Please turn to the letter to the Colossians. We will read Colossians 1:9-13, and then Colossians 2:9-10.
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you,
that ye may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God;
strengthened with all power, according to the might of His glory,
unto all patience and longsuffering with joy;
giving thanks unto the Father, Who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
Who delivered us out of the power of darkness,
and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and in Him ye are made full.
Let us look to the Lord.
Our Heavenly Father, how we do praise and thank Thee for giving us such high privilege of coming to Thy table to remember Thy beloved Son, and through Thy Son to come to Thy throne of grace, to receive help and mercy and grace.
Our Father, how we do praise and thank Thee that we are indeed in Thy presence, with the veil having been removed, and that we can approach the throne of grace with boldness. Our Father, now we ask that Thou wilt reveal Thyself to us. Reveal Thy Son to us through Thy Word. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
In the letter to the Colossians, the Holy Spirit intends to reveal to us Christ: the glory of Christ, the supremacy of Christ, the fullness of Christ, and the all-sufficiency of Christ. And because of Christ as such, therefore we find our completeness in Him.
We know there are two letters written by the apostle that are considered twin letters: Ephesians and Colossians. They were both written by the apostle from the Roman prison. They were written about the same time, and they were both sent by the same messengers.
In the letter to the Ephesians, we see the glorious vocation of the church as the body of Christ. In the letter to the Colossians, we see the glory of Christ as the Head; and in Him, the church, which is His body, is complete. So these two letters reveal to us Christ and the church.
So far as we know, the letter to the Colossians was written a little ahead of the letter to the Ephesians. There are reasons for that, but we will not dwell on them. I think, in a sense, that must be so, because we have to see the Head first before we can see the body. We must see Christ first before we can ever see the church, which is His body.
Maybe a little background will help in our understanding of this letter. Colossae was a very small city. Actually, probably today we would not call it a city; it was just a town. Colossae was a little town situated in the Roman province of Asia.
Paul himself had never been to that town. But we know that he was in Ephesus for three years, and during his stay in Ephesus, the Word of the Lord was heard by all those in Asia, both Jews and Gentiles.
So evidently, when Paul was in Ephesus, some of the Colossians came to that great city for various reasons, maybe for trade, maybe for other reasons. While these people were in Ephesus, they heard the Word of God through the Apostle Paul. Among them were Epaphras, Philemon, and others. These people went back to Colossae, and there the church in Colossae was founded, even though Paul himself had never been there.
After a number of years, the Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome. While he was there, the little church in Colossae sent a messenger to Paul: Epaphras. Epaphras went to Rome to see Paul for two reasons. One was to convey the sympathetic greetings of the saints in Colossae; the other was to report to him the trouble they had.
Now, in that little church in Colossae, they had begun to experience some problems. We know that trouble as the Colossian heresy. In order to correct them from that Colossian heresy, Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians.
I do not think we need to know in detail what the Colossian heresy was, even though it is very interesting. But I do not think we need to know it in detail, because here you find the great Apostle Paul correcting the Colossians from that heresy, yet he did not dwell upon the heresy.
On the contrary, we find that he focused his approach on Christ. In other words, he took a positive approach. He presented Christ to them, and if they could see Christ, if they could know Christ, then that heresy would automatically and very quickly be dropped.
Mr. Grant said, “A true Christology is the best answer to all heresy that ever has been, or ever will be.” In other words, a sight of Christ is the answer to all false teaching and false doctrine. If we only know Christ as we should, then we will be delivered from all heresy, from all false teachings. I do believe that this is what it ought to be.
Why is it that the Colossian believers would fall into such heresy? I think probably there are two reasons.
First, we find ourselves naturally curious. In other words, in human nature there is an intellectual urge. We want to know. We want to explain everything. You can see it very clearly in a child. When a child is growing up, you find that he is always asking questions: “Why? Why? Why?” He wants to know the reason for everything. It is natural to human beings.
With that kind of intellectual urge—I do not know whether it is the result of eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—but anyway, we find that in human beings there is a natural desire to know. We are curious about things. We want to speculate. We want to explain.
