Now back in that passage that
Brother Mark just read in Colossians chapter 2, what I really want
to do is focus our attention on verses 11 and 12 and 13 and
14 concerning some difficult verses, speaking of what we call
the circumcision of Christ, and I've entitled this message the
fullness of union with Christ. We've been talking about the
fullness of the gospel, the fullness of God's grace, the fullness
of Christ, that which fills us, who are true believers, full,
meeting our need, that's what that means. Quoting, for example,
Matthew chapter five, that blessed are those who hunger and thirst
after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Well, what fills
our hunger? Well, it's the bread of life,
and who is the bread of life? It's Christ. What quenches our
spiritual thirst? Well, it's the water of life,
and Christ is the water of life. What fills our need of righteousness,
fills us up? Well, it's Christ, who is our
righteousness, and that's what we're talking about. And I'll
tell you what. I'm glad that I know so many of you have been
blessed with this, and I hope and pray that this will too,
the fullness of union with Christ. Now that's what Paul's talking
about in verses 11 and 12 and 13 and 14 when he talks about
circumcision here, and we'll get to that. But you know, one
old writer, and I can't remember who it was, I wrote this quote
down years ago, and I must not have written down the name of
the man who said it, but it doesn't matter because if it's truth,
It's of God, isn't it? It's not of man, nothing original.
But he said this, he said the secret to being a Christian and
living the Christian life is living upon or on the basis of
and living out of the fullness of Christ. And that's what it
is. That's a good way to put it if
you understand what his fullness is. How many times we read through
these passages the term or the phrase, in him, in him. Look back at chapter one, verse
19. It says, for it pleased the Father
that in him, in Christ, should all fullness dwell. We look there
in our part of the portion that I've already preached on that
Brother Mark read in Colossians 2.9. For in him, dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. And remember, that's the fullness
of the Father, the fullness of the Son and the Spirit dwells
in Christ as God-man, bodily. God doesn't have a body, but
this person who is God, he has a body. He's God in human flesh.
He's God manifest in the flesh. You want to know anything about
the Godhead, God, the one true God who subsists in three persons. Father, you want to know anything
about the Father? You've got to learn and see Him in Christ. That's why John wrote in John
6, 45, that those who come unto the Father, they come because
they've been taught. by God concerning Christ, who
is the revelation of the Father. He's the revelation of the Son,
the second person of the Trinity. He's the revelation of the Spirit,
the third person of the Trinity. But the glory of the Godhead
resides in Him as the Savior of His people, as their Redeemer,
as their righteousness, as their mediator. And then he says in
verse 10, and you are complete in him, our completeness. That
means we're filled full by him. Everything I need to save me,
to preserve me, to make me right with God and to bring me to glory
is found in its fullness in Christ. And I'm not looking for anything
else, say, to add to that fullness. You can't add to his fullness.
It's complete. You are complete in him which
is the head of all principality and power. Now that verse 8 we
learned last week, what's he talking about there? Beware lest
any man spoil you, corrupt you through philosophy, vain deceit,
traditions of men after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.
Don't let anybody sway you away from that fullness that's found
only in Christ. You know, the whole false religion,
false Christianity is based upon, basically, it's a philosophy,
it's a tradition that says you need more than Christ. In some
way, at some stage, to some degree, in some way. And it depends on
which denomination you decide to go with, what that thing is
that you need. But you gotta have more than
him, even the whole basis of their false gospel. Christ died
for everybody, but you'll still perish if you don't add to his
fullness. Now, they don't say it that way,
but that's the basic philosophy, isn't it? Well, don't let people
spoil you away from the fullness and the completeness of God's
grace in Christ, full salvation. He's all my wisdom, He's all
my righteousness, He's all my holiness, He's all my redemption. And so in Him, in Christ, look
there at verse 12, it says buried with Him in baptism. It says with Him through the
faith of the operation. And then in whom, in whom, that's
in Christ. Verse 13, it talks about being
together with Him. Verse 15, it talks about, it
says, look here, having spoiled principalities and powers, He
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them. It says in it, if
you've got a concordance, it might say in Him. And I believe
that's a better translation. It's all in Him. Well now, what
is all this speaking? In Him, together with Him. What
does that mean? Well, what He's talking about
is a believer's union with Christ. The fullness of union with Christ. Now what does God's word tell
us about this union of Christ and his people? Well, it tells
us several things. First of all, there is an eternal
union with Christ. Now what does that mean? We'll
look over at Ephesians, Ephesians chapter one. There's an eternal union with
Christ. Now what does eternal mean? It
means it's always been. In other words, it's never been
any other way. That's the way God is. He's eternal. Now, there is a problem. And the problem is not with the
truth of eternity or eternal union. The problem is not with
the fact of it or the revelation of it. The problem is that we
just can't lay hold of it and grasp it and understand it and
bring it down to our level. That's the problem. And so a
lot of times when people try to doctrinalize it or theologize
it or explain it, they get in trouble. Here's what I know. God has no beginning and no end.
