The Faith Log

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

His Energy Energizing Me

To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Colossians 1:29)

Paul’s purpose in preaching the good news about Jesus was to present everyone perfect in Him. Everything in him was focused on that goal. This little verse is loaded with the power by which he went about that work. “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

The Greek word for “labor” means to toil to the point of fatigue.
The word for “striving” is agonizomai, which is where we get our English word “agony.” We often think of it as intense pain, but Paul is actually talking about intense effort.
The word for “working” is energeia, from which we get the English word “energy.” It is the ability or strength to operate efficiently and get things done.
The word for “work” is the verb form, energeo.
The word “mightily” actually translates two words that are more literally rendered as “in power.” The Greek word for power is dynamis. When Paul uses it, it is almost always about supernatural power and usually about the miraculous power of God.

Paul labored hard and put forth great effort for the sake of Jesus and the Church. Yet, it was not his energy that did the work. His whole life now was about Jesus the Messiah and the life of Messiah living in him. He was energized with the energy of Jesus! “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). This energy was the supernatural power of God at work in and through him to accomplish mighty things, which he could never have hoped to do on his own. His whole ministry was a display of God’s mighty power through Jesus the Messiah.

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:19-20)

The energy that worked in Paul so powerfully was not just for him but is available to every believer in Jesus. For it is the His power, the power by which He did so many miraculous things. Indeed, it is the power that raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of the Father. It is the power of the Holy Spirit, which He promised to the Church at Pentecost (Acts 1:8). Paul prayed for the believers at Colosse that they would be “strengthened with all might,” according to this glorious power” (Colossians 1:11). It is power of Jesus living in them — and us! — as well as in Paul.

The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Presenting Everyone Perfect

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Colossians 1:28)

The first thing to note here is that “Him” is in the emphatic position. It emphasizes Jesus as the content of Paul’s preaching, in distinction from angels, principalities, powers and dominions. The Greek word for “preach” means to declare or proclaim. Paul proclaims Jesus above all else, for only in Him does all the fullness of God dwell, only through Him were all things created, only in Him do all things hold together, only by Him are all things in heaven and earth reconciled.

Paul’s preaching is all about Jesus the Messiah, and by it he constantly “warns” (admonishes or exhorts) and teaches every man. Exhortation calls for action or response, which in this case is repentance, turning to God through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Teaching has to do with instruction concerning the content of that faith, the truth about who Jesus is and what that means in God’s plan for the world.

Notice that Paul says “every man” three times (the Greek refers to every human being, whether male or female). He exhorts every person and teaches every person so that he might present every person perfect in Jesus. Gnostic teaching was not intended for everyone, only for those who attained a certain level of understanding. But Paul’s gospel, the truth about Jesus the Messiah, is for all.

Paul exhorts and teaches everyone “in all wisdom.” This is not the wisdom of the world, nor the wisdom of the Gnostics, whose secret teachings were limited only to some, but the wisdom of God.

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:20-24)

The wisdom of God is available to everyone in Jesus the Messiah. “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Nothing is held back, for in Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

In Colossians 1:22, Paul spoke of how Jesus came to present us holy, blameless and above reproach in the eyes of the Father. In verse 28, Paul desires to present everyone perfect in Jesus, through faith in the gospel. The Greek verb for “present” in both verses is in the aorist tense, which speaks of completed action, as distinct from ongoing or progressive action. Jesus does not have to present us over and over again as holy and blameless before God. Once He has presented us, it is a done deal. Likewise, Paul does to seek to present everyone over and over in Jesus, but to present everyone in such a way that has enduring effect, and that is by faith.

The Greek word for “perfect” is teleios and refers to something that is mature and complete, fulfilling the purpose for which it was made. Here again, Paul counters error without even mentioning it by name, simply by teaching the truth. Teleios was another word used by the Gnostics, but only of those who attained complete understanding of their doctrine; it was a perfection only a few would attain. But Paul preaches the gospel to everyone, exhorting and teaching everyone about Jesus so that everyone might be found perfect and complete in Him.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Revelation of Divine Glory in You

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Paul is caught up in the richness of the glorious mystery that has been given him by God to make known to everyone who believes in Jesus, who are the “saints,” the ones set apart as His own, the Church. This was not just for believing Jews, who had an expectation that Messiah would come to deliver them and fulfill God’s purpose for Israel, but also — and this was a surprise — believing Gentiles. Paul speaks of that in his letter to the believers at Ephesus.