We like to know the origin of the universe. We like to know how this thing comes to happen and how that thing comes to happen. So instead of simply trusting in God with a childlike faith, we try to look around, speculate, imagine, and explain everything around us. In doing so, we fall into the trap of the enemy.
The other reason is that there is in us a desire for quick solutions and success. We are all naturally impatient. We like to see things fixed quickly and instantaneously, and to see success.
I think this is the reason why Eve fell into the trap of the enemy, because she wanted so much to be like God. Now, dear brothers and sisters, man was created according to the image of God. Because we are created according to that image, naturally within us there is a desire to be conformed to that image. And I think this is right.
But the problem is this: how are we to be conformed to that image according to which we were made? Are we to be conformed to that image by the way that God has prescribed for us—that is, by eating the tree of life, receiving God’s life in us, and letting that life grow in us, so that we may be transformed and conformed to His image? Now, that will take time, of course.
Or would we like to look around for some instantaneous technique, whether it is through some mysterious thing or by doing external exercises? The enemy will come in and offer something, saying, “Now, if only you are initiated into this mystery, then you are complete. Or if you just exercise or practice certain things—do this and do that, do not do this and do not do that—then you are perfect.”
Man falls into the trap because he wants instantaneous success. I think probably these are the two reasons why the Colossian believers fell into the Colossian heresy.
Let me tell you a little bit about the Colossian heresy, because I know you are curious. So far as we know, the Colossian heresy was a combination of two things. One was heathen Gnosticism, and the other was Jewish ceremonialism. It was a very odd combination.
There were people called the Gnostics. They considered themselves to be people “in the know.” They knew everything. They knew how the universe began. They knew how all things began to unfold. They knew the hierarchies in the unseen world, and so on and so forth. They said, “If only you are initiated into such knowledge, then you will know everything.” It was intellectual speculation. It was a kind of mystical approach.
At the same time, it was combined with Jewish ceremonialism—that is, certain rituals and certain observances. Now, if you have these two things, then you have the full knowledge. Then you know everything. You are completed in your purpose. That is probably the Colossian heresy.
Now, if you turn to Colossians 1:9, you find that Paul was praying for the Colossian believers. He says, “For this reason, we also, from the day we heard of your faith and love, do not cease praying and asking for you to the end.” What was it that Paul prayed for them?
He prayed for them that they might be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will. You know, with the Gnostics, they always talked about full knowledge. They always talked about wisdom. They always talked about fullness. So here you find Paul turning the tables on them and saying, “I am going to talk about fullness. I am going to talk about full knowledge. I am going to talk about how we can be filled, and what we should be filled with.”
He said, “My prayer is that you may be filled”—that is, filled to the full, not just a little bit, but filled completely and filled to the full. Filled with what? With the full knowledge of God’s will.
Brothers and sisters, that is of tremendous importance: that we may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will. May I ask this question? What are we filled with? Are we filled full with the knowledge of God’s will? Or may I put it another way: do we know what God’s will is? Do we know what is the full knowledge of God’s will?
The full knowledge of God’s will means not only that it is complete, perfect, and full, but also that it is experiential and living knowledge of God’s will. I do believe that it is of tremendous importance, dear brothers and sisters, that we be filled with this kind of knowledge.
It does not matter if you do not have other knowledge, even though other knowledge may be good. But if you are lacking in the full knowledge of God’s will, then, brothers and sisters, something is basically wrong with you, and you will be exposed to all kinds of deceptions.
What we need today is to be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will. We know what God’s will is. We know what is the perfect will of God. We know that the will of God is not just mental knowledge, but something living, something that we can experience, enter into, and be involved with. Dear brothers and sisters, this is Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers, and I do believe this is the prayer for us today.
If we have this full knowledge of God’s will, it must be in all wisdom and understanding. What is wisdom? There are different explanations, but if you look back to the Old Testament, you find there was one man who asked for wisdom, and God gave him wisdom. Wisdom in that sense means a hearing heart.
Wisdom is a heart. Wisdom is not primarily with the mind. We always think of wisdom as being with the mind, but true wisdom is a heart that hears the voice of God. That is wisdom.
