Colossians 1:15-23, Part 15

Paul reminds the Colossians that once they were in this condition, but they did not remain in it. This is because God has reconciled them through Christ. And here we enter into the area of christology, the person and work of Christ, especially as it relates to soteriology. We have considered Christ as creator and sustainer, and now we will see him in his role as redeemer.

We have already discussed Christ's deity in connection with the statement, "He is the image of the invisible God," and in connection with his role in creation and providence. He has all the essential qualities and powers of God the Father, or the divine attributes. Moreover, verse 19 says, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him." At the same time, Christ possesses a human nature. This is indicated by the fact that he has a "physical body" that could undergo death, and by which he atoned for the sins of the elect.

Here we note again that the passage places the emphasis on Christ not only as God the Son, or the second member of the Trinity, but as Christ the mediator, as one who has taken upon himself a human nature by which he visited the earth and redeemed the chosen ones. That is, of course God the Son is divine, but since he has remained the same in his divine nature, then so is the incarnation of the Son, Jesus Christ.

He is so truly God that he is the very image of the Father, and he is so truly human that he could undergo physical death. Both aspects of his person, the divine and the human, must be maintained. In our context, both would counter false strands in Gnostic teachings, if indeed Paul is writing to confront them. In any case, the positive affirmation of the full deity and humanity of Christ is more important than the exact nature of the heresy that Paul writes to refute, that is, if there is a heresy in view at all. By affirming the truth concerning both the deity and humanity of Christ, all teachings that undermine either are then known as false.

This proper understanding of the nature of Christ is necessary to preserve a biblical doctrine on the work of Christ. At this time our focus turns to the atonement. The deity of Christ lends to his death infinite value and significance, but since God cannot die, it is the humanity of Christ that makes it possible for such a death to occur. The doctrine of the atonement, then, refers to Christ's work of sacrifice by which he secured redemption for those who would believe, and effected reconciliation between God and these chosen ones.

Paul writes, "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (v. 22, 20). The reconciliation has been brought about through the death of Christ's physical body. It was not some spiritual or symbolic death, but among other things, a physical one. Moreover, this death occurred "on the cross," emphasizing the history and implying the sufficiency of the event. It happened at a definite time and at a definite location, and it does not need to be repeated. This prevents the atonement from being only a spiritual or symbolic event in our doctrine, and it excludes any theory that in some sense suggests a repetition of the event, as in the Roman Catholic view of the Lord's Supper. Thus an insistence on this physical and historical aspect of the work of Christ is in itself a valuable and necessary affirmation of saving truth, and at the same time a repudiation of many heresies.