RISEN WITH CHRIST
Richard Brown
I would like to say a few words as to being risen with Christ. What does that mean, and how do we come into the good of it through our soul exercises? Before I comment on the detail of the passage we have read I would like to give a brief outline of the first three chapters of the epistle, to show how this teaching fits into its wider context. I would also like to encourage more prayerful study of the word, and with that in mind I thought it might be helpful if, in passing, I made a few suggestions, perhaps especially for the benefit of those of us who are younger, as to how we might usefully approach the epistles. For example, it has been said by those who have helped us in the truth, that Christ is presented in a particular light in each epistle. You will find that if you look at them.
I wanted to suggest, as far as our epistle is concerned, that we find the key to the way Christ is presented in it in chapter 1, “He is the head of the body” (v.18). I believe that expression is unique to this epistle. You will not find it anywhere else in the Scriptures. I would like to suggest that it gives character to the whole epistle. We shall say more about that in a moment.
Another thing to look for when taking up the epistles is to see how the saints are presented in them. I think you will find that, generally speaking, the saints are presented in one of two lights. On the one hand, they can be presented as here upon the earth, making their way through the wilderness, as we speak of it, afflicted by weakness within and confronted by enemies without, liable to fail, and needing God’s help and support. A typical example of an epistle which presents the saints in this light would be the Epistle to the Romans; which is why much is said in that epistle about sins and sin, about the flesh and the need for deliverance; and why the Holy Spirit is presented as helping us in our weakness.
But there is another view of the saints. As those who have helped us used to say, We were saints in purpose before we were sinners in practice. There is another view of the saints, and that is as they are according to the purpose of God. The best example of an epistle which presents the saints in this light is the Epistle to the Ephesians. In Ephesians the saints are not viewed as here upon the earth, but they are viewed as seated in the heavenlies (see Eph 2: 6). The blessings are also presented as in the heavenlies, and even the conflict is presented as being there.
How then are the saints presented in the Epistle to the Colossians? In Colossians the saints are presented as having their heart and mind above, but their bodies here upon the earth. If you look at chapter 3, it says, “have your mind on the things that are above” (v.2); and in the next verse it says, “your life is hid with the Christ in God”. Then in verse 5 it says, “Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth.” In Colossians the saints are viewed as having their hearts and minds, having their interests and their life, above, and their bodies here upon the earth. You can see from that why it is that the Epistle to the Colossians has been referred to as an “on the way” epistle. It fits in between Romans and Ephesians. In Romans we are taught the necessity for the saints having died with Christ. In Colossians we are taught that the saints have not only died with Him, but they have been raised with Him. Then in Ephesians we see that we have not only been raised, but we have been seated in the heavenlies. How glorious that is!
I only say these things to show you that the saints are presented in a particular light in each of the epistles. So as we approach the epistles the first thing to ask ourselves is, What is the particular aspect in which Christ is presented? The next thing to ask is, What is the particular view of the saints in an epistle? Then there is a third point, and that is, what was the particular purpose in writing? Now what I am about to say particularly applies to Paul’s epistles. We have to remember that while we are familiar with finding them in the Scriptures, in the first place these epistles were letters: letters to local assemblies or letters to individuals. If we think of the epistles that Paul wrote to local assemblies it is important to bear in mind that, apart from the Epistle to the Romans and the Epistle to the Ephesians, all of them, to greater or lesser degree, are in some way corrective. Romans and Ephesians are purely instructive. That does not mean that there is not what is corrective in them, but it was not the purpose in writing. But every other epistle that Paul wrote to a local assembly is in some way corrective. It seems to me that if we are to understand the way that the truth is presented in an epistle, we need to understand what the error was that Paul was seeking to correct, or the tendency that he was seeking to check. As we know, it was bad practice at Corinth. It was wrong doctrine in Galatia. It gives a colour to the way that the truth is presented. For example, we cannot help but notice that the coming of the Lord is very prominent in the Epistles to the Thessalonians. It comes into just about every chapter. Yet it is not mentioned at all in the Epistle to the Galatians or the Epistle to the Ephesians. These things are full of instruction for us as to the particular way the apostle was presenting the truth, the particular burden in his mind in writing to the saints.
