THE HEAD OF ALL PRINCIPALITY AND POWER (1)
THE HEAD OF ALL PRINCIPALITY AND POWER (1)
FER It is important to apprehend the light in which Christ is presented in this epistle. Each epistle takes its character from the peculiar light in which Christ is presented in it. This is very important. The epistles are quite different from the gospels. The former give us the light of what Christ is where He is now on high (especially in Paul’s epistles); but in the gospels it is what Christ was here on earth. Testimony is to what is about to be displayed. The testimony of the Christ is what Christ is in relation to the “all things” — Christ is Head in Colossians. He is Head of creation, for He created all, and all were created in view of that; and therefore, if He became man, He must be pre-eminent. He has creation rights; but there is another ground on which He is Head — He takes all up on the ground of redemption.
We get the same two Headships in Revelation 4 and 5. He is Head on creation ground, and also on redemption ground.
What is reconciliation?
FER All things are to be brought into reconciliation and into unity and harmony; and that can only be by being taken up in the Head. He has made peace by the blood of His cross. He has removed all that brought in the confusion and lawlessness, in order that all might be brought into reconciliation. What comes under the eye of God is Christ; He is the Head, and all things are taken up in Him.
The reconciliation of the world is based upon the fact that man is taken up in the Head. The judgement of God will be brought in because man sets up a rival head instead of accepting the divinely-appointed Head.
[p. 2] Ephesians follows Colossians. In Colossians you get all things reconciled in Him and so brought into divine complacency; and then in Ephesians you get Christ filling all things.
Why are the rights of creation brought in?
FER If God had not the right of Creator, He could not have the right of Redeemer. All things were created by Him and for Him, and hence, Christ must have all on creation ground. God is going to have His rest in His creation. He never gives up the right of Creator. Redemption has come in, but things are not all brought under the power of redemption; for instance, our bodies are not brought under the power of redemption. We await it; our souls have come under the power of it. The thought of reconciliation, i.e., the saints brought under divine complacency, runs all through the epistle, “You hath he reconciled”. It is the saints brought under the eye of God, into divine complacency. In chapter 3, what marks the circle are the graces of Christ. It is Christ under the eye, or the saints brought under the eye of God in Christ. The object of the apostle’s ministry was that every man might be presented perfect in Christ. He could come into this creation with a universe hid in Him. You get a Babe laid in a manger; but everything was hid in Him. The church was to come forth from Him. There was nothing manifest while He was a Babe; but the heavenly hosts say, “Glory to God in the highest”. It is wonderful how God sets to work to bring to pass a universe which is according to Himself, out of the wreck and ruin of this. And how does He do it? By the introduction of a Babe! but with resurrection inherent in Him; so He says, “I am the resurrection and the life”.
Rem So it is Himself who is everything.
FER To study the gospels from the point of view that He was greater than every man, is what has been before me lately. He walked on the water. He [p. 3] fed the multitude. He knew every man — whatever kind of man came before Him He read. I have been thinking of this lately.
Rem This company (that is the Colossians) were prepared to receive the truth.
FER Yes, the Spirit of God addresses people according to their state — the Corinthians were — so, too, the Galatians; and I think the principle goes through. It is so in Philippians and Ephesians, and in this epistle likewise.
What is the hope laid up in heaven?
FER It is the hope of God’s calling which you get in Ephesians. The Lord says, “I go to prepare a place for you”.
Rem The inheritance is reserved in heaven.
FER Yes; it is because we have a place in heaven that we come into the inheritance. The Hebrews had lost everything here; hope on earth had fled, and you get a hope laid up in heaven. God did not come in to give the Gentile the Jews’ portion, but He came in to give both Jew and Gentile a common portion, a hope in heaven. “Fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us”. We must get our place in heaven, it could not be that the saints should be manifested with Christ unless we had our place in heaven. We get our place in heaven by grace given to us. The three principles are brought in here: faith, hope, and love (see verses 4 and 5). We get the thought of association with Christ, and that in connection with earth, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me” ... “the oil of gladness above his fellows”. If we are His companions, and He has taken a place in heaven, it involves our having a place there. He has entered, and He is the Forerunner, and we are following. Christ is the goal. Wherever Christ is, He will have companions. I think we have to accept the thought. The Lord said to His disciples, “Ye are they which have [p. 4] continued with me in my temptations; and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom”, etc.; Luke 22: 28 - 30. God has been gathering a company for heaven ever since sin came in. The assembly has a distinctive place; but, at the same time, God was working to gather a company for heaven. Revelation 5 proves this; there we get the four and twenty elders. The Old Testament saints might have had a hope of heaven, but now all is definite, because Christ is there as Man.
What is “Rejoice in hope of the glory of God”?
FER That is a wider idea. It is looking for the moment when God will shine out, and dissipate all the darkness. He will shine out in moral effulgence and glory. The world to come will take its character from that. The hope here is more definite. We have a place in heaven. If we had not that place, what promise should we have? I think saints have had heaven before them without going on to what will come out from heaven. When the Lord sends out the Jews to the nations, which He will do, they do not lose their place in Jerusalem. So too the assembly. The holy city comes down out of heaven; but it never loses its place in heaven. It was so with the Lord Himself. He was here as light, but He was the Son of man which is in heaven.
Will the holy city touch the earth?
FER Well, all we get in the Revelation is that it is put in relation to the earth. Think of what a vast company will be brought into display, and the heavenly saints all mixed up with it, although not forming it. The thoughts of people in regard to the gospel have been far too limited. The gospel has been regarded as the means by which people can be saved, whereas it really is the presentation of Christ as He is according to the purpose of God. The glad tidings of the Christ. It is Christ not merely as the [p. 5] Saviour of sinners; but the Centre and beginning of a universe. In the testimony of peace Christ approaches men in order to attract them out of the world, and to attach them to Himself. That is the object of the testimony. He came preaching peace to them that are afar off, and to them that are nigh.
What is preaching peace?
FER It is the mind of God in regard to man on the ground of all moral confusion having been removed by the death of Christ, and now Christ is the preacher of peace, but the peace has reference to the world which comes under Christ. In that world all is peace. The object of the testimony of peace is to attract people to Himself as the Centre of another world. Christ has come to be the Centre of another world. People want the benefits of Christ, and to be in this world; but that is not God’s mind. It is God’s mind that we should be attracted to Christ as the Centre of another world. It has often been said there is no scape-bullock, nor scape-goat for us. It is intelligible to me; Israel will have a scape-goat, they will have forgiveness of sins in an administrative way. They will be a people evidently in the favour of God. We do not get it in that way. We have the witness of the Spirit, and there we get the good of what is God’s mind for every man; and the effect is we can approach God; we can have liberty with God. In the world to come forgiveness of sins will be known in an administrative way, because the world to come will be established. No one will doubt that they are forgiven, for it will be evident that they are in the favour of God. They will have it in a national way. We get it more in an individual way. We cannot prove to others that we are forgiven; but we have the witness, and we have the good of it, in that we have liberty with God. The thought of the gospel has been far too limited. It has been diluted to mean that Christ is a benefactor to the world. The point [p. 6] to me is that the glad tidings are the glad tidings of the Christ; but then, Who is the Christ? He is the Centre of all things. You want to get the idea of it as a whole, and then you can take it up in detail. In preaching you have to remember that responsibility is connected with hearing.