That's the nature of deity. Christ is called the Alpha and
the Omega. And then you add to that another
concept that just blows our minds is the fact that he's immutable.
He never changes. You know, when God saves a sinner,
it's not that God changes his mind towards that sinner. Because
God doesn't change. When God saves a sinner, it just
reveals the eternal mind, what God's mind has always been. And
those are concepts that we just can't bring down to our level
and say, well now, I can finally wrap my mind around that one.
You know how the old Hebrew Jewish writers of the Bible, how they'd
approach that subject is just stand back in awe and just be
amazed. That's really the only thing
we can do. Worship the Lord. He's high above me. Who's been
his counselor? You think you're God's advisor.
You know a lot of preachers today, they think they're God's advisors.
God's not doing this right and I've got to show him how to,
no, that's not the way it works. Well, here's the eternal union.
Look at verse three of Ephesians one. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us. Now, who are
the us there? That's the ones who are blessed
with eternal salvation, isn't it right? Eternal life, justified
before God. made righteous in God's sight
through Christ, blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Now,
what are the spiritual, well, it's everything that's salvation,
all of its blessings and benefits, right? Is there any blessing
that's left out here? No. It's all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. Now, how did they do that? Because
this is speaking about something that happened, and I say happened,
you know, That's all we know, isn't it? How do you express eternity in
human terms? You can't do it. There's a tense. If you've ever read anything
about the New Testament Greek, there's a tense of a verb in
the Greek that we don't have any equivalent to in the English
language. It's called the aorist tense. And it speaks of something
that I've heard it described this way. It said it speaks of
something that happened in the past and has eternal implications. That's not true. It speaks of
something that is a fact. That's it. It's just a fact.
It doesn't even say about when it happened. It's just a fact. It's the way it is. And that's
the way it's always been. And we don't have a tense in
the English language to So anytime you read the Aorist tense in
the English versions, the translated version, it'll always look like
past tense to you. But it's always been. And that's
the way it is. And how did this happen? Before
I was born, before you were born, before the world began. Here
it is. Here's the answer. In Christ. That's how. You mean I was united to Him
before I was born? My friend, if you're His today,
if you're united to Him now, you were united to Him before
the world was even created. Before man fell. Before you fell in Adam. That's the eternal union. And
He goes on, verse 4, according as He hath chosen us. How did
He choose me? In Him. before the foundation
of the world. You weren't around then except
in the mind of God. He knew you. In Him, that we should be holy
without blame before Him. See, it doesn't stop with the
mind of God. It works out in time according
to God's will. Verse five, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
That's Christ. And we could go on. 2 Timothy
1, you don't have to turn there. But Paul speaks of salvation,
which was given us, who are the us there? The people who are
saved, not everybody without exception. He had given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began. Now, some of the greatest thinkers
among human individuals who try to figure all that out will object
to it by saying, well, if that's the case, then Christ didn't
have to come. No, no, no, no. God's word says if that's the
case, Christ did have to come and he did have to die. If God
chose me in Christ, and he must choose me on a just and proper
ground, then something's got to happen in time. And you want to know why? Because
you're a creature of time. I'm a creature of time. I had
a beginning. You had a beginning, even though
God didn't. Mind-boggling, isn't it? We'll
chew on it a while. But this is a legal union, did
you know that? This eternal union, it's a legal union. What do you
mean? Well, before the foundation of
the world, Christ was made my representative to stand in my
place, to represent me before holy God. He's my representative. It's a legal union, that means
he was made my surety. That means my sins were charged
to him. You say, well, sin hadn't even
come into the world yet. That's true. But it was gonna
happen. Was there any doubt? Somebody
said, well, it's more than what God thinks. Well, what God thinks
is gonna come about. Is that not right? Now, I can
think a lot of things that'll never happen. But God doesn't
think anything that doesn't happen. That's the way he is. And the thing about it is, God's
thoughts are more reality than my thoughts. I think some unreal
things, folks. How about you? You ever thought
any unreal things? God doesn't think anything is
unreal. You see, people, they're trying to subjugate God to time,
and you can't do that. He's the Lord of time. There's
a time for everything, scripture says. Why? Because God is sovereign
over time. That He's my surety. That means
His righteousness is imputed to me. A righteousness that He
had to come and work out in time. People talk about justification
in time. Well, Christ had to establish
the ground of my justification in time when He became incarnate. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law. in the fullness of the
time. Now, who appointed that time?
