THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Epistle of Paul to the Colossians
Message Two—The Cross of Christ

Scripture Reading: Col. 1:20-22; 2:11-15; 3:5a

I. In His economy God gives us one person and one way; the one person is the all-inclusive, extensive, preeminent Christ, and the one way is the cross—1 Cor. 2:2; Phil. 2:5-11; Gal. 6:14:

A. We not only have Christ, the unique person, who is versus all things; we also have the cross, the unique way, which is versus all ways—Col. 1:20.

B. The way God has ordained, uplifted, and honored is the cross of Christ—Gal. 6:14.

C. The one person—Christ—is the center of the universe, and the one way—the cross—is the center of God’s government—1 Cor. 2:2; 1:17-18, 23; Gal. 6:14:

1. God governs everything by the cross and deals with everything by the cross—Col. 1:20; 2:14-15.

2. By the cross God has dealt with all the negative things in the universe, and He is still governing everything through the cross—Eph. 2:14-16.

3. In order to progress spiritually, we need to pass through the cross; until we come to the New Jerusalem, we need to pass through the cross day by day in our walk with the Lord—Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Luke 14:27.

4. In order to have the proper church life, we need to experience the cross; if we have a daily life of passing through the cross, there will be oneness and harmony both in the church life and in the family life—Col. 3:12-15.

II. If we have a clear understanding of the fact that the enemy of God, in a subtle way, utilizes culture to replace Christ, we will realize that the only way for us to take is the way of the cross—Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor. 2:2:

A. The book of Colossians teaches us that in the church life Christ must be all in all; everything that is not Christ must go to the cross—1:18; 3:10-11.

B. Through the cross we need to become nothing, to have nothing, and to be able to do nothing; otherwise, what we are, what we have, and what we can do will become a substitute for Christ—1 Cor. 1:17-18, 23.

C. For those who are willing to take the cross, the cross is not a narrow way but a highway—Luke 9:23.

III. In the book of Colossians we see a clear vision of the cross as God’s way in His administration—1:20-22; 2:11-15:

A. “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens”—1:20:

1. Through Him means through Christ as the active instrument through which the reconciliation was accomplished—v. 20a.

2. All things refers not only to human beings but to all creatures, which were created in Christ and now subsist in Him and are reconciled to God through Him—vv. 16-17.

3. To reconcile all things to Himself is to make peace for Himself for all things; this was accomplished through the blood of the cross of Christ.

4. Because of the rebellion of Satan, the archangel, and the angels who followed, the heavens were contaminated; therefore, not only things on the earth but also things in the heavens needed to be reconciled to God—v. 20b.

5. Because we were sinners, we needed redemption, and because we were enemies, we needed reconciliation—vv. 14, 21-22.

B. “Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross”—2:14:

1. Ordinances refers to the ordinances of the ceremonial law with its rituals, which are the forms or ways of living and worship—Eph. 2:15.

2. Nailing it to the cross means to abolish the law of commandments in ordinances.

C. “Stripping off the rulers and the authorities, He made a display of them openly, triumphing over them in it”—Col. 2:15:

1. This verse portrays the fighting that took place at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. Activities involving Christ, God, and the evil angelic rulers and authorities were brought to a focus on the cross; thus, the cross became God’s eternal, central, and unique way—vv. 14-15.

2. By His crucifixion Christ labored to accomplish redemption, and God the Father was working to judge sin and nail the law to the cross—v. 14.

3. At the same time, the evil rulers and authorities were busy in their attempt to frustrate the work of God and Christ, pressing in close to God and Christ; thus, a warfare was raging at the cross.

4. God openly made a display of the evil angelic rulers and authorities on the cross and triumphed over them in it, putting them to shame—v. 15.

D. “In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ”—v. 11:

1. This is spiritual circumcision, the circumcision of Christ, referring to the proper baptism, which puts off the body of the flesh by the effectual virtue of the death of Christ—Phil. 3:3.

2. The circumcision that is the putting off of the body of the flesh was not made with hands; it was accomplished by the death of Christ, and it is applied, executed, and carried out by the powerful Spirit—Rom. 8:13.