In the Babe, God was announcing “peace”. The angels said “Peace ... on earth peace”. He came preaching peace. The thought of peace is intimately connected with Christ. He is the Prince of peace. He was the one who came to remove all the confusion brought in by the responsible man; and peace is what He brings in. He is the Prince of peace; and the gospel is the gospel of peace in contrast to all the confusion here. Peace is the dawning of the new day. He comes to them, and He says, “Peace unto you”. It was the dawn of the day. It would be a great thing to get enlarged views of the gospel. I believe the gospel — the testimony — is the property of all. I am not content that the preachers should think the gospel belongs to them. My concern is that the gospel should be maintained, and that the preachers should know it. People talk about “winning souls for Christ”. They are not won for Christ unless they are detached from this world. Preachers want to win souls to a confession of Christ.
What is an evangelist?
FER He is a presenter of Christ. It is one thing to have the gift of an evangelist, but we want him instructed. The glad tidings of the Christ are not apprehended in a moment. It is Christ as in relation to the “all things”. In the light of that, this world is of small account with God. There are many things in which we need to be more enlightened. We need to see the gravity of lawlessness, and the true ground of responsibility, which is not so much in regard to the wrong thing, and that wrong thing which a man does, but more in relation to the rights of God.
The apostle’s description of them is that they are “holy and faithful brethren”. The great thought in Colossians is the Christian circle, and the sensibilities which belong to that circle. You get them in chapter 3: 15. The peace of Christ to which ye are called in one body. Romans 12 brings in the truth of the body to enforce what is individual; so that in carrying out what is your individual responsibility you will take account of your relation to that body.
The Christian circle is that which is in Christ. The apostle addresses them in that way; and the Spirit of God contemplates them in that way, “the holy and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse”. It is a great point to be able to apprehend the saints in that point of view.
What is “In Christ”?
FER In the sense of having life in Christ. The difficulty at the present time is to distinguish between what is provisional and what is the accomplishment of purpose. For instance, “the head of every man is Christ”, but that is provisional, it is not the accomplishment of God’s purpose. But when we come to what is in Christ, then we come to the fulfilment of God’s purpose.
What is provisional?
FER Christ’s present position, which is a light to the Gentiles, and God’s salvation to the ends of the earth; Isaiah 49: 6. And man is tested by that. But all that is provisional, and will give way for what will be the fulfilment of God’s purpose. The two go on together just now. God gave the Jew his day, and He is now giving the Gentile his day. The casting off of the Jew is the reconciling of the world. The Gentile is now being tested, and the question is, Will they abide in the goodness of God? Christ is a light to the Gentiles, and God’s salvation to the ends of the earth; but besides that, and underneath it all, and which is mystery, God is accomplishing His [p. 8] purpose in Christ. But this latter is not public, nor is it the subject of testimony, which the present position of Christ in relation to all men is. Christ is the Mediator between God and men. “The man Christ Jesus”. That is what marks this moment; it is the public testimony that Christ is Head of every man. This is the day of the Gentile. Romans 11 proves that; the Gentile is being tested, and if they do not continue in the goodness of God, they will be broken off. It is important to see the position of things at the moment, and yet at the same time to know what God is working out underneath all that, to head up all things in Christ. The mystery of God’s will is a wider thought than the church; it refers to the heading up of all things in Christ. The time of testing is not entirely over. In one sense it is — as to fruit bearing — but now the ground is changed, the marriage supper (Matthew 22) is the test. In coming into the world, Christ tested the Jew; but now the Gentile is being tested. But in regard to both, it is equally true, “no man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him”, John 6: 44. There is a force at work underneath, whether men answer or not to the test. The Gentile, in becoming apostate, will be more guilty than the Jew, because they have the example of the Jew. The Jews are a standing witness to the effect of their apostasy. They are to this day a separate people, without king, without priest, without teraphim, etc. The Gentile will apostatise, just as the Jew; he will fail to take warning from the Jew, and he will sent up antichrist, and that will bring in the judgement of God; and then God in His mercy will take up Israel again. I believe, when Israel is brought in, that the Eastern world will be brought into blessing. I do not think the Western nations will; they will have had their day.
Christ is the test of the Gentiles; He is light and salvation to the Gentile, and to every Gentile. When [p. 9] all is displayed Christ will come out, not so much as the Head of every man (which is more provisional), but as Head of every family. He will be the Head of the assembly, of Israel, and of every family blessed. At the present time everything which is in Christ is God’s purpose. If you find a company of “holy and faithful brethren in Christ”, i.e., who have their life in Him — that is God’s purpose. The two things go on together: the testing by the present position of Christ as Head of every man, and the accomplishment of God’s purpose in Christ; and hence you get the assembly. The assembly being in Christ puts it in heavenly places; but then Christ lives in His body here. Hence, in chapter 3 you get what are the graces and sensibilities of Christ, which really work in the body, in the relation of the members one toward another. Christianity in the true power of it is not doctrine, although doctrine is necessary. We could not communicate one with another without doctrine. It is important, too, as a limit to one’s thoughts. It is “the law and the testimony” to which eventually every appeal must be made; but Christianity is vitality.
There is no real Christianity outside of the Holy Spirit. There are lots of people taking up doctrine. Great councils in the history of the church were largely formed of unconverted men, often violent men. They handled doctrine; but that is not Christianity. Christianity is the Spirit’s work in the saints here, which is the answer to what is true in Christ in heaven. All I contend for — I leave creeds where they are — is that Christianity is life — vitality. The Lord said, “I am come that they might have life”, John 10: 10. In the minds of many, Christianity is merely being orthodox in doctrine and correct in conduct. That is not Christianity; nor does it take you out of the world; which in its true power is Christ dwelling in your heart by faith. You get an answer by the Spirit [p. 10] here to what is true in Christ in heaven. What marked the Colossians (verses 4 and 5) was faith, love, and hope. They are the elements which go to make up Christian life. It is “faith in Christ Jesus”; which is a subjective thought, not so much the thought of having Christ as an object. Forgiveness is the first elementary truth, and the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit is the next ... but both are elementary.
The “hope” connects us with heaven. We have not got perfection yet; otherwise you would not have faith. These three elements all detach you from earth. “Faith in Christ Jesus” carries your hearts to where Christ is. Faith, love, and hope practically bring you into another world, to which Christ gives character. Faith and hope will pass away, but love will abide.
Why is “faith in Christ Jesus” subjective?
