This Sunday we begin a new series called “Rooted.” We will look at eight phrases found in Colossians 2:6-10. This is part of Apostle Paul's exhortation to the Christians living in the Roman city of Colossae. It may seem difficult to imagine what it was like to live as a Christ follower 2000 years ago in the Roman world. So many things have changed from that ancient time: our computers, cell phones, internet, cars, planes, and countless other things would have seemed completely magical to the Colossians. Yet the things that are truly important have changed very little. Our tools and toys may have been transformed, but the condition of the human soul remains the same. Paul integrates who Jesus is and what He accomplished with who we as Christ followers are and what we are called to accomplish. When we look at the issues addressed in this letter, we can soon see that the struggles the first century Christians faced are surprisingly similar to those we face today.
Colossians 1:21-22 (NIV): “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” Or, as the Young’s Literal Translation writes, “And you—once being alienated, and enemies in the mind, in the evil works, yet now did he reconcile, in the body of his flesh through the death, to present you holy, and unblemished, and unblameable before himself.” Our reconciliation with God was accomplished by what Jesus did in His physical body. The entire transformation of our lives, and the history of humanity, hinges upon what Jesus did while walking this earth in a body not unlike yours and mine.
A door turns on a hinge which is two pieces of metal, separately but in conjunction with one another, wrapped around a pin—the hinge pin. If the pin falls out, the door falls to the floor. Likewise, Jesus’ body is the pin that joins together, or reconciles, humanity with God. To draw this analogy out a bit, it was when Jesus was nailed to the cross, the eternal divine One driven by nails to a piece of wood, pinned to the cross, that our reconciliation with God occurred. This makes the human body the instrument of God’s redemption of humanity. And it makes those who accept Jesus as Lord “holy, unblemished, and unblameable!” Wow! What an amazing blessing accomplished through Jesus’ body. Now you and I are called to be like Christ. In and through our bodies, we are to represent Jesus to the world around us. As we allow Christ to transform our body, soul, and mind, we can become instruments of reconciliation for those around us.