Understanding is the conscious assimilation of knowledge. It is something that you consciously assimilate into yourself. You know it, and you know how to live it. So here you find that this full knowledge of God must be in all wisdom and understanding. It is not just something in your mind; it is something in your heart. It is something that has been consciously assimilated into your life.
Because of that, we can walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing. In other words, it is not speculative knowledge; it is practical knowledge. Gnostic teaching is speculative. It does not affect life. But here, you find that this full knowledge of God’s will enables us to walk worthily of the Lord, unto all well-pleasing to the Father, bearing fruit in every good work, growing by the true knowledge of God, and being strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father.
In other words, it affects our life. This is the knowledge that we must have.
What is this full knowledge of God’s will? I think the key is in the second passage that we read, in Colossians 2:9-10: “For in Him, that is, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him.” Here, brothers and sisters, this is the full knowledge of God’s will.
What is God’s will? God’s will is centered upon His Son. God’s will is that in His Son all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. That is God’s will.
What is the fullness of the Godhead? We know the word dwelleth. For instance, in John 15, it is the word “abide,” and it is the same word. In the original, it makes it very plain: it simply means “makes home.” All the fullness of the Godhead makes its home in Christ.
Not just visiting, but staying, remaining, abiding, dwelling—making home in Christ Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, this is our Lord Jesus. He is the fullness of God.
Anything you can think of concerning God—His love, His holiness, His justice, His righteousness, His virtue, His power—whatever you can think of concerning God, all the fullness of the Godhead makes its home in Christ Jesus. In other words, Christ Jesus is the fullness of God.
In this little letter, Paul tries to explain a little of what he means.
First of all, he says that Christ is the image of the invisible God. We know that God is Spirit; therefore He is invisible. No one can see God.
The Son is the image of the invisible God. Now, the image does not refer to outward form. The word icon refers to inward quality. In other words, we find that the Son, Christ Jesus, is the image of the invisible God.
All the inward qualities that God is are in Him, and He is the full representation and the full manifestation of God. Our Lord Jesus said, “No one has ever seen the Father; but the Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.”
You remember when the disciples, after three years with Him, were gathered on the last night, and still one of them asked, “Show us the Father.” It surprises us. The Lord Jesus said, “Philip, I have been with you for three years, and you are still asking this question. Do you not know that if you see Me, you see the Father?”
Dear brothers and sisters, who is the Lord Jesus? He is the image of the invisible God. Today, all we know about God is through knowing Christ Jesus, because the Son has declared the Father and manifested the Father.
Even in the old days, as Hebrews 1:1 says, God spoke in many parts and in many ways through the prophets to the fathers; but in these last days He has spoken in His Son. Only the Son is the full representative of the Father, and only through Him is the Father fully manifested—nothing more and nothing less.
He is the image of the invisible God. It is according to that image that man was created, and it is to that image that one day, by the grace of God, we will be conformed.
Second, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him because He is the firstborn of all creation.
Now, we know this word firstborn. We have explained it before, and this morning I will just mention it. The word firstborn here does not refer to what we ordinarily think of as firstborn. The word firstborn in Scripture has two uses: one is a common use, and the other is a special use.
The common use is this: supposing in a family you are the firstborn, and then after you there will be others coming—your brothers and sisters. That is the common usage of the word firstborn.
But in Scripture there is a special usage. It does not refer to that kind of order. It refers to priority and sovereignty over. In other words, if you are the firstborn, then you are prior to everything that follows. You are not within the order; you are before that order. You are prior to it, and you have sovereignty over everything that comes after.
That is the meaning of firstborn. So “the firstborn of all creation” simply means that our Lord Jesus is prior to all creation. And I think it is explained here, because it says, “He is before all.” He is before all. In other words, He is not created; He is the Creator.
Why is He considered the firstborn of all creation? Because all things were created in Him, by Him, and for Him.
Unfortunately, in Colossians 1:16, the translators changed the word because they could not understand it. The verse says, “For in Him were all things created.” Later it says that all things have been created through Him and unto Him. But in the original, we find that these are different words: en, dia, and eis.