FER Because every quality which is in Christ is subjective — “grace which is in Christ Jesus”. It is different from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ Jesus is more a characteristic condition; it is that Christ Jesus is the source and spring of faith. These are qualities of which Christ is the power. Every quality which God can own is in Christ; it is not in man. It is the result of being alive in Christ, and He becomes the source and spring of every divine quality in a Christian down here. If a Christian is characterised by faith or grace, it is Christ who is the spring of it. You get coming out in the Christian the graces and qualities which characterised Christ Himself. Christ was the “Author and finisher of faith”, so we can speak of faith as a quality coming out in Christ as Man. “Faith in Christ Jesus” is not so much Christ being the object of faith, but faith as a quality or state in the Christian, of which Christ by the Spirit is the spring, source and power. “Hope” too, is spoken of in connection with Christ, “My flesh also shall rest in hope”, Psalm 16: 9. For the joy set before Him, would also prove it. These elements all have a separating effect. Take a man of the world, there is nothing of faith, or love, or hope about him. An intelligent man of the world would scout the idea of faith. Faith has reference to things which you cannot verify. Faith is the apprehension of divine things which are the subject of testimony, and which you cannot verify. Christ is the great subject of testimony; but no one can go to heaven to verify it. The Spirit substantiates it to us. Science produces no moral effect on man. A man may have great penetration of mind in science, and be a bad man. If a man is going to reject Christianity for science, I say — Show me a new man created in righteousness and holiness. Christianity can, and has, produced that. When scientists can show me a better man than Christianity produces, I may be disposed to listen to them. The light of God has produced a man “created in righteousness and holiness of truth”, and I say, Show me a better man, and I may listen to you.
“The word of the truth of the gospel” is not merely the word of the gospel, but of the TRUTH of the gospel. Truth has come, and God is seen in His true greatness, and man in his nothingness. “If a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself”. Until the word of the truth of the gospel comes to us, we are inflated, and see things out of all proportion; but by it we learn things in their proper dimensions. When a man is apart from the world system, he is simply nothing. Napoleon was very great when in the moment of his power; but when separated from it he was a poor, miserable man.
What is “Knew the grace of God in truth”?
FER It is that grace has reached them, in a way which has placed everything aright, in its proper relation — God in His place, and man in his. Truth is a contrast to a dream, or madness. In a dream the [p. 12] mind is active; but all is out of its proper relation or proportion. Now, the grace of God puts all things right, in their proper place and proportion, and the grace of God is the only thing that can do it.
What is “Bringeth forth fruit”?
FER That is another great thought, fruit is the evidence of healthy vitality.
Would the prayer of Epaphras in chapter 4, that they might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, go further than Paul’s prayer for the Colossians in verses 9, 10 and 11?
FER The prayer in chapter 1 has reference to their walk. Chapter 4 is “perfect and complete in all the will of God”. The latter goes further. In chapter 1 it is all in view of their walking intelligently; they were to be filled with the knowledge of His will; but it was in view of walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. The will of God is a large thought. It takes in all that God has purposed and set Himself to accomplish. People fall into the mistake of supposing that God has some particular will about them; but the point is to stand in the will of God. If we move our residence, the question has to be raised, whether we move to serve ourselves, or whether we have the will of God in view. The great thing is to subject everything to the will of God. The path of happiness lies, not in our own will, but in God’s will; our paths will be all right if we have the will of God in view. If you do well for yourself all men will praise you; on the other hand, if you do not, men will reproach you; you have not made the best of your opportunities. They said to the Lord, “Show thyself to the world”. Christ pleased not Himself, but put Himself in the place of reproach, and we should be content to accept that place. Men like men who do well for themselves. In the present time it is of the last moment to be “filled with the knowledge of his will”. That is real intelligence. All real intelligence has reference to the [p. 13] will of God. Then it is you walk worthily of the Lord. God’s will is really to gather up all in a suitable head, who will gather up all in unity, and give character to it. That is the thought of the will of God. God has abounded towards us in all wisdom, to make known the mystery of His will. The mystery is, that it is not made manifest publicly, but it is to be known. The apostle says, “That I may make it manifest”. It is important to insist that God has His own will in Christ, and that in contrast to the active will of man. It is for us to accept His will, and have no will of our own. There can be no security for the happiness of the universe until all is pervaded by one will. There could not be a state of things in which peace and content prevail, unless it were pervaded by one will. In Colossians, it is “walking worthy of the Lord”. In Ephesians, it is “worthy of your vocation”; and in Thessalonians, it is “worthy of God”. Each expression brings in a difference of thought. We walk worthy of the Lord in the sense that He is our Lord. Walking worthy of our vocation is that Jew and Gentile are builded together for an habitation of God. It is a great thing to walk worthy of the Lord. There is a tendency to adapt our ways to man, because man is in power for the moment. The corrective of that is to walk worthy of the Lord. It would keep people straight morally if they were to consider what is worthy of the Lord. The Lord is the One who gives effect to the will of God. The will of God at once brings the Lord into view; and, therefore, the only way in which we can be fitted to walk worthy of the Lord, is to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. The grace of God had borne fruit in the Colossians, and they had “love in the Spirit”; and so the apostle is led to pray for them, that it might be still further evident that they were trees of God’s planting. The evidence of healthy vigour in a tree is bearing fruit, and growing. There is no more beautiful [p. 14] object in natural things than a healthy, vigorous tree.
What is the difference between the will of the Lord and the will of God?
FER The former had reference to a detail in the apostle’s life. He was bent upon going up to Jerusalem. The Lord has His own will in regard to His servants. Paul was not quite in that path; he was mistaken, and would not be turned from going up to Jerusalem; and so the brethren said, “the will of the Lord be done”. The will of God is a much larger thought. The will of the Lord is what is to govern the saints down here, and the will of God is what God has purposed in Christ. That is not indefinite; it is the heading-up of all in Christ, “thrones and dominions and principalities and powers”; all are to be headed-up in Christ. That is to govern us in all our ways; we should be labouring in view of that, that people might be detached from the world-system, and that they might be drawn and attached to Christ. God is working at the present time the first part of His will, that is the body of Christ. The point is not merely to get people converted; but that they should be in living connection with Christ. If we have the will of God in view, we shall have this thought before us. Christ died to the end that we might be delivered from this present evil world; and, if so, then it ought to be the end we have in view; and the only way that deliverance can be effected is by people being attached to Christ, who is the beginning of another world. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me”, John 12: 32.
The end of verse 10, “increasing”, should be “growing by the true knowledge of God”. It is like the sap of the tree, by which it grows. The knowledge of God is that by which we grow. There are many things that interest people; but I do not know of anything that affects people morally except the knowledge of God.
