Christ Church

Colossians as Cornerstone #1

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Introduction

Together with Ephesians, the epistle to the Colossians is one of those places in Scripture where you have a much higher densityof truth. The letter is not more true than other passages of Scripture, but there is certainly more truth per square inch. This letter will repay many visits.

The Text

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:1–20)

Summary of the Text

The letter is from Paul the apostle and Timothy both, but since the pronoun I is used throughout, we may assume that Timothy was the secretary (v. 1). The saints and faithful brethren there are greeted with grace and peace from the Father and Son (v. 2). Paul was constantly grateful for the Colossians (v. 3), ever since he heard of their faith in God and love for the saints (v. 4). That faith and love sprang from their hope laid up in heaven, which they heard about through the gospel (v. 5). That gospel, in the Colossians and everywhere, is fruitful from the beginning (v. 6). They learned all this from Epaphras, a faithful minister (v. 7), who reported their love back to Paul (v. 8).

Since the first day Paul heard of their beginning, he constantly prayed that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (v. 9). This is so that they might walk in a way that was fruitful and pleasing to God (v. 10). This would happen as they were strengthened by His power in all patient joy (v. 11), giving thanks to the Father who included them in His inheritance (v. 12). God had delivered them from the power of darkness (v. 13) into His kingdom, and they had redemption through the blood of the Son, which is the forgiveness of sin (v. 14).

This Son is particularly exalted in this book. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation (v. 15). This Son is the Almighty Creator of all things—they were created byHim and forHim (v. 16). He is prior to all things, and in Him all things hang together (v. 17). He is the head of the church, and the arche(the “beginning”), the firstborn from the dead, the preeminent one (v. 18). It pleased the Father that all fullness might reside in the Son (v. 19). And having made peace through the cross, it was the Father’s intention to reconcile everything in Heaven and on earth through that magnificent sacrifice (v. 20).

Background of the Book

For many reasons, the book of Colossians should be considered the twin sister of Ephesians. These two books were written around the same time (62 A.D.), during Paul’s Roman imprisonment—the imprisonment recorded at the end of the book of Acts. Another letter written at the same time was Philemon. All three letters were apparently delivered by Tychicus (Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7) and Onesimus (Col. 4:9).

Colossae is located about one hundred miles to the east of Ephesus, in modern Turkey. Ephesus was on the coast, and Colossae was inland. The church at Colossae had been founded about ten years earlier, but not directly by Paul. When Paul was teaching for that three year stretch in Ephesus (A.D. 52-55), a Colossian native named Epaphras heard Paul in Ephesus, was converted, and returned to Colossae in order to plant the church there (Col. 1:7).

Christ the Creator

If something exists, then that something was created by Christ. He is the executive of God’s power, He is God’s power, which is to say, He is God. Consider verse 16 again. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” (Col. 1:16).

But we are told this many times in the New Testament. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Heb. 1:2). If something is, then Christ made it.

Christ the Arche

The word archein verse 18 is translated as beginning, but there is more to this than what a stopwatch measures. The word archeis used in John 1:1, but there at the beginning is the Word, who is God and with God. In Col. 2:15, Christ spoils the principalities (arche), which refers to spiritual rulers. Christ is the ultimate ruler, the ultimate point of integration, the firstborn of all creation.

Paul says this explicitly in verse 15. He is the firstborn of all creation. This is echoed a moment later in the phrase firstborn from the dead. And so we see that firstborn of all creation does not mean “first born creature.” Christ is no creature, but rather the Creator, as already noted. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is God’s declaration of who is really is (Rom. 1:4; Acts 13:33). Jesus was begotten from the dead, which is what “this day I have begotten thee” refers to in the second psalm.

Christ the Cosmic Reconciliation

Paul says something very striking in verse 20. “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col. 1:20). The death of Christ on the cross did not just result in our forgiveness and our redemption, although it includes that. We see that in verse 14—“in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” And so the estrangement between our unholy selves and a holy God is accomplished this way. But notice that Paul is talking about a much grander reconciliation accomplished through the cross. Here the reconciliation is between “all things” and “Himself.” And the allness of the “all things” includes things in Heaven as well as on earth.

