility and thanksgiving.
The filling of Christians, however, does not occur in the singular, but in the plural. None of us possess the deity of Christ alone or merely for ourselves. Much more, to the extent that each Christian allows himself to be sanctified through the merciful working of God, all of Christianity is filled. Every follower of Christ receives, through the Spirit of the Father and the Son, special gifts. These multiple and varied “gifted ones” together make up the body of Christ, pulsated through and through with His blood, driven by His love, and filled with the worship of the Father (Rom. 5:5; Eph. 1:13, 14, 22, 23). In this sense, Paul wrote the thrilling sentence: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together….for whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:17, 29). In one of his messages, an international evangelist said that Christ today is greater than at the time of the Apostle Paul, for in each successive generation millions of born-again followers become assimilated in Him. They are filled by Him and become complete in His fullness.
Paul, however, did not content himself with the fact that Jesus is only the head of the church, filling her with His deity as long as she remains intimately bound to Him. Paul went further and courageously confessed that Jesus is also the head of all government leaders, founders of religion, multi-millionaires, exorcists and anti-Christian spirits that fill the world (Rom. 8:38-39; Eph. 1:20-21; Phil. 2:9). Nothing happens apart from His will, everything proceeds within the realm of His plan of salvation (Rom. 1:18-32). The Lamb of God broke open the seven seals and allowed the rider of the apocalypse to be sent forth (Rev. 6:1-8). He will complete His glorious work. He assures the persevering and suffering church: “Surely I am coming quickly!” (Rev. 22:20).
Prayer: Father in heaven, who are we that Your Son, with His entire fullness of deity, chooses to dwell in His church?! We worship You and Your Son as the “one and only” God and thank You, with delighted hearts, for the unspeakably great privilege of knowing that You, with Your grace and omnipotence, both anoint and gift us! Do not pass our neighbours by, who have yet to know You, so that they, too, can repent and open to You the door of their hearts.
Question 34: How and for what reason did the indwelling of the Triune God become possible in mortal man?