[p. 15] Romans presents two attributes of God, righteousness and faithfulness; and that knowledge of God becomes the moral foundation in every Christian. Every man’s real intelligence is his measure of the knowledge of God. One great effect of it is, that you get everything put in its place in your mind. In the world you may get a genius by an enormous development of mind in some particular direction; but it is spoiled by some great defect in another direction. Now, the knowledge of God never has that kind of effect; it puts everything in its proper place and proportion in your mind. “Some have not the knowledge of God”, 1 Corinthians 15: 34; that is, not that they were not converted, but their ways showed that they had not the knowledge of God. If I know God in His righteousness, it bears fruit according to itself; we shall be servants to righteousness. Then, again, if I know God’s faithfulness, it produces an answer in me to itself. So love; if we know God’s love, we shall love. In view of knowing God, you should cultivate intercourse with God; like Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus; she became intelligent. John drank deeply into the knowledge of God; the knowledge of God produced good results. The new man here is the witness to Christ in heaven. In verse 10 the figure before the mind of the apostle is a tree — “fruitful in every good work, and growing by the true knowledge of God”.
You get a remarkable expression in verse 11 — “Strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory”. The bearing of the power here is more subjective and operative in us, unto patience and all longsuffering with joyfulness; that is, that we may take the path of the Lord down here. That marked His pathway here: “Patience and longsuffering with joy”. That is what will come out in us, by the power of His glory. It is not by His glory; but by the power of it. What a change it will bring into the world [p. 16] when Christ comes, and establishes such principles as mercy and longsuffering and patience. As you get older, you have the same strength of will, and less power to control it.
What is “Might of his glory”?
FER When Christ comes in His glory, He will come in power to establish such principles as patience and longsuffering. We have not got the glory; but we have the might of it. It depends upon the apprehension of the glory of the Lord. When He comes in glory, He will establish these principles. Christ is in heaven, and He tolerates Satan. He is crowned with glory and honour; and set above all authorities and powers, and yet He tolerates Satan. It will not always be the case; but he will not be cast down before his time. See the patience and longsuffering of the Lord in regard to this world. He has all power to put down evil, and yet He goes on in all patience and longsuffering. “The power of his glory” comes out in our waiting in patience and longsuffering. God will do nothing before the time. Even Antichrist cannot be revealed before his time. The mystery of God will be completed when all is made manifest; there will be no more mystery then.
From verse 12 we get on to the ground of the Father and the Son. It is like John in that way, “giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet”. Meetness must be in some moral sense. There can be no faith in the gospel without some moral effect in a man. If you get new wine, you must get new bottles. It is a simple question of believing; but, then, it is equally true, that in believing, a moral effect is produced. When a man believes the gospel, his heart is affected by the grace of God; it is impossible for a man to believe the gospel without immediately some moral effect being produced. The thief was made meet, there was a work of God in him, as well as the work of Christ for him, and so he went to [p. 17] paradise. A man needs to be judicially cleansed; but a man must be morally cleansed too. “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you”, John 15: 3.
In the gospel it is not a mere presentation of grace to men — it is that — but it is with a view to producing a corresponding effect in man. A man could not come into the view of the grace of God without being affected by it. The grace of God teaches us to live “soberly, righteously, and godly”, etc. — “Knowing the grace of God in truth”. “In truth” is a most important expression. The apostle speaks of the word of truth. A moral thought is always conveyed in “truth”.
You do not exclude the thought of the work of Christ in being made meet?
FER Oh, no; but there must be a corresponding work in man. There must be new bottles for new wine. When the word of God’s grace affects a man, he builds his house on a rock, and it stands. The grace of God, which justifies a man, affects him morally. The Spirit when given connects itself with that which is already wrought in the believer. We receive the truth in the love of it; and when that is so, the Spirit when He comes, connects Himself with that which is already wrought there. The new wine is the tidings of grace, all that Christ has brought in, grace reigning through righteousness.
What is “Partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light”?
FER The work of God fits a man for the light. We are delivered from the authority of darkness; that is, the power of idolatry. With people who were brought up in idolatry it is more fully realised — the immense change brought in by Christ.
What are “new bottles”?
FER They represent man as new. The gospel is presented that man may turn to God, and when a [p. 18] man turns to God, he is new. The Spirit when given connects itself with the work already wrought in a man — but a man in believing the gospel is really affected by having believed it.
It is a great point to be “filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”. We could not conceive a greater privilege at this time — when all is confusion and perplexity — than to have the knowledge of His will, not dogmatically, but “in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding”. Then we get two things, “fruitful and increasing”, like a vigorous tree. I am sure we do not give sufficient diligence to being filled with the knowledge of His will. God has abounded toward us in all wisdom, having made known to us the mystery of His will. But that is God’s side, and our side is to be filled with the knowledge of it, and in a way to turn it to account, that is by having it in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. The mystery of God’s will is that all is to be headed-up in Christ; and we could not conceive of things being rectified, and held in harmony and unity except by being headed-up in one. There are various parts in the moral universe; but all is to be headed-up in one. The testimony of God came in to overthrow all that existed and dominated in man’s mind; and then to establish all that is according to God.
In Corinthians that comes out wonderfully. There is the temple, and the oracles; but the light in the temple is to be diffused. That is what God has done. Idolatry and philosophy were overthrown. Contemptible as Christianity was at the outset, what really took place was the overthrow of all that existed. It really did so in result; for the temple of God was established, and not only that, but the light and truth were scattered; the administration of the Spirit diffused the light. What dominated man was overthrown, and what was of God was established. Death,
[p. 19] too, is overcome, and it will be finally destroyed. Victory over death came in.
Rem The introduction to the Ephesians is similar to this.
FER Yes, they approximate. Colossians is the first epistle that brings us on to the ground of purpose: all the others are elementary: Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians; but here we come to God’s purpose, His will; what is before Him to effect. The assembly has its place in that will.
Where does Hebrews come in?
FER It is solid food in contrast to milk. The epistle is trying to get them to the ground of purpose. There are two lines in Scripture: there is God’s approach to man; and there is, too, the work of God in man. God’s will is the fruit of His wisdom. God has intervened to bring to pass a universe according to Himself, and that out of the wreck and ruin of this; and the vessel by which God is to accomplish all is Christ. All is dependent on a Man. All was lost in a man; but all is recovered in a man. Of course, it depends upon who that man is.