Do not simply think of Heaven as a place that is utterly distant—although the Scriptures do speak of the highest heaven. We should also think of Heaven as something that is near but hidden from us. There are multiple places where we are told that the heavens “opened.” We see this at the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:10). Jesus told Nathanael that he would see it (John 1:51). Peter saw this in his vision of the sheet with the unclean animals (Acts 10:11). This what Stephan saw at his martyrdom (Acts 7:56). This is the revelation that John saw (Rev. 4:1).

So do not say, “who will go up into Heaven to get Christ for us?” (Rom. 10:6; Deut. 30:12-13). No, Heaven is nearby, because Christ is preached, and whenever Christ is preached, He is nearby.

“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach” (Rom. 10:8).

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Marriage Tune-Up

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Introduction

Many of us are getting our houses and vehicles ready for winter weather, and so why not our marriages? It’s easy to fall into ruts and habits that just seem normal when in fact they are wearing on us and harming our families in ways we do not realize. Likewise, many poor habits leave us incredibly vulnerable when trials and difficulties hit. The question is not whether you will face trials, the only question is when. Will your marriage be ready when the storms come?

The Texts

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.” Colossians 3:17-18

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:7-9

Fellowship with One Another

John says that if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn. 1:7). This is not a magical thing, as John proceeds to explain that this has everything to do with regularly confessing our sins (1 Jn. 1:9). The flip side of this is regularly forgiving those who confess their sins to us (Mt. 18:21-22, Lk. 17:4). This is the secret of Christian fellowship in general and Christian marriage in particular. Doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and walking in such a way as to inherit a blessing are ways of describing Christian fellowship. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you don’t sin anymore. Being a Christian means you know what to do about sin. The difference between a clean house and messy house is that in the clean house they pick up. Confession of sin and forgiveness is like taking out the trash and doing the dishes. It’s what you do. For Christians to act shocked and befuddled when sin happens is like being surprised when the two year old drops a meat ball on the floor. That’s just what two year olds do. And remember, there’s no sin that you can’t make worse by denying it, trying to hide it, lying about it or blustering or blaming for it. Just confess it and forgive it quickly. Take out the trash. And remember, practice makes perfect. So what are you practicing?

Fellowship with God & One Another

Confession and forgiveness flow from fellowship with God (Eph. 4:32) and therefore they are prerequisites for enjoying fellowship with God: “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Mt. 5:23-24). You cannot come into church to fellowship with God while being out of fellowship with other believers, especially your spouse. Paul says that when there are divisions within the church, whatever we’re doing with the bread and wine, it is not the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:18-20). Better to be 15 minutes late and actually participate in church than to arrive on-time to only pretend to. This is why Peter warns husbands to honor their wives that their prayers be not hindered (1 Pet. 3:7). It may be that Peter is saying that harsh husbands won’t know how to pray, but it seems more likely that Peter is saying that God will only listen to a man as well as he listens to his wife. The same principle should apply to any sort of fellowship gathering. Don’t pretend fellowship with others while being out of fellowship yourselves.

Fellowship & Difference

Understand deep in your bones the difference between being out of fellowship and not having the exact same opinion about everything. You must not go to bed angry at your spouse (or anyone for that matter) (Eph. 4:26), but sometimes you really do need to go to bed and get a full night’s sleep before you’ll be able to think and communicate your various convictions about which math curriculum is the most Reformed. Do not be threatened by differences of opinion or perspective. The glory of heterosexuality is the glory of difference. Some of our differences are sexual, some are personality, others are cultural or experiential. But marriage is signing up to live with someone different from you. This is a blessing if received in faith and obedience. So do not be threatened or alarmed at different perspectives. Husbands, honor your wives. Honor their opinions. Listen to their input. And wives, recognize that you signed up to follow this man’s lead. You must give your input respectfully and then, like Trumpkin, know the difference between giving counsel and taking orders.

