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An Elder Speaks
Image of the
Invisible
An Article by Ronald Thompkins
November 16, 2003
During the writing of Colossians,
Paul confronted heresy at the Church of Christ at Colosse, an
Asia Minor Church. Heretics were advocating philosophies that
affected the body and mind. Gnostics (from the Greek work
“gnosis” which means knowledge) was a second century heresy
that seeped into the Church. Messages of an eclectic nature
with strong Jewish origins were being advocated. Greeks, known
for their love of philosophy, and mystical behavior were also
prevalent.
Christ was depicted as incomplete
and inadequate. Religious practices included asceticism, and
worship of angels (Col. 2:18). Ancient wisdom and knowledge
were embraced and manifested as alluring mysteries; secret
rituals, festivals, and feasts were also being practiced. God
was represented as having two sides: a spiritual and a cosmic
(matter). Celestial forces were being consulted to determine a
person’s destiny. Strict adherence to diets were advocated to
control the body on one hand, then on the other hand, others
were liberal as it related to constraints on the body because
they had concluded it was evil and earthly in origin. It was
also believed it would hinder a person’s quest for virtue. The
teaching had at its core that unless the inner man was
awakened through knowledge, his spirit would not be received
by God. Once this spirit is awakened, it was believed the
inner man and, therefore, that person would become superior to
others around him, because of this now enlighten new
knowledge. This superior attitude led to divisions in the
Church.
To address this false teaching,
Paul urged the Christian brethren to look to Christ for their
wisdom rather than man and anything created by man (I Tim 1:4,
2 Tim 2:16-19, Titus 1: 10-16). He reminded the Church that
“He (Christ) is before all things, and in Him all things
consist “(Col. 1:17).
An image is a likeness of the
true. In Col. 1:18 the apostle elevated Christ to His proper
role as the “…image of the invisible God, the firstborn over
all creation”. He further wrote that “all things were created
through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in
Him all things consist.”
Starting at the 18th
verse of Col. 1, Paul confirms and shares the manifold wisdom
that had been locked up for ages: Christ is the head of His
body, the Church. Paul used several illustrations to convey
this relationship (Col 1:18). He spoke of it as a flock, a
building, a vineyard, and a race. As a body Paul makes it
perfectly clear as to the role of Christ and His Church, the
body. As head He solely directs the Church, defining the
purpose of it and giving it the life it needs. The whole body
is subservient to the head and follows His direct orders. As
the body, each member has a role and responsibility to not
only the Head, Christ, but also each other (I Cor. 12:12-27).
The fullness of God is embodied in
His son: like father, like son (Col. 2:9). God’s plan and
Christ’s work were to reconcile all men to Him (2 Cor.
5:18-20). Jesus’ part in this reconciliation process was to
voluntarily give His life for ours.
What should be our goal that our
lives should be in the image of Christ.
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