When did God first think about that time? Well, back in eternity. Brother Jim Byrd says, old eternity. And that's all right. I don't
know if there's ever a new eternity, but I guess it is, you know,
in some ways. But the thing about it is, it's
always been. It's always been. And that's
why Christ had to come. And as a result, that's why we
have to be born again in time. Paul said, when it pleased the
Lord to reveal his Son in me. But Christ is our surety. Christ
is our intercessor, our mediator. union is redemptive union based
upon Christ being our surety and having our sins imputed to
him. He's our substitute to take our place under God's wrath,
redeem us from our sins and establish righteousness by which God has
always been just to justify the ungodly. And it was all centered on that
point of time in the death of Christ. That's what Paul's talking
about here in our text. In Colossians chapter two, he's
talking about our redemptive union and our legal union. And then thirdly, there's a spiritual
union, and that's this, based upon his redemptive work, his
righteousness imputed to us, God's in the process of time,
sends forth the Holy Spirit in invincible power to give us life
and bring us to be united to Christ by faith. There's a faith
union. We're united to him by faith.
to know him as he has always known us. And that's sometimes
called a marriage union, married to Christ. And what Paul is telling
us in our text here is this, the fullness that fulfills us
is totally the work of Jesus Christ our Lord as our surety,
as our substitute and our redeemer. It's not anything we do to add
to him or his work, it's all Christ. That's what he's telling
us. And he shows here that this great and glorious truth of God's
free and sovereign grace by using an analogy of circumcision. Now what is he talking about?
Look at verse 11. In whom also you are circumcised.
Now Paul knew well the Jewish mind because he was a Jew. He
was a converted Jew. He knew how the Jews thought.
But I want to tell you something, this is the way most Gentiles
think too. You hear the word circumcision, what do you think?
You're thinking of physical circumcision of the male children on the eighth
day. That's where people's minds go
to. But that's not what Paul's talking about. And so the first
thing we're going to see here is that he's not talking about
physical circumcision here. You remember that was the right
that God commanded Abraham to do to all the male children of
his descendants. signifying their relationship
physically to him. And it was given for a purpose,
but we'll talk about that. But he's not talking about that
physical circumcision. Look at it, verse 11, in whom
also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands. Without hands. Now again, physical circumcision
was given by God to Abraham Law of the male infants in Israel
was a sign of their physical connection with Abraham and the
covenant God made with him concerning the promise of the Messiah. It
was carried on under the law of Moses, but it was never to
be considered by the Jews to be any part of or any evidence
of salvation, or spiritual life, or a right relationship with
God, because that all belonged to Christ. You see, that has to do with
Christ and God's grace, not anything we do with our hands, not any
physical rite or any works. And that's why Paul made it a
point in Galatians 6 and verse 14 when he was combating the
false preachers who brought in the traditions of men, the Jewish
unbelievers who were bringing down the law of circumcision
upon Gentile believers, he said, no, he said, God forbid that
I should glory except in one thing and one thing only, the
cross, the death, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he said, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. And he said, for in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus,
circumcision or uncircumcision avails nothing, means nothing,
nothing. You see, it's not what we add
to Christ. It's not circumcision. It's not our decision. It's not
our baptism. It's not our church attendance.
It's not our morality. That's not what fills us. Christ
is. And our union with Him. Physical
circumcision was the cutting away of the filth of the flesh.