What follows in this chapter is the unfolding of the headship of Christ. In Thessalonians we are to walk worthy of the kingdom; here it is to walk worthy of the Lord; and in another place it is to walk worthy of God. We show the effects of the authority of the Lord. Ministry is connected with the Lord; and we show the effects of it by being fruitful, and increasing by the knowledge of God. That is the evidence in us of the ministry of the Lord. We could not say that Christ increased by the knowledge of God; but it is the effect of the ministry of the Lord in us. It is really sunshine; growth depends upon light and air. We get everything by the Spirit. It is a great point to recognise that the Spirit is the Teacher. The effect and power of the anointing is to bring us into contact with divine Persons. Israel were not brought [p. 20] into contact with Persons; they had mainly to do with the letter. When the Lord came, His disciples came into contact with a Person — and the effect of the Spirit having come is that we are brought into contact with Persons in heaven, and also into contact with persons on earth, the brethren. By one Spirit we both have access to the Father, and thus we are brought into contact with God and Christ. If you are to grow, you must have to do with God. Abiding in Christ is abiding in the light of God, which is effulgent in Christ. It is the knowledge of what God is in Himself, what He has declared Himself to be in righteousness and love. You cannot be in the light without being affected by it, and you would be characterised, too, by what you abide in. Everything, flowers, etc. — take their colour from the light; particular parts absorb light, and so they get colour. If we abide in the light, we shall take our colour from it. It leads to enlargement, too; you get out of the littleness of man, into the greatness of God, into the light of His righteousness, and mercy, and love. You increase by the knowledge of God. Man’s greatest idea of man consists in heroism and patriotism. The latter would have had no place if sin had not come in. When you come into the thought of God, you come to self-sacrificing love. There was no heroism in Christ; it was all a question of doing the will of Him who sent Him, and that in meekness. The ministry of the Lord Jesus here was the setting forth of the rights of God in mercy; the Lord asserted the right of God to show mercy to man. It is a great thing if we are set on being fruitful and increasing by the knowledge of God. It is “strengthened with all might”, etc., and that not for heroism, but for patience and longsuffering. These qualities are not heroism; but they will enable you to stand in the testimony. By these you can gain the day and overcome. The apostle did so; he overcame.
[p. 21] It is wonderful to see how everything of God was done; when God wanted prophets, prophets came. So John the Baptist came, and he did what God intended should be done. So, too, the Lord came; so also the apostles; they did what God intended; they kept the faith, and that is the great point. All that God intends, will be done. Moses broke the first tables of stone; but the tables were to be put in the ark, and they were put in the ark. So the prophets; they spoke, and gave their testimony, and the circle of prophecy is completed; and all that God intended was done. You may be sure, too, in looking forward to the future, that God will bring all to pass. Israel were to go into Babylon, and to Babylon they went; and they were to come from Babylon, and they did; and they were to reject Christ, and so they did. We are not left here to do great things; we are not to be conspicuous here; but to be here in all patience and longsuffering.
Rem It supposes that things are against you.
FER Yes, it does; all is in contrariety. Christ has ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things; that is the might of His glory. The point with the Christian is to be here according to the last Adam, not according to the first. We are to put on the new man. That is what we are according to Christ, created after God in righteousness and holiness of truth. Now, we get a remarkable passage following in connection with the Father and the Son (see verses 12 - 14). Then from verse 15 we get an unfolding of the headship of Christ; but the real point of the passage is what you are brought into contact with — divine Persons. If we have the Spirit, and are thus brought into attachment to Christ, we are made meet. Whatever is in attachment to Christ is “meet”.
In verse 14, “through his blood”, should not be there, it is in Ephesians. The style here is more [p. 22] rapid; here the glory of His Person is more in prominence; here it is the Father and the Son; it is Persons. The Son is man, of course; but here it is His Person that is prominent. No one knew Christ except as man; but still we can abstract the mind, and think of the Person.
What lies between the passage that precedes and the “giving thanks to the Father”?
FER It is the climax; there would be an actual expression of your indebtedness to the Father. “Giving thanks” is an indication of the condition of the spirit; so here we are impressed with what has been done for us, and we are giving thanks. He has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and brought us into attachment to Christ — into the kingdom — into the sway of the “Son of his love”. All is stated here on the sovereignty side; it is what God does. Attachment proper means brought into bond — married to another — joined to the Lord. It is the contrast to lawlessness, which means breaking away from bond and attachment. Attachment in the sense of affection is quite a conventional use of the word.
“In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”. Without that we could not approach; being brought into attachment you have forgiveness in Him. You are never called upon to believe that you are forgiven; but that forgiveness is there. It is the mind of God for every one — faith apprehends that; but it is by the Spirit that you get it, and then having it, we have liberty of approach. It is by the witness of the Spirit, that we have a purged conscience. What faith apprehends is the mind of God for all; but many do not come into the light of it. People want to believe something about themselves. In Luke 7 you get that when they had nothing to pay he frankly forgave them both; but Simon did not come into the light of it. When the Lord Jesus was here He was the witness of God’s mercy to man, and available for every man. Man’s responsibility in regard to God’s testimony must be maintained. The Lord says, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life”.
Why redemption, even the forgiveness of sins?
FER Redemption takes that form in regard to us. Redemption is that the liabilities are met. You are free of that liability. Redemption is not yet applied to the body. Forgiveness is most important, for without it you could not approach God; you could not enter into all that is God’s mind, unless you approach God; and forgiveness of sins is necessary for that. We cannot enter into the thought and purpose of God, except as we are in liberty with God, and in the holiest; and to be in the holiest you must have a purged conscience. Being in the kingdom of the Son of His love, and having forgiveness, you are free to approach. Darkness subsisted by man’s ignorance of God; but bring man into the light of redemption, and the darkness is dispelled. In Christendom the moral idea of conversion is scoffed at, and people are kept in ignorance of God; and Scripture is discredited. Redemption is complete in Christ for God; but we have to appropriate it. Redemption was complete for God before any one was redeemed. All the ways of God are based on Christ Jesus; but we have to come into the light of it, so that we can say, “in whom we have redemption”. We have come into the light of it. We lose the force of many of the statements which the apostle uses, as, for instance, the authority of darkness. As a matter of fact it has been broken. If we went into heathen, idolatrous countries, we should feel we were face to face with the power of darkness. I do not believe that idolatry was an invention of man; it was the power of darkness. One form of idolatry is covetousness; and another is doing homage to the god and prince of this world. In popery and high churchism there is an immense amount of idolatry; when you come to the “mass”, and “mediators” and “saints”, you come to idolatry in a very unmistakable way.
Verses 15 and 16 refer to the proper place of Christ in relationship to creation. He is the Image of the invisible God; that is, He is representative. The invisible God is presented and represented in the Image. He is the Firstborn of every creature. Christ as last Adam can take up everything in creation right. “All things were created by him and for him”. “For him” contemplated that He would take up headship in regard to them. Had He not creation right I scarcely see how redemption right could come in. I cannot conceive anything more important than the relation of Christ to “all things”. “For him” is in view of Him. “By him” is instrumentally by His power. “He is before all things, and by him all things consist”. He is the pillar of the universe. The foundations of the earth are out, of course, but He bears up the pillars thereof. He holds all the parts of the moral universe together. When all became dislocated, it was only in view of Christ that God could go on with things. Angels sinned in heaven. God took up Israel and then the nations, but all was in view of Christ. You want an explanation of God being able to go on with things in heaven and things on earth, such as they were. There is so much in us that answers to the dislocation. What spoiled things in heaven was lawlessness. The devil sinned from the beginning. Then lawlessness came in on earth; then came disintegration. Cain slew Abel. You could not get greater disintegration than that. What marks the present moment is lawlessness and disintegration. Adam broke away from God, and then Cain slew Abel. Then all that followed in the history of the world evidences the same principles.
