firstborn from the dead

Epistle for November 20, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 1:11-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is very appropriate for Christ the King Sunday in the liturgical church year. Colossians 1:11-20 presents a very high Christology concerning the nature and work of Jesus Christ.

Paul begins with a practical word of encouragement to the church at Colossae:

[May you be] strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy…

We are reminded that Colossians is one of Paul’s prison letters, and that it shares certain similarities in tone and content with his letter to the Ephesians, also written from prison. The letter is written to be read both in Colossae (Colossians 1:2) and in Laodicea (Colossians 4:16), which were ancient cities not far from one another in Asia Minor.

Although it is considered unlikely that Paul ever visited either Colossae or Laodicea, Epaphras had founded a church there, and Paul was writing at his request. Some heterodox teaching about the worship of elemental spirits of the universe (Colossians 2:8), and angels (Colossians 2:18) had likely raised concerns and Paul was writing to set them straight.

Paul first tells the Colossians what Christ has done for them, and why they are to be:

giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins…

This is the language of holistic salvation. By that, I mean that it describes comprehensively what the believer is delivered from — the power of darkness. And it also tells us what the believer receives through salvation — that believers are to be co-inheritors of the saints in light and translation into the Kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. This is the language of dynamic process — from darkness to light and love as co-heirs with Christ.

The second section of our passage lifts up the supremacy and the uniqueness of Christ. There is no doubt that Colossians clearly teaches the divine nature of Jesus as the Son of God. Paul’s description of the superlative nature of Christ is richly layered, and builds to a crescendo.

First, Paul addresses the essential nature of Christ. Christ is uniquely:

the image of the invisible God…

Paul doesn’t mean that Jesus is merely a man made in God’s image, but that Jesus makes the divinity of the invisible God visible. Jesus is what God looks like in human form. This is reinforced by the second part of this phrase, that Jesus is:

the firstborn of all creation.

This view, that Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh, and God’s firstborn Son, is corroborated elsewhere in the New Testament. Hebrews 1:3 says:

His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…

And the go-to passage establishing the divinity of Jesus, and his nature as the only-begotten Son of the Father, is John 1, particularly verses 1 & 14:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Second, Paul continues to build toward his crescendo. Not only is Jesus the image of God in the flesh, he is also a co-creator with the Father:

For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.

Again, this is the same creation Christology that we find in John’s Gospel:

The same [i.e., the Word] was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made (John 1:2-3).

Third, not only is Christ the agent of creation, and the beneficiary of all things, all creation coheres in and through him:

He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

Fourth, Paul turns his attention to Christ’s relationship to the church.

He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

He uses the familiar image of the church as the body of Christ (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12). And Jesus is not only the firstborn of creation, he is also firstborn from the dead. So, Jesus is not only preeminent as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation, and the agent and coherence of creation, he is preeminent over death through his resurrection.

And there is a clear message that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not merely for his own sake, as a kind of confirmation of his divine nature — Jesus is raised for the sake of the church, as suggested in Romans 8:29, that he:

might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Fifth, Paul says of Christ that:

all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him…

This is a very technical and somewhat esoteric reference. The fullness that dwells in Christ obviously refers to the full nature of God. Jesus is not an adopted son — he is, as Philippians 2:6 says:

in the form of God…

The term fullness — the Greek word pleroma — was a favorite of the Gnostics who had a very elaborate cosmology that included “emanations” of divine powers, and “spheres within spheres.” Paul skillfully uses the Gnostics’ own language for his own purposes to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the only legitimate manifestation of the fullness of God.

The Gnostics couldn’t have been further from Paul’s theology. They were dualists who believed that only spirit was good, and matter all bad. Paul has made it clear that Jesus took on flesh, and was a co-creator of all material things. The Gnostics also taught that salvation came through secret knowledge (gnosis) — Paul makes clear that salvation is by grace received through faith. But Paul uses their own theological terms to refute the Gnostics.

Finally, Paul describes the mysterious means by which Christ has accomplished his cosmic task, in order to:

reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

This is the supreme mystery and wonder of the Gospel — that the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, who was co-creator of all things, took on human flesh and allowed himself to die in order to conquer death in his resurrection. And the reconciliation that Christ accomplishes brings earth and heaven together. This is God’s radical solution to a radical problem — the world has been subjected to decay and death, and God suffered death in order to restore all things to life!

