Christocentric: Christ in Colossians | Christus Victor

Christus Victor is one of the most important aspects of our faith. The concept of Christus Victor is the idea that Jesus Christ—in his death on the cross—had victory over sin, death and the demonic realm. How did he accomplish this? Jesus Christ defeated the demonic realm through his death by crushing the power of sin and thereby taking away demonic ability to rule in the hearts of humans. In his resurrection, he proves his death to be effective and triumphs over the demonic realm publicly.

In Colossians 1:13, Paul writes, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” In a fallen-sinful-world, the fallen-sinful-human lives under the dominion of dark forces because of sin and death; but in Jesus Christ’s victory, humans are transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son, the kingdom of light. This triumph—Christ's victory on the cross—allows the believer to share with Christ in his conquest over evil. Jesus Christ is preeminent as Savior because of his destruction of evil through his work on the cross. In his success, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (2:15).

The doctrine of Christus Victor not only teaches us that Jesus Christ accomplished the conquest of evil through the cross... it allows us to live in the freedom of it. Have you thanked him for this lately?

Christocentric: Christ in Colossians | Penal Substitutionary Atonement

The work of Christ is preeminent and central in the church because Jesus Christ himself is preeminent. I recently heard a pastor say that “the cross is central because Jesus got on it.”[1]

Penal Substitutionary Atonement

The work of Christ on the cross and in the resurrection is summed up in his work of penal substitutionary atonement. Penal substitutionary atonement is the idea that Jesus Christ became the substitute penalty taker on behalf of sinners to make them free from guilt and to make them one with God in his righteous life. Consider how B.B. Warfield defined penal substitutionary atonement:

The Biblical doctrine of the sacrifice of Christ find’s its full recognition in no other construction than that of the established church doctrine of satisfaction. According to it, our Lord's redeeming work is at its core a true and perfect sacrifice offered to God, of intrinsic value ample for the expiation of our guilt; and at the same time is a true and perfect righteousness offered to God in fulfillment of the demands of his law; both the one and the other being offered in behalf of his people, and, on being accepted by God, accruing to their benefit; so that by this satisfaction they are relieved at once from the curse of their guilt as breakers of the law, and from the burden of the law as a condition of life; and this by work at such kind and performed in such a manner, as to carry home to the hearts of men a profound sense of the end indefectible righteousness of God and to make them a perfect revelation of his love; so that, by this one and indivisible work, God is reconciled to us, and we, under the quickening influence of the Spirit out for us by, a reconciled to God so making peace-- external peace between an angry God and sinful men, and internal peace in the response to human conscience to the restored smile of God.[2]

Paul writes in Colossians 1:24 that the cross consisted of “Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church…” The afflictions that Christ suffered for the sake of his church were afflictions that led to atonement of sin and reconciliation to God. He died in their place for them. Jesus Christ is preeminent not only in his person but also in his work on behalf of his people. He is preeminent to his people because his work for them destroys all that was standing against them and results in reconciliation to God. The afflictions of Christ should be seen in the light of the love and pleasure of God.

Paul writes about this in Colossians 1:19-20: “For in him all the fullness of God pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things… making peace by the blood of his cross.” God was motivated by his good pleasure to reconcile all things to himself in the cross of Jesus. Louis Berkof comments on the good pleasure of God and the cross:

“According to Scripture the moving cause of the atonement is found in the good pleasure of God to save sinners by substitutionary atonement. Christ himself is the fruit of this good pleasure of God. It was predicted that he would come to the will to carry out the good pleasure of God….”[3]

Colossians 2:11-12 also speaks of the penal substitutionary nature of the atonement: ”In him also you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Paul refers to Jesus' death on the cross as a circumcision. This circumcision of Christ on the cross is also referred to as the circumcision of Christian. When Christ died, the Christian died. In the same way, when Christ was raised, the Christian was raised from the dead. In this way, Jesus Christ is the penal substitutionary atonement for the Christian in his death and resurrection, circumcising in himself the penalty of sin, death, and hell for the believer in granting to them his resurrected life. All other effects of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and in his resurrection spring from the foundation stone of substitutionary atonement.

There will never be a victory you have that did not originate in the cross. There will never be failure you have that cannot be healed by the cross. Our preeminent Savior's work is first, final and forever.

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[1] Eric Mason at Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sermon title “Christocentricity” 10/4/09

[2] B.B. Warfield the person and work of Christ (Presbyterian and reformed publishing, 1950) p.368

[3] L. Berkhof systematic theology (Eerdmans Publishing, 1939) p. 367

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