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh — who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands — that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11-13)

This is the mystery “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:5-6). Peter speaks similarly in one of his letters of those who “once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:10).

The mystery of which Paul now speaks is not merely that we are all named together as the people of Jesus the Messiah. It is not even that He dwells among us. The rich glory in which Paul revels is that Jesus, God’s Messiah, dwells in us! “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Jesus now lives His life in us by the Holy Spirit. Paul says,

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9)

This is the mystery that has been revealed: All the fullness of God dwells in Jesus, and Jesus dwells in us. In this, we find the “hope of glory,” the joyful expectation of every good thing in God being revealed throughout our entire spiritual, physical beings. The apostle Peter speaks of the same thing in this way:

His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

The apostle John said it like this: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

It is in Jesus, not in any angelic order, that we have this joyful expectation and partake of the divine nature. As we begin to live in anticipation of His divine life being made fully known in us, we find that we are changed here and now.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Stewards of Divine Mysteries

… of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. (Colossians 1:25-26)

The words,“of which,” refer to the Church, the body of Jesus the Messiah. Paul identifies himself as a minister of the Church. The sufferings he spoke of in verse 24 were for the sake of the Church.

“Mystery” is one of Paul’s favorite words. He uses it seventeen times in his letters, including four times in this one. The stewardship he received from God concerns divine mysteries. “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). A mystery is a secret. Gnostic religion had mysteries, secret teachings not given to all but were revealed only as one progressed to a certain level of knowledge. For Paul, however, the mysteries of which he was given stewardship were secrets that, though they were once hidden, were now revealed to every believer. His stewardship was to “fulfill the word of God,” that is, to preach the mysteries that God has to us revealed in Jesus the Messiah.

We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)
Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. (Ephesians 1:9-10)
By revelation He made known to me the mystery … which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:3-6)
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:8-9)
We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones ... This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:30-32)
[Pray] for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:19)
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51)

These divine mysteries reveal to every believer how God is redeeming the world through Jesus the Messiah.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Filling Up the Afflictions of Messiah

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church. (Colossians 1:24)

Paul endured many afflictions for the sake of the gospel. “In my flesh,” he says, again affirming (against the Gnostic idea that matter is evil) the physical, this world nature of the gospel. Jesus the Messiah has a body, a physical presence in the world. The Church is that body and Paul is part of the Church, so when he is persecuted, the Church suffer affliction, and when the Church suffers affliction, Jesus suffers affliction in His body. In one of his letters to the believers at Corinth, Paul details some of the persecutions he experienced.

In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness — besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)

This came as no surprise. When Paul (then known as Saul) was converted on the road to Damascus, and was literally blinded by the experience, God spoke to another man, Ananias, to go and lay hands on him to restore his sight. Ananias was reluctant; it was still only very recently that Saul had been persecuting believers. But the Lord Jesus said, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).

When Paul speaks of “filling up” what was lacking in the “afflictions of Christ,” he is not referring to the passion of the cross and the work of atonement Jesus did for us there — that work was full and complete! Rather, he is talking about being persecuted for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. Paul suffered many afflictions, as did the other apostles, because of the message they preached. In Acts 5, for instance, we read about Peter and the apostles, when they were arrested and put in jail. The authorities were so enraged they wanted to kill them but released them instead, warning them not to preach about Jesus anymore. “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42). Indeed, Jesus promised that this sort of thing would happen.

Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Paul and the other apostles did not just put up with these afflictions — they rejoiced in them! He explains why in his letter to the Jesus believers at Philippi, written from a prison cell (as indeed is this letter to the believers at Colosse).

But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith. (Philippians 1:12-25)

Persecution for the sake of the gospel has persisted throughout the history of the Church. Even today, there are many Christians around the world who are being cruelly treated and martyred for their faith in Jesus (for example, see The Voice of the Martyrs). They are “filling up” the “afflictions of Christ,” and yet, surprisingly — and supernaturally — they rejoice! Jesus is glorified in their physical bodies, whether by life or by death, and they are with Him.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Continue in the Faith

… if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:23)

It is the Father’s good will to reconcile all things in heaven and earth through the Son, by the shedding of His blood on the cross. This is the good news of the gospel. We participate in this reconciliation by believing the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. This was the good news the believers at Colosse first heard from Epaphras, who learned it from Paul. This gospel, then, was the one Paul himself ministered and which had gone out into all the world.