E. “Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth”—Col. 3:5a:

1. This is based on the fact that we have been crucified with Christ and baptized into His death—Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:3, 6.

2. Christ accomplished the all-inclusive crucifixion; now we apply it to our lustful flesh.

3. We execute Christ’s death upon our sinful members by crucifying them, by faith, through the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13); this corresponds with Galatians 5:24.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

STRIPPING OFF THE RULERS AND AUTHORITIES

We have pointed out that at the time of Christ’s crucifixion God stripped off, put off, the rulers and authorities. When Christ was crucified, the leading evil angels attempted to surround God when Christ was on the cross. But God used the cross to strip off these angels. This is Paul’s concept in these verses.

In a very real sense, the cross of Christ is the center of the universe. After God created the heavens, the earth, and the billions of items in the universe, an archangel rebelled, and many angels followed him. This archangel became Satan, and his followers became the evil rulers, powers, and authorities in the heavenlies. Eventually, the man created by God fell and became sinful. The rebellion of the angels and the fall of man put God into a difficult situation. God’s way to deal with this difficulty is the cross. Firstly, God became a man, thereby putting humanity on Himself. Then Christ, God incarnate, went to the cross and was crucified. During the thirty-three and a half years of His earthly life, Christ walked from the manger to the cross. When He was crucified, many things took place. On the cross God judged sin and the sinful old man. Through the cross, our sinful nature was terminated. At the very time God was judging sin and sinful man, He also nailed the law to the cross. When God was nailing the law to the cross, the evil angels also were present and very active. But, according to verse 15, God stripped them off through the cross.

We have pointed out that, according to 2:15, God stripped off the rulers and authorities. From what or from where did He strip them off? If we would answer this question, we must see that while Christ was on the cross, God was working. At that time, the cross was the center of the universe. The Savior, sin, Satan, we, and God all were there. God was there judging sin and nailing the law to the cross. As He was doing this, the rulers and authorities gathered around God and Christ. We have pointed out that, according to grammar, the subject of verses 13 through 15 is God. Thus, the He in verse 15 denotes God. God made us alive together with Christ, nailed the ordinances to the cross, stripped off the rulers and authorities, made a display of them openly, and triumphed over them. No doubt, the rulers and authorities had swarmed around Christ as He was being crucified. Both God and Christ were working. Christ’s work was His crucifixion, whereas God’s work was to judge sin and all the negative things and to nail the law with its ordinances to the cross. The rulers and authorities who had gathered around God and Christ were also working. If they had not pressed in closely, how could God have stripped them off? The words “stripping off” indicate that they were very close, as close as our garments are to our body. By stripping off the rulers and authorities, God made a display of them openly. He openly put them to shame and triumphed over them. What a great matter this is!

WAR AT THE CROSS

Colossians 2:15 portrays the fighting that took place at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. Evil men had put Christ on the cross. By His crucifixion Christ labored to accomplish redemption. God the Father was also working to judge sin and to nail the law to the cross. At the same time, the rulers and authorities were busy in the attempt to frustrate the work of God and Christ. The reference to triumph in verse 15 implies fighting. It indicates that a war was raging. While Christ was accomplishing redemption and God was dealing with the law and with the negative things, the rulers and authorities came to interfere. They pressed in close to God and Christ. But at that very juncture, God stripped them off, triumphed over them, and made a display of them openly, putting them to an open shame.

Colossians 2:15 is a small window through which we behold a marvelous sight. At the time of Christ’s crucifixion, a battle was raging between God and the rulers and authorities. But God stripped them off and triumphed over them. (Life-Study of Colossians, msg. 23)

According to Colossians 3, Christ is our life and the One who is all and in all (vv. 4, 11). In this message we shall consider how such a Christ is the constituent of the new man.

Before Paul comes to this matter, he speaks of putting off a number of things (vv. 5, 9). In the new man everything other than Christ must be put off. In the church as the new man there is no room for anything other than Christ. In categorizing those things which we must put off, Paul speaks of fleshly things, of psychological things, and eventually of the totality of the old man.

