The Epistle to the Colossians
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Introduction[i]
The
Epistle to the Colossians looks at the Christian as risen with Christ, but not,
as in that to the Ephesians, as sitting in heavenly places in Christ. A hope is
laid up for him in heaven; he is to set his affections on things above, not on
things on the earth. He has died with Christ and he is risen with Him, but not
sitting in heavenly places in Him yet. We have in it a proof of that which
other epistles demonstrate, namely, the blessed way in which our God in His
grace turns everything to the good of those that love Him.
In
the Epistle to the Ephesians the Holy Ghost had developed the counsels of God
with regard to the church — its privileges. The Christians of Ephesus had
nothing to be reproached with: [1] therefore
the Holy Ghost could use the occasion furnished by that faithful flock to
unfold all the privileges which God had ordained for the church at large, by
virtue of its union with Jesus Christ its Head, as well as the individual
privileges of the children of God.
It
was not so with the Colossians. They had in some measure slipped away from this
blessed portion, and lost the sense of their union with the Head of the body;
at least, if it was not actually so, they were assailed by the danger, and
liable to the influence of those who sought to draw them away from it, and
subject them to the influence of philosophy and Judaism, so that the apostle
had to occupy himself with the danger, and not merely with their privileges.
This union with our Head (thank God!) cannot itself be lost; but as a truth in
the church, or of realisation by individuals, it may. We know this but too well
in the church of the day we live in. This however gives occasion to the Spirit
of God to develop all the riches and all the perfection which are found in the
Head and in His work, in order to recover the members of the body from their
spiritual feebleness, or maintain them in the full practical enjoyment of their
union with Christ, and in the power of the position gained for them by that
union. For us this is abiding instruction with regard to the riches that are in
the Head.
If
the Epistle to the Ephesians delineates the privileges of the body, that to the
Colossians reveals the fullness that is in the head, and our completeness in
Him. Thus in that to the Ephesians the church is the fullness of Him who
filleth all in all; in that to the Colossians, all the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in Christ bodily, and we are complete in Him. There is another
difference however, which it is important to remark. In the Epistle to the
Colossians we do not — save in the expression, "love in the Spirit "
— find any mention of the Holy Ghost. He is fully brought forward in the
Ephesians. But on the other hand, we have Christ as our life far more fully
developed, of equal importance in its place. In Ephesians we have more largely
the contrast of heathenism with christian privilege and state. The formation of
the soul in living likeness to Christ is largely developed in Colossians. It is
more, in the well-known expressions, Christ in us than we in Christ, though
these cannot be separated. A further important difference is that in Ephesians
the unity of Jew and Gentile in one body holds a large place. In Colossians the
Gentiles only are in view, though in connection with the doctrine of the body.
These differences well noted, we may say that the two epistles have a great
resemblance in their general character.
They
commence in nearly the same way. [2] Both are
written from Rome, while the apostle was a prisoner in that city, and sent by
the same messenger and on the same occasion, as well probably as that to
Philemon: so the names and salutations give us reason to believe. The address
to the Ephesians places them perhaps more immediately in connection with God
Himself, instead of presenting them as in brotherly communion on earth. They
are not called brethren in Eph_1:1,
only saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. They are viewed as walking on earth
in Colossians, though risen. Hence there is a long prayer for their walk,
though on high and holy ground as delivered. In Ephesians it begins with the
full purpose and fruit of God's counsels. In that epistle the apostle's heart
expands at once in the sense of the blessings enjoyed by the Ephesians. They
were blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. For
the Colossians there was a hope laid up in heaven. And there is a preface of
many Verses referring to the gospel they had heard, and introducing his prayer
for their walk and state down here. This brings us where Eph_1:7 brings us, but with a much more enlarged
development of the personal glory of Christ, and more in an historical way of
God's actual dealings. It is also a more personal church address than the
Ephesians.
Note #1
How
painful it is to see this beloved church taken afterwards as an example of the
first love being lost! But all tends to the end.
Note #2
The name of Timotheus is not found in the address to the saints at Ephesus.