Well, why did the apostle write to the saints at Colosse? There is no record in the Scriptures that he ever went to Colosse. It seems from chapter 2 verse 1 that he includes the Colossians with those who had not seen his face in flesh. We know that at the time of writing he was, in fact, imprisoned at Rome. It would seem that somebody had come from Colosse to Rome, to tell him about the Colossian saints. It may be that that someone was Epaphras. And it may be that much of what Paul learnt of the Colossians was gathered from hearing Epaphras pray for his local brethren (see Col 4: 12). There is something perhaps for us to consider in that.
At any rate, what Paul learnt about the Colossians was mixed. On the one hand, he heard that, fundamentally, they were going on well. He refers to them in chapter 1 as “holy and faithful brethren”, (v.2). But alongside of that Paul discerned they were in great danger. Paul heard that they were becoming religious, in the worldly sense of the word. They were developing a certain religious exterior. They were adopting certain religious habits and customs. He refers to “philosophy and vain deceit” in chapter 2, and their being judged “in meat or in drink, or in matter of feast, or new moon, or Sabbaths”. He refers to worshipping angels and, lower down, to not handling, not tasting, not touching – they were becoming religious. Paul discerned that the underlying cause was that the saints in Colosse were losing sight of their heavenly association with Christ. I wonder if that is a danger, dear brethren, in our own time? Maybe, with the passing of the years, we carry on doing what we have always done, what we might speak of as the weekly routine of Christian duty. But what about living attachment to Christ? The saints at Colosse were in danger of losing sight of that. It is so easy. I speak from my own little experience. It is easy just to go on week after week. But what about living attachment to our glorified Head? You can see why it is, I trust, that the apostle should write to these Colossian saints, and present Jesus as “the head of the body”.
So he brings before them the glory of the Head, in chapter 1. I do not suppose there is anywhere in Scripture that we get a more complete unfolding of the personal glories of our Lord Jesus Christ. He does not elaborate on any one of them in great detail. But he brings them forward one after another, like a man bringing forth precious gems out of his treasure. We have “the Son of his love”, we have the One “who is image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation”, and the One by whom and for whom all things were created. And you notice those emphatic “he”s in verses 17 and 18. “He”, he says, “is before all, and all things subsist together by him.” Paul would say, You dear Colossians, you were going elsewhere for your resource, but He is before all. Let us ponder that for a moment. It says a little earlier, “All things have been created by him and for him.” That is tremendous! To think of this blessed Person as responsible for creating the whole universe: the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth with all its varied forms of life. But “all things subsist together by him” means that, not only has He created it all, but at this point in time, at this very moment, He sustains it all in life. How great He is! Then Paul says, “And he is the head of the body.” He would say to these Colossians, He is your Head! To go anywhere else for your resource is a very poor second best in the light of this glorious Person who is the Head of the body. I think the apostle is appealing to the affections of these Colossian saints. He is appealing to their hearts. Dear brethren, he would say to them, why did you go elsewhere? He, and only He, could be the Head of the body. I trust that the Spirit of God might work the glory of this blessed Man into our affections.
You can imagine that these Colossian saints would say to Paul, That is very wonderful Paul, but how can we be associated with One so great? So Paul comes to chapter 2, and brings in this precious truth as to the saints’ place as raised with Christ. He would say, In God’s sight you already are associated with Him. And then Paul would say that if you have this glorious Head, and if you have persons who are raised with Him, then you must have a circle where He is supreme. So in chapter 3 the apostle comes to this circle. In chapter 3: 11 we have what has been described as the Christian circle, “Wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondmen, freeman; but Christ is everything, and in all.” It must be so.