All things were created in Him because He is the Designer. He designs all things. All things take their character from Him. Then all things were created through Him: He is the Builder, the Engineer; He makes all things. And all things were created unto Him: He is the Owner; He is the Heir of all.
So, brothers and sisters, here we find the fullness of the Godhead in Him. He is the Creator of all. All things were created in Him, designed by Him, taking their character from Him. All things were created through Him: He made them. And all things were created unto Him: He is the Owner and the Heir of all. That is our Lord Jesus.
Third, He is the Head of the body, the church, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead. He is not only the Creator of the universe and of all creation; He is also the beginning, the Head, and the foundation of the new creation, which is the church.
The church is a new creation, and this new creation begins with Him. He is the Head, and out of Him comes the church.
We remember how, on the cross, when the soldier thrust the spear into His side, out came water and blood. The Apostle John said, “I saw it. I witnessed it. I say this is true.” Why was he so emphatic? Through the death of our Lord Jesus, out of His broken heart came forth blood for the remission of our sins, and water, life, that we may live.
Out of the death of our Lord, the church, the new creation, is born. It is on the basis of resurrection. It is not the old creation; it is a new creation. Therefore, it is on resurrection ground. Brothers and sisters, He is the Head of the body, which is the church.
Fourth, He is the Reconciler of all. We remember how God created all things, and man sinned. Because man sinned, the whole earth entered into corruption and vanity. You find that in Romans 8. The whole creation entered into the bondage of corruption and vanity, not because it was willing, but because it was subjected to it through the fall of man.
But here you find our Lord Jesus, the fullness of God. He came into this world, and when He died on the cross, He reconciled all things—not only mankind, but all things. That is to say, He brings all things back into harmony.
All things had been disintegrated, fallen into chaos, and lost their purposes. Now you find that the Lord Jesus came, and He brings everything back into harmony, back into meaning, into purpose, and into His own order.
This is our Lord Jesus. This is the full knowledge of God’s will: in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we see Christ as big as the Bible reveals Him to us, or do we see Christ merely as a little Christ? Thank God, we do see Him as our Savior. To us, that is the universe. But so far as God is concerned, that is just a kind of speck, because in God’s will Christ, His Son, is everything.
All knowledge is in Him. All wisdom is in Him. Everything is in Him. You look at the creation: He is the firstborn. You look at the new creation: He is the beginning. You look at reconciliation: you find that it is through Him. And you look at God: you find that He is the image of the invisible God.
In other words, the full knowledge of God’s will is that, to God, His Son Christ is all and in all. If this is so, why do we go outside of Christ trying to find our explanations, trying to find a solution to any problem?
There is not only the glory of Christ and the fullness of God in Him; it is said that in Him we are complete. Now, this word is spoken to us believers. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, and now it says, “You are complete in Him.”
The meaning is simply this: if this is what Christ is, and you are complete in Him, then why do you look for anything else? It is absurd.
We find the Apostle Paul, when you read Philippians 3, before he knew the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, he went after other knowledge. He laid hold of other things. He considered achievement to be in things other than Christ.
But one day, when he saw the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, he said, “I count all things as refuse. I count everything as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. To know Him—that is my one desire.”
In church history, you find a man called Count Zinzendorf. He was saved, I think, when he was four years old or six years old. As a little boy in the castle—he belonged to the nobility—he loved the Lord very much. He used to sit by the window and write on papers, “Jesus loves you,” and so forth, throwing them out of the window, hoping someone might pick one up. In his mind, he simply loved the Lord Jesus.
Do you know what he said? He said, “I have only one passion. I have only one passion: Jesus Christ.” That is one passion.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we are really filled with the full knowledge of God’s will, if we really see Who Jesus is and what He is, I wonder if we can have more than one passion. Should that not fill us with that one longing, one desire, to know Him? Just as Paul said, “To know Him, and the power of His resurrection.”
In Him, you are complete. I believe this is through union with Him. Why? Because when you believe in the Lord Jesus, something tremendous happens.
We often think that when we believe in the Lord Jesus, our sins are forgiven. Thank God for that; that is true. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we receive a new life. That is true.