“If indeed you continue in the faith.” They had already begun in the faith and were “grounded and steadfast” in it (Paul gave thanks for that earlier). The Greek words picture a building properly settled on a good foundation. Paul does not want them to be “moved away” or shifted off the foundation that has been laid for them, the “hope of the gospel.” Hope is not about uncertainty but expectation. Their expectation was seated on a good foundation, the gospel, which Paul was always zealous to protect.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. (1 Corinthians 3:10-13)

Now Paul wants them to continue in the faith in which they began, and indeed, he is confident that they will. That is exactly why he writes. He sees false teaching coming in on them and he wants to preempt it and prevent it from gaining any foothold, so that they remain firm in their faith in Jesus and the wonderful expectation that comes from the gospel.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

The good news of Jesus the Messiah is the reconciliation of heaven and earth, and the foundation of every good expectation for those who continue in their faith in Him.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Once Alienated, Now Unaccusable

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. (Colossians 1:21-23)

In Jesus the Messiah heaven and earth are reconciled and peace has been made between God and humankind through the blood of His cross. Paul now shows how this works.

We once were alienated from God. This estrangement resulted in broken relationships — with creation, each other, even within our own selves. We were out of joint with earth as well as heaven. We were “enemies” (the Greek word means “hateful”) towards God. Our thoughts and imaginations about God were hostile and this revealed itself through bitter, hostile deeds.

“Yet now,” Paul says. What wonderful words those are! What Paul just described about alienation and enemies was before. But now everything has changed because Jesus has reconciled us, brought us back into proper relationship with God. That makes all the difference in the world because now we have full access into the presence of God. Jesus has done this through His own flesh-and-blood body. Paul emphasizes this once more because false teachers would have denied that the Son of God even had a physical body, much less that any reconciliation could have been accomplished through it.

God was pleased to reconcile us through the cross of Jesus the Messiah so that He could “present” us holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight. The Greek verb for “present” is in the aorist tense, signifying completed action, a “done deal.” To be holy means to be consecrated, set apart for God and God alone. “Without blame” picks up the idea of a spotless offering, without blemish. “Above reproach” (not just without reproach but above reproach) means that no charge can now be laid against us.

But how can this be, for who among us has lived blamelessly and above reproach? Yet, Jesus presents us this way before the Father. He alone was without sin and spotless, and He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sake, making peace through His body and blood and death on the cross. He Himself is the sacrifice presented before the Father, and it is as we are in Him, through faith in Him, that we are presented before God as holy and blameless and above reproach. That is how God sees us now as well as how He will see on us on the final day when we stand before Him.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. (Ephesians 1:3-4)

Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

The devil is an accuser. In fact, that is what diabolos, the Greek word for “devil,” actually means, accuser or slanderer. In Revelation 12:10, he is called, “the accuser of our brethren.” However, there is now no accusation he can make that can stand against us. Ever.

Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? … For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:33-35, 38-39)

Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. (Revelation 12:10)

Focus Questions

Where do you locate yourself in God’s plan for reconciliation, with regard to your relationship with God, creation, others and your own self?
Jesus has presented us holy and blameless before the Father. What confidence does that give you concerning your relationship with God?
We often do not experience ourselves as being holy and blameless. What will you answer when the voice of the accuser whispers in your ear?

Monday, May 9, 2011

Reconciling Heaven and Earth

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

It pleased the Father that all the divine essence, power and attributes reside in the Son. But it also pleased God that all things in heaven and earth be reconciled by the Son. These are not two unrelated statements but belong together in a very important way. It was necessary that the fullness of God abide in the Son in order for all things in heaven and earth to be reconciled by Him. Because all things in heaven and earth were created by Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together. This is, indeed, what makes it even possible for all things in heaven and earth to be reconciled.

Paul speaks about this reconciliation in his other letters, although a bit differently. God’s plan, he says, is that “in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him” (Ephesians 1:10).

