The indwelling Christ the believer's Hope of glory.
The apostle now passes from the general idea of the reconciliation in Christ of all things, to its particular application to the Colossians. We may allow the idea, by its very vastness and grandeur, to become indefinite. We need, therefore, to see its application to the individual soul. Paul consequently brings the reconciliation home to every heart. And here we notice—
I. THE COLOSSIANS' NATURAL STATE. (Verse 21.) They were "alienated," and the alienation passed into downright enmity, which manifested itself in "wicked works." Not only were they alienated from God, but from one another and even from themselves. For sin is such a separating power that it not only cuts us off from God and from our fellow-men, but also from ourselves, so that we are divided and dissipated in the faculties and energies of our souls. Hence we find ourselves incurring, not only the Divine anger and the anger of our fellows, but we become angry with ourselves. It will be seen, therefore, that the reconciliation needed is a very wide one.
II. THEIR GRACIOUS RECONCILIATION. (Verses 22-27.) The reconciliation has been brought about at no less a cost than the death of the Son of God. It must be precious. And now we are to notice how real it is. For just as the alienation and enmity have been towards God and men and self, so the reconciliation brings us into unity with God, unity with men, and unity with self. We are reconciled to God; we are reconciled to our fellow men; we are reconciled to ourselves. This is secured by Christ's indwelling, so that he becomes our Hope of glory (verse 27) and the Source of that holiness and blamelessness which are the characteristics of redeemed men. Let us look at this reconciliation through atonement and indwelling.
1. We are reconciled to God by it. The Divine hatred to sin found fitting outlet in the cross of Jesus, and in consequence Christ's Spirit comes and dwells in the believer as the Source and Fountain of a holy character. The inspired, Christ-inhabited soul becomes the object of restored fellowship and complacency; God looks down in love, and he and man are one.
2. We are reconciled to our fellow men by it. The indwelling Christ leads us to peace-making, and we refuse to continue at war with those around us. We rather rejoice in the assurance that the atonement and inspiration of Christ are intended to bring about peace and concord among men.
3. We are reconciled to ourselves by it. For in sin, as we have seen, we are divided and dissipated; but grace comes and we are united to fear God's Name. We doubtless battle with our sins, but we realize that this is the way to regain our true selves and put internal discord away.
III. THEIR EXPECTED PERSEVERANCE AND PERFECTION. (Verses 23-28.) This faith in Christ, this body of truth through which we have been brought into such intimate relations to Christ, is that in which we are grounded and settled. We expect to continue therein, and this is the meaning of our perseverance. Now, if Christ dwells within us by his Spirit, our progress is assured through his inspiration, and perfection in him is the goal we are to reach at last. This perfection which Paul aims at for the Colossians is not the imputed perfection which "completeness in him" implies, but the perfection of sanctification which his inspiration secures in due season. Only thus are we brought into complete harmony with the universe of God.
IV. THE APOSTLE'S PAINFUL MINISTRY IN SECURING THIS. (Verses 24-29.) As the minister or servant of the Colossian Church, he had taken "pains" to instruct them properly. In this respect every good and noble work is painful; unless we take pains we cannot do it well. But over and above this, Paul was called upon to suffer special trials. He was a prisoner at this time at Rome. He was a suffering member in Christ's mystical body. Now, one member often suffers in the interests of other members. The atonement of Christ was the suffering of the Head in the interests of all the members. In this none of the members can have any share. But Christ's afflictions had a wider meaning than simply atonement. He was perfected in experience by them, so as to be sympathetic in a degree impossible otherwise. In this department Paul could have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings (Philippians 3:10). Now, the Colossians profited by Paul's sufferings for them at Rome. All his pain, all his agonizings for them, all the devotedness of spirit he had manifested for them during many years, went to make up the needful basis for their spiritual progress. If he had not suffered as he did, he could not have composed these Epistles of the captivity. To this painful ministry all earnest souls are called. It is part of our heritage, and the experiences found within it are altogether glorious.—R.M.E.
HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON
Address and salutation.
It is common to compare the Epistle to the Colossians with the Epistle to the Ephesians. Written about the same time (both conveyed by Tychicus), there are many coincidences in thought. But there is this difference—that the thought in this Epistle does not centre round the Church of Christ (the word occurs only twice, as compared with nine times in the Epistle to the Ephesians), but round the Person of Christ. There is also this difference—that this Epistle has not the catholic form of the Epistle to the Ephesians, but has a certain controversial form, with reference to the peculiar state of the Colossian Church. In order to understand the Colossian heresy, it is necessary to bear in mind that the type of religion to which the Eastern mind was inclined was mysticism. One feature was the belief in a good and a bad principle (Isaiah refers to them as light and darkness), the latter having its abode in matter. Another feature is the postulation of emanations, or intermediate agencies between heaven and earth. This mysticism seems to have had congenial soil in Phrygia, to which Colossae belonged. It had an ascetic side (communication with matter being to be eschewed), and, readily combining with Judaism, it formed Essenism. In the Galatian Churches it was Judaism that was struggling to modify Christianity. In the Colossian Church it was rather this Essenism that was the modifying element. The modification of Christianity by Eastern philosophy (its finding a place for redemption and the Person of Christ) was afterward known as Gnosticism.
I. ADDRESS.
1. The writers. "Paul." He is the principal writer. The thought has a distinctively Pauline character. We cannot mistake its coming from the writer of the Epistle to the Ephesians. He has a relation to two personalities, who are yet one (Jesus being the Christ of God).
2. The persons addressed.
II. THE SALUTATION.
1. The two words of salutation.
2. Source to which we look in salutation. "From God our Father." In the Revised translation the usual addition is omitted, "and the Lord Jesus Christ." It does not enter into the plan of the apostle to connect his thought with the Father and the Spirit in this Epistle, as in the Epistle to the Ephesians (they are named twenty-four times in Ephesians, and only six times in Colossians). But here in the forefront prominence is given to the Father (all the more because of the unusual omission) as the original Source whence all blessings flow. The Divine fatherhood (not apart from Christ) is the natural guarantee for provision being made for ourselves and for our friends, for individuals and for Churches.—R.F.