In the last sentence of Colossians 3 verse 11 the Apostle Paul adds an ambiguous comment that reinforces Peter’s commit in 2 Peter 3:16 that some of the things written in Paul’s epistles are “hard to be understood”.
After admonishing the Colossae brethren to ‘put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man… which is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond or free: but Christ is all, and in all.’
Having never heard a sermon on this subject or phrase, lets turn our attention on trying to “Dig deeper” into the written word, and see if we can mine out some gems of truth from the rich ore that Scripture has made available to us.
A simple center column reference will direct us to a sister passage in Ephesians 1:22-23 “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.” So, what have we learned? That Christ is head of the church, but also that the church is the fulness of Christ. Gal.3:27 would help us understand that when we are baptized into Christ we put on Christ. We become a part of the church and a part of Christ body, and as such we “Fill Him up” and He fills us up. I believe we have found our second “all”. Christ is in all of His children.
Next I am reminded of Christ giving the great commission in Matt.28:18-20. Here we find 4 alls that Jesus says He is. 1st “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth.” 2nd “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” 3rd “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;” 4th “and lo, I am with you always (Lit. all days), even to the end of the age.”
- Christ has all authority
- baptize all nations
- observe all Christ commands
- Christ will be with us all days
- Christ Is All In All!