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Let’s go back to the beginning for a moment, when God made the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1. At the end of that chapter we read, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The physical creation was not evil, as the Gnostics supposed, but was very good. However, it fell away from the blessing of God because Adam, who was made from the dust of the earth (as well as the breath of God) and given dominion over it, rebelled against God.

This is why Jesus came — to set things right in the world. For the Gnostics, this simply was not possible because of their belief that the material world is not merely fallen but inherently evil. The amazing thing, though, is that Jesus has not only reconciled heaven and earth, but He did it in a very physical way: through the blood of His cross. The wood of the cross and the nails that pierced Him were real and tangible. So was the flesh of His body and the blood that He shed there. By these material realities, He has reconciled heaven and earth and made peace between God and humankind.

The emphasis here is on the Son. It is in Him, not through angelic intermediaries, that God has done this. It was through the shedding of His blood. Angels could not bring about reconciliation because they are not of earth. But the Son of God is of both heaven and earth, being fully divine and fully human. He is of heaven because He is the creator of all; He is of earth because He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus is the only one in the universe able to bring heaven and earth together — and He has done it through His own body and blood, and the crudeness of the cross.

The work necessary for reconciliation has already been accomplished. We live now in the time when the benefits of that work are being increasingly revealed in the world, especially in humankind.

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:19-22)

In the end, heaven and earth will be joined together, with the kingdom of God fully come and the will of God done on earth exactly as it is in heaven. We read about this in Revelation 21. In the meantime, “the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Where All Divine Fullness Dwells

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. (Colossians 1:19)

The word “for” introduces a reason or purpose. Here, Paul explains why God has done what He has in regard to the Son:

Why Jesus has come as the express image of the invisible God
Why He has been give supremacy over all creation
Why all things have been made by Him, through Him and for Him
Why all things hold together in Him
Why He is the head of the (the church), the beginning, and the firstborn from the dead
Why He has the preeminence in all things

It was because it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell!

Now, the words “the Father” are not in the Greek text, but the idea of God is certainly implied by the context. Different translations handle this in various ways. For example:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. (English Standard Version)
Because in him it did please all the fullness to tabernacle. (Young’s Literal Translation)
For God in full measure was pleased to be in him. (Bible in Basic English)
Because in Him [God] was well pleased that all the fullness be permanently at home. (Wuest’s Expanded Translation)
Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in Him. (Common English Bible)

The point is that all the fullness of the divine nature dwells in the Son. The “fullness” Paul is talking about is every power and attribute that belongs to God. The Greek word is pleroma. Paul appears to be using this word in particular in order to counter the false teachers who were trying to get into the church at Colosse. The false teaching they brought was probably an early form of Gnosticism.

Pleroma was the central term of the Gnostics, who used it to refer to God, but they believed that creation was separated from God by numerous demigods, angelic hierarchies or other intermediaries. Some intermediaries might possess this or that power while others might have various other divine attributes, but only God, who was very distant, possessed every divine power and attribute.

Paul, however, delivers a stunning blow to this doctrine. The Pleroma, the fullness of all the divine attributes and powers, is not far, far away, separated from us by layers and levels of entities and emanations. It has come very close to us — as close as human skin — in the person of Jesus the Messiah.

Paul will deliver this knockout punch again in Colossians 2:9: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (we will talk about this in its own context as we continue through Paul’s letter). The material creation is not evil, nor is the physical body, as the Gnostics supposed. But God considered it quite appropriate that the divine essence, with all the attributes and powers of God, should reside in the human flesh of the Son and dwell among us in the world.

Friday, May 6, 2011

The Incomparability of Divine Life

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)

Jesus, the eternal Son of God, by whom and through whom and for whom all things were created, and in whom all things hold together, is called “the head of the body.” We always speak of head and body together; the one implies the other. A head without a body is pointless; a body without a head is lifeless. It is quite an amazing thing, then that Paul speaks of Jesus in this way. Who Paul identifies as the body of which Jesus is the head is equally amazing: It is the church, composed, not of hierarchies of angels, but of flesh and blood human beings, all those who belong to God through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Every believer at Colosse, for instance, belongs to the church and is a part of this body.