Sweet Fellowship

Marriage should be full of sweet fellowship. Review the descriptions of Christian fellowship surrounding some of the particular commands for husbands and wives (Col. 3:12-14, 1 Pet. 3:8-9). A Christian marriage must not be characterized by bickering, arguing, raised voices, eye rolling, biting words, sarcasm, or frustration. A Christian marriage is singled out to represent Christ and His Bride. It is to be characterized by mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearing, forgiveness, love, like-mindedness, compassion, courtesy, and blessing. And if you say, well, we don’t argue in public (but your home is frequently a place of argument), that’s what we call hypocrisy. Your children can see the difference, and you are telling lies to them. You are telling lies about what matters, about what God sees, about what marriage is like. Not a few kids grow up in so-called Christian homes and want nothing to do with that sort of thing by the time they leave. A Christian marriage is becoming something of rarity (much to our shame). But a Christian marriage should be one of the most striking things for unbelievers to see: two different people who are strong and intelligent who deeply respect one another and love being with one another.

What You Signed Up For

Husbands, you signed up to learn how to love one woman well. This is what you are commanded to do. In order to do this you must be a student of your wife. This implies that you don’t understand her, and yet you must begin to. And very closely related to this, you must not grow bitter at her or resent her weaknesses but rather you must honor her, think highly of her, and speak graciously to her. The model for this kind of love is Jesus, and this means that studying your wife does not mean giving her everything she asks for. If Jesus gave us everything we asked for, we’d all be doomed. In this is love, not that we knew what we needed, but that God knew what we needed and sent His Son for our sins. Husbands, you must love your wives like that with joy.

Wives, your task is to submit to your own husbands and to let them love you like Christ loves the Church. Your temptation is to resent their faltering attempts to love you, rather than respecting the great difficulty it is to actually love you biblically. Recognize that there’s more than a little Hollywood in your hearts that you need to get rid of. While a real man imitating the real love of Christ is certainly courteous, it’s also deeply offensive to modern sensibilities. Do not look sideways at the other men or marriages. Look at your man and respect him in the Lord. The Lord gave you that man, and despite his weaknesses and sin, he is the one God has instructed to love you. Respect that. Honor that. And submit to him in the Lord with joy.

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How to Worship Jesus Christ

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Introduction

The apostle Paul wanted to sing in the Spirit, but wanted to sing with the mind also (1 Cor. 14:15). In a similar way, we come here week after week to worship God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Spirit of God. But it is important for us to understand what we are doing, and why we are doing it. Otherwise we will drift into a mindless routine—which is quite distinct from a Spirit-led routine.

The Text

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving (Col. 2:4-7).

Summary of the Text

In verse 4, Paul warns against the seductive power of a certain kind of religious approach, the kind that always fails to approach Christ. Even though Paul was not present with the Colossians (v. 5), he was with them in the spirit. He rejoiced as he beheld their order (taxis), and the rock solid nature of their faith in Jesus Christ. That word taxis is a military term, and should be understood as a kind of regimentation. But note that this order was both disciplined and alive. It was not the order you could find in a row of gravestones, but rather the order of a military troop, arms at the ready. It was more than such order that pleased Paul, but it was certainly not less. Paul then urged the Colossians to walk in Christ Jesus in just the same way they had received Him (v. 6), which was of course by grace through faith. As they did so, they would be rooted and built up in the Christian faith, in just the way they had been taught. The overflow of this, when it is happening, is abundance of gratitude. As with all things of this nature, we measure whether or not it is happening by the fruit. So with that said, why do we do what we do in worship? And how does it relate to the worship of Jesus Christ?

The Structure of Our Worship

Consider first the broad outline of our worship service. We find five basic elements:

Call to Worship—we invoke the name of God, and enter His gates with adoration and worship

Confession of Sin—we wipe our feet at the door.

Consecration—we offer ourselves up to God as living sacrifices.

Communion—we sit down for table fellowship with our God.

Commissioning—we are sent out into the world.

The first and last elements “bookend” the service. The first invites us in from the world to assemble before the Lord to worship Him. The last sends us out into the world in order to function as ambassadors of the right worship that we have offered.