In verse 16 we get the expression “all things”; it is one of frequent occurrence in the New Testament, both with Paul and John. It refers here to Christ “[p. 25] for by him were all things created”. When Christ takes up all things which He does in the world to come, He does so in the right of creation as well as the right of redemption. The same thing comes out in Revelation 4 and 5, “Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created”. I should attach great importance to the expression “all things” — “all things are delivered unto me, of my Father”, Matthew 11: 27; “all things that the Father hath are mine”, John 16: 15 “gather together in one, all things in Christ”, Ephesians 1: 10. The expression “all things” does not refer to material things. It is principalities, and powers, thrones, and dominions. In the whole course of things right away from the beginning, whatever God instituted was in view of Christ, and to be taken up in due time by Christ.
“First-born of all creation”. Is that synonymous with “all things”?
FER Yes, I should think so: “by him were all things created”. It is specified here what are the “all things”, viz., “thrones”, etc. The Lord takes up all things on double right, creation and redemption: the first is the right of creation. The “all things” were created for His pleasure. They are now under liability, and He takes that up. The first dominion God created was that of Adam: it was the position in which God placed Adam. “What is man? ... thou hast set him over the works of thy hands ... thou madest him to have dominion”. Dominion was conferred on Adam. He was the head; that is the first dominion God instituted in connection with the earth. In Noah the principle of government came in; he received dominion in connection with the sword of government. Moses and David were in divinely given dominion. Whatever God saw fit to institute, it was created in view of Christ. Then there are created things in heaven. Christ will not merely come in to [p. 26] take these things up, when men have failed, but they were created for Him, that is in view of His taking them up.
Will you explain “Old things have passed away and all things are become new”?
FER The “old things” were the things of responsibility, but the new things are the things of reconciliation. Adam and Noah and all the others who were put in positions were so on the ground of responsibility, and the question was, whether they could hold them for God. But they all failed. Moses failed.
Is new creation wholly subjective?
FER Yes; it is man who is new created. In general, new creation is used in connection with man, and is subjective. “In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature”, Galatians 6: 15, and that is subjective. The positions themselves were all right, only those placed in them were unable to hold them. It is a point of the greatest moment, that all the dealings of God in the past, were in view of Christ. A breakdown has come in. But Christ has not come in merely as a remedy (though He is that), but all was created in view of His taking them up. “A man in Christ” refers to man’s state. “If any man be in Christ .. a new creation”. To head up all things in Christ is an objective thought, but “if any man be in Christ” is a question of state. It is a new bottle.
Is new creation involved in “Made us meet”?
FER Yes; it involves that. I admit that if a man has the Spirit, he is made meet; but still it involves the work of God in him. If a man has the smallest appreciation of Christ — let it be as small as may be — that man is “made meet”. If there is appreciation of Christ, then there is affection, and that man is made meet. Quickening and new creation [p. 27] are akin; there is not much difference. In Ephesians 2 the apostle predicates both regarding the Ephesians: “you hath he quickened — created in Christ Jesus”. The difference of idea is, that in quickening it is for God, and for the circle in which God may place you. New creation is to put a man before men, a new man “created in righteousness and holiness of truth”.
What is the “Kingdom of the Son of his love”?
FER If we have a distinguished king in whom every moral quality harmonises, he will give character to his kingdom. So if you get “the Son of his love”, you may be sure He will give character to His kingdom. It is a great thing to see Christ as the Son: many a one sees Him as Saviour and Lord, who does not see Him as Son. “That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life”, John 6: 40. There are things visible and invisible; there are things which have come within the range of man’s knowledge, but there are things which have not. Man has not seen principalities and powers. Christ is the image of the invisible God: He is the perfect representation. Adam was made in the image of God, that is relatively to the lower creation. A man who sees no difference between man and the brute creation, is blinded. It is simply monstrous. No argument should be spent upon it; it is not worth it. Man was representative of God: he represented God to the inferior creation. Had Adam remained as God made him, he would have been an object of reverence to all that came from him. “Likeness” means completely free from moral taint. He was pure in the nature of things. God as God is invisible, “whom no man hath seen, nor can see”. But if a divine Person becomes man, He brings God into the presence of men. God as God is outside the ken of man; although the Son of God became incarnate and God was revealed. But God adjusts that with the fact that God remains God,
[p. 28] and as such He is invisible. In the incarnation of the Son of God you get the revelation of God, but you get too the Man of God’s purpose. “He is before all things, and by him all things consist”.
It is interesting to see certain things that came out in the course of God’s dealings, which are never repeated; for instance, the flood. God purged the earth with water; but it was not in view of this world, but in view of the world to come. He purged some abominations which had come to pass and which He could not tolerate. The earth is never again purged. So with Israel: they were taken out of Egypt, but it will never be done again. They forfeited the land because of the golden calf and so they have yet to be brought into the land, but that will be in the world to come. Their captivity to Babylon was predicted before they went into the land. God will recover them from Babylon — not again from Egypt.
What is “By him all things consist”?
FER They are held together by Him. For the moment everything seems dislocated, but things are maintained. They appear out of gear, but “He upholds all things by the word of his power”. The whole physical system is held together by the Sun, so everybody will be held together in Christ as head. “He that is not subject to the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him”, John 3: 36. That describes the state of the Jew at this moment. They are lawless and out of their orbit. The wrath of God is upon the Jew — it is suspended in a way, but when God takes up the Jew again, they will then come under it. The harlot will come under the wrath of God, her flesh will be burned. Things in heaven have been affected by evil, the throne of darkness is above. In Revelation a great conflict takes place between Satan and his angels, and Michael and his angels, and the devil is cast out, and he will find no more place there. “He is the head of the body, the assembly” (verse 18).
[p. 29] In Ephesians Head to the church is the crown of all, but here it is the beginning: and is stated differently. Here it is inherent, and in Ephesians it is given. Looked at inherently, He is the Head of the body, but in Ephesians He is the Head over all things and Head to the body. It is His exaltation as man, first taken out of death; and then Head of the body is the crown of all. Here in Colossians He is Head inherently, not as a man down here. He is the Son of the Father’s love. He began His history here as man, and He went up to the right hand of God; but John has another line. He came out of heaven, and this line touches John. It is exceedingly interesting to see it stated in this way — He is the Head — the beginning; the First-born from the dead. The last is relative, for others are to be brought in on the ground of resurrection; as death lay upon them. He is the First-born from the dead. A death blow is struck at death. In the fact of Christ becoming man, He is the beginning. Every family will take its character from Christ. The church will, Israel will, and all the Old Testament saints too, and the nations. It will be a great thing to see an end of all confusion, and see all in harmony, which will be when Christ takes up everything. Here on earth He could subdue all evil in His presence, and in every circle in which He was He gave character to that circle, and He is able to do that to the utmost degree. “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost”, John 1: 33. He received the Spirit that He might communicate it. Nothing stood before Christ; death, demons, disease depart. The effect of Christ coming here was brought to an issue in regard to Israel. There was a separation between the clean and the unclean; and the demons went into the herd of swine and down they go to the abyss and that is where the Jews are today.
