Christocentric: Christ in Colossians | Life & Faith

The spiritual life of the Christian is Christ himself. Christ is not only preeminent in the cosmos, but he is also preeminent in the life of the Christian. Those who have been striving together with him are “mature in Christ,” not in and of themselves (1:28). The apostle Paul was supplied with the “energy” of Christ working within him in his ministry (1:29). Since the spiritual life of the Christian is tied to the life of Jesus Christ, Paul instructs the Colossians to walk in him and to be built up in him (2:6-7). Christians have been filled in Christ (2:10), and Christ in them: “Christ is all, and in all” (3:11). Jesus is the very life of the Christian: “Christ who is your life” (3:4). The Christian does not possess his or her own eternal life but rather shares in the eternal life of Jesus Christ. Christians are instructed to let Jesus regulate their hearts in Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”… because the very life of Christ is in the Christian.

Because Jesus Christ is preeminent in the universe, he is also preeminent as the object of faith and proclamation. In Colossians 1:4 and 2:5, Jesus Christ is the object of belief for the Colossian Church. In Colossians 1:28, he is the object of proclamation: “Him we proclaim.” Christ is the object of faith, the preeminent one, the reason for all things; it is always Him we proclaim. Colossians 2:2-3 says that Jesus is the knowledge of God's mystery and recognizes that his job is to ”declare the mystery of Christ.” (4:3). Faith in any other system or object is an unacceptable faith; casting the weight of one’s soul upon any human tradition apart from Christ is sternly warned against. Any philosophy that does not flow directly from Christ is to be opposed (2:8). In Colossians 3:22-24, Paul tells us that work should be done by fearing Christ; “fear the Lord,” knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one that you are serving. Work itself is seen as an act of faith in Christ. Jesus Christ should be central in the faith of the church and the proclamation of the church because Jesus Christ is central—period.

Christocentric: Christ in Colossians | Shadows of Religion

In Colossians 2:16-17, the apostle Paul tried to explain that—because of Jesus’ preeminent reality—the types and shadows of the old covenant are no longer necessary for Christian practice and exhortation. “Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or Sabbath. These are the shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Jesus is the substance of all the Old Testament types and shadows. The types and shadows are now fulfilled in Jesus Christ, leaving no need for their implementation in practice in the new covenant era.

In Colossians 2:18-19, the apostle Paul warns against human religion having any place in Christianity. “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth that is from God.” The preeminent Christ is mandatory in spiritual life. Jesus is unswervingly the substance of the faith. In Colossians 2:20-23, Paul points out that being in union with the person who is the substance of the faith, Jesus Christ, there is no need to submit to man-made religious regulation. “Growth in the Christian life comes by walking him, not by following some ascetic regiment where certain foods are forbidden and special festival days are observed. These things are ‘shadows’ and the substance is Christ.”[1] Paul encourages a Colossian Church not to be distracted from its Christocentric focus. False teachers were leading them to other foci aside from Christ. Keeping Christ central is the only way to maintain health in the church.

When Paul addressed the church of Galatia, he had a similar admonition. The Galatians, like the Colossians, were swayed and enticed by religious practice. To them, he says: "...if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:18-20) The reality of religion is that it kills. Only Jesus can give us life. The law was meant to be a tutor lead us to Christ (Galatians 2:24), but was never designed to be his replacement. If the value of any practice or discipline begins to exceed the value of Christ himself, we are being deceived. Are you judging your Christian life based on your ability to perform? That is sin. Are you getting your worth from your ability to obey? Guess what: even our ability to obey is a gift, and you didn't earn it. We must fight to remember what we are so prone to forget: Christ in us is our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), not our law-keeping or law-breaking. Have you been crucified with Christ? Stop clinging to the shadows of religion and walk in the light.

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[1] Schreiner, Paul apostle of God's glory in Christ p. 27

Christocentric: Christ in Colossians | Humanity

Colossians 2:9 tells us that the fullness of God dwells in an actual human body and, in other words, Jesus Christ was and is truly human. Jesus was not just the shell of a human with God inside or, perhaps worse, a ghost of some kind; Jesus was actually human. “The Christian doctrine of the incarnation claims that the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, became fully man, Jesus of Nazareth; they been doing so he did not for a moment ceased to be fully God; and that he did this ‘for us and for our salvation.’”[1]

Jesus' humanity enabled him to be our atoning sacrifice; without the shedding of blood, there would be no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Obviously, he needed to have a human body in order to shed his blood. His deity ensured that his blood, in its perfection, would be able to satisfy the wrath of God (1 Peter 1:18-19). We cannot rely on any righteousness other than the perfect record of Christ. Jesus' humanity assures us that he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses as our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16). And his deity reminds us that his compassions for us never fail (Lamentations 3:22-23). In his humanity, Jesus showed us dependent obedience to the Father by doing nothing on his own initiative (John 8:28, 42). In his deity, no mere man could forcefully take Jesus' life; he laid down his life on his own initiative (John 10:18). Jesus' humanity tells us that we must die (Matthew 10:38, John 12:24). His deity tells us that we will live (John 6:54).

It is incredibly important to keep Jesus' humanity and deity in view. To ignore either is a grave error.

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[1] Garrett J. Deweese edited by Fred Sanders and Klaus Issler One person, Two natures in Jesus and Trinitarian Perspective (B&H publishing, Nashville Tennessee, 2007) p. 115

Christocentric: Christ in Colossians | Trinity

In the process of greeting the Colossians, Paul writes, “we always thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” (1:3). Jesus is referred to as the Son of God the Father, thus putting his person and the context of the Trinity. With the high Christology that we find in the book of Colossians, we must keep in perspective that Jesus Christ, God the Son, is one of the members of the triune God. This explains several of the other references to Christ such as Colossians 1:19: “In [Jesus] the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” In Jesus Christ, the Triune God is seen. Jesus not only shows us who he is as God the Son, but also who the Father and Holy Spirit are. Colossians 2:9 also shows Jesus in Trinitarian perspective when Paul tells us that “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” All of the fullness of God is found in Christ. All the Father's nature is in him (what Paul calls the pleroma of Godhead, Col. 2:9). Consequently, he is equal with God; which is why, in turn, he is a unique revelation of God, unlike any other. We, as humans, may bear the image of God, but our portrayal is nothing in comparison to the complete picture that Jesus' person and work paint for us. [1]

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[1] Donald MacLeod the person of Christ (Intervarsity Press, 1998) p.74