Complete In Christ
Yet Laboring In The
Lord
Part I
By Wilhelm Prolingheuer
"For in Him the entire complement of the Deity is dwelling bodily. And you are complete in Him, Who is the Head of every sovereignty and authority" (Col.2:9,10).
THE DARK BACKGROUND
IN ORDER To be able to understand this transcendent truth correctly, it is necessary to see its dark background. We human beings, as God created us, learn only by contrasts.
The first pair in Eden could not appreciate the good that surrounded them. Therefore they were not grateful and could not thank their Creator. They needed the experience of evil. This relationship of good to evil is also set forth in the one tree, which was to teach them two important truths, the blessing of good and the curse of evil. So it was God Who introduced evil and locked up all instubbornness, that He should be merciful to all (Rom.11:32). He counters sin with grace, curse with blessing, stubbornness with obedience, darkness with light, death with life, enmity with love. The one whose eyes have been opened to this glorious truth will surely join Paul in that exultant passage in Romans (11:33-36):
"O, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledgeof God! How inscrutable are His judgments, and untraceableHis ways! For, who knew the mind of the Lord? or, who becameHis advisor? or, who gives to Him first, and will be repaid by Him? seeing that out of Him and through Him andfor Him is all: to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!"
Paul the Pattern
Paul, the least of the apostles, not competent to be called an apostle, looks at his own past as the necessary background for his role as the herald of God's grace. When he writes that God severed him from his mother's womb and called him through His grace, to unveil His Son in him, he recognizes that his life of sin, which he had lived, made him the pattern for the display of the transcendent grace of God which he was to herald among the nations (1 Tim.1:12-16).
And those whom he called out were in many ways like their apostle and therefore received the same grace. We can see this in ourselves. Not only were we slaves of sin, living in the lusts of the flesh, but we were also outside of the blessing of Israel, and were called curs, whom God had left to go their own way. And among these God does not call many powerful, noble or wise, but rather the weak, the ignoble and the contemptible. They are the recipients of these precious truths. Truly, this is in accord with the character of transcendent grace.
THE TRANSITION
The second point which we must grasp in order to understand our theme fully is the transition in Paul's service from immaturity to maturity. This took place gradually as Israel was set aside and the administration of the secret was introduced.
Discarding Immaturity
If we compare Paul's attitude in Acts, when he still was connected with the kingdom message for Israel, with the teaching of his epistles, we will see a remarkable difference between them. In the first case the door to the kingdom had not yet closed, and Paul acted accordingly. But in the second case, he wrote his letters to the Thessalonians, Romans, Corinthians and Galatians in which he prepared the believers for the deeper revelations of the later prison epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians). This should show us that there was a period of transition. We can see this clearly when we distinguish between the fundamental truths which Paul made known to the Romans (justification, reconciliation, and the sovereignty of God), and the transcendent glories which He could not reveal until later. Now it is a remarkable fact that, when he came to Rome, where there was an ecclesia which had been taught many deep and precious truths by his letter, he still proclaimed Christ as Messiah to the Jews in that city. So the rejection of Israel and the gradual unfolding of the most sublime revelations which had been hidden before that time, went hand in hand.
MATURITY
In 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 the apostle speaks of this transitional period. That which is out of an instalment shall be discarded when maturity has come. Paul uses the figure of the immaturity of childhood in contrast with the maturity of a grown man. This is not a personal accomplishment, for it cannot be attained by good behavior, but designates the time when a person is declared to have become of age. Then he is master of his own possessions and has a different legal standing than a minor (Gal.4:1-3). It is the period in life which begins after the years of immaturity have passed. Paul includes himself among the former minors, but says that when he became a man, he discarded everything connected with his former status. He no longer knows out of an instalment, but is able to recognize according as he is recognized. These words point forward to the revelations in the prison (or perfection) epistles, in which the believers are transported into the light of transcendent grace, as chosen in Him before the disruption, yes, even called according to God's own purpose before the eons, and already seen as complete in Christ, their realm being inherent in the heavens (Phil.3:20).
Out of the Heart of God
But this does not mean that when the perfection epistles were written, Paul's previous revelations had all become obsolete. Rather they are there being perfected, elevated to a higher plane, where there is no longer room for such visible gifts and blessings as tongues, miracles, powerful healings and personal, spiritual appearances and revelations, but where the members of Christ's body are blessed with every spiritual blessing among the celestials, and seated there in Him.
GOD'S WORD WAS COMPLETED
These riches flow to us out of the heart of God, the Father, and were hidden there from the eons, until Paul was allowed to reveal them. Thus God's Word was completed. The Greek word pleroo means to fill, or to add something to fill full that which was imperfect before. This development, from the rudiments to the most sublime heights of the riches of God's Word, cannot be given too much attention.
