In reading or studying the Bible, it is easy to take things for granted. We may read a verse such as 2:7, which speaks of having been rooted in Christ and of being built up in Him, and we may assume that we understand it, when actually our understanding is very superficial. The same may be true even of verses such as John 3:16. On the one hand, we have some understanding of this verse. But, on the other hand, we may take very much for granted. Furthermore, in reading the Bible we may have the tendency to avoid difficulties. We may prefer not to dig into certain verses, pray about them, and ask the Lord to open them to us. As we consider a number of verses from Colossians, 1 Corinthians, and Ephesians, we should not take things for granted, and we should not avoid any difficulty presented by these verses. In particular, my burden is for us to see the implications in these verses.
In 2:7 Paul speaks of having been rooted and being built up in Christ. The word rooted is very rich in its implications. To be rooted is altogether a matter of life. A plant that has been rooted in the soil grows in the earth and even into the earth. It is a living organism which grows in the soil. If, on the contrary, a dead stick is thrust into the earth, that stick cannot be said to be rooted in the soil.
As the roots of a plant spread into the soil, they absorb the riches from the soil. The nourishment that is absorbed into the plant becomes the very element by which the plant grows. In order for a plant to grow, it must receive through the roots a certain substance or element. It is by this substance that the plant increases in size.
As believers, we have been rooted in Christ. This implies that we are living organisms, not lifeless and rootless sticks thrust into the soil. Because we have been rooted in Christ, we now may absorb the riches of Christ into us. These riches, absorbed from Christ as the soil, become the very element which enables us to grow.
Colossians 2:7 speaks of having been rooted in Christ and of being built up in Him. The more a plant grows, the more it builds itself up. A tree, for example, builds itself up by absorbing into itself nourishment from the soil. This implies organic activity. Through this activity the nourishment from the soil is absorbed into the tree.
It is significant that in 2:7 Paul puts being rooted and building together. The reason for this is that being rooted is for growing, and growing is genuine building. Growth is not only for building, but is actually the building itself. As a tree grows, it builds itself up. The same is true of human beings. As all mothers realize, the more their children are nourished with healthy food, the more they grow, and by growing, they are built up. The organic activity that takes place within them causes them to grow. This growth is the building of their physical bodies.
Being rooted brings in the growing, and the growing is the building. If we do not grow, we cannot have any building. We grow by absorbing the rich, nourishing element of the soil. Having been rooted in Christ, we now are being built up in Him. We have been rooted in Christ, and we grow by absorbing His riches into us. This leads to growth, which is the building up of ourselves in Christ.
In 2:19 Paul speaks of “holding the Head, out from Whom all the Body, by means of the joints and bands being supplied and knit together, grows with the growth of God.” Holding the Head is equal to abiding in Christ. Of course, to hold the Head implies that we are not detached, or severed, from Him. At the time Paul wrote to the Colossians, they had been somewhat detached from Christ by their culture. Culture can be a form of insulation which keeps us from Christ. To hold the Head is to remain in Christ without any insulation between us and Him.
The words “out from Whom” in verse 19 indicate that something is coming out from the Head to cause the Body to grow. The growth of the Body depends on what comes out of Christ as the Head, just as the growth of a plant depends on what comes into the plant from the soil. If a plant does not absorb nutrients from the soil, the plant cannot grow. Likewise, if we do not receive what comes out from Christ as the Head, the Body cannot grow. Holding the Head is, therefore, equal to being rooted in Christ as the soil.