[p. 30] God would not have gone on with man except in view of Christ. The blood taken into the holiest of all proves that it went beyond Israel. Now we get the headship of Christ on the footing of resurrection (verse 18). In regard to creation, it does not speak of Him as the beginning. When it comes to the ground of resurrection, then it is that He is the beginning. The starting-point of everything is Christ risen. It is wonderful what you get in Christ as man. You get an Object of perfect divine complacency; one who can impart His Spirit to men on the ground of redemption. “All the fulness was pleased to dwell in him”, and He “made peace by the blood of his cross”. There you get the two things. The heavenly host celebrated “Glory to God in the highest”, and “good pleasure in man”. It was the same at the baptism and on the mount of transfiguration. He, as man, was the object of divine complacency, and He could impart His Spirit to man. “He is the head of the body”, is actual and final. He is that, but there is a headship which is provisional. He is head of every man.
What do you understand by the body? It is a recognised thing in Scripture. It is assumed here; but what is the idea which is to be understood?
Is it not the assembly?
FER Oh, yes; but it implies that there is something here for Christ. I think it is that which lives in His life. The body is the vehicle of the life of Christ in a moral sense. Christ is a Man in heaven, and has His body, but the body is the vehicle of His life down here. It is the vehicle of blessing because it is the vehicle of Christ’s life. Of course it must be taken up and understood morally. Every Christian is in the body. The Galatians were not living much in His life, but they were in the body. So, too, the Corinthians. They had received the Spirit, and so were in the body. Colossians is in advance of the elementary [p. 31] epistles. The great point in Colossians is life; the Spirit is only once mentioned. The idea is that the body is here in His life. You get “when Christ who is our life”, then all the exhortations in chapter 3 seem to go on the ground of Christ being the life of the body. The body is always viewed as provisionally complete, like a regiment; if all were killed but ten men, yet the regiment is there. The body is not the public thing; we have to maintain individuality in these days, but I recognise the existence of the body, and therefore I could not be sectarian. Sectarianism is a practical denial of the body. It is a falsification of the truth. Every quality of Christ comes out in the body, compassion and mercy, etc. — “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. It is Christ in you. He is the beginning. It is a wonderful thing; you can never improve upon the divine beginning. A child learning to paint may improve upon the beginning, and in time may become an artist. So a potter, he may begin by some rough work, and eventually become a skilled potter. But that is because of human infirmity; but you cannot imagine any improvement in God.
Is He the beginning in incarnation, or in resurrection?
FER It is Himself who is the beginning, although resurrection is contemplated here. One of the Essays and Reviews is on “the education of the world”; by the late Dr. Temple — and he says that there has been brought out an education of man, and Christ coming in was a part in that education. It was the education of fallen man. It all went on wrong lines, for it made man the beginning, but Christ is the beginning. How men who profess Christianity can commit themselves to such things in the teeth of Scripture is to me quite astounding. If Christ did not stand on the footing of “out of the dead”, no one could stand with Him. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground [p. 32] and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”. You cannot improve upon God’s beginning, for God’s work is just as good at the beginning as at the end. The beginning involves the finish; the foundations of a house involve the roof. In the succeeding verses we get great light in regard to what will give character to the universe (see verses 20 - 22). Christ was personally the Object of divine complacency; but the object in view was that all was to be brought into divine complacency, and all the fulness of God is available for man as light, because it is in a Man.
Chapter 3 gives us things in the present. Chapter 1 goes back to what has been effected. “Christ made peace by the blood of his cross”. It goes back to what Christ was here upon earth. “In him all the fulness was pleased to dwell”. The Father was there, and the Spirit was there. “The Father which dwelleth in me, he doeth the works”. They were the Father’s works, and they were done in the power of the Spirit. There was the perfect setting forth of divine Persons. The fulness of Godhead was there. In the present time, if people disregard the Spirit, God will give no light; they are left to their own imaginings. What these great men put out are lies; they do violence to the Spirit, therefore have no light. It is impossible to understand divine things by the natural understanding. Man’s mind does not rise beyond man’s things. If divine things are to be understood, we must have the Spirit of God. The mass of Christendom give no place to the Spirit. I am amazed at people going and attaching themselves to the great systems of men. They have no understanding, or they could not. There is no gathering-point except Christ. The Spirit of God gathers to Christ. The Spirit of God will not gather any particular company to Christ. He gathers the whole company, and although we do not see it yet, we recognise it. “To reconcile all things unto himself”.
Then it is amplified, and says, “By him, I say, whether they be things on earth, or things in heaven”. It is a great thing to get into view the “all things” and Christ in relation to them. The assembly is only one item of “all things”. It has a wonderful place, because it is His body, yet it is not the “all things”. It is the inner circle. If a stone is thrown into the water, you get a great number of concentric circles; but then there is an inmost circle, but every circle has the same centre. The inmost circle is the only existing circle. In Hebrews 12 there is one company you come to, mount Zion, but that is a mount; then to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is an idea; then to the church of the firstborn, that is actually existing. There are the angels, too — an innumerable company of angels; that company is actually existing. We do not come to Israel, nor the nations, because we have not come to them yet; but we have come to Jesus, and the blood of sprinkling, they are actually there, Scripture is so accurate. God has many controversies with men, but Christ came in, and settled every controversy. He made peace by the blood of His cross. God has no controversy with man at the present time; it is preaching peace to you that were afar off, and to them that were nigh. God will have a controversy with man by-and-by. Speaking broadly in regard to men, God has no controversy with man at the present time. God may have a controversy with an individual, in the way of discipline, but that is more a Father’s chastening. When man sets up Antichrist, then he has a controversy with God. They refuse the appointed Head, but that brings in judgement. It is remarkable how all through God allows things to go on until they are morally ripe.
Rem Revelation 14, “The grapes are fully ripe”. The grapes are judgement — the harvest is for God, and He says, “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe”; it does not say “fully ripe”. Man precipitates [p. 34] things so; it is a great thing to wait until things are ripe, and they are fully manifested.
FER In cases of discipline they are often prematurely dealt with, and it brings in confusion. Then we get that reconciliation has already taken place in regard to the assembly (see verse 21). Reconciliation is not complete without presentation. The reconciliation of the prodigal was not complete until the prodigal was brought into it. It is not complete until we are presented holy and unblameable. The object of reconciliation is to bring into divine complacency, but then the objects must be brought into the consciousness of it.
Why does it say “if”?
FER It must be conditional so long as we are here. If you view saints abstractly, you can leave out the element of responsibility; but the moment you speak of Christians upon earth, you must bring it in, for there is nothing absolute upon earth. The only way in which we can speak of Christians as in heaven, is as looking at them abstractly; but the moment you look upon them as being down here, let them have as much light as may be, there is still the danger of their being moved away from the hope of the gospel.