But people tell us again and again: "We think what Jesus said is the most important. His authority is greater than Paul's," We realize that those who speak thus want to give Jesus the highest, most honorable place, but we wish to accomplish the same thing, and therefore reply: Have you never read what Jesus said to His disciples in His words of farewell to them? "Still much have I to say to you, but you are not able to bear it at present (John 16:12).
Paul's Special Evangel
Do you not know that Jesus, the exalted One, severed Paul from his people and his brethren for a special service among the nations, and appeared to him repeatedly to instruct him about the things that were not revealed before? Is it not written that Paul did not receive the evangel he preached from men, but through a revelation of Jesus Christ? (Gal.1:8-12).
Have you never noticed how God appoints times and seasons for teaching different truths and speaking in different ways to men, leading them on from milk to solid food, from fundamental to deeper lessons; from law to grace, from terrestrial to celestial things (Gal.4:4; Rom.3:21-23; Eph.2:13-22; 2 Cor.5:16,17, etc.)?
Have you never read Ephesians 3:8, where Paul speaks of the untraceable riches of Christ, that is, His glorious exaltation over all, in accord with the purpose of the eons, which He makes in Christ Jesus (Eph.3:11)? Does not this purpose include a progressive development in God's dealings and planning, that He may attain the goal which He Himself has set?
Have you never heard of the "secret administration of the grace of God," which was revealed to Paul for us, and which had been hid from the eons in God, and therefore could not be found anywhere before the appropriate time (Eph.3:1-9)?
Our God is a God of order. His Word is clear and keen above any two-edged sword. We are exhorted to correctly cut the word of truth, so that we may be found as unashamed workers (2 Tim.2:15). This is impossible if we do not learn to leave every truth where God has placed it, both as to time and the person to whom it was entrusted. Therefore let us open our hearts to Paul's special evangel, the completion of the Word of God, which is revealed to Paul alone, and give it the highest place. For it is the message of Christ, the exalted One, Who is to be in us. In this message alone lies God's power for salvation today. To retain it means to be victorious in the continual contest of the faith (1 Cor.15:1,2; 2 Tim.4:7). Jesus said: "I am acquainted with the Father, and I am keeping His word" (John 8:55). We can have the same experience if we keep the word addressed to us. All other scripture is also beneficial for teaching, for exposure, for correction...that we may be equipped, fitted out for every good act (2 Tim.3:16), but must not be applied directly to those to whom it was not addressed.
HUMILIATION COMES BEFORE EXALTATION
In order to come nearer to the main topic of this article, let us now consider Christ's glorious exaltation and headship over all, which we can only truly understand in the light of His self- humiliation and deep self-abasement.
The Depths of God's Love
Paul, His slave, describes these to us in most impressive words (Phil.2:5-8). It is a descent from the most sublime heights of celestial glory, from the form of God, to the deepest depths of terrestrial shame, the death on the accursed tree.
He emptied Himself of all He was when He represented God's majesty in its most sublime glory, and took the form of a slave. Only in this way could He reveal the depths of God's love by His suffering for sin. He became a man with the same flesh and blood as ours. But what distinguished Him from us was His spirit. He was begotten by the spirit to become flesh, designated Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, the last Adam, a vivifying spirit.
And as such a man He descended still further and humbled Himself unto death. The Inaugurator of life went in obedience to the will of His Father, into the very jaws of the all-devouring king of terrors. And He descended far lower than the average man ever descends--down to the cross, the symbol of an utterly cursed state. He who knew no sin was made sin. And, cut off from the hereto fore unbroken and continual living connection with His God, He was forsaken by Him, and experienced death. This path unto the death of the cross He took upon Himself voluntarily, so that His Father's loving plan for the entire creation might be carried out.
Christ's Exaltation
Wherefore, also, God highly exalts Him and graces Him with the name that is above every name. Out of the deepest depths (for a greater humiliation has never been known in the universe), God begins Christ's exaltation by a stupendous exhibition of His might and divinity, the consequences of which are fraught with transcendent glory for us and all of His creation. We will try to grasp, in spirit, one step after another of this exaltation of Christ, in order to see the marvelous fact that we are in Him, in all its radiant brightness.
When the transcendent greatness of God's power in accord with the operation of the might of His strength, roused Christ from among the dead and vivified Him (Eph.1:20; Col.1:18), His exaltation began. Here the nature of His exaltation is revealed to us, and it is important to recognize this great turning point, which commenced for the entire universe with Christ's rousing from the dead. It is a road from death to life, from darkness to light, from corruption to glory, from weakness to power. It is the dawn of a new creation, rising from death and the tomb up to the light and life of the glory of God.
