To confront the Gnostic concept that matter is evil, Paul put forth a most extensive revelation of Christ. Whereas the Gnostics claim that material things are inherently evil, Paul pointed out that all things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ and that they are now subsisting in Christ. Paul was bold, and his teaching meant the death of Gnostic philosophy. He boldly pointed out that all things, including animals and reptiles regarded by Jews as unclean, were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ. Furthermore, all these things are now subsisting in Christ. What a shock this must have been to the Jewish mentality, which had been trained to distinguish the clean from the unclean. Remember Peter’s reaction to the vision that he saw in Acts 10. When Peter saw the sheet containing all manner of wild beasts and creeping things and heard the voice telling him to kill and eat, he said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Nevertheless, according to Paul’s word in Colossians, all these things were created unto Christ and subsist in Christ.
Many scientists recognize that in the universe there is some kind of power that holds all things together. This holding power, which is the hub, the center, of the universe, is Christ. Because Christ is this holding power, all things, including snakes, scorpions, and frogs, subsist in Christ. Without Christ, the universe and everything in it would collapse. We are upheld, not by the earth, but by Christ. Our existence is maintained by Christ in whom all things are held together.
Paul presented such an extensive revelation of Christ in order to help the saints to be free from their cultural concepts. According to Acts 10, in the eyes of God there is no difference between animals and reptiles that are clean and those that are unclean. In his reluctance to obey the voice to kill and eat, Peter was still acting according to his cultural preference. Such preferences cause us to be divisive and make it impossible for us to realize the one new man. In the new man there is no room for Jew or Greek, for circumcision or uncircumcision. There is no room for barbarian or Scythian. In the new man, all the room is for Christ. Christ is all and in all. This means that Christ is every part of the new man and is in every part. The goal of this extensive revelation of Christ is that we would all live Christ. If we live Christ, it will make no difference what kind of food we are served. We would not say, when visiting certain places, that because we are Christians we cannot eat certain things. Such preferences are apart from the living of the new man.
The book of Colossians reveals Christ in an extensive way in order to deal with our culture. Culture is a very subtle and hidden substitute for Christ. We all condemn sin, but we do not condemn culture. Recently the Lord showed me that whereas 1 Corinthians deals with sinful things and Galatians deals with religion and the law, Colossians deals with culture. Philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world are all aspects of culture. Likewise, the various isms such as asceticism and Gnosticism are aspects of culture. Then I began to pay more attention to the parallel between 1 Corinthians 12:12 and 13, Galatians 3:27 and 28, and Colossians 3:10 and 11. If you read these verses carefully, you will notice that in 1 Corinthians 12:12 and 13 and Galatians 3:27 and 28 there is no mention of barbarians or Scythians. But Colossians 3:11 mentions the circumcision, the uncircumcision, the barbarians, and the Scythians. This is an indication that in Colossians Paul is dealing with culture. The Scythians were the most barbarous of people. According to M. R. Vincent’s comments on 3:11 in his Word Studies in the New Testament, the Scythians offered human sacrifices, scalped and sometimes flayed slain enemies, and even used the skulls of their victims for drinking cups. The barbarians spoken of in this verse included all those other than Greeks and Jews. This is a strong indication that in Colossians Paul is concerned with man’s culture. Even circumcision and uncircumcision, although related to religion, are also related to culture.
Not many Christians throughout the centuries have been able to get fully into the book of Colossians. On the one hand, they have not seen the extensiveness of the revelation of Christ in this book. On the other hand, they have not seen that this book was written to deal with culture. It is important for us to realize that within us the ultimate substitute for Christ is our culture.