The center three elements follow a basic biblical pattern of sacrifice. In the worship of the Older Covenant, God commonly required three kinds of sacrifices together. When they were offered together, they came in this order. First was the guilt offering (confession of sin: Lev. 17), then the ascension or burnt offering (consecration: Lev. 16:24-25), and then the peace offering (communion: Dt. 12:17-19). We see this overall pattern in Lev. 9 and 2 Chron. 29:20-36.

We call worship that follows this basic pattern covenant renewal worship. But our relationship with God cannot expire, like a lease. We are not renewing anything in that sense. It is more like how food renews the body.

Filling It In

We find in various places of Scripture that certain particular practices are called for in New Covenant worship. One of the things we do therefore is look at the nature of that practice and decide where it would best fit within this over all structure. For example, the Bible requires the public reading of Scripture in worship (1 Tim. 4:13). So where do we put it? It seems to fit best under Consecration. The Bible commands us to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19). Where do we place the different kinds of songs? We are commanded to have preaching (1 Tim. 4:2). Where does that go? In doing this, we are seeking to be obedient while arranging our worship intelligently.

Posture and Demeanor

A very common temptation among the Reformed is to over-engineer the intellectual aspects of our faith. Reason and systematics have their place, but that place is not every place. Reformed people need to be reminded that they have bodies, and that these too are involved in worship. This is why we lift up holy hands in the Gloria Patri (1 Tim. 2:8), and why we kneel when we confess our sins (Ps. 95:6). We stand in order to show deep respect for God’s Word (Neh. 8:5). Our overall demeanor is to be solemnity mixed with gladness. “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord” (Ps. 122:1). Middle English had a word for this demeanor, and it is one we seek to cultivate. It is called solempne.

Conversation Between God and His People

Worship is a time of meeting. During this time, God speaks to the people through His ordained representatives (as in the Scripture reading, assurance of pardon, or the sermon). During this time, the people also speak to God, either through their appointed representatives (as in the prayers of petition), or all together with one voice (as with a hymn or psalm, or the creed). We should therefore learn how to think of the worship service as a very large conversation, with a direction and theme, and not as a disparate collection of random spiritual artifacts, crammed into a shoebox. You are not here as a spectator. You are not here to be watching. You are here to be partaking.

In the Call to Worship: God says, “Come, meet with Me.” We say, “First, let us praise Your majesty.” Having done so, God warns us through the Exhortation not to approach Him with unclean hearts. We respond by Confession. God responds by declaring that we have Assurance of Pardon. This is a conversation in which you all are called to actively participate. As you do, you are following the most important conversation in the world, which is between God and His people.

Worship is War

One other thing must be mentioned. So last, we return to our passage in Colossians. The order we are cultivating here is not the order of porcelain figurines in a china hutch, neatly arranged on a shelf. The order we are pursuing is alive and disciplined, the order of a well-trained military unit. And why? Because every Lord’s Day we go into battle. But as God’s people we fight on earth from the high ground of heaven.

We ascend into the heavenlies in our worship and meet with our God there (Heb. 12:22). But this heavenly worship is not something that has fearfully run away from the enemy on earth. Rather, as the book of Revelation shows in great detail, the worship of the saints in heaven accomplishes God’s judgments on earth. The twenty-four elders worship God in heaven (Rev. 4:10), and the seven seals are opened in heaven (Rev. 5:5). But this does not leave the earth unaffected by it.

How to Worship Jesus Christ

We worship Jesus Christ when we magnify and adore Him in His performance of His office. That means that we worship Christ by coming through Him to the Father (John 14:6). In the verses just prior to our text, we are reminded of this. He wanted the Colossians comforted, knit together in love, and into all the riches of a full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ (Col. 2:2–3).

“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18). We honor the Spirit by honoring the Son. We honor the Son by coming to the Father. But when we come to the Father, we do not leave the Son behind. We come to our Father as Christians, with the name of Jesus Christ in our mouths. “Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Rev. 5:12).

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Christ Entire

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Introduction:
You may have picked up on “one of the things we say around here,” which is “all of Christ for all of life.” But what do we mean by that exactly? It may sound very spiritual, but if it doesn’t mean anything, it can’t mean anything very spiritual.