In Him, the Firstborn from among the dead, dwells the entire complement of God (that which fills or completes), in order to reconcile all that was created in Him and through Him (Col.1:15-20). What would we be, what would God's work be, without the exaltation of Christ, which began with His resurrection? Here God's victorious power of life over the might of death becomes visible and opens up to us a marvelous path, leading to the goal that God has set for Himself. That is, to abolish death as the last enemy, and to vivify in Christ all who have died in Adam. This is the aspect of the nature of Christ's exaltation, which we behold as an exhibition of the mighty power of God.
The other, and by no means less precious aspect, is the object of His exaltation. God, leading Him through and above the heavens into the very celestials, seats Him at His right hand, up over every sovereignty and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named (Heb.4:14;Eph.1:20 ,21; Phil.2:9). There He ascended the throne of the universe, in order to rule over all.
THE SECRET OF CHRIST
This exaltation of Christ as Head over all is in accord with the secret will of God, in accord with His delight, which He purposed in Him, to have an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ--both that in the heavens and that on the earth (Eph.1:9,10).
This secret of Christ, now fully revealed, surpasses by far everything that was written concerning Him in previous Scriptures. During the eons God caused one beam of light after another to irradiate the glory of His Anointed One. Beginning in Eden, and on through Moses, David in his Psalms, and the prophets, the picture of Messiah had become clearer and clearer, as to His capacity as Israel's King, Who was to rule the earth. After His ascension to the right hand of God His glory was seen in a still more luminous way. We can observe a continually increasing brilliance leading up to this secret of the all-surpassing greatness of Christ as Lord over the entire universe, that Paul, the least of all the apostles (what a contrast!) brings to its crowning consummation.
This secret of the universal headship of Christ was not entirely hid from the other apostles. Peter wrote (1 Peter 3:22) that He is at God's right hand, having gone into heaven, messengers and authorities and powers being subjected to Him. But Paul was commissioned to bring the clearest and fullest light on this grand and glorious theme, and this to the nations.
For the sake of a better understanding, we should add here that this secret of Christ, which is expounded in Ephesians 1:9,10 and 3:4,5, must not be confused with the special Ephesians message of the secret administration of the grace of God. The latter was entrusted to Paul alone, and to none of the other apostles, for they had to learn about it from him. The secret of Christ, His headship over all, concerns Himself, and not those who are His. But it is in accord with the secret administration of God's grace, which reveals the blessings of His members. However, these are only made possible through Christ's own exaltation.
Let us combine once more the facts of Christ's elevation. He was roused out of the power of death and the darkness of the tomb by God's transcendent might. He was vivified, led through the heavens into the celestial spheres, seated at the right hand of God, graced with a name above every name, and placed over every authority and power and lordship among the celestials as their Head. And there we now behold Him, in accord with the purpose of the eons, as God's Executive and Mandator, called and empowered to carry out God's universal plans of deliverance and salvation. And to equip Him for these stupendous tasks there dwells in Him the entire complement of the Deity bodily (Col.2:9), for He will bring all to a satisfying consummation. What a wealthy God! What a crown Christ wears! We should broaden our hearts to take in these riches of glory, in order to be filled full with the realization of them.
OUR COMPLETENESS IN CHRIST
And from this pinnacle, the triumphant sublimity of Christ, we will now consider our completeness in Him, and seek to grasp it by faith. When we do so, we shall suddenly become overwhelmingly rich. But just as certainly as we will once literally take possession of this wealth, we can temporarily lose the enjoyment of it now, if we do not lay hold of it with the spirit of our minds and preserve it in our hearts. We must heed the warning, "beware that no one shall be despoiling you through philosophy and empty seduction, in accord with human tradition, in accord with the elements of the world, and not in accord with Christ," Who is our Head and also the Head of the entire universe (Colossians 2:8).
Christ is the title of our Lord which expresses His official position as God's Mandator. He is the One, anointed beyond any of His partners (Heb.1:9), to do God's will and finish His work. In Him the entire complement of the Deity is dwelling, bodily (Col.2:9). Therefore, everything which He carries out and which we consequently have in Him, is perfect and has no need of any supplement. We are God's achievement, His alone, created in Christ Jesus. No merit or worthiness of ours has had a hand in this, yea, the opposite is true. Our total lack of merit provides the occasion for His grace, making it crystal clear how great it is. For in grace are we saved (Eph.2:8).
The phrase "in Christ" expresses such a close and vital union with our Lord, that this grand fact cannot be overemphasized. It may help us to grasp this better, if we compare this "being in Christ" to an unborn babe in its mother's womb. There it lies, well protected, dependent on her stream of life, surrounded by her affectionate thoughts. Everything that the mother does and that happens to her, has a close relationship to the babe. The mother's well-being is the babe's as well. But, such examples, with which we try to illustrate spiritual truths by everyday occurrences, contain a danger, if we press them beyond the point which we want to emphasize, or if we reason from them and come to unwarranted conclusions. We only wish to apply this figure to the marvelous truth that we are in Christ, so that we may better grasp what Paul wants to teach us in his letters, which are full of this thought.