But why are your sins forgiven when you believe in the Lord Jesus? He died two thousand years ago, and you committed your sins only in this age. How come that when you believe in the Lord Jesus all your sins are forgiven? How come that when you believe in the Lord Jesus you receive a new life? He poured out His life two thousand years ago. How come that you receive it today? How did it happen?
Oh, brothers and sisters, something tremendous happened: when you believed in the Lord Jesus, a union happened.
In 1 Corinthians 1:30, it says, “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.” In other words, when you receive the Lord Jesus, not only does the Lord Jesus come into you, but God has put you into the Lord Jesus. A union has taken place.
You are in Christ, and Christ is in you. Because of this, your sins are forgiven and a new life is received.
Let me illustrate. After God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, His purpose was not merely to deliver them out of Egypt and leave them in the wilderness. The purpose for which God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt was to lead them into the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey.
In other words, God gave the land of Canaan to the children of Israel as their inheritance. God said, “I give this land to you as your inheritance.”
What kind of land was it? If you read Deuteronomy 8, it says:
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land,
a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills;
a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates;
a land of olive trees and honey;
a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it;
a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper.
And thou shalt eat and be full,
and thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.
The land that God gave to the children of Israel as their inheritance was a good land. It was a land filled with every good thing. When they were there, they would eat and be filled, and bless the Lord.
Then in Deuteronomy 6, it says:
And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers,
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee,
great and good cities, which thou buildedst not,
and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not,
and cisterns hewn out, which thou hewedst not,
vineyards and olive-trees, which thou plantedst not,
and thou shalt eat and be full.
Again, when they entered into the land, they found the cities already built. They did not need to build them. They found houses not only built, but filled with good things. They found fields already planted, vineyards already planted, and wells already dug. They just entered in, enjoyed, and were filled.
Now, brothers and sisters, that is the picture. We are complete in Christ. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, God has put us into Christ. Christ has become our land flowing with milk and honey. He is the great and good land. Christ is our inheritance.
You find that in Him everything is ready. All the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ are available to us. It is all yours. You are complete in Him. You do not need to dig a well; all you need to do is draw.
Everything is available in Christ. Christ has done everything for us. Everything He has done is for our sake. He says, “Just come and enjoy Me. You are complete in Me.”
Let me mention a few things we find in the letter to the Colossians. In Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, forgiving us all our offences.
Now, brothers and sisters, we have sinned terribly. We have offended God greatly. But thank God, in Christ Jesus we find that our sins are forgiven.
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. All our sins are washed away. All those offences are forgiven—not only forgiven, but forgotten. God does not remember your sins anymore. Now think of it: He has redeemed us out of all the curse of the law, so that we do not need to die anymore. You find it is all in Christ.
It is because you are united with Him that your sins are forgiven, your offences are forgotten, and you are redeemed from the curse of the law. Now that is just the beginning.
You are complete in Him, having been circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, not only are our sins forgiven, our offences forgotten, and we redeemed from the curse of the law, but we have been circumcised—not physically, but with the circumcision of the heart.
It is the circumcision of Christ. In other words, when we believe in the Lord Jesus, He has given us a new heart: a heart that is tender, soft, and sensitive. Our heart has been circumcised. He has delivered us out of the bondage of the flesh.
Why? When He died, you and I died in Him. We are now a new creature.
When we are baptized, it says we were buried with Him and also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, Who raised Him from among the dead. Christ not only died for us, and we died with Him and in Him; He was also raised. In other words, the old things have passed away.
When we come out of the water, we declare that from now on it is Christ Who lives in me. Is that not wonderful? Brothers and sisters, it is no longer I who live.
Sometimes you find yourself very bothersome, almost like Paul says, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?” According to tradition, in the Roman world, when they wanted to punish a murderer, they used to bind the corpse of the murdered person to the murderer—face to face, hand to hand, feet to feet, mouth to mouth—until gradually the poison of the corrupted corpse penetrated that living man, and he died from it.
That is what Paul said: “Who can deliver me from this wretched body?” Sometimes we feel this wretched self. Why is it that it still comes out? Oh, it has been buried. Oh, it has died. Well, it was dead, it was buried—but you take it out again.
