COLOSSIANS 1
Last week we were speaking of the importance of the aspect of the kingdom presented here, in view of our being set free to entertain the wonderful apprehension of Christ set before us in these [p. 266] verses.
Ques Why do you connect freedom with the kingdom?
CAC The truth of the kingdom comes in to set us free. In Romans the kingdom stands in relation to what we are freed from, but in Colossians it is more what we are free for. The heart is liberated so as to be free to contemplate a new and divine order of things of which Christ is the beginning, the glorious Head and Centre. How could we touch that if our hearts were not free? He “has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love”. We are placed, as it were, on the holy mount. It is the Father who has done it. From verse 12 we find ourselves in the sphere of the Father’s actings and therefore in an out-of-the-world region. It is like the three disciples on the holy mount; they were in an out-of-the-world condition: they saw the One who was the beloved Son. The Father said to them, “Hear him”. That was placing them in the kingdom of the Son of His love, putting them under the influence of His love. There are two lines we love to sing addressing the Lord,
‘The light of love has shone in Thee,
And in that love our souls are free’.
Persons who are free can contemplate the greatness of Christ as Head; we cannot do that if there are elements of bondage in our souls. The truth makes us free from, but the Son makes us free in. It is a great thing to be awake to all that; only persons who are fully awake can see the glory of the kingdom. It says of Peter and the others, “Having fully awoke up they saw his glory”. The kingdom is filled with the radiancy of divine light; there is no such shining anywhere else. “His face shone as the sun”. Paul said, “I could not see, through the glory of that light”. It is only people who are fully awake who can see it.
The kingdom in this sense gives you freedom to enjoy privilege; we shall not touch the assembly unless we know something of the kingdom in that character. There is a kingdom; it exists at the present moment, and it is as real as it will be in the day of glory. Love is supreme there; the very One whose influence we come under is the beloved Son. All the influences there are the influences of divine love; they set the heart free. We get into bondage to many things because we are not in the region of the Father’s actings, and not in the consciousness of divine love. Many things fetter us, impede our movements, and obscure our vision, they would all perish [p. 267] at once if we touch the sphere where the Father is acting and where love predominates. The Father’s actings are in view of positive liberty, He “has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light”, He “has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love: in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”. That is the platform: the Father has set us free, and now He says, ‘I am going to open up the most marvellous vision ever presented to man’. He brings us in view of a new universe. People thought a lot of the discovery of a new world, and men have talked of Columbus ever since, but that new world was nothing to the new world which we are privileged to contemplate tonight.
The idea of “image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation” suggests a new creation, for it carries the mind back to Adam. It has often been remarked — and it is very helpful — that in the first creation the whole system was formed first, and the head — Adam — was introduced last. But in this new universe we begin with the Head. The One who is to be the Centre and Head of it is introduced first, and in getting a clear vision of Him we get understanding of the whole universe which will stand in relation to Him. It is an immense thing to be able to contemplate the greatness of such a Person. If we are free in the light of love we can quietly and without distraction contemplate the exceeding greatness of the Person who is the image of the invisible God — One suitable to take the place of pre-eminence in all creation. What a great thought of Christ is this!
It is God’s intention to have a universe, the Head and Centre of which is a Man, the visible representation of what God is. God is invisible, but His purpose was to have a visible image in His universe. To that end a divine Person became Man. In this new universe God will never be in the slightest degree misrepresented. Everything God is in His nature will be fully and perfectly set forth; there will never be the least shadow of misrepresentation. All the troubles that have come in here have been through the misrepresentation of God. Satan came in and the head — Adam — broke down, and what Satan brought in has got a place in this world. All through the history of this world God has been misrepresented. But now there is to be another universe created, and God will never be misrepresented in the slightest [p. 268] degree again. A divine Person has come into manhood that He might be the visible representation and the setting forth of all that God is in that universe for ever. That Man is Head and centre of that new universe. That is the essence of Paul’s gospel, “the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God”, 2 Corinthians 4: 4.