Can you see how Paul brings forward this teaching? In chapter 1 you have the glory of the Head. In chapter 3 you have the circle where He is supreme. But in chapter 2 you have this precious truth as to the saints as raised with Christ, the truth that connects these two thoughts together. You can see the importance, I trust, of this truth as to being risen with Christ. What I would like to submit to the judgment of the brethren is this: it is only one who is true to his place as raised with Christ who will experience the Headship of Christ. It is only one who is true to his place as raised with Christ who will find his place rightly in the Christian circle. I just want to submit that to the consideration of the brethren, but I think if you follow the way that Paul develops the teaching in this epistle you will see the force of it.
I bring before you this glorious truth as to being risen with Christ. The first thing about it is that ‘raised with Christ’ is God’s view of the saints. I want to lodge that in each of our hearts. We want to be preserved in our minds from anything mystical or fanciful. It is very evident that none of us are literally raised with Christ, otherwise we would not be sitting here in this room. But it is God’s view of you, dear brother or sister. And it is as much His mind about you that you are raised with Christ as it is that you should be forgiven your sins and justified. In fact it is more His mind about you. For God has other families who will also be forgiven and justified, but there is no other family, there is no other company of persons like the saints of the assembly, who will be raised with Christ in the way in which Paul speaks of it here. It seems to me that if in any way we miss it, then we miss the particular light, the particular privilege, that is ours.
Now how is it that God can see us as raised with Christ? The reason is that the work that was necessary to put us in that place has already been accomplished, and the proof of it is that God has raised Jesus. I would draw your attention to verse 12, it says, “in which ye have been also raised with him through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead.” The fact that God has raised Jesus is the proof that every question as to my guilty past has been resolved. The fact that God has raised Jesus is the proof that every question as to my fallen state has been resolved. If that is the case, then now it is only a matter of time before God raises me. Is that not glorious? The fact that God has raised Jesus means that every moral question in the universe has been resolved to His complete satisfaction. All that remains is the act of His mighty power to translate the saints into their new place actually. I think this is very glorious. All the work has been done. All that is left now is the act of God’s mighty power. I trust you will understand what I mean when I say it is a greater moral victory that Jesus should be at the right hand of God, than that one day the saints will be there too – because that is simply the exercise of His power. That is the reason why God can already view us as raised with Christ.
God loves to associate the saints with Christ. I think He really does. So much so, that it is something He is going to display to the world. You notice it says in chapter 3: 4, “When the Christ is manifested who is our life, then shall ye also be manifested with him in glory.” What a moment that will be “when the Christ is manifested.” What a moment when, as it were, God draws back the veil and reveals Christ to a wondering universe. Now think of the glory of this, that not only will Christ be revealed, but also the saints will “be manifested with him in glory.” I believe this connects with what the Lord prayed for in John 17 (v.23). You remember He prayed “that the world may know. . . that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.” He said that in relation to the saints. This refers to a future day. It will not be a question of faith then. And how is it that the world will know that the saints have been loved with the same character of love that the Father had for Christ? Because in a day to come they will look up, and they will not only see Christ in all His glory, but there, in the same position as Christ, they will see the saints. Is that not blessed? The world will understand then, in way it has never understood before, that saints who perhaps in their lifetime down here were under reproach and greatly despised, were in fact loved by the Father with the same character of love that He had for Christ. I think it gives God great pleasure to associate the saints with Christ.
What I want to lodge in your affections is that the place of being raised with Christ is God’s view of you. It is just as much for the acceptance of your faith as it is that your sins should be forgiven or that you should be justified in His sight. If we do not recall anything else from this occasion let us remember this, that raised with Christ is God’s view of the saints.
Now the question is, how do we arrive at this? How can we be brought into the good of it? What I want to suggest to you is that in verses 11 to 13 the apostle outlines for us a moral road. I think that for us to be brought into the good of our place as raised with Christ involves that we undertake a journey, a spiritual journey. It is a journey which, I have to say, involves deep and painful exercises. What we are about to touch on involves exercises which, in their practical working out, are often accompanied by great frustration and despair. And yet it seems to me, dear brethren, that face them we must. If I have come to anything in my own experience it is that there is no substitute for soul exercise. I would like to make the simple appeal for a deeper facing of the moral exercises.