APPLY:

This is an extremely theological and lofty passage. But at its heart, this is a passage that exalts the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ. It is not the obedience to the law, or the attainment of secret “knowledge,” or good deeds, or working through one’s karma, or anything else through which we may be saved, except through Christ.

Only the one who is the image of the invisible God, the Second Person of the Trinity, God incarnate, who emptied himself and accepted death on the cross, and was raised, can overturn the death that has infected our world. The one who created life is also the one who restores life!

And because of him, we are now:

partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light…delivered…out of the power of darkness, and translated…into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins!

RESPOND:

What more can be said about this magnificent passage, that builds and builds and builds, like a powerful fugue in a spectacular symphony? I am speechless, but filled with grateful awe.

I can only sing:

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

Our Lord, I can only say deeply and humbly, thank you. Thank you that you have revealed yourself supremely in Christ, your image, your firstborn of creation, your firstborn from the dead, and the only hope for this dying world that we might have new life. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for July 24, 2022

"God[d] made you[e] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross." [Colossians 2:13b-14]

“God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.” [Colossians 2:13b-14]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 2:6-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

In this passage of Colossians, Paul addresses the Christian life, from the first moment that a believer receives Christ as Lord, through baptism, on toward living the fullness of life in Christ.

In verses 6-7, Paul gives a synopsis of the Christian experience:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

The process is elegantly and simply described — receive Christ Jesus as Lord by faith; continue to grow in Christ through faith; and give thanks in all things. The metaphor that Paul uses — rooted and built up — describes the organic life of the thriving plant, or a building that is sturdy and strong.

We are reminded of Jesus’ own words:

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

However, after this general overview of the Christian life, Paul addresses some of the issues that seem to be troubling the church at Colossae. For one thing, there seems to be a fascination with philosophy that may either be Neoplatonic or proto-Gnostic:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

If we look back at Colossians 1:19-20, we are reminded of what Paul has already said about Jesus:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

The concept of the fullness (Greek pleroma) had been hijacked by the Neoplatonists and early Gnostics to describe another realm that was beyond the created order. These groups tended to be dualists — that is, they believed that the spiritual realm was superior to the material realm. To them the spiritual reality was good; the material reality was evil and corrupt.

But Paul is claiming that God’s fullness has come to dwell completely in Jesus bodily. Jesus embodies God in the flesh. The inherent goodness of the material world was proclaimed by God when he created all things at the beginning and called them good (Genesis 1). And the incarnation of God in Christ reaffirms the goodness of creation.

And as God has come to dwell fully in Christ, so the believer comes to fullness in Christ, who is over every ruler and authority. As we see elsewhere in Colossians 1:16, Jesus has authority over all things both spiritual and material, supernatural and natural:

things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.

Christ has authority even over all the hierarchies of angels in heaven.

Paul then turns his attention to the believer’s initiation into faith:

In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Using the language of his own Jewish tradition, he compares baptism to circumcision as the rite of initiation. Of course, this is a spiritual circumcision. The true mark of Christian initiation is baptism, which symbolizes death to sin. This is comparable to Paul’s description of baptism as a symbol of death and resurrection in Romans 6:3-4:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

But there is another sense in which sin itself is a kind of death which God overcomes through forgiveness purchased on the cross:

And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.

We are reminded of Paul’s attitude toward the law. Though the law itself is holy and just and good in Romans, it has no power to save. The law merely holds a perfect mirror up to the sinner and reveals all blemishes and flaws. But in this vivid image, the record of all of these sins is forgiven — nailed to the cross like a piece of paper with a long list of trespasses. The list is erased!

And in another very vivid image, Paul describes Christ’s victory over his enemies and ours:

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

The language Paul uses is evocative of a triumphant Roman general. After a Roman general conquered in battle, the enemy was disarmed, and the kings and opposing generals were paraded in front of the cheering crowds as the Roman general rode in triumph in a golden chariot.

Jesus is the triumphant hero who has conquered rulers and authorities — i.e., sin, death and the devil — and now sits in glory with the Father.

APPLY:

At the heart of this passage is the story of redemption. At the heart of this story is what Christ has done for us in his death and his resurrection. Because the fullness of God dwells in him, his death is efficacious in nailing our sins to the cross, and triumphing over our enemies of sin, death and the devil.

And what he has done for us is completed in us when we receive Christ Jesus by faith, and then live our lives in and through him rooted in the faith.

