Colossians 2:10

COMPLETE IN CHRIST

‘And ye are complete in Him, Which is the head of all principality and power.’

Colossians 2:10

St. Paul in the text asserts the sufficiency of Christ for all spiritual needs of the Colossians.

I. The union of believers with Christ.—This is emphatic in the original.

(a) It is representative—formed in eternity, and gives rise to the twofold imputation of sin and righteousness, and the identification of believers in all that Christ did and suffered and won for them.

(b) Actual, spiritual, vital. A real living connection with Christ formed in time flows from the representative union, and is established by faith. One life common, interests common. This is the mystical union, real but beyond full comprehension.

II. The completeness which believers have in union with Christ.—He is all-sufficient and alone-sufficient. There is no lack or deficiency which He cannot make good. All that we need for our perfection dwells in Him, and is ours in Him. He gives, not some of His fulness, so much of this grace, and little or none of that, but all His gifts and graces that He has received for men. What a fulness it is!

III. The ground of this completeness.—Christ’s pre-eminence as the Head of all principality and power. This involves His authority and ability to impart His fulness: He has no equal and no superior. All things are His.

Illustration

‘If you could have asked a true believer, in Christ’s day, “What is your creed?” he would have pointed to his Master; he would not have repeated certain articles of faith, but he would have said, “I believe that glorious Man; my trust is in Him; I believe Him.” We have seen many books labelled upon their backs, “Body of Divinity,” but of a truth Jesus is the only real “Body of Divinity.” If you want theology, He is the true Theologos, the essential Word of God. It is a grand thing when a man believes Jesus to be what Jesus is—a Saviour from sin; and then believes the Christ to be what Christ is—the Anointed of the Lord; and so makes Him to be his Alpha and Omega—all his salvation and all his desire.’