Revelation is one thing and image another. Revelation carries our thoughts back to what the Son was in manhood on earth. He was declaring God and revealing the Father, unveiling that which was unknown in a world of sin. When He went into death all was accomplished and finished and in resurrection He declared the Father’s name; the revelation was once for all. The full unfolding of the love of God came out in the death of His Son and the revelation was complete: God is in the light revealed. But the image is what abides, an abiding shining out of all that God is in light and love in a risen and glorified Man. God will always be known by what He has expressed; it shines radiantly in the face of a risen and glorified Man. The light of a new universe shines on us while we are still in the old; it is the light that shone in Paul’s heart and it constituted Paul’s gospel. If people get the light of the glory that shines in the face of Christ, they get it from Paul, he was the vessel of it, he calls it “my gospel”. It shone into Paul’s heart so that it might shine forth to us tonight. Christ will irradiate the divine universe with the light of God, and the security of that universe will lie in its Head; nothing will ever dim the shining of all that God is in Him. If Christ had been put in Eden instead of Adam there would have been no breakdown, but in the wisdom of God the natural came first. The true Head was held in reserve, in view of all God’s purposes of grace and sovereign love. But He has come in now and we can take account of a creation of which Christ is First-born. The idea of First-born connects the whole creation with Him. It will have a glorious, pre-eminent Head who will be the image of God eternally. When the First-born gets His place God will have His place and not till then.
We are set free in the light of love to entertain the thought of all this, and to see how great that Person is who is Head of the body, the assembly. He stands in a peculiar relation to a unique body of people, and it is the privilege of all those in the body to look up to this great and glorious Person as their Head — “he is the head of the body, the assembly”.
[p. 269] We get the thought that God is beginning; just as He began with Adam, now He is beginning with Christ. The character of the whole system that stands in relation to Him must be learned in the Head. The character and the security of it is all learned there.
Ques What is the thought of “firstborn of all creation”?
CAC I think it suggests a universe in which Christ has the first place. He is the pre-eminent One: that is the idea of first-born. It has often been said, ‘If the Creator takes a place in the creation, He must be First-born’.
Ques Does it refer to His taking flesh?
CAC All that is involved in it. He could not be the image of the invisible God or First-born of all creation except as having come into manhood: it is the dignity attaching to Him as the risen and glorified Man. It goes on to speak of all things being created by Him. It was in the power of His Person that all things were created. It gives one a wonderful thought of His greatness — every conception of dignity that ever came into evidence was created by Him. I do not think it is exactly the material universe here; we get away in this scripture from the material thought. When the details are spoken of, it is “whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or authorities: all things have been created by him”. The material universe is not so much in view here as the moral universe. We know He created the material universe, but that is not the point in connection with His greatness as Head; here it is a universe marked by divine order, rule and authority in contrast to lawlessness which has brought in all the trouble in the first creation. Christ has created all these different dignities, and powers, and authorities, which are in contrast to lawlessness. The idea of a king, a prince, a leader, is not a human conception such conceptions are of divine creation. Man may usurp these dignities, or be allowed in God’s government to be set in authority for a moment, but they all belong to Christ; they have been created by Him, and in order that He might fill them. In God’s universe every expression of rule or authority will be filled out of the fulness of Christ. How wonderful to get hold of that in connection with the Head! The body can look up to that Person and get direction and supplies from Him. These conceptions of rule and authority do not belong to a lawless creation, but to a universe divinely ordered. Christ will fill every position of rule: He is Prince of Peace, Leader of salvation;