But Paul also seeks to warn us about the many heresies and false philosophies that might draw us away from Christ — literally, take us captive. There is an old saying — there are no new heresies, only new heretics. I believe that’s true. The Gnostics taught that salvation came not by faith, but by a secret knowledge that was only revealed to the elite. There are those today who believe that they have received some “special revelation” from God that is unavailable to most of us. Then there are the Arians, who denied the divinity of Jesus, and taught that Jesus was a man who was “adopted” as Son of God, rather than begotten as the Second Person of the Trinity. There were even those who taught at Corinth and elsewhere that because they were saved, they were now free to indulge their carnal desires because their bodies no longer mattered. We even see that kind of attitude among some permissive Christians today.

This is a reminder to us that the study of Biblical truth is imperative. And it is even more important for us to remain in Christ, and to:

to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

RESPOND:

This passage is so rich with doctrine and theology that reading it is a feast. There are reflections that I can take away from this passage about the all-sufficiency of Christ; the fullness of God that dwells in Christ; the life that is rooted and established in faith; baptism as a new sign of circumcision — and of death to sin.

One theme, though, is absolutely consistent — Christ is the head of every ruler and authority.

This is important to consider in an era of social media and the internet when people tend to tailor their “news feeds” to suit their own presuppositions, and algorithms tend to give us what we already think and know.

Paul warns us:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.

There are so many contradictory and diverse perspectives that are available at the stroke of a key. In such an environment, it is really important to me to remain grounded in Christ and his Word.

Lord, I pray that I may be rooted and established in my faith in you. Because of the work of redemption, I pray that I may abound in thanksgiving. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for July 17, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 1:15-28
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage from Colossians is an example of “high Christology” in the New Testament, which describes the nature and work of Christ from his generation as the unique Son of God at the very beginning, to his redemptive work as the incarnate God on the cross and through the resurrection.

This passage is packed with doctrine. First, this selection deals with the very nature of Christ:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…

We are reminded from other Biblical passages that no one has ever seen God (John 1:18), but:

It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known (John 1:18).

Obviously, there are very close parallels here between Colossians and the Johannine understanding of the nature of Jesus.

As the image of God, Christ becomes his visible and incarnate representation in creation. Christ is also the firstborn — John says the only begotten Son in some older translations. In this sense he is unique. He is not created by God, but uniquely generated from the very being of God.

As in John 1:1-4, Christ is both an agent of creation and the one for whom creation has been made. This includes visible matter (nature) and invisible (supernatural). Colossians alludes to the hierarchy of angels. As Colossians says:

for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.

Because he is the firstborn, Christ precedes all things, but he is also uniquely ordained as the one in whom all things cohere:

He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The image we get in these verses is of a divine Christ who represents the very being of God, and has created and united all things. This is a “Cosmic Christ,” not in any New Age sense, but as the only begotten Second Person of the Trinity and the Son of the Father.

Paul then turns his attention from the “cosmic” nature of Christ to his role in human lives:

He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

As Christ takes on human nature in Jesus, he also embodies his life in the church. The church is designated to be the Body of Christ in the world after the ascension and return of Jesus Christ to the Father. And Paul reminds us that not only is Jesus Christ the beginning and firstborn of all creation, he is also firstborn from the dead, presaging the general resurrection of all believers.

Just as Jesus Christ was an agent of creation in the beginning, so he also is an agent of resurrection and new creation. Despite the fact that creation has been damaged by sin and death, Jesus renews creation through his own death and resurrection.

If there is any doubt whatsoever about the divine nature of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God, Paul makes it absolutely clear:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…

The Greek word for fullness has a fascinating history. It is the word pleroma. It means to fill up completely. But it had been used by Plato more than 350 years prior to Paul to describe the “true reality” where God existed above the illusion of space, time and matter. The term was later used and misused by Neoplatonists and Gnostics in ways that moved far afield from orthodox Christianity.

Paul may have used this term in order to demonstrate that the “true reality” and fullness of God was fully present in Jesus Christ. Which is why the Nicene Creed would later declare that Christ is fully God and fully man. This doesn’t mean that Paul was a Platonist or a Neoplatonist, and certainly not a Gnostic — but that he could use the philosophical terms of his day to make his point.