In these verses Paul outlines a moral journey for us. As those who have gone before have taught us, the way to view it is like this, that the pathway that Jesus went actually is the road that you and I must follow in heart and mind. In effect what Paul says is, I have outlined the road for you, and I have marked on it the four great milestones. The four great milestones on the road from earth to heaven are circumcision, baptism, resurrection and quickening. Circumcision, I would like to suggest, connects with the cross of Christ; baptism connects with His grave; resurrection with new ground; quickening with new life.
These exercises are deep ones if they are taken up by us rightly. And, as I have said, they are often painful in their practical working out. What I am about to touch on involves that, but face them we must. I would just sound a word of caution, in passing, as to the danger of presenting the heavenly side of the truth, without also addressing the moral and spiritual demands that that truth will make on us if we are to take it up rightly. I believe, if I could be permitted to say it, that it leads to great superficiality. It leaves persons holding things in their terms without the corresponding spiritual substance. Think of what a disservice it would have been to the children of Israel to have presented them with the possibility of occupying the promised land without first having to dispossess the enemies who dwelt there. I think I would be failing you just as much if I tried to present the truth as less rigorous than the way it is presented in the Scriptures. I want to make this appeal to us all and, if I may be permitted, especially to the younger men in this area, that we might be more set for the facing of our soul exercises, the moral exercises. As I say, I can think of no substitute for them if we are to make any progress on this heavenly road.
So the first milestone that Paul speaks of is circumcision. He speaks of “the circumcision of the Christ.” I take it that that refers to the complete removal, from the sight of God, of the first order of man in the cross of Christ. You will no doubt have noticed that the Scriptures distinguish between our sins, that is the things that we have done, and our sinful nature, which is often referred to as “the flesh”. We need to understand, and I trust that the younger ones may be able to lay hold of this, that in the work of Jesus God has not only dealt with our sins, but He has dealt with our sinful state just as effectively. It helps to bear in mind, as a simple matter of teaching, that when it was a question of our sins Scripture emphasises the blood of Jesus, but when it was a question of dealing with our sinful state Scripture emphasises the cross of Christ. I think the reason for that is that when it was a question of dealing with my sins Jesus took my place, He bore the penalty that was due to me, and His blood becomes the great eternal witness that His life was taken instead of mine. When it was a question of dealing with my sinful state, it was not a question now of Jesus bearing the penalty for what I have done, but something which is perhaps more difficult to understand, a deeper matter, it involved that He should bear the condemnation of God against me for what I am. When it was a question of dealing with my sinful state, it was not a question of Jesus taking my place, but of God placing me or, in the words of Scripture, “our old man”, on the cross with Christ. The apostle says, “Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with him”, Rom 6: 6. I understand that God took me, all that I am as in the flesh, all that I am as a child of Adam, and He placed it on the cross with Christ. And there on the cross He condemned in Jesus everything that was so offensive to Him in me. May we just ponder these things, dear brethren. It is less easy perhaps for us to grasp. We can understand Jesus bearing the penalty for what we have done, but may we seek the Spirit’s help to understand what was involved in Him bearing the condemnation of God against me for what I am. For there on the cross it was crucified with Him, and it was removed for ever from the sight of God. This is a very fundamental truth.