The Text:
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Col. 1:17–18).

Summary of the Text:
Jesus Christ is our entry point into everything. He is before all things (v. 17), prior to all things, antecedent to every contingent mote of material reality. He is the Head of the body, His own body, which is the church. We as believers make up that body, and so it is that He is the head for us. Paul then says that Jesus Christ is the arche. The translation here says beginning, but do not think of beginnings as measured by stopwatches. It is the same word that is used in John 1:1. Rather Paul is saying that Christ is the ultimate unity, the integration point for all things, the cornerstone and capstone both. He has been manifested as the heir of this position by His resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4), or as Paul puts it here, He is the firstborn from the dead. The end result is that we are to see Christ as having the preeminence over absolutely everything (v. 18).

The Fragmentation of Death:
Now I used the phrase integration point. Why is this important? As naïfs schooled in the catechisms of modernity, we tend to think of death as cessation. If something dies, that means it konked. If someone dies, that means their atoms return to the great cosmic slurry, and “they” cease to be (whatever “they” were). Even if we deny this formally as Christians who believe in the resurrection, we are still too much affected by the assumptions that swirl around the idea of death as cessation.
But death is actually separation. When our bodies die, the soul and body are separated (2 Cor. 5:8). When our first parents took the forbidden fruit, they were separated from their fellowship with God (Gen. 3:8). This was spiritual death, which is spiritual alienation. “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world” (Eph. 2:1–2).

So intellectual death is also separation—intellectual fragmentation. You have so many opinions, but they are all shattered on the floor. Nothing ties them together, which is why the Christian task is to bring all those thoughts into submission to Christ. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Before they are brought to the obedience of Christ, they—like the thinker generating them—are dead. And if you manage to get them published, and into libraries and bookstores, that just makes them deader.
Only in Christ can we find life, which means that only in Him can we live in a universe. Only in Christ can there be such a thing as a university. If Christ is not raised, then all our thoughts are nothing more than ten thousand tons of confetti dumped into an F-5 tornado. And the tornado really is a poor image of this, in that it exhibits far too much order.

A Ministry of Reconciliation:
Now if death is separation, then restored life is a reunification. Resurrection means reconciliation, and the message of the resurrection is the ministry of reconciliation.

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18–19).

This is the grand project. Notice that phrase—in Christ, reconciling. That is as much as to say in Christ, resurrecting. This is what God has determined to give to a world that did not deserve its restoration. This is the word that we have had entrusted to us. This is what we are talking about.

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (Eph 1:10).

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col. 1:20).

Grace and Peace:
Now all of this should rejoice every believing heart. But let’s push it into the corners, shall we? In what ways have we among the Reformed made their accommodations with the ideology of death? Systematic theology is one of the glories of the church, but done the wrong way it results in us going into the mausoleum instead of the museum, and results in us sorting out bones instead of studying the exhibits. What do I mean by “the wrong way?” I mean separating things instead of making distinctions between them. The former is the death of the mind; the latter is the life of the mind.

Our temptation is to separate the doctrine of God from God Himself. It is to separate the graces of God from God Himself. It puts the truth about God here, and God over there, somewhere. But God does not store love, joy, peace, patience (or any other grace) in vats. They are not impersonal spiritual fluids running down to your deep sea diving suit through a hose. If you have anything at all from God, then you have all of Christ for all of life. Christ is not parceled out to us in bits and pieces.

Remember that virtually every New Testament epistle begins with “grace and peace” from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a separation of these graces from two persons of the Trinity, and an exclusion of the Holy Spirit. As Jonathan Edwards argued, this is likely saying that the Holy Spirit is that grace and peace, and proceeds from the Father and the Son. And this makes wonderful sense. As C.S. Lewis put it once, “He has, in the last resort, nothing to give us but Himself.”

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Surveying the Text: Colossians

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Introduction

Colossae was a bit more than 100 miles from Ephesus, and the two letters to the respective churches were written about the same time—which would be approximately 60 or 61 A.D. The apostle Paul had heard a number of good things about the church there, but there was also a troubling problem with some false teaching that was circulating among them. Paul addresses that problem with a positive statement of the gospel, but from that positive statement we can gather some information about the heresy he was countering.

