Paul Chapter 19 All in Christ

Chapter 19

All in Christ

Paul’s bold claim of universal reconciliation for all, both heavenly and earthly is a necessary extension of his revelation of the oneness of Christ Jesus with the Father. If Christ is the image of the invisible God, and if He (Christ) created everything in heaven and earth for Himself, and if all things consist in Him, then the ministry of the cross is a marvelous witness of God’s compassionate plan to restore the entirety of His beloved creation. The judicious love of God compels Him to restore His wayward creation, addressing sin with the gracious provision of the bloody cross of Christ. Being both God and Man, Christ’s death has redemptive authority over all creation, both: spiritual and physical, human and angelic. In the light of these wondrous and previously hidden truths, Paul pleads with the Colossian believers to continue in the faith and hope of the good news of Christ.[1] An honest, objective reading of Paul precludes any notion of a Godhead consisting of three separate and distinct personages. He confesses the mystery of God’s manifestation in Christ while dauntlessly proclaiming Christ, not as a member of, but the sum of the Godhead.[2] The theology of the Godhead and how the Godhead interacts with the Children of God is declared with monumental simplicity in Eph. 4:4-6; “The father is above us, through us, and in us all. This is the sum of our faith and calling; this is our baptism”. Paul, though irritating to those who cling tenaciously to convoluted denominational dogmas, reveals with liberating clarity the oneness of God and the singularity of His relationship with His people. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has been obscured by generations of creedal sophistry, but with Paul there is no confusion regarding the identification of the Spirit in dwelling the Children of God, it is: “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.[3] Paul issues a somber warning concerning those who would seduce the minds of the believers, plundering their precious faith, leaving them in bondage to casuistic philosophies and hollow conjecture.[4]

“Show us the Father and we will be satisfied” was the exasperated appeal of the benighted disciples of Jesus.[5] Paul’s disciples were no different, indeed, it is the universal cry of humanity for God to show Himself, come out of hiding, and take charge. Jesus disappointed his disciples with his mystifying response: “if you have seen me you have seen the Father.”

Deception and greed thrive on the human compulsion to control and be controlled. Paul understands for he is one who has reflected deeply on his own soul. He was driven by the need for a sense of membership and religious identification in the sect of the Pharisees. He desperately sought the approval and acclamation of his leaders to the point of fanaticism, even violence toward dissenters. He was party to the Jews who sought a sign from God; not getting one that satisfied their yearning for a grand and glorious manifestation, they persevered in their effort to compensate for God’s humility (Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son) with proud traditions, abuse of authority, and a demand for Yahweh to show Himself worthy of their expectations. The Jews were so obsessed with control they were compelled to conscript and train young men to enforce their authority, if necessary with violent force. The zealous temple guard of first century Judaism was the spine-chilling precursor of every control crazed religious institution to follow.

Jesus, and in turn, Paul, irritated the Jews to distraction with their unwillingness to retaliate. The idea of a lamb-like messiah submitting himself to torture and execution and his followers being led like sheep to slaughter was incomprehensible and repugnant to them. Gentleness, a cardinal tenet of Paul’s practical theology,[6] personified in Jesus of Nazareth, was lost to them through generations of violent struggle with their enemies. But for the fiery-natured Apostle gentleness was a profoundly searching test of the authenticity and character of his faith, learned, not in seminarian theory but in the daily crucible of life with others, especially the irascible Jews. He was in the final analysis a gentle prophet to these ill-tempered countrymen who were obliged to crucify the Savior, thinking to merit the favor of God for the act. But Paul, knowing the revolutionary nature of God’s covenant love, understood the necessity of the crucifixion of Christ and the sacrificial identification of the faithful with the cross. The Jews were blinded and hardened in their hearts by God Himself that they should wield the sword against Christ and His people. Paul makes the following arresting statement concerning God’s sovereign act of hiding the identity of Christ from the Jews and hardening their hearts against the truth of Christ and His Church, “But we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”.[7] This is an exclusive word to those who are mature, having been deeply penetrated by the Spirit of God, able to make critical distinctions, comparing spiritual things, with spiritual.[8] All religions and philosophies are vain attempts to understand what cannot be understood. The deep things of God confound the natural intellect but Paul speaks to those who have spiritual discernment—those who have the mind of Christ. They are an exclusive community of believers humbly fellowshipping in their ability to range across the whole counsel of God as the Holy Spirit reveals it. They live free of institutional constraints, and compelled by the law of liberty are compassionate and gentle with those who have yet to come of age in knowledge and understanding of the riches of Christ. Paul recognized the recondite nature of his message, pressing his point to the frustration of those lacking discernment but to the deep satisfaction of the mature ones. Yet Paul, the apostle-prophet is always tempered by Paul the Shepherd of Christ’s lambs that are totally dependent on the Shepherd for care and protection. He knows they are often misguided, confused, and in opposition to the will of God but they are relentlessly loved by the Father and absolutely included in the victory of Christ.

Shallow commentators react to Paul, narrowly interpreting him as a bigoted exclusionist, much to the contrary; he is deeply moved by the love of God for His groaning creation and all His estranged children.



[1] Col. 1:15-20

[2] Col. 2:9, I Tim. 3:16

[3] Col. 1:27

[4] Col. 2:8

[5] John 13:8-9

[6] 1 Cor. 4:21, Gal. 5:23, Eph. 4:2, Phil. 4:5, 1 Thess. 2:7

[7] 1 Cor. 2:6-8

[8] 1 Cor. 2:13