What truly matters is that because Christ is fully God and fully man, he is uniquely able to bring God and humanity together:

through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Paul always returns to the cross as the place of reconciliation, where sin is expiated by Christ’s blood and the sacrifice completed. No doubt he has in mind his words to the Church at Corinth:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

And Paul applies the reconciling work of Jesus directly to those who were most in need of reconciliation:

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—

The transformation that is made possible from darkness to light is astounding. The ones who have been so far from God may actually be made whole and holy by the brokenness of Christ!

There is, however, a warning:

provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.

This is one argument against the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, along with other passages (Romans 11:17-22; Hebrews 10:35-39). There is a “contingency” here — that the believer remains steadfast in faith. In other words, losing faith in what Christ has done risks losing one’s hope in him.

Paul turns to his own story and how it intersects with the gospel and with the young church in Colossae:

I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known…

Paul is very self-aware that his sufferings — well catalogued in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 and elsewhere — are an extension of the afflictions of Christ. Because of his own sufferings, Paul can speak with authority because of God’s commission to make the word of God fully known.

Finally, the word that is made fully known is described as:

the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

The term mystery is interesting. The Greek mysterion is used in letters attributed to Paul no less than 19 times. The mysteries are those truths that were kept secret, or only revealed in a veiled sense, in the Old Testament. Now, in Christ, they have been more fully disclosed — particularly the truth that the Gentiles are also to be included in the covenant with God, and that the glory of this mystery is the reality that Christ may dwell in them and become the source of their hope in glory.

The ultimate goal for all who believe in Christ — Jew and Gentile alike — is to grow up into maturity in Christ.

APPLY:

Sometimes we might be tempted to think that the subjects of Biblical doctrine and theology are stuffy or irrelevant. We might be tempted to think that these are subjects for theologians and intellectuals, not for us. We might be tempted to think that we should be more concerned with “practical,” down-to-earth issues that affect our everyday lives.

I would argue that the doctrine of Christology is very relevant to our lives! The thought that Christ, who is made in the very image of God, who is filled with the fullness of Deity, who was an agent and participant in the very act of creation — actually became a human being and lived, died and was raised for our sake — is awesome!

What that demonstrates to us is that God so deeply loves and cares for us that he became one of us. He became one of us so we could become like him. And this is received by us, Paul says,

provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard.

RESPOND:

I love mysteries in novels, and on t.v. — what some call “procedurals.” It is fascinating to try and unravel the clues that might lead to the answers.

However, I would feel quite frustrated if there were no clues in the mysteries, or if the answers were not unveiled at the end.

The good news with the depth and breadth of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is that it does have the characteristics of a mystery. Though the salvation history as revealed in Jesus Christ wasn’t fully unveiled in the Old Testament, there were ample clues to this mystery. Just as the disciples didn’t fully understand the things that Jesus said foreshadowing his own reconciling work, so it seems that the Old Testament writers didn’t always grasp the implications of their prophecies. It is always in retrospect that one can look back and say, “Oh, of course! Now I get it!”

Likewise, for a mystery to be fulfilling, the secret must be unveiled at the end. In the New Testament, we discover that Jesus is the answer. Just as reading a mystery without finding the answer would be dissatisfying, so reading the Bible without meeting Jesus as the author and finisher of our salvation would be unfulfilling.

As St. Augustine said of grace:

grace hid itself under a veil in the Old Testament, but it has been revealed in the New Testament according to the most perfectly ordered dispensation of the ages, forasmuch as God knew how to dispose all things.

Our Lord, my mind boggles when I consider the breadth and depth of what you have done for us, from creation to redemption. Keep my eyes firmly fixed on your character and work, keep me steadfast in faith and hope in you. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for April 24, 2022

Alpha and Omega Symbol
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Revelation 1:4-8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Book of Revelation is without a doubt the most disputed and controversial book in the entire Bible. Delving into this passage alone could take us several different directions, and require pages and pages of research.

Just a few words of background. John, writing in exile from the Island of Patmos, is conveying his visions to the Seven Churches of Asia — Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

The greeting begins in a way typical of other epistles in the New Testament:

Grace and peace to you…

And then John introduces his own Trinitarian greeting:

from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

The greeting grace and peace comes from all three persons that we have come to know as the Trinity. This is a Trinitarian passage, without ever using the term, Trinity.

The Father is he:

who is, and who was, and who is to come.

We can’t help but think of Moses’ encounter with the burning bush on Mount Sinai, when the Lord discloses his name and nature:

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

God is the eternal one, who transcends time and space, for whom the present moment encompasses past, present and future.

