“Sept 25, 2024 - Shadow and Substance”

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Shadow and Substance

Reading:  Colossians 2:11-19
    
    Paul is reassuring that the Colossians have all that they need in Christ, so they don’t need to seek knowledge, experience, or rules for life outside of him.  It is in Jesus that they have had their formative spiritual experience:  “in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead”(Col 2:11-12).  Just as Abraham’s circumcision signaled a connection with God by cutting off part of his body, so our “circumcision” in Christ connects us to him as we discard our old sinful life.  We also reenact his burial and resurrection as we are “buried with him in baptism,” confident that God will give us new life though we are in the “grave.”  And he has!  “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of our flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven all our trespasses”(Col 2:13).  It is only in Christ that we have found this transformation, forgiveness, and regeneration.

    This also changes the way we live going forward.  Since he has “(canceled) the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands”(Col 2:14), we no longer live obligated to a law that condemns us.  Paul seems to have the Law of Moses in mind particularly here:  “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ”(Col 2:16-17).  Paul refers to several actions involved in keeping Moses’ Law (food, drink, festivals, new moons, Sabbaths) and insists that the Colossians not let others judge them for not observing them.  Christians need not live as Jews.  The power of Moses’ Law is in its reflection of Christ, but we already have the substance of Christ.

    Moses’ Law pointed to a greater reality, hinting that God had a greater, higher, and more complete salvation to offer.  It was the shadow, but Christ is the substance.  In Christ, those allusions find their fulfillment in a richer, Spirit-empowered life.  Only in Christ do we have all that we need.

-----------
One Thing to Think About: Why do we often find rules like these (v. 16) appealing? 

One Thing to Pray For:   Stronger remembrance of how Jesus has saved me from my sins
 

Share