PUTTING TO DEATH OUR LUSTFUL MEMBERS

In 3:5 Paul says, “Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and unbridled greedy lust, which is idolatry.” In our sinful members is the law of sin, which makes us captives of sin and causes our corrupted body to become the body of death (Rom. 7:23-24). Hence, our members, which are sinful, are identified with sinful things, such as fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and unbridled greedy lust. In 3:6 Paul points out that because of these things “the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.” In verse 7 he goes on to say that the believers once walked in these things when they lived in them.

In verse 5 Paul charges us to put to death our members which are on the earth. This charge is based upon the fact that we have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20a) and that we have been baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). We execute Christ’s death upon our sinful members by crucifying them, by faith, through the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13). This corresponds to Galatians 5:24. Christ has accomplished the all-inclusive crucifixion. Now we apply it to our lustful flesh. This is absolutely different from asceticism.

Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross is applied to us at the time of baptism. All those who believe in the Lord Jesus should be baptized. In baptism we not only recognize Christ’s death, but we also apply it to ourselves. Therefore, in baptism we are placed into the death of Christ and buried.

According to Romans 8:11 and 13, the putting to death of the practices of the body is an action carried out in the power of the Spirit. It is not accomplished by self-effort. Our attempts to put to death the practices of the body are nothing more than asceticism. Although we are not to practice asceticism, we are to put to death the negative things in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. In order to do this, we need to open to the Spirit and allow the Spirit to flow within us. Through the Spirit’s flowing, we shall experience the effectiveness of Christ’s death. This is not asceticism; it is the operation of the Spirit within us.

A number of saints have read the autobiography of Madame Guyon. This book contains definite traces of asceticism and mysticism, the very things that damaged the church in Colosse. Those who read books written by the mystics must do so with discernment. Although some things in these books are helpful, others are poisonous. Many years ago, we were helped by some of these books. However, we eventually learned that reading such books without discernment can lead seeking Christians into the error of asceticism. Therefore I do not recommend that you read these books without the help of some saints who are more experienced. Even recently, some, especially sisters, have been damaged by them.

We need to be warned concerning asceticism. We should not impose anything on ourselves in an attempt to deal with the lust of the flesh. On the contrary, our practice should be to open ourselves in fellowship with the Lord and allow the Spirit to have a free way to flow within us, and to apply the effectiveness of Christ’s all-inclusive death to the negative things in our being. Asceticism is spiritual suicide; in contrast, what we are speaking of is the application of Christ’s death through the flowing of the Spirit.

PUTTING AWAY EVIL PSYCHOLOGICAL THINGS

In verse 8 Paul speaks of putting away evil psychological things: “But now, you also, put away all these things: wrath, anger, malice, blasphemy, foul abusive language out of your mouth.” If you compare this verse with the foregoing verses, you will see that Paul classified the things of the flesh in one category and the things of the fallen soul in another category. All negative things, whether of the flesh or of the fallen soul, must be put aside. We do this, not by our own energy, but by the power of the all-inclusive Spirit.

HAVING PUT OFF THE OLD MAN WITH HIS PRACTICES

In verse 9 Paul goes on to say, “Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his practices.” This verse indicates that the totality of the old man, the entire being of the old man, is to be put off as if we were putting off an old garment. The total person of the old man must be put away. In this verse Paul speaks of “having put off the old man” because we put off the old man in baptism. Our old man was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6) and was buried in baptism (Rom. 6:4).

HAVING PUT ON THE NEW MAN

In verse 10 Paul declares, “And having put on the new man, who is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” To put on the new man is like putting on a new garment. The Greek word for new in this verse means young, new in time. This is different from the word used in Ephesians 4:24, which means new in nature, quality, or form.

The new man is of Christ. It is His Body, created in Him on the cross (Eph. 2:15-16). It is not individual, but corporate. According to the clear vision in Ephesians 2:15, the new man is a corporate entity. This is proved by the fact that it is created out of two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles. Furthermore, Ephesians 2:16 indicates that the new man created out of these collective peoples is the Body of Christ. Hence, the new man and the Body are synonymous terms and may be used interchangeably. The fact that the new man is the Body and that the Body is the new man is a strong indication that the new man is not an individual entity, but a corporate entity. (Life-Study of Colossians, msg. 28)