That is the position as it is from God’s side. The question that is now raised with you and me is, am I going to be committed to it? The exercises in relation to that are gone into in more detail in the Epistle to the Romans. There we see the tremendous struggles that we go through in our souls, the crying for deliverance, the yearning to be free from the wretched man that I am. But there is this difference between the way the truth is presented in Romans, and the challenge of Colossians. The man in Romans is glad to be free of the flesh. We can think of the flesh, and all the bad things about it. We can think of pride, jealousy, lust, as things that I just want to get free of. That is Romans. The man there says, “O wretched man that I am!”, Rom 7: 24. Colossians is subtler than that. What I come to is that there are actually features of the flesh that I quite admire. This is a remarkable thing. You know, the flesh can be cultivated, the flesh can be made to look very Christian sometimes. When we come to Colossians, what I discover is that there are things about myself that I actually quite admire. One man might admire his amiable outgoing personality, another man might admire his ability to make clever or amusing remarks, another might secretly appreciate his incisive mind, or his eloquence, for example. But to which order of man do those things belong? What I have to come to is that, not only the worst of me, but the best of me, as men might speak, has been crucified with Christ, it has been cut off at the cross. What a tremendous thing that is to come to! A most severe matter to face. The working out of it involves deep painful exercises known, I suppose, only between the soul and God. What it means to be committed to that truth in the working out of it in our lives. How easily the flesh intrudes! I might be preaching the gospel, and to all appearances I might be presenting Christ, yet in my mind I might be thinking how clever I am at being able to put out such great thoughts. I might be standing up in the service of God, and to all appearances I am worshipping God, yet in my mind I am thinking of the wonderful impressions I am giving expression to. How subtle the flesh is! If I am to make any progress on this heavenly road, I have to accept, and seek to be committed to in the power of the Holy Spirit, the complete cutting off “in the circumcision of the Christ”. How hard that is! To accept that the best of a man, all that I thought was good and noble about him, has been removed forever from the sight of God. Paul speaks of “the putting off of the body of the flesh.” It is the whole person. The very best of me, as men might speak, as well as the worst, has been forever removed from the sight of God. As I say, there is no progress on this spiritual road until I seek with God’s help, and especially the help of the Holy Spirit, to be true to the position in which God sees me.
The next step is baptism. If circumcision deals with what I am, baptism, I would like to suggest, deals with the place where I live. Circumcision deals with the order of man that has sinned. Baptism deals with the environment in which that man exercises his will. As we know, baptism is a figure of death to the world. The great Old Testament type of baptism is the passage of the Red Sea by the children of Israel. We know that it was through the Red Sea that the children of Israel escaped from Egypt, and were brought into the wilderness. Egypt speaks to us of the world as governed by the will of man. The wilderness represents what the world becomes for a believer. It becomes a desert to him. The Israelites escaped out of the one, and were brought into the other, by crossing the Red Sea, which is for us a figure of baptism. The reference to baptism in Colossians 2 (v.12) goes on to the Old Testament type of the Jordan, speaking, as it does, of our death with Christ, but I am sure that every enlightened believer would recognise that the world is a bad place. I am sure that every enlightened believer would accept the need to be separate from it. In fact, I would go as far as to say that you could hardly regard somebody as on Christian ground who did not accept the place of death to the world. But, again, the test in Colossians is more subtle. We all know the world is bad, we all know that it is a corrupt and violent place. I am glad to be separate from that. But what I discover too, is that the world is a place that ministers to my lusts. It is a place that ministers to my vanity, and that becomes more of a test, does it not? If I might give a simple example of what I mean, you think of a successful businessman, his office, or workplace, becomes an environment that ministers to his lusts. You think of him there sitting behind his desk, he is a man of reputation, he is a man who commands respect, people value his business acumen, they will seek his advice, they will court him. In that sense his workplace becomes an environment which caters for his fleshly lusts. If you were to strip that man of all those things, and put him in a place where those things count for nothing, if you were to put him into heaven, where reputation and wealth count for nothing, where business acumen counts for nothing, where the approbation of men counts for nothing, if you were to put that man into heaven he would discover his true moral standing in the sight of God. Now, you see, my place is in heaven, according to this scripture, and if am to be true to that place then I must accept a grave here. How solemn that is! How hard! Naturally I cannot bear the thought of having to be buried. All those things that I once enjoyed doing, all my plans, all my ambitions, buried. I cannot bear the thought of me being placed in a grave, and not being able to be reached by the bright sounds and bright lights of the world any more. And yet, if I am to make any progress on this heavenly road I have to accept the place of being “buried with him”.