Jesus is the head of the body, the church. This speaks of vital relationship. The church is not an organization, an association that can be reduced to membership numbers and mission statements. No, it is an organic, living thing where every part flows with the life of the whole. Where does this life come from? From Jesus. He is not just the head of the body, He is the “beginning,” the source, the life of the church.

Jesus is also the “firstborn from the dead.” We were once dead in the rebellion of sin (Ephesians 2:1).

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

In Jesus, there is spiritual life and vitality. But there is more! God has raised Jesus’ physical body from the dead, and that is the guarantee that all those who belong to Him, who are part of His body, will share in His resurrection life. God will raise us, too, bodily and physically from the dead (see Resurrection Life Now! and Resurrection and the End of the Age).

Head, beginning, firstborn. These all speak of preeminence, and indeed, Jesus is supreme over all things, for God has

Raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)

God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Jesus is preeminent in all things, incomparable in every way, and His divine life flows through us now and forever.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

How All Things Hold Together

He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)

The Son of God existed before all things. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). As Paul says in Colossians 1:16, all things were made by Him, through Him and for Him. “In the beginning God …” refers to the creative work of the Son. He was not created like the angelic hierarchies that were the focus of the false teachers who were trying to penetrate the Christian community at Colosse. He existed long before them. Indeed, He has always existed. He is eternal.

Paul says that in Him all things “consist.” The ESV has, “In Him all things hold together.” The Bible in Basic English says, “In Him all things have being.” By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are visible were made by things which cannot be seen (Hebrews 11:3).

Everything is sustained in exactly the same way. The author of Hebrews speaks of the Son as being “the brightness of His [God’s] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). All things were created by the word of God; all things are upheld by the word of God.

It is no small thing, then, that Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1 or that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Everything comes from the invisible word of the invisible God, and everything continues to have being because of it. Jesus is the living and eternal Word who embodies and gives expression to the thoughts, desires and will of God. He is the source and sustainer of all creation.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Image of the Invisible

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-16)

Paul breaks into doxology now to sing the eternal glory and greatness of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God’s love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God. It sounds almost like a koan , a paradoxical saying. Like, What is the sound of one hand clapping? How can Jesus be the image of what is invisible?

God is invisible. He is Spirit. The material world was created by Him, but it is not Him. Though the world was created to be seen, God is not subject to that condition nor is He in any way limited by our inability to see Him. It is a matter for the eyes of faith. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

We can see manifestations of God’s glory, but we cannot see Him in His essence, for He is the one who dwells “in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). But Jesus is the image of the one who is invisible. God created man in the image of God to be like Him on earth (Genesis 1:26-28), but Jesus is not only like God, He fully represents Him in every way. He is the “brightness of His glory, the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3).

Paul links the image of the invisible God with the firstborn of creation. Literally, “firstborn” speaks of one who is born first in a family. However, because the firstborn son was given the double portion inheritance, “firstborn” came to be used to speak of pre-eminence, of one who was worthy of the highest honor.

The Son of God was not created. Indeed, He is Himself the creator of everything. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). To declare this is to exalt Jesus as God, for “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Which was exactly the point John makes in his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus is the perfect image and expression of God because He is God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. John goes on to say of Him, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). That is why Jesus could say of Himself, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Paul is careful to note that Jesus is the creator of all things in heaven and on earth, “visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.” He may be alluding to the false teaching that was coming around the church at Colosse. The Gnostics taught that there were angelic hierarchies emanating from God, the lowest of which was the architect of the material world. They considered the physical world to be flawed and therefore evil, so they denied that the Word, who is God, became flesh. Against this, Paul asserts that all things, even the invisible things, were created by Jesus — by Him and through Him and for Him. The angels did not create Him; He created them.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Into the Kingdom of Light

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

Paul transitions now from pastoral prayer to hymn of praise. This is what his prayer has been leading up to all along, and is what the believers at Colosse (and us, as well) desperately need to hear. He has come to the object of his passion — Jesus Messiah, Son of God — the One through whom God has made everything possible for Paul, for the Colossians and for us. He is the one who is to be exalted above all because it is in Him that everything comes together as God has always intended.

