An Established Community - Colossians 2:1-10 Part Two

An Established Community – Colossians 2:1-10

Part Two

The Unparalleled Supremacy of Christ: A General Overview

Paul challenges the notion of consigning the rituals of baptism and the rite of conversion to terminal occurrences in the Christian life.  He writes to combat the possibility that the Colossians will lapse into mixing and matching faiths and loyalties.  Undoubtedly, this tendency spreads confusion; weakens the value of the gospel; and eventuates in moral and ethical compromise.  He exceedingly desires that these new and young believers, many of whom Paul had not met personally, “may have the full riches of complete understanding.”  In essence, he submits that coming to know Christ and being baptized in His name is only the beginning of a lifelong journey.  He earnestly prays that they will comprehend the intricate mysteries that God reveals in Christ who possesses the hidden treasures of godly counsel and teaching. 

In contemporary halls of academe and departments of Religion, the paradigm of “Higher Biblical Criticism” posits that a learned, reasonable person cannot accept the Bible at face value.  Rather, he must study the ancient languages and the cultural origins that produced the text to determine its most legitimate meaning.  We cannot assume that it means what it says.  We must allow for the fallibility of the human agents who wrote the books of the Bible.  Actually, the scriptures contain the record of the history, religion and literature of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament writings.  This construct which mimics the scientific method and thereby subscribes to its criteria for determining truth undercuts the worth of revelation, propositional truth, and biblical claims of divine inspiration.  Seductively, this way of thinking appears to empower its adherents by freeing them from allegiance to a “parrot religion.”  However, it is essentially powerlessness when its followers face life threatening health challenges, the failure of marriages, broken homes and the other adversities and circumstances of life that average believers confront daily.

Paul appeals to the Colossians to be orderly and firm in their faith in Christ.  Practically speaking, he first recommends a systematic and disciplined study of the gospel.  Second, he suggests that they resist the temptation of wavering.  Should they heed this advice, they will continue in Christ being “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.”  Paul assures the Colossians of the worth of investing the time, talent, tithe and temperament, as they deepen their relationships with Christ. 

Consider what they will miss if they remain as babes in the faith.  They will never know the genuine faithfulness of Christ.  They will not experience the enduring power and wisdom of the gospel to redress each and every human challenge.  They will not progress to the point of trusting Almighty God when one does not have any other options or resources upon which to rely.  If they fail to harden their commitment to Christ, they will not be able to genuinely rely upon Him and trust the truth of His teachings.  The mere fact that they would entertain alternative philosophies demonstrates a lack of trust in the gospel.  Paul wants them to rest assuredly upon the claims of Christ of who He is, the embodiment of the fullness of the Deity.

The Unquestionable Supremacy of Christ

Paul opens this chapter expressing his fervent concern for the Church at Colosse and for their neighboring brothers and sisters in the Lord, the Church at Laodicea, which was roughly ten miles to the east.  Located on a square plateau approximately one hundred feet above a valley, Laodicea had “extensive fertile fields and good grazing grounds.”  These natural resources allowed the raising of large numbers of sheep.  Their “glossy black wool” supported a fluid market of clothing and decorative rugs.  A center of commerce and affluence, Laodicea enjoyed a favorable reputation for its geographical and financial wealth.  Apparently, the Christians in Laodicea allowed themselves to be unduly influenced by the fame, culture, status and society of this secular capital in the region of Phrygia.  Living in this “Metropolis of Asia,” the Laodicean believers conceivably began to syncretize their newfound Christian beliefs with the predominant social practices and mores of the town.  The end result is that the supremacy of Christ suffers.  Not surprisingly, the close proximity of Laodicea to Colosse created a similar problem for the Christians there.