Since the saints stood in the truth of reconciliation, the next thing was the “body” — reconciliation paving the way for the body. We could not understand much about the truth of the body if we did not enter into reconciliation. Reconciliation connects itself with the gospel — the apostle puts it, “if ye continue in the faith” ... and “be not moved away from the hope of the gospel”. The gospel in one sense covers everything. The ministry of the mystery does not confer anything on you; the gospel confers everything. There are four ministries spoken of: (1) Ministry of the gospel; (2) Of the new covenant; (3) Of reconciliation; (4) Of the mystery. The gospel covers the first three. The mystery is sometimes called “the mystery of the gospel”. We are really brought by the gospel into what the mystery unfolds. The ministry of the mystery unfolds what the gospel confers. Here in Colossians 1 we get two ministries — the gospel and the mystery; and in 2 Corinthians we get the two intermediate ministries — the new covenant and reconciliation. God has set forth in the Lord Jesus Christ what the terms are on which He is with us; this is the ministry of the new covenant. Reconciliation brings in the thought that all is to be for the pleasure of God, that man may be a new creation. We are reconciled that we should be holy and unblameable in His sight. He has removed the distance that we might be before Him according to His pleasure. We have to take in one thing after another, we cannot take in all at once. God in the gospel speaks from the height of His purpose (see John 3: 16), but I doubt if we can take it in as quickly; so the truth is presented in a way that we can take it in, step by step; hence we get it presented in different ministries. The apostle speaks to the Corinthians as they were able to bear it; so the first epistle is chiefly taken up with the gospel (see chapter 15). Then in 2 Corinthians we get the ministry of the new covenant, and in chapter 5 we get the ministry of reconciliation. We could not take in the thought of God as to reconciliation unless we were believers. It was all in the thought of God from the outset. The father had all in his thought from the very first, when he ran to meet the prodigal. Of course, reconciliation has reference to the state we were in, but then the reconciliation was effected by the death of Christ, not by what was effected in us. The Corinthians had to enter into it, but the reconciliation was effected in the death of God’s Son, otherwise there could not be the testimony of it, the “word of reconciliation”. The Corinthians were not in all the good of the gospel. The parable of the prodigal carries us much further than the good Samaritan.
[p. 36] One is the wilderness, the other carries you inside. Until a man is free of the judgement under which he is, you cannot talk to him of anything; when he knows that, you may set forth to him the terms upon which God is with him; then reconciliation being effected, he can be here for the pleasure of God, being a new creature. “We beseech ... be ye reconciled to God” is abstract. The apostle is stating in a broad way what was his ministry; what began in Christ: “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” was being continued in the apostle, though he could go further; for reconciliation having been effected in Christ, the word of reconciliation was committed to him.
When shall we be presented holy and unblameable in His sight — is it future?
FER It is abstract. We are reconciled for this purpose. I should not say it is future. The statement of it having been made, we should seek to accept it, and enter into it now. The “if” of verse 23 is to recognise them as still in the place of responsibility; “to present you” is to set you before God. It is not a question of what we are practically (although in a way it is), but what we are in the new man. Just as much as we are in the reality of new creation, do we enter into being “holy and unblameable in his sight”. Verse 23 is true of the most spiritual Christian that ever lived, that he is responsible not to be moved away from the hope of the gospel. There is no “mystery” in heaven. “Mystery” refers to something that takes place on earth. In Ephesians 2, where saints are spoken of as raised up and made to sit in heavenly places, there is nothing about mystery; but in Ephesians 3, where what we are on earth is taken up, we get “mystery” again. The remarkable thing that comes out in the mystery is that the Christ who was rejected from this earth is here on this earth; and how does that come about? His body is here, and that is [p. 37] the truth of the mystery. The apostle goes on to speak of the body (verse 24). “The afflictions of Christ”. Christ is still looked upon as suffering here. What exposed the apostle to persecution was the preaching and the carrying of the testimony to the Gentiles. The Jews always persecuted for this, “forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles”, as in Thessalonians. Still, after all, he was filling up the afflictions of Christ, and we ought all to be filling up what remains to us. Moses suffered the reproach of Christ because of his service; so Christ is still in affliction. He is suffering in His body, the assembly, and we have come in to fill up that which remains. If we were as devoted to the service of Christ’s body as Paul was, we should come more into His afflictions. The Lord is perfectly sovereign, and if you are to serve His body, you will have to break with the ties of flesh; not that you become unnatural, but His body takes the precedence. If you go on the line of knowing no one after the flesh, and are content to take that ground, you are likely to suffer in the flesh, natural ties are subordinated to this. If I know people in a social line, it is knowing them after the flesh. We are to regard people as they are in new creation; so I should have as much objection to a sort of communism, as I should to social distinctions. There is as much evil in levelling up as in levelling down. Every saint will come out in display, otherwise there would not be a complete display of Christ; Ephesians 1: 23. The thought of the bride is that He has the church for His own comfort. The body is that which is adequate for the complete display of Christ. In order to this you must have every saint; it is only thus it is adequate for a complete display of Christ.
We little know what it was for Him to become a Man. It takes the whole church to set it forth. The divine idea of the body is that Christ should be still here. The head and the body are always looked at as distinct. The figure of the human body is only taken up for the “body”. Everything comes forth from the head to the body. It is head in the sense of “chief”. Christ is Head of the assembly as the husband is head of the wife. There has been an attempt to employ and carry figures too strictly and literally. The Head is the One from whom we derive everything. Verse 25, “Complete the word of God”. The epistle to the Colossians has always Gentiles in view. Reconciliation comes in more prominently with the Gentile; the Jew having been under law, responsibility is taken up in connection with him. The mystery explains how Christ can be in the very scene where He was rejected, and the only way that could be is in the body which is taken from Him. Nothing can really represent Christ except what is of Christ; we only really represent Him as we are partakers of the divine nature. The body is here — the Head is in heaven, but we derive from Him. Christ was the light of the world when He was here. Now the assembly is that; but the assembly does not answer to the mind of God about it. It has left its first love. It has not represented Christ. It has not been a true witness, so the threat hangs over it to remove the candlestick. How little we look into the great thought of God about the assembly, that which is to represent Christ; and who can understand that Christ can be here, actually, in the very scene from which He was rejected. This can only be as we derive from Him, just as truly as Eve was formed out of Adam.
Was what came out in Christ “God reconciling” continued in the assembly?
FER In Christ, God was here. When Christ was here all the fulness of God was here; the line on which God was, was reconciling man to Himself. He draws near to man, “not imputing trespasses”. The apostle was an ambassador. We could not say this of the Lord. It was God who was here. In Christ we get the full revelation of all God’s thoughts in regard [p. 39] to man. There is a danger of losing sight of the very special place the apostles had as regards their ministry — they inaugurated as it were — they were pioneers. Our preaching and testimony is simply what came out by the apostles. They were inspired. The apostles could say “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son”. They write that our fellowship may be with them. The “our” is emphatic, and marks the special place the apostles had in the testimony and service. We constantly get an apostolic “we”. Here in Colossians he speaks in the singular: “Whereof I am made minister”. The apostle’s wish was to make all know what they had seen and heard, that our fellowship might be with them, and then he shows the full height of their “fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ”.