We have been delivered — rescued! — from the “power of darkness.” Jesus has done it by going through it for us. When the chief priests and the Temple guard came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). On the cross, He dealt the death blow to the heart of darkness and destroyed its power from the inside out, bursting forth in glory three days later. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

God has also “conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” The Greek word for “conveyed” was often used of the transfer or relocation of large numbers of people from one region to another, settling them as colonists or citizens. Think of how God delivered the children of Israel from out of Egypt into the Promised Land. That is the kind of picture Paul creates here. God has transferred us from out of the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His Son. This is the Father’s inheritance for us. He has made us a colony of heaven on earth.

Do not think of this, though, as being removed from one kingdom into another, as if they were two powers, equal and opposite. It is not like that at all. The power of darkness is no match for the kingdom of God. Darkness is not a kingdom at all; it has no rightful dominion and whatever power it did have has been broken. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

God has brought us into is the kingdom of the “Son of His love” that is, His very dear and beloved Son. When Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove and the voice of the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, hear Him” (Mark 9:7). It is through Jesus that we come into this kingdom, for we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).

This kingdom is the kingdom of light, because Jesus is the Light of the World. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). In Him, we are light. “We are not of the night nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

The kingdom God has brought us into is a kingdom of redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This combination, redemption and forgiveness, pictures a slave purchased at the marketplace and released from bondage. It is in Jesus that we have been redeemed out of the slave market; the price paid was His blood. The Greek word for “forgiveness,” refers literally to sending away and speaks of release from bondage. In Jesus, the guilt of our sin is sent far away from us and we are set free.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Creation and the Lord’s Prayer

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)

God created humankind to be His image and be like Him, to represent Him on the earth, to fill the earth with the image of God, to have dominion over the earth and subdue it. To have dominion means to rule over the earth, to exercise authority over it. To subdue the earth means to subordinate it, that is, bring it into order.

God created a garden on the earth for the man and woman to dwell. The whole earth was not a garden, though, only a portion of it. The man and the woman were to take care of the garden, to watch over and protect it. God blessed them and gave them charge over the garden, but also over the whole earth. The work of creation was now done, but the work of subduing and reigning over it was just beginning.

Man is the dust of the ground and the breath of God, created and authorized to represent heaven on earth. The garden God made was perfect and complete, the design of heaven on earth. Man’s role, then, was to bring the rest of the earth into divine order, into proper alignment with the garden God made.

Of course, man rebelled against God, and the earth itself came under a curse because of it. Even so, God had a plan to restore everything into proper relationship between man and God, between man and creation, between man and himself. The good news of the Gospel is that this plan of redemption and restoration is fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.

Now, let’s jump from the first book of the Old Testament to the first book of the New, to the sermon Jesus preached on the mount (I call it the Sermon of Heaven on Earth). In the middle of His preaching, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. We call this the Lord’s Prayer, and it is powerful. In it, Jesus gives us authority to subdue the earth and bring it into line with the design of heaven. He teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven: “Your kingdom, come! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

The dominion over the earth that was corrupted by Adam through rebellion has been restored in the dominion of King Jesus and He has privileged us to share it with Him. Through this prayer, we exercise His dominion. By this prayer, we subdue the earth. Wherever we find anything out of alignment with the order of heaven, we can pray, “Kingdom of God, come to this place; will of God, be done here as it is in heaven,” and expect that it will be so. Through our prayer and worship, King Jesus changes the world and fulfills the charge God gave the first man and woman.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Fully Qualified for the Father’s Inheritance

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians 1:11)

Paul has prayed for the believers at Colosse that they may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work, knowing God more and more, being strengthened with all strength by the power of God’s glory, joyfully enduring difficult times and difficult people. Now he prays that they may always be giving thanks to God, the Father.

Enduring difficult circumstances. Dealing patiently with difficult people. With joy, no less. Now he prays that we may always be giving thanks! No matter what may be happening in our lives, no matter how thick the darkness around us may seem, there is always something much greater going on inside us by which we prevail.

First, notice to whom we are giving thanks. Not some impersonal deity, but to the Father. In Paul’s earlier prayer, which was a prayer of thanksgiving*, he gave thanks “to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” for the faith, hope and love at work in the Colossian believers. Now he presses in on that relationship and how it pertains to us.