Bordering the Lycas Valley and geographically located in the east-west commercial route that spans Ephesus to the Euphrates River, Colosse experienced eminence and richness until the eighth century of the Common Era.  Arguably the principles of Christianity inherently clash with the dictates of capitalism and commerce.  The teachings of Christ greatly challenge the culture about the just, reasonable and dignified distribution of resources.  The ideology of “rugged individualism” motivates people to earn all that they can without equally challenging them to share with the most vulnerable citizens whom the Lord characterizes as “the least.”  Allegiance to this selfish impulse impedes greatly a disciple’s loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ.  It further prevents believers from obeying The Great Commandment and fulfilling The Great Commission.  Commitments to secular and humanistic principles invariably devalue devotion to Christ.  That was the case in ancient Colosse.  More unfortunately, it is the case for contemporary American Christians who struggle to grant Christ total dedication notwithstanding the competing demands of patriotism, civil religion and citizenship to the contrary.  The prosperity, technology, science and global prominence of the United States greatly challenge American believers to adhere with integrity to the biblical teachings of the Lord.

Christology is the technical theological term for the devotion to the Lord and its number on the list of a disciple’s priorities.  A “high Christology” means that Jesus of Nazareth is the Risen Lord and Savior of your life.  As a result, He is your “Ultimate Concern,” as you live to His honor and glory with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength.  The opposite view relegates Jesus to being a good moral teacher who parables, sermons and discourses exceed the great Western philosophical thinkers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.  In Colosse, a heresy called Docetism emerged from the combination of the foregoing socio-economic and socio-political context and the generational distance from the original apostles’ teachings.  Docetism struck at the heart of the doctrine of the divinity of Christ.  It alleged that Jesus was not incarnate.  The apostles witnessed a ghost essentially.  This being appeared to have human form; hence their fondness for him.  As a consequence, the resurrection was an apparition in that a facsimile of a human person was crucified and not an actual man.  Taken to its logical conclusion, the foundation of the Christian faith is questionable as the apostles’ teaching centers specifically upon the crucifixion.  This letter to the Christians at Colosse is written to clarify this theological error and reaffirm the unquestionable supremacy of Christ.

Paul proceeds to state his fervent concern that the Colossians obtain the “full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  The fluid economic market of Colosse in turn yielded a vibrant market of ideas and theologies.  Mystery religions proliferated, not surprisingly.  This pluralism lent itself to the process of syncretism in which the teachings of different belief systems were combined due to personal preference.  People would pick and choose the aspects of inherently contradictory systems and blend them.  The apostle writes to combat this practice and its ultimate effect of undermining the doctrine of the divinity of Christ.  Moreover, he pronounces Christ as the final answer to the enduring questions of the mystery religions.  God’s ultimate revelation is Jesus Christ.

Straightforwardly, Paul declares his purpose of protecting the Colossian believers from the deception of “fine sounding arguments.”  The marketplace of ideas often sells many attractive concepts with luscious appeal.  Generally, they are laced with half-truths to which many people succumb if they fail to scrutinize carefully the internal logic and practical outcomes of the ideas.  What good is a religion that lacks a strong moral and ethical core?  Can you have genuine spirituality without practical morality?  Is religion worthwhile if it lacks intellectual respectability?  Paul’s physical absence propels this letter as he desires to see the Colossians mature in their firmness in faith in Christ.

Paul exhorts the Church to persevere in the faith that they were taught by those persons who received the original teachings of the apostles. Understandably, as the first generation of Christians died, their descendants, if unlearned in the original faith, would be ripe for manipulation, deceit and syncretism.  Deepening their knowledge in the faith would be their surest defense against such temptations and misfortunes.  Quite simply, he admonishes them to hold fast to the faith that they were taught.  Similarly, today’s Church must return to biblical roots.  Tradition has usurped the authority of scripture.  The average church attendee knows church traditions better than he or she knows the Bible.  The prevalent and profound biblical illiteracy that plagues most churches creates the vacuum in which secular, humanistic and corporate ideas pervade the affairs of the Church.  Paul warns the Colossians to guard against the possible imprisonment of “hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principle of this world rather than on Christ.”  Contemporary believers face the same dilemma.

Today’s passage end with Paul’s doctrinal and pastoral affirmation that the “fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” in Christ.  He irrevocably asserts and clarifies that doctrine of the Incarnation which is necessary to the actual atonement in the crucifixion and the non-negotiable bodily resurrection of Christ.  This progression of the mysterious and paradoxical revelation of Christ is necessary to establish the Lordship of Jesus Christ, “who the head over every power and authority.”  Summarily, Paul argues for the unquestionable supremacy of Christ in the individual and collective lives of every believer.