Throughout our lifelong journey of faith, the Lord is fully equipped to help us achieve the spiritual maturity He desires for us.
Uf a picture is worth a thousand words, then this exquisite portrait of Christ in Colossians 1 will keep us talking for eternity. But when we step back to view the whole chapter, we see that there is more to this section than simply showing us a glimpse of the Lord’s multifaceted glory. There is a definite link between the perfection of Christ and His people, a lesson that the Colossians needed to clearly understand and appropriate. So must we.
The Lesson
“Is Christ all we really need?” This was the central issue the Colossian believers were dealing with at the time Paul wrote this epistle. False teachers had attempted to “minimize the importance of the Lord Jesus, substituting philosophy, ceremony, angels, and religion instead of His person and work”.1 Heathen philosophers professed to have found the pleroma, an untranslatable word in English, but referring to a special knowledge that compensated for all human deficiency.2 Paul picks up on that word and declares that the true pleroma is found in Christ alone— divine “fullness” and completeness, as we read in our version.
This is why Paul wrote to the Colossians, to communicate this fundamental message: yes, we are deficient in ourselves, but Christ is all-sufficient. What a needed message for today when the temptation is for believers to turn to men and programs to solve our problems rather than turning to Christ.
Before Paul addresses that issue, there are three other themes dealt with. As we look at the chapter, notice the parallels between the beginning and the end of the chapter. Seeing this structure will eventually help us to see the connection between this glorious Christ and His people.
Faithfulness (vv.1-8; v.23)
Paul begins by commending these saints for their faithfulness. We have to remember that Paul had never even met these believers, or so it would seem from certain comments he makes: “Since we have heard of your faith” (v.4); “many…have not seen my face in the flesh” (2:1). It was Epaphras, not Paul, who helped establish this assembly. Yet, look at what Paul knew about them through their testimony. Their outstanding features included their “faith” (v. 4), “hope” (v. 5), and genuine “love” (vv. 4,8). They exemplified the marks of true Christianity (1 Cor. 13:13).
Down in verse 23, Paul draws out the theme of faithfulness again, but this time it’s a charge to “continue in the faith.” It is no surprise that a company of believers who had this kind of witness was subject to satanic attack. This opposition came in various forms such as enticing words, human philosophy, religious legalism, false worship, and the doctrines of men. As difficult as it may have seemed, the Colossians were to “continue,” to maintain a steady position in the faith.
The challenge remains the same today. Just because an assembly may be noted for faithfulness in the past does not mean that it will always remain so (1 Cor. 10:12). In these days when the winds of false doctrine blow hard against the Lord’s assemblies, we are to “continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away.”
Filling (vv. 9-11; vv. 24-25)
After giving thanks for the Colossians’ faithfulness, Paul prays for their filling, “that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” This, Paul tells them, would empower them in their walk, their work, and their worship. Every true believer desires this kind of filling and should pray for more of it every day.
But as Paul revisits this theme in verses 24 and 25, he describes another kind of filling, “I Paul…rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church….” He was willing to take his full share of suffering for Christ—while penning these words from prison, no less!
Here is the principle as Paul stated it to Timothy: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). We may readily pray for the filling of His will, but are we prepared to be filled up with the scorn associated with following Him? That was the choice that the Colossian believers had to make. These two fillings invariably go hand-in-hand.
Fellowship (vv. 12-14; vv. 26-27)
Another truth is stated here through a contrast: light and darkness. We know from experience that the two cannot coexist. “What fellowship hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). None! Before someone is converted, fellowship with God is impossible. A person remains under the power of darkness. But the Father, through the forgiveness of our sins, can take repentant sinners and make them “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” What a bright future we have. Heaven is waiting for us!
But there is another dimension to this new fellowship which Christians enjoy. Not only are we in Christ and His kingdom, but Christ is in us! “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (v. 27). The practical lesson is this: the blessings and privileges of heaven are not only for us to enjoy in the future—they are to be enjoyed now! Heaven will be wonderful because the Lord Jesus is there. But since Christ is dwelling in us now, we can have a taste of heaven on earth.
Fullness (vv. 14-22; vv. 27b-29)
Given the paralleled thoughts so far, we return now to the Father’s portrait of His beloved Son and wonder what this passage has to do with the believer. Notice, first, what we learn about Christ.
The key word in this section is obvious: “Him”. But notice the prepositions that come just before. Christ is the designer of all things because “IN Him were all things created” (v.16). Moreover, He is the creator as “all things were created THROUGH Him”. But He is also the sustainer, for “BY Him all things consist” (v. 17). Finally, we see Christ as the owner of all things since they were all created “FOR Him” (v. 16).
Such is His fullness! Paul summarizes this way: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell” (v.19) and “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (2:9).
Here, then, is the connection to the believer. After extolling the glorious person of Christ in all His glorious perfections, we read, “that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”(v. 28). Us? Perfect? This is exactly the point! It is true that we are perfect in Christ as to our position (v. 22), but Paul is speaking here of becoming full-grown, well-grounded Christians.
Throughout our lifelong journey of faith, the Lord is fully equipped to help us achieve the spiritual maturity He desires for us. Though this will only be fully realized in glory, the designer of all things has, in the meantime, carefully laid out all the plans for our trip. Nothing reaches us that He does not allow. And who could better know and meet all our needs than the very One who created us? Of course, the One who sustains all things has all of the resources required for our spiritual health and growth. And our protection and safe passage to heaven is guaranteed by the One who owns us and loves us.
The Lord longs for us to realize that He is all we need—and more! We are complete in His completeness (2:10). In light of this, may we determine to carry on in faithfulness to Him even in the tough times, to be filled with His will and His sufferings if need be, to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him, and to appreciate more the fullness we have in Christ. “That, in all things, He might have the preeminence.”
1 John Heading, Directory of New Testament Churches, (West Glamorgan, UK: Precious Seed Publications, 1992), p.35.
2 J. W. H. Nichols, Brief Bible Studies, (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1988), p.2.