[p. 270] every title of dignity and honour that came into being, Christ brought in, so that He might be invested with all the honour of it. It was created for Him. He is the Head of all principality and authority. The present powers in this world are ordained of God for the protection of His people, but they are described in Scripture as beasts: they are unintelligent powers, they carry out His will unintelligently. To think of Christ filling everything gives one an idea of His dignity. If I run down the idea of a king I am detracting from the greatness of Christ. A king is a divine conception, and every idea of glory connected with him belongs to Christ, so I want to have a great idea of a king. It is the same with every dignity — we look at it morally and cherish it in our hearts as belonging to Christ. It may be just now in the hands of the usurper and allowed of God to be so, but it will be in the hands of Christ, it belongs to Him. The wrong man is in office just now in the ways of God. God has ordained government; it is one of the greatest mercies in the world. I believe, in spite of Bolshevism and lawlessness, that authority is going to be divinely supported as long as the church is on earth, because God would not have told His people to pray for kings if there were not to be any to pray for. The prayers of the people of God are the great support of government in this world. One has no idea what tremendous forces of lawlessness there are at work on earth, and yet they are held in check. What is in Russia today might be in England tomorrow if the saints do not pray. I think the security of government in this world lies in the house of God. As long as the house of God is here, government will be maintained and lawlessness kept in check. God will keep His hand upon it, in spite of outbursts, and allow His people to lead peaceable lives as long as the church is on earth. Authority exists for the good of the people of God. The original conception was in the mind of God; the thought of thrones, lordships and authorities did not originate with lawless man — it originated with Christ. It is good to think of Him as Head of all principality and authority.
Then another great conception is, “He is before all”. Whatever greatness you see in Scripture or that has ever appeared, Christ is before all. John the baptist was the greatest born of women, but he says of Christ, “He was before me”. John recognised the pre-eminence of Christ. Take David; Christ was before him, He was the root of David. He was before Abraham; He says, “Before Abraham was, I am”. He was before Melchisedec. Melchisedec was “assimilated to the Son of God”. He was before Adam: Adam was a “figure of him to come”. Whatever greatness we see in man, its true origin is in Christ. It shows this Person is before all, He is the source of every kind of greatness. Wherever you see any greatness, Christ is before it, He is pre-eminent in connection with it. “He is before all, and all things subsist together by him”. He is the bond that holds together every part of the divine working as one whole. What a wonderful book the Scripture is! What is the bond of it? Christ. Take all the ways and workings of God — the promises, the law, the prophets, the Psalms. What is the bond? Christ is the bond that makes them subsist and hold together. A wonderful wide thought that! He is the bond that holds everything in God’s universe together. It is all bound together in one subsisting whole by Christ. All things subsist together by Christ; the visible, and the invisible beings. I think the Spirit of God suggests it in relation to Christ as Head, as giving an immense thought of the wonderful resource of wisdom that is in Him. Of course it comes out in the material universe, but it comes out more wonderfully in relation to the moral ways of God. The promises of God are more wonderful than the planets. In the promises, the ways of God, the unfoldings of His mind, sacrifice, government, covenants, etc., we have a great system far more wonderful than the material universe. When we read the law, the prophets, the Psalms, we see all the divine ways; the moral actings of God are far more wonderful than His material actings; and they all subsist together by Christ. The material has its place as the theatre of all God’s moral actings, but the moral is greater. The fact that all are to be reconciled — “by him to reconcile all things” — convinces me that all things are viewed here morally. There is no enmity in a table, or a planet, or a stone, but the universe which is in view here could be at enmity and be reconciled. There has been enmity in heaven on the part of the angels, and on earth on the part of men: man has become an enemy and is alienated in his mind; a moral stain has thus been brought upon heaven and earth, but where there has been enmity there is going to be reconciliation. What a wonderful place Christ holds in the moral universe! It is brought out in this chapter. To get an idea of it, and then think that that Person is the Head of the [p. 272] body, gives one an extraordinary idea of what the body is to have a Head like that.
There will be a universe in reconciliation lighted up by the glory of that Man; everything will be put into perfect accord by Him eternally, by the power that resides in the Head. And now we have the privilege of knowing Him as Head in a peculiar and intimate way. The assembly stands in relation to Him in a way that no other family in the universe ever will. What a resource we have! He is cherished by the body, and He is the source of all supplies and spiritual direction for the body.