Christ in Colossians – Part 9 – Atonement – Jesus Our Redeemer
Jesus is also presented to the Colossians as their redemption. Paul tells the Colossians that God the Father “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). As Jesus has paid for their penalty of sin, he also redeems them from the domain of darkness.
As a slave is redeemed from an evil master, so are the Colossians. They are no longer mastered by sin because of the forgiveness found in the cross. Paul restates it to the Colossians and says, “you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses” (Col. 2:13). In the atonement, Jesus becomes their redeemer.
Christ in Colossians – Part 7 – Atonement – Jesus is the Atonement for Sin
While Paul presents many different themes about the person and work of Jesus Christ in Colossians, none is more predominant than Jesus as the atonement for sin. It is in Christ that they have “the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). Paul makes reference after reference to the fact that Jesus died on the cross for the Colossians.
Each one of these is a reference to Jesus as the atonement for sin in one way or another, but each reference has its own flavor as to how Jesus is our atonement. The fact is that books have been written on each one of these themes in and of themselves. Therefore over the next couple weeks, we will briefly look at each one on it’s own to gain an understanding of the fullness of the message of atonement in Jesus that Paul was trying to convey.
Christ in Colossians – Part 1 – Jesus is Fully God
One of the primary themes about Jesus that Paul presents to the Colossians is that Jesus is fully God. This theme is clearly presented in two key passages. Paul says, “for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” (Col. 1:19) and later Paul reiterates this truth by saying, “for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:19). Jesus wasn’t partly God or a godly person. He was God. John MacArthur Jr. helps us to better understand what Paul meant by the “fullness” of God dwelling in Jesus:
Pleroma (fulness) was a term used by the later Gnostics to refer to the divine powers and attributes, which they believed were divided among the various emanations. That is likely the sense in which the Colossian errorists used the term. Paul counters that false teaching by stating that all the fulness of deity is not spread out in small doses to a group of spirits, but fully dwells in Christ alone.[1]
Not only is Jesus said to contain the fullness of God, but Paul also says that “He is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). This statement would have reminded Paul’s Jewish readers of Genesis 1:27, which states that “God created man in his own image.” Jesus wasn’t created, though. “As the image of the invisible God, the Son is, first of all, himself God.”[2] In this statement, Paul is pointing to the deity of Jesus.
Along with the clear statements of the deity of Jesus, there are also other statements in which Paul gives the incommunicable attributes of God to Jesus. There are a few that are worth noting. We have “forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). Paul states that “all things were created through him” (Col. 1:16). Jesus is declared to be eternal, as “he is before all things” (Col. 1:17). The preservation of our salvation is found in Jesus as we are “built up in Him” (Col. 2:7). Jesus is in heaven and “seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). Whether boldly stating the fullness of Jesus’ deity or subtly giving attributes of God to Jesus, the Apostle Paul is communicating to the Colossians that Jesus is fully God.
[1] MacArthur Jr., Colossians and Philemon
, 52.
[2] William Hendriksen, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (The New American Commentary, Vol. 32)
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