I accept, in principle, that I should be separate from the world. Yet what I have discovered is that it is the small things that find me out. I accept that I am to be separate from the world, yet I have only to go out to the shops to discover what an influence it exercises over my mind. But if I am to make any progress on this heavenly road, I must seek with God’s help to be committed to the place of being “buried with him”.
These are hard exercises. And, in a way, I am almost ashamed to bring them before you, for I know what is in my own heart. It seems to me that these are exercises which no power on earth could induce a man to face unless he has before him the great divine objective that God would have us with Christ. So the next thing is that we have been raised: “In which ye have been also raised with him.” Ah! now there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now there is hope. This is a precious truth. Can you understand that just as God could not leave Jesus in the grave, so there would be nothing for God’s heart to leave the saints there either? Let us understand that when Christ was crucified, I was crucified with Him. When He went into the grave I was buried with Him. Now God has raised Him, and where am I? I must be raised with Him too, in the sight of God. Is that not blessed, that God now sees me as raised with Christ? Why? Because Jesus is there. And the fact that Jesus is there is the divine guarantee that He will raise the saints too. “Raised with him”. A new place. A new standing before God on the other side of death. How blessed that is!
Then we come to quickening in verse 13: “And you, being dead in offences and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him.” Resurrection is the new place. Quickening is the new life to enjoy that place. If God is going to put me into heaven, He needs to give me the life that is lived in heaven if I am to enjoy it rightly. If you want a simple illustration of this point you can think of a fish. It is very happy to live under water. But if I were to give it a new place on the land I would have to give it new life too, for it would not last long without it. If God is going to put me into heaven, if He is going to raise me with Christ, I must have new life to enjoy that place. There is something very precious about this, because although I have to wait for the resurrection of my body, although I have to wait for my body to be quickened, the glory of this scripture is the God gives me this new life even now. How precious that is!
I want to present to you, on the basis of this and other scriptures, the possibility that even now we can know what it is, in spirit, to be with Jesus where He is. I would like us all to ponder that for a moment, and let the blessedness of it seep into our souls. Quickened means, I believe, that even now, in spirit, we can know what it is to be with Jesus where He is. You say, I am not up to that, I do not feel equal to that. Well, I do not ask if you are up to it, dear friend, for it is quite true that the enjoyment of these things is not without reference to our spiritual state. But here is a question that will reveal the true state of your soul: knowing that the Scripture presents us with such a possibility – are you happy to go on without knowing anything about it? Knowing that Jesus spoke of “part with me”, how long are you prepared to go on, dear brother or sister, without knowing anything about it? What I am pleading for, with myself as much as with any, is that there might be purpose of heart, definite resolve with us, as to a deeper facing of these moral exercises, so that we might truly arrive at our place as risen with Christ, and that we might touch in our spirits, even now, what it is to be with Him where He is.
You have a right to ask me to give you some account of it. What is it like? Well, I have to say that my experience is small. In fact, I am conscious that there is a whole region of spiritual experience that I have not yet touched. But I have experienced times when, looking back, I was conscious of being occupied with Him, and I was not conscious of anything else. Maybe passing moments, but there they were. I wish I knew it more. What I can tell you is that once you have tasted it you will know that nothing else will satisfy your heart again. It is not that you are always in the good of it. Far from it. But once you have tasted it, though you may subsequently turn to other things, you will know in your heart of hearts that nothing will satisfy you again like the experience of being with Him. And that is my simple appeal, that we might be more set for these things, because it calls for definiteness on our part. These exercises as to circumcision and baptism are unpleasant to us. They are severe on us. But can we keep the divine objective before us, and seek with God’s help to enter into these things more fully? And if you are set for this, be prepared to find that your dearest objects on earth fade in comparison. Be prepared for that. The more you experience these precious things, the more you touch in spirit what it is to be with Him, be prepared to find that your most cherished possessions on earth become so very dull.
Well, dear brethren, I leave it with you. A simple word. I trust that we might be very much encouraged, but also that we might be stimulated and searched. May the Lord in His grace be pleased to bless this word, for His Name’s sake.
BEXLEY
14 May 2003