The Text

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col. 3:15–17).

Summary of the Text

Paul urges them to allow the peace of God to rule in their hearts. They are to do this with gratitude. The word of Christ is to dwell in them richly, in all wisdom, and this would be manifested in the result, which would be psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all of them sung with grace. And do everything, he says, in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to the Father in the name of Jesus. As we shall see, the theme of this letter is the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ over all things. And because of a true spiritual awareness of this, music from the heart is therefore essential.

The Colossian Heresy

What problem was Paul countering? There appear to have been three general aspects to it. First, it granted a lot of importance to various spiritual powers, angels and whatnot. Second, a strong emphasis was placed on outward religiosity—new moons, feasts, fasts, and so on. And then third, these false teachers claimed to have the magic decoder ring. They were possessors of an esoteric “knowledge.” All this indicates that it was some form of early Gnosticism.

Paul counters their empty philosophy with three profound answers. To the first, he answers Christ. To the second, he answers Christ. To the third, he answers Christ.

The Cosmic Christ

Confronted with a teaching that postulates a spiritual world crawling with various celestial dignitaries, Paul responses with the magnificent “Christ hymn” (Col. 1:15-20). Christ is the Creator of all things, and has dominion over everything, including thrones,

dominions, rulers or authorities. The second claim is also answered by Christ. When empty deceptions and philosophies are erected, Paul answers with Christ, in whom all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form (Col. 2:9). In the crucifixion of Christ, we see the circumcision of the world (Col. 2:11), and in that circumcision God has forever and finally removed the foreskin of vain religious observance. This is what true regeneration entails. And to the esoteric claims of “knowledge” (gnosis), Paul answers with the real thing, knowledge of Christ. Paul answers them with a battery of words like knowledge (gnosis and epignosis), wisdom (sophia), understanding (synesis) and mystery (mysterion), and all of it centered in Christ the absolute.

Christ is the very image of God. He is the agent of all God’s creative activity in the world. And He is the head of the church, the fullness of God Himself.

The Mathematics of Death

So what happens when death dies? It is like canceling something out in mathematics. Death is a negative, and when it has a negative value placed on it, the end result is positive. The death of death is life everlasting.

The Christian life is therefore not rule-keeping. These are of no value, Paul says, in dealing with the flesh (Col. 2:20-23). Rules—do this, don’t do the other, here eat this, make sure you never eat that, stay off the grass—are worthless in creating an ethical human being. Rules are just a bit and bridle for a stubborn mule, when God intends to transform the one who believes into a winged horse.

Your liberty from the old ways is found in one thing only, which is the fact that you have died. If you have died, then your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). If that is the case, then you have a foundation from which to put to death your earthly members. From the basic death that all believers have, you may apply more death to particular besetting sins.

Dead Men Singing

And so we come back to our text. We do not sing because we have formulated a new rule —thou shalt sing. Our life in Christ, hidden with God in the heavenly places, is not some sort of new super-law. It is not as though Moses had the law carved in earthly granite, but the new super-law is carved in celestial adamant, but still somehow outside us. We sing because Christ is Lord. We sing because of the absolute supremacy of Christ over everything. In Romans, when Paul finishes a particularly tough bit of theology (Rom. 11:32), his natural reaction is to burst into song (Rom. 11: 33-36). We should be the same way.

We are not Gnostics, but we do worship a cosmic Christ. We are not Gnostics, and so while we use earthly and material forms in our worship, we do not rely on them from the outside in. The Lord taught us that if you wash the inside of the cup, that takes care of the outside. But if you just tend the outside, then there are all sorts of ways to keep the cleansing power away from the inside. We are not Gnostics, but we do know. We know God through Christ.

And so it is that we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as a matter if simple spiritual overflow. Music is a divinely-designed release valve, uniquely installed to keep us all from exploding with joy. If that is not how you are experiencing it, then revisit the central message of Colossians. In Ephesians, the music is the result of the filling by the Spirit. Here is the result of the word of Christ dwelling in us richly. Put it all together. Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion. And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

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