I am in agreement with commentators who believe that the seven spirits before his throne is a reference to the Holy Spirit, although there are some commentators who argue that these seven spirits refer instead to angels. My conviction is strengthened by John’s elaborate descriptions of the heavenly throne room, when he says that:

In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God (Revelations 4:5).

A variant translation of seven spirits is the Sevenfold Spirit.

In the third place, John turns his attention to Jesus:

and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Jesus is the faithful witness in his earthly ministry through his life and teaching. But we are also reminded that the Greek word for witness is the word we translate as martyr. That has the connotations of sacrificial death because the witnesses in the early church so often died for their faith. Jesus was the first witness and the first martyr.

But John also points to the resurrection of Jesus as the firstborn from the dead. This is language reminiscent of Colossians, where Jesus is called:

the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15)

and also

the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything (Colossians 1:18).

Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God and the Second Person of the Trinity, begotten not made from before time began; but he is also the Son of Man, whose physical suffering and death and subsequent resurrection opens the possibility of resurrection for all who die.

And John also reminds us that Jesus is King:

the ruler of the kings of the earth.

John elaborates on this as he begins to explore what this means for those who believe:

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

Jesus is our sacrifice, who liberates us from the slavery and bondage of sin. But he also exalts us to be citizens of his kingdom and to offer ministry to God in his eternal temple. We are reminded of 1 Peter 2:9:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

This is part of the inspiration for the Reformation doctrine of the Priesthood of All Believers.

John makes clear that the arc of Jesus’ ministry as king takes him from the cross to the grave to the ascension and the reign at the right hand of the Father, and will be consummated with his return at the end of the age:

“Look, he is coming with the clouds”

Unfortunately, what is good news to those who believe may be bad news for those who do not:

“every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

Finally, The Lord defines his character yet again:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Alpha and Omega, of course, are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, indicating that God is the beginning and the end — from God all things begin, and in God all things find their consummation.

And he is the one who transcends all time, the all-powerful one.

APPLY:

In this text for Easter season, we are reminded that Christ is the one who has been pierced for our iniquities, and he is:

the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

This image of the firstborn has deep resonance in the Old Testament. The firstborn were consecrated to God as a representative offering, holy to the Lord — although of course human firstborns were redeemed by the sacrifice of a firstborn animal.

The Apostle Paul says:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family (Romans 8:29).

As we identify with Christ, he becomes our firstborn older brother who opens the way for all of us to experience resurrection. Paul also says of Christ:

He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything (Colossians 1:18)

Our salvation is a process — first there is the forgiveness of sins, effected through Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Christ is he who:

loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood…

And his ultimate goal is the restoration to our intended destiny:

to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.

The crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ are all a part of a divine drama — or, Dante might say, a divine comedy — that will end with the final return of Christ in victory, when these words will be fulfilled:

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”.

RESPOND:

I am aware of a troubling reality. Though God’s love is all encompassing, and his victory is inevitable, not all will turn to God. For whatever reason — self-will, delusion, defiance — some will refuse the love, grace and mercy that Christ offers.

And when Christ returns, we are told that:

all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”

This statement reminds me of what Paul says in Philippians 2:10-11.

at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

All will one day bow the knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Some will bow and confess the Lordship of Jesus with willing gratitude and worship. Some will bow and confess unwillingly, because they don’t want to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus.

For those who bow the knee willingly, submission to God will be heaven. For those who bow the knee unwillingly, submission to God will be hell.

Similarly, perhaps even those who are saved and have bowed the knee to Christ will mourn their sins that made the death of Christ necessary. For them, the tears will be therapeutic and cathartic; but for those who have rejected Christ, the mourning will be profound and permanent.

John’s Revelation is a stark reminder to us that we are given the opportunity to choose to bow the knee to Christ as King, and that there are consequences to our choices.

Our Lord, you have been a faithful priest, and you have offered the perfect sacrifice on my behalf — your own life! You are the firstborn from the dead, so that I may be raised as your younger brother. Now, you are calling me to be a priest in your kingdom and to serve you as my King. You have forgiven me, and you empower me to serve you. Thank you. Amen.

PHOTO:

"Linzer Dom - Fenster Versehgang 3 Alpha Omega.jpg" by Wolfgang Sauber is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Austria license.