The essence of fatherhood is inheritance. When we have a father, we receive a name, a family, an identity. Through faith in Jesus the Messiah, we are “accepted in the Beloved” and have “obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians 1). His Father becomes our Father, His name becomes our name, His identity becomes our identity. We do not qualify ourselves for this — we cannot — but God has done it for us, through His Son. Jesus is fully qualified, and through faith, we are joined with Him, In this way, we are fully qualified in Him and can now take part in the inheritance with Him. We are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Everything He inherits, we now inherit, too.

In Ephesians, Paul prayed that we would know the “riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:19). “Saints in the light,” is how he puts it here in Colossians. Because we are in Jesus, we are “in the light,” for that is what He is, light. John calls Him the True Light who gives light to everyone who comes into the world (John 1:9). The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it, cannot overtake it, cannot put it out (John 1:5).

James, also, has something to tell us about the Father and light and inheritance. He says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

The inheritance Father has for us is nothing but good. It is full of life and light and carries with it the blessing and power of heaven. Darkness cannot overcome it, and when we learn how to walk in the reality and power of it, the will of God will be done wherever we walk on earth, just as it is in heaven.

It is a wonderful inheritance and all who entrust themselves to King Jesus the Messiah are fully qualified to take part in it. So, with David we can sing:

O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.

(Psalm 16:5-6)

*For more about the pastoral prayers and prayers of thanksgiving in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Putting Up with Joy

Continuing in Paul’s pastoral prayer* for believers …

For all patience and longsuffering with joy. (Colossians 1:11)

Paul prayed for the believers at Colosse that they would be always strengthened with all might, and he had a particular purpose in mind: “for all patience and longsuffering with joy.”

The Greek word for “patience” is hypomone, a compound of hypo, “under,” and meno, to “stay.” Strong’s Concordance gives its meaning as, figuratively, to undergo, to bear (as in trials), to persevere, abide, endure. Patience is the ability to persevere and endure in difficult circumstances.

In the Bible, this kind of patience is associated with hope, which is positive expectation or joyful anticipation. It is not giving up in the face of adversity or resigning yourself to it, but remaining on course, no matter what. It comes from having your expectation set on God and His promises.

The word for “longsuffering” is macrothymia, another compound word, from macro, “long,” and thymos, passion. “Longsuffering” is the opposite of “short-tempered.” We find macrothymia a number of times in the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, usually noted as LXX). For example:

But You, O LORD, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering [macrothymia] and abundant in mercy and truth.

(Psalm 86:15)

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger [macrothymia], and abounding in mercy.

(Psalm 103:8)

He who is slow to wrath [macrothymia] has great understanding,
But he who is impulsive exalts folly.

(Proverbs 14:29)

He who is slow to anger [macrothymia] is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

(Proverbs 16:32)

Here we can see the nature of macrothymia, as well as some of its benefits.

It is the nature of God to be slow to anger.
It flows with His compassion, mercy and grace.
It demonstrates wisdom and creates understanding.
The one who “rules his spirit” will accomplish greater things than the one who “flies off the handle.”

Patience is about persevering through difficult circumstances; longsuffering is about graciously “putting up with” difficult people. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Elsewhere, Paul says,

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2)

Longsuffering is part of what it means to walk worthy of our calling in the Lord (which is what Paul’s prayer in Colossians is about) and reflects humility and gentleness. It bears with one another in love and promotes the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Enduring adversity and bearing with difficult people is hard enough by itself, but Paul adds a kicker: we need to do it “with joy.” Now we can see why we need to be always strengthened with the power of Almighty God. And here is why we need the promises of God and the hope (positive expectation, joyful anticipation) they bring. And this is why longsuffering comes after love, joy and peace in the fruit of the Spirit. When we are filled with the love, joy and peace of God, and let them come forth in our lives, enduring adversity and bearing patiently with others will follow naturally.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Resurrection and the End of the Age

In the time of Jesus, the Jewish expectation was that the resurrection would be an end time event. For example, when Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus had died, He said to Lazarus’ sister Martha, “You brother will rise again.” Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:23-24).

In eschatological terms (eschatology is the study of “last things,” that is, what happens at the end of the age), the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah is an end time event, the beginning of the last days. Paul calls it the firstfruits.

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

Firstfruits is the first portion of a harvest. In the Bible, the firstfruits were offered to God. If they were acceptable, they were holy and blessed by God, and they prophesied that the full harvest would also be acceptable, holy and blessed. Paul explains the principle in his letter to the believers at Rome: “For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16; although he uses it here in a different context, the principle is the same).

