Some thoughts on Colossians, and a call to fast!

Colossians is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful books in the New Testament. Colossians highlights the significance of the person of Christ- fully God and fully man – and juxtaposes authentic Christianity with the superstitious and legalistic doctrines that were finding footholds in the first century church.

Reading Colossians in 2011 as a new believer, I was compelled and inspired by the clear imperatives in the second half of the book: love one another, be honest, and work hard. The first half, on the other hand, seemed to be a lot more abstract – upholding the divinity of Christ and rejecting superstition. I dealt with this issue a lot when I would read anything by Paul; I struggled to make the connection when I read anything from Romans to 1 Thessalonians. I enjoyed reading the theology and found it interesting, but I could never quite understand why Paul seemed to think it related so directly to our day to day lives in Christ.

Then the Gospel happened.

I was working on a jobsite in the spring of 2016, surfing the internet on a coffee break. I was making a point of fasting weekly, both for my own spiritual benefit, and to press into the Lord for some content to teach my men’s group. On this particular fast day, I had the thoughts come to mind, “intimacy with Jesus and union with Christ,” and immediately recalled seeing a book on Amazon called “Mystical Union.” I looked up the author’s name, and scrolled his videos on YouTube. I was floored. As I soaked in the implications of God’s union with humanity in the person of Jesus, Paul began to make sense. A whole new world seemed to open up before me as I began to see the significance of Jesus’ incarnation, and started to see God, life, and myself through a “Christological lens.”

In the first two chapters of Colossians, Paul beautifully articulates the person and work of Christ. He alternates between describing who Jesus is in His person, and what He has done for us through His death, resurrection, and ascension. Paul describes the heart of the Gospel he preached as being “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27) Not just Christ as an example to follow, but Christ in humanity as a man, indwelling humanity by His Spirit.

Paul’s specific moral imperatives in chapters three and four find their context in chapters one and two. Without the theological framework of chapters one and two, these instructions become just another form of legalism. By contrast, when we see these instructions in the context of the person and work of Christ, they describe what human life looks like when it is lived in the light of the reality of our inclusion in Jesus and of His union with us. The Gospel is not advice; it is, instead, the flat announcement of the victory of Jesus over sin, death, and every power of the enemy. The implications of this victory include (but are in no way limited to) our absolute freedom from sin, judgement, religious legalism, and superstition, no thanks to us or our own efforts.

Union with Christ changes everything. Every aspect of our lives finds its true meaning in this union, and every malfunction in our lives or characters stems from, I believe, our failure to live from a place of simple trust in who Jesus is in us. Union with Jesus drastically changes our motives; instead of living for Jesus, union means that we live in Jesus. We live, because Jesus lives, seated at the right hand of the Father in a physical, human body, and not only that, but in us through His Spirit. Instead of striving for a closer relationship with the Lord, this union allows us to participate and drink from Jesus’ own relationship with His Abba through the agency of Holy Spirit. Instead of striving to please God, we live lives of righteousness and love as a product of seeing what has become of us in Jesus. Instead of pressing in for “more of God” through our efforts and disciplines, this union allows us to rest in the reality that God has given us all of Himself, forever, in Jesus.

In  late December into early January, the corporate compulsion to make resolutions, sanctify ourselves, and rededicate our lives to the gym and to the Lord is tangibly thick, like the layer of frozen air laying across the our hemisphere, or like the glory cloud at Bethel. This intoxicating combination of some free time, extra calories, fresh winter air, and probably alcohol compels us to “think bigger” as we begin 2018.

I am not exempt from this.

I am calling a fast, and I want to invite you to join me. Along with countless believers around the world, I am echoing the call for a season of radical self-denial. Let’s make a resolution.

In light of what has become of my humanity in Jesus, I am committing to a season of living in absolute denial of my old, corrupt, sinless, joyless, religiously-sober self. For this fast, I am rejecting the identity I inherited through Adam- I am living in the light of the reality that this self has been circumcised away from me through the death of Jesus, and that I have been resurrected and co-seated with Christ in fellowship with His Father.

I am going to fast from self-righteousness and false humility. I am fasting from dark introspection. I am fasting from sin. I am fasting from the harassment and oppression of the enemy. I am fasting from religion in all of its forms. I am fasting from living outside the love of God, and from seeing others outside of the lens of God’s grace. I am fasting from seeing God’s character as being different than the character revealed in Jesus. I am fasting from seeing the Father, myself, or anyone else through any lens except for the revelation of Christ and Him crucified. By God’s grace, through the faith that  comes as a free gift, I am going to live joyfully aware of my inclusion in Christ. I am going to eat heartily of His broken body- I am feasting on the reality of our redemption from every effect of Adam’s fall. I am committed to drinking deeply from the cup of the New Covenant, to living daily in a state of intoxication with His goodness and mercy! In 2018, let’s resolve to keep the feast, for Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. 

Whether you are fasting from food or still finishing your Christmas leftovers and expired eggnog, I wish you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, and His very own joy and bliss for 2018!