If you believe through faith in Jesus Christ, when Christ was buried, you were buried with Him; and when He was raised from the dead, you were raised with Him from the dead in newness of life. Brothers and sisters, if only you believe what He has done for you, then it is done.
Having blotted out the handwriting in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, He took it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
You know, in the old days, when somebody borrowed something from you, he would give you a paper: “I owe you.” With that paper, one day you could demand payment. But when it had been paid, the creditor would give back the IOU paper. What would you do? You would nail it up. That handwriting, that signature saying, “I owe you,” is nailed up. It means that it has been paid—fully paid.
Brothers and sisters, that is what Christ did for us. We all have signed an IOU. When God said, “These are My laws,” we, like the children of Israel, said again and again, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” We signed, but we could not do it. We owed God by our handwriting. But Christ died on the cross; He paid for us, and the handwriting is nailed to the cross.
Dear brothers and sisters, what mercy!
He has delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We are no longer under the authority of darkness.
The enemy tries to keep people in darkness, and he has authority to do that because people belong to him. But we who belong to the Lord—he has no authority to keep us in darkness. God has already translated us out of the authority of darkness and transported us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We are now in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Son of His love.
So all we need to obey is the Son of God, not the enemy. He has stripped principalities and authorities, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. In other words, when Christ died on the cross, He spoiled principalities and authorities—all the powers of wickedness and the spiritual powers of darkness.
He has defeated them completely. Because He has defeated them, there is no reason why we should be defeated. We can claim the victory of Christ over all the works of the enemy.
Brothers and sisters, these are just a few things to show that we are complete in Him. There is nothing that we need, whether to know or to live, that we cannot find in Christ Jesus. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and ye are made full in Him.
Now, if this is the case, what should be our attitude?
As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk in Him,
rooted and builded up in Him,
and established in your faith, even as ye were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.
If this is so, dear brothers and sisters, then what do we do? We walk in Him. We are rooted in Him. We are built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving.
In other words, do not look outside of Him. Find everything in Him.
If you do, you are delivered from all heresy. For instance, Jewish ceremonialism—meat, drink, feast days, new moons, sabbaths. These things in Old Testament times were given by God, but they were shadows preparing for the reality to come.
When Christ, the reality—the body of which these things were shadows—has come, then the shadows have gone away. There is no need for these external exercises because you already have the body, the reality: Christ.
If this is the case, then what is the need for all these “Do not touch, do not taste,” and all these mystical things, all these speculations? You do not need them, because you have already been delivered from the elements of the world.
Your life is now hid with Christ in God. Set your mind on the things that are above. We become a heavenly people. We will be delivered from all these earthly things. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the will of God.
Finally, when you come to the ministry of the Apostle Paul, you find that this is what his ministry did. Do you remember in Colossians he said:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and fill up on my part in my flesh
that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ
for His body’s sake, which is the church.
In other words, you find Paul willing to suffer for the church.
Whom we proclaim,
admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom,
that we may present every man perfect in Christ.
True ministry has only this goal, this end: to present every man perfect in Christ. That you may find yourself perfected. And how? Where? In Christ—never in anything else.
If you try to be perfected in anything else, you are unperfected. But if you want to be perfect, it has to be in Christ. This is the ministry of the Apostle Paul. He admonished, he taught, he toiled, he prayed, and it was only for that purpose: that he might present us perfect in Christ.
This is also the ministry of Epaphras, because Paul mentions Epaphras. He said that Epaphras was always striving earnestly for the believers in his prayers, to the end that they might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
What is the will of God? The will of God is that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, and you are complete in Him. That is the will of God.
So, brothers and sisters, as we approach this little letter to the Colossians, may we have a full knowledge of God’s will. Oh, that we may see Christ, the fullness of God, and that we are made partakers of His fullness.
Our Heavenly Father, we do look to Thee for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, unto the full knowledge of God. We pray that Thou wilt open our understanding, that we may see Christ as the fullness of God, and that we are complete in Him.
We pray that as we see Him, our faith may rise within us to claim Him as our own and all in all. We pray that we may not in any way be distracted outside of Christ, but that we may walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and be thankful at all times. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.