Epistle for November 24, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 1:11-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is very appropriate for Christ the King Sunday in the liturgical church year. Colossians 1:11-20 presents a very high Christology concerning the nature and work of Jesus Christ.

Paul begins with a practical word of encouragement to the church at Colossae:

[May you be] strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy….

Paul first tells the Colossians what Christ has done for them, and why they are to be:

giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins….

First, Paul addresses the essential nature of Christ. Christ is uniquely:

the image of the invisible God….

the firstborn of all creation.

This view, that Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh, and God’s firstborn Son, is corroborated elsewhere in the New Testament. Hebrews 1:3 says:

His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high….

And the go-to passage establishing the divinity of Jesus, and his nature as the only-begotten Son of the Father, is John 1, particularly verses 1 & 14:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Second, Paul continues to build toward his crescendo. Not only is Jesus the image of God in the flesh, he is also a co-creator with the Father:

For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.

Again, this is the same creation Christology that we find in John’s Gospel:

The same [i.e., the Word] was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made (John 1:2-3).

Third, not only is Christ the agent of creation, and the beneficiary of all things, all creation coheres in and through him:

He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

Fourth, Paul turns his attention to Christ’s relationship to the church.

He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Fifth, Paul says of Christ that:

all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him….

in the form of God….

Finally, Paul describes the mysterious means by which Christ has accomplished his cosmic task, in order to:

reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

APPLY:

And because of him, we are now:

partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light….delivered….out of the power of darkness, and translated….into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins!

RESPOND:

What more can be said about this magnificent passage, that builds and builds and builds, like a powerful fugue in a spectacular symphony? I am speechless, but filled with grateful awe.

I can only sing:

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

 PHOTOS:
"Colossians 1:17" by flightsaber is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for July 28, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 2:6-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

In this passage of Colossians, Paul addresses the Christian life, from the first moment that a believer receives Christ as Lord, through baptism, on toward living the fullness of life in Christ.

In verses 6-7, Paul gives a synopsis of the Christian experience:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

We are reminded of Jesus’ own words:

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

If we look back at Colossians 1:19-20, we are reminded of what Paul has already said about Jesus:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.

Christ has authority even over all the hierarchies of angels in heaven.

Paul then turns his attention to the believer’s initiation into faith:

In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

But there is another sense in which sin itself is a kind of death which God overcomes through forgiveness purchased on the cross:

And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.

And in another very vivid image, Paul describes Christ’s victory over his enemies and ours:

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Jesus is the triumphant hero who has conquered rulers and authorities — i.e., sin, death and the devil — and now sits in glory with the Father.

APPLY:

And what he has done for us is completed in us when we receive Christ Jesus by faith, and then live our lives in and through him rooted in the faith.

But Paul also seeks to warn us about the many heresies and false philosophies that might draw us away from Christ — literally, take us captive. There is an old saying — there are no new heresies, only new heretics. I believe that’s true. The Gnostics taught that salvation came not by faith, but by a secret knowledge that was only revealed to the elite. There are those today who believe that they have received some “special revelation” from God that is unavailable to most of us. Then there are the Arians, who denied the divinity of Jesus, and taught that Jesus was a man who was “adopted” as Son of God, rather than begotten as the Second Person of the Trinity. There were even those who taught at Corinth and elsewhere that because they were saved they were now free to indulge their carnal desires because their bodies no longer mattered. We even see that kind of attitude among some permissive Christians today.

This is a reminder to us that the study of Biblical truth is imperative. And it is even more important for us to remain in Christ, and to:

to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

RESPOND:

One theme, though, is absolutely consistent — Christ is the head of every ruler and authority.

Paul warns us:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.

There are so many contradictory and diverse perspectives that are available at the stroke of a key. In such an environment, it is really important to me to remain grounded in Christ and his Word.

Lord, I pray that I may be rooted and established in my faith in you. Because of the work of redemption, I pray that I may abound in thanksgiving. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Our sins, yours and mine are nailed upon His cross" by antiquerain is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for July 21, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 1:15-28
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is packed with doctrine. First, this selection deals with the very nature of Christ:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…

We are reminded from other Biblical passages that no one has ever seen God (John 1:18), but:

It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known (John 1:18).

Obviously, there are very close parallels here between Colossians and the Johannine understanding of the nature of Jesus.

for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.