SALVATION IN HIM
In Him we were chosen before the disruption of the world (Eph.1:4). Here, in the Son of His love, God selected the ecclesia which was to complete the Christ for His universal and all-embracing work of salvation. God designated us for this task long before we were born.
And when Christ, in the fullness of the time, shed His blood on the cross, our salvation in Him was accomplished. His blood is the foundation of our justification and deliverance. It is the price paid for our ransom, so that we should be freed from the slavery of sin and death. In Christ, God has judged all our sins and declared us to be just. And thus, clothed in God's own righteousness, we are saved from all indignation (Rom.5:9). We, the enemies, are now conciliated through the death of His Son, and in His life our salvation is guaranteed (10). With this we are now included in the family of God, where peace reigns (Rom.5:1,11; Eph.2:19).
That no one might praise himself, deluded by vain thoughts, we are continually reminded of the fact that all this is of God and entirely His work. No part of it is our own accomplishment. We have nothing in which to boast. It is of Him (God) that we are in Christ Jesus (1 Cor.1:30). We were not placed there by ourselves.
A New Creation Complete in Christ
And even as the source of our riches is, and even as the sublimely blessed Christ is, thus also is the wealth, given us in Him:
Wisdom from God,
which God designates before the eons for our
glory, then concealed in a secret, but now
revealed (1 Cor.1:24; 2:7; Eph.3:1-10).
Righteousness
in Him. Nothing consequently, is now
condemnation to those in Christ Jesus (Rom.8:1).
Holiness
in Him, the Holy One, in order to be holy and
flawless in His sight (Eph.1:4; Phil.1:1).
Deliverance
not only by blood from the indignation of
God, but also the deliverance through
power, that is assured to us in Him
(Eph.1:19; Rom.8:23).
TRUE CLEANSING
The whole import and scope of our inclusion in Him dawns upon us when we study Colossians 2:11-13.
WE ARE CIRCUMCISED
in the circumcision of Christ, that is, the stripping off of the body of flesh, as His was stripped off on the cross.
WE ARE BAPTIZED
in the baptism of Christ by inclusion in His entombment and resurrection.
In this baptism and circumcision we have true cleansing and need no other act performed on our flesh. As those who have died with Christ, we have been led away from the shadows to the substance. Paul expresses the same thought in Romans 6:3,4. We have been baptized into Christ Jesus, that is, into His death. The element is not water but spirit. Spirit alone can baptize into Christ's death.
TRUE LIFE
But just as Christ did not remain in death, our existence is likewise not finished and concluded in being dead in Him. Our inclusion in Him, the Living One, necessitates our vivification with Him. Now we have a part in His true life (Col.2:13; Rom.5:10; 6:11). This divine fact, in Christ, laid hold of by faith, is capable of illuminating our entire being while here on earth. Without it we would be only in our corrupt old humanity. But, since we know that Christ, once roused from the dead, will not die again, our own life in Him is guaranteed. Christ is our Life, and with Him it is hidden in God. Verily, in Christ an entirely new creation has been brought into being. The primitive has passed by. Lo! There has come new (2 Cor.5:17). But the transcendence of our being in Christ is that, in Him we not only receive the blessings of His perfect work of redemption, not only are included in the death and the life of our Lord, but are also blessed with that which He, in His sublime dignity and glorious perfection, now represents.
SEATED AMONG THE CELESTIALS
We are now seated among the celestials in Him Who is at the right hand of God, and Who is the Head of all creation. Christ is not only the Head of His body, the ecclesia, but of the entire universe, up over every sovereignty and authority and power and lordship in the celestial realms. And in this character, as Head over all, He has been given to the ecclesia as its Head (Eph.1:21-23).
With this exalted Christ and with His work of completing the entire universe, we are now united with indissoluble ties, through our having been seated in Him in the celestial realms, that we may, in the oncoming eons, display the transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Eph.2:7). Before the untraceable riches of Christ in His celestial headship were revealed, this transcendent grace could not be made known. This it is, which makes His glorious exaltation so precious to us.
What a masterpiece of divine grace! Our words fail to describe adequately the deeds of God in His Son. Would that we might continually look at the Anointed One, in order to comprehend what God has given us in Him. What glory He has poured out over us! Here is not minority, but maturity. Not piece-work, but perfection. Not shadow, but essence; not want, but superfluity. And all this is ours because of our completeness in Christ.
The Place of a Son
But it is God Who does it all. We have been able to contribute nothing to it by helping Him. Our connection with the Head--our being in Christ--includes us in His perfection. Praise be to Him, Whose achievement we are, and Who has called us in accord with the delight of His will, for the laud of the glory of His grace and designated us beforehand for the place of a son, for Himself (Eph.1:5).