When God raised Jesus the Messiah from the dead, Jesus became the firstfruits of the resurrection. The surprise is that the resurrection that was expected at the end of the age has broken into the middle of history, and it is the guarantee that all who trust in Jesus will also be physically raised from the dead. The firstfruits secures the blessing of the full harvest.

There is also another firstfruits that Paul writes about, and it has the same significance regarding the resurrection and the end of the age.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:18-23)

Fifty days after the resurrection of the Son of God, the Spirit of God came to dwell in the people of God. We celebrate this event seven weeks after Resurrection Sunday, on the day called Pentecost. The Holy Spirit indwelling those who belong to Jesus is another assurance that we will experience the “redemption of our body,” when even our bodies are delivered death unto life. All creation groans together, waiting for this resurrection, that it may be itself fully delivered from the bondage of corruption.

The end of the age has broken into history and the eternal age of God’s kingdom has entered into the world. This is why John can say, “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). And we are living in the transition, in the light and power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Resurrection Life Now!

Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:25-27)

There is life for all who hear the voice of the Son of God, Jesus. This life is now! Notice that Jesus said, “The time is coming and now is.” So what is it that happens now? The dead hear and live. They were dead but now they live, because they hear the voice of the Son of God. This is resurrection life. But there is also another resurrection coming. Jesus continued,

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. (John 5:28-30)

There is an hour yet to come, distinct from the hour that now is (in John 5:25). In the hour yet to come, those who are in the graves will come forth. To speak of graves is to speak of physical bodies. The resurrection of those in John 5:25-27, the resurrection that is now, is that of the spirit: those who were spiritually dead and made spiritually alive when they hear the voice of Jesus. The resurrection of those in John 5:28-30, the resurrection that is yet to come, is that of the body: those who are physically dead will be made physically alive.

In that second resurrection, all will hear the voice of the Son of God. Some, those who have done good, will come forth to the resurrection of life. These are the ones who have been part of the first resurrection. They have done what is good. When Jesus was asked, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God, He answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:28-29). Those who believe in Him have done what is good. They have heard the voice of Jesus is this now time. But there are also others, who have not done good but evil. They will come forth to a resurrection of condemnation. In the book of Revelation, John speaks of both groups.

Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

The first resurrection is those who have heard the voice of Jesus and believe in Him in the now time. They have been made alive together with Him, raised up and seated together in the heavenlies in Him (Ephesians 2:4-7). Where is Jesus seated? At the right hand of God, “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21). We are seated where He is, in the place of ruling and reigning with Him.

The second resurrection will come at the end of the age, when all will be raised physically from the dead. John says,

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

Those who are not part of the first resurrection will be part of the second death, and vice versa. All who hear the voice of the Son of God in this present time have life now and will not see death. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

Resurrection life is now. It has already begun with the resurrection of King Jesus from the dead. God has already made us alive together with Him, and at the end of the age, even our bodies shall be raised again to new life.

Do you believe this?

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Powers Have Been Broken

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
Now this, “He ascended” — what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. (Ephesians 4:8-10)

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:13-15)

Today is Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. It is also called the Great Sabbath, in recognition of the day that the body of Jesus Messiah rested in the grave. But there was more going on than that. Though the body of Jesus lay in the tomb, His spirit descended into the place of the dead, where He asserted the victory of the cross. This is known, particularly in the eastern Church, as the “harrowing of hell.”

The works of the devil have been destroyed. The power of death itself has been broken. That which held the souls of men captive has now itself been brought into captivity. Those who were formerly held captive, who died in faith before the Son of God became flesh and dwelt among us, have been delivered from Hades (the place of the dead) into the splendor of heaven.

Jesus has disarmed the principalities and powers — broken their power! — and paraded them around in public spectacle as defeated foes. The victory has been announced and the end of the age has already begun. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

(See also The Triumphal Procession)

Books by Jeff Doles

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There is Always Joy!
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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus
Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
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Copyright Information

All blog entries are copyright by Jeff Doles on the date they are posted, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.

After January 1, 2015, unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the New International Version. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Before January 1, 2015, unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the New King James Bible. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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