Because he is the firstborn, Christ precedes all things, but he is also uniquely ordained as the one in whom all things cohere:

He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Paul then turns his attention from the “cosmic” nature of Christ to his role in human lives:

He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

If there is any doubt whatsoever about the divine nature of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God, Paul makes it absolutely clear:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…

Paul may have used this term in order to demonstrate that the “true reality” and fullness of God was fully present in Jesus Christ. Which is why the Nicene Creed would later declare that Christ is fully God and fully man. This doesn’t meant that Paul was a Platonist or a Neoplatonist, and certainly not a Gnostic — but that he could use the philosophical terms of his day to make his point.

What truly matters is that because Christ is fully God and fully man, he is uniquely able to bring God and humanity together:

through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Paul always returns to the cross as the place of reconciliation, where sin is expiated by Christ’s blood and the sacrifice completed. No doubt he has in mind his words to the Church at Corinth:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

And Paul applies the reconciling work of Jesus directly to those who were most in need of reconciliation:

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—

The transformation that is made possible from darkness to light is astounding. The ones who have been so far from God may actually be made whole and holy by the brokenness of Christ!

There is, however, a warning:

provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.

This is one argument against the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, along with other passages (Romans 11:17-22; Hebrews 10:35-39) . There is a “contingency” here — that the believer remains steadfast in faith. In other words, losing faith in what Christ has done risks losing one’s hope in him.

Paul turns to his own story and how it intersects with the gospel and with the young church in Colossae:

I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known…

Finally, the word that is made fully known is described as:

the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

The ultimate goal for all who believe in Christ — Jew and Gentile alike — is to grow up into maturity in Christ.

APPLY:

What that demonstrates to us is that God so deeply loves and cares for us that he became one of us. He became one of us so we could become like him. And this is received by us, Paul says,

provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard.

RESPOND:

I love mysteries in novels, and on t.v. — what some call “procedurals.” It is fascinating to try and unravel the clues that might lead to the answers.

However, I would feel quite frustrated if there were no clues in the mysteries, or if the answers were not unveiled at the end.

As St. Augustine said of grace:

grace hid itself under a veil in the Old Testament, but it has been revealed in the New Testament according to the most perfectly ordered dispensation of the ages, forasmuch as God knew how to dispose all things.

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for April 28, 2019

Alpha and Omega Symbol
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Revelation 1:4-8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The greeting begins in a way typical of other epistles in the New Testament:

Grace and peace to you…

And then John introduces his own Trinitarian greeting:

from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

The greeting grace and peace comes from all three of persons that we have come to know as the Trinity. This is a Trinitarian passage, without ever using the term Trinity.

The Father is he:

who is, and who was, and who is to come.

We can’t help but think of Moses’ encounter with the burning bush on Mount Sinai, when the Lord discloses his name and nature:

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

God is the eternal one, who transcends time and space, for whom the present moment encompasses past, present and future.

In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God (Revelations 4:5).

A variant translation of seven spirits is the Sevenfold Spirit.

In the third place, John turns his attention to Jesus:

and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

But John also points to the resurrection of Jesus as the firstborn from the dead. This is language reminiscent of Colossians, where Jesus is called:

the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15)

and also

the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything (Colossians 1:18).

And John also reminds us that Jesus is King:

the ruler of the kings of the earth.

John elaborates on this as he begins to explore what this means for those who believe:

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

This is part of the inspiration for the Reformation doctrine of the Priesthood of All Believers.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds”

Unfortunately, what is good news to those who believe may be bad news for those who do not:

“every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

Finally, The Lord defines his character yet again:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

And he is the one who transcends all time, the all-powerful one.

APPLY:

In this text for Easter season, we are reminded that Christ is the one who has been pierced for our iniquities, and he is:

the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

The Apostle Paul says:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family (Romans 8:29).

As we identify with Christ, he becomes our firstborn older brother who opens the way for all of us to experience resurrection. Paul also says of Christ:

He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything (Colossians 1:18)

Our salvation is a process — first there is the forgiveness of sins, effected through Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Christ is he who:

loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood…

And his ultimate goal is the restoration to our intended destiny:

to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”.

RESPOND:

And when Christ returns, we are told that:

all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”

This statement reminds me of what Paul says in Philippians 2:10-11.

at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

For those who bow the knee willingly, submission to God will be heaven. For those who bow the knee unwillingly, submission to God will be hell.

John’s Revelation is a stark reminder to us that we are given the opportunity to choose to bow the knee to Christ as King, and that there are consequences to our choices.

PHOTO:

"St. Patrick's Cathedral" by Peter Roan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for November 20, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Colossians 1:11-20

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is very appropriate for Christ the King Sunday in the liturgical church year. Colossians 1:11-20 presents a very high Christology concerning the nature and work of Jesus Christ.

Paul begins with a practical word of encouragement to the church at Colossae:

[May you be] strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy….

Paul first tells the Colossians what Christ has done for them, and why they are to be:

giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins….

First, Paul addresses the essential nature of Christ. Christ is uniquely:

the image of the invisible God….

the firstborn of all creation.

This view, that Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh, and God’s firstborn Son, is corroborated elsewhere in the New Testament. Hebrews 1:3 says:

His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high….

And the go-to passage establishing the divinity of Jesus, and his nature as the only-begotten Son of the Father, is John 1, particularly verses 1 & 14:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Second, Paul continues to build toward his crescendo. Not only is Jesus the image of God in the flesh, he is also a co-creator with the Father:

For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.

Again, this is the same creation Christology that we find in John’s Gospel:

The same [i.e., the Word] was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made (John 1:2-3).

Third, not only is Christ the agent of creation, and the beneficiary of all things, all creation coheres in and through him:

He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

Fourth, Paul turns his attention to Christ’s relationship to the church.

He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

He uses the familiar image of the church as the body of Christ (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12). And Jesus is not only the firstborn of creation, he is also firstborn from the dead. So, Jesus is not only preeminent as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation, and the agent and coherence of creation, he is preeminent over death through his resurrection.

might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Fifth, Paul says of Christ that:

all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him….

in the form of God….

Finally, Paul describes the mysterious means by which Christ has accomplished his cosmic task, in order to:

reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

APPLY:

And because of him, we are now

partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light….delivered….out of the power of darkness, and translated….into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins!

RESPOND:

What more can be said about this magnificent passage, that builds and builds and builds, like a powerful fugue in a spectacular symphony? I am speechless, but filled with grateful awe.

I can only sing:

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

 PHOTOS:
"Colossians 1:17" by flightsaber is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for July 24, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Colossians 2:6-15

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

In this passage of Colossians, Paul addresses the Christian life, from the first moment that a believer receives Christ as Lord, through baptism, on toward living the fullness of life in Christ.

In verses 6-7, Paul gives a synopsis of the Christian experience:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

We are reminded of Jesus’ own words:

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

If we look back at Colossians 1:19-20, we are reminded of what Paul has already said about Jesus:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.

Christ has authority even over all the hierarchies of angels in heaven.

Paul then turns his attention to the believer’s initiation into faith:

In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

But there is another sense in which sin itself is a kind of death which God overcomes through forgiveness purchased on the cross:

And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.

And in another very vivid image, Paul describes Christ’s victory over his enemies and ours:

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Jesus is the triumphant hero who has conquered rulers and authorities — i.e., sin, death and the devil — and now sits in glory with the Father.

APPLY:

And what he has done for us is completed in us when we receive Christ Jesus by faith, and then live our lives in and through him rooted in the faith.

But Paul also seeks to warn us about the many heresies and false philosophies that might draw us away from Christ — literally, take us captive. There is an old saying — there are no new heresies, only new heretics. I believe that’s true. The Gnostics taught that salvation came not by faith, but by a secret knowledge that was only revealed to the elite. There are those today who believe that they have received some “special revelation” from God that is unavailable to most of us. Then there are the Arians, who denied the divinity of Jesus, and taught that Jesus was a man who was “adopted” as Son of God, rather than begotten as the Second Person of the Trinity. There were even those who taught at Corinth and elsewhere that because they were saved they were now free to indulge their carnal desires because their bodies no longer mattered. We even see that kind of attitude among some permissive Christians today.

This is a reminder to us that the study of Biblical truth is imperative. And it is even more important for us to remain in Christ, and to:

to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

RESPOND:

One theme, though, is absolutely consistent — Christ is the head of every ruler and authority.

Paul warns us:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.

There are so many contradictory and diverse perspectives that are available at the stroke of a key. In such an environment, it is really important to me to remain grounded in Christ and his Word.

Lord, I pray that I may be rooted and established in my faith in you. Because of the work of redemption, I pray that I may abound in thanksgiving. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Our sins, yours and mine are nailed upon His cross" by antiquerain is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.