It was a type of spiritual circumcision of the heart. There's two times
in the New Testament where Paul speaks of a circumcision. not
made with hands, and this is one of them. The others in Romans
2, 28 and 29, when he's talking about the circumcision of the
heart, which is a spiritual operation of God, not of man, not with
man's hands, it's the new birth. But now here, what is he talking
about? What's Paul talking about here? Well, look at verse 11
again. He says, in whom also you are circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, look at it now, in putting off
the body of the sins, now what is the body of the sins? That's
the whole realm of the sins of God's people. Alright? Everything that sin does, And
everything that is the result of sin, you see, as far as condemnation
and death, the body of the sins of the flesh, and here's your
key, by the circumcision of Christ. You see that? What's Paul talking
about? He's talking about the believer's
legal redemptive union with Christ. And we know it because he's talking
about the circumcision of Christ. Now, you know as well as I do,
as an infant on the eighth day, Jesus was brought by his parents
to the temple to be circumcised. That was under the law. But that
was not our redemption, was it? No. Redemption required what? Not just the shedding of the
blood of circumcision, it requires death. The wages of sin is death. Death to sins imputed to him. The circumcision of Christ. And
this speaks of the whole body of sin. See, sin imputed to Christ
is the legal imputation of our sin debt to His account. And
this speaks of the whole body of the sins of the flesh made
to meet upon Him by legal imputation. Christ was made sin. And it's
the whole accumulation, this body of the sins of the flesh,
it's the whole accumulation of the whole debt, of the whole
election of grace, And it was put away by the circumcision
of Christ, his one sacrifice, when he was cut off from the
land of the living. How do you know? Look at verse
12. Buried with him in baptism. That is in union with him. And
then wherein also you are risen with him. You see, that's the
result of his death. Why was he buried? Because he was circumcised
the eighth day as an infant? No, he was buried because he
died. Isn't that right? And what happened when He died?
It was the cutting away of the filth of the flesh in a symbolic
spiritual way. Our sins being imputed to Him,
what happened to Christ on that cross? He was cut off. Isaiah
53 says it in verse 8, He was cut off from the land of the
living. That's what happened to Him.
You remember old Isaiah. When he was describing his conversion
experience in Isaiah 6, he said, I saw the Lord in the year the
king Uzziah died. I saw the Lord high and lifted
up. His train filled the temple. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. And in the light of God's holiness,
he saw what? He saw his sinfulness, and here's
how he put it. He said, I am undone. If you go back and look at your
concordance on that word undone, there's several translations
of it, but one of them is this. I'm cut off. I'm as good as dead, that's what
he's saying. I'm cut off from any blessings
or benefits from God. I'm cut off from any fellowship
with God. I'm cut off from any right relationship
with God because I'm a sinner. I'm as good as dead. Well, let
me tell you something. You know that's true of all of
us without Christ. Isn't that right? Without Christ,
without His blood to wash away my sins, without His righteousness
to justify me, I'm cut off. Remember the old scapegoat? Remember
they brought two goats? One was killed, blood was shed,
and the scapegoat was led out into the wilderness. He was led
out of the land of the living. He was cut off. Well, Christ
is my scapegoat. He's my substitute, he's my sacrifice,
he's my scapegoat. The circumcision of Christ here
is the death of Christ when he was literally cut off from the
land of the living, cut off from the Father. Why did he cry on
the cross? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And that's that legal separation
when Christ died under the wrath of God for our sins imputed to
him and the complete payment was made. He was led out of the
land of the living. He's our scapegoat. Here's what He did on that cross
when He died as our substitute, as our surety. He literally put
off the body of the sins of the flesh. All of the collective
debt of all the sins of all His people were put off, taken away,
purged by His blood. Hebrews 10, 14, for by one offering
He hath perfected, completed, finished forever them that are
sanctified. And what's the proof of it? Look
at verse 12 again. Buried with him in baptism. Risen with him. How do we know that we have any
part of this legal redemptive union? Well, first of all, the
word baptism there is not talking about water baptism. That's not
Paul's subject. He's talking about being in union
with Christ, buried with Him in baptism, placed into Christ.
That's what baptism means. I was placed into Christ before
the foundation of the world. I was placed into Christ at the
cross when God sent Him to be my Redeemer. When He died, I
died. When He was buried, I was buried.
When He arose again the third day, I arose again with Him.
He's my representative, he's my surety, he's my substitute,
he's my redeemer. That's what that means. That's
union with Christ. And how do we know that? Well,
he says here, through the faith of the operation of God who hath
raised him from the dead. Now, anytime translators and
commentators go to this, they always talk about our faith in
Christ, through the faith of the operation of God. And it
could be saying it like this, by this way you are brought to
faith, which is the operation of God, and faith is. Saving
faith, the faith that causes us to submit to and receive Christ
is the operation of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith. That's not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works. But it could be translated this
way, through the faithfulness of the operation of God. This
was God in Christ being faithful to do this work. And I believe that's the crux
of it. How do you know that? Well, what's the next line? Who
hath raised him from the dead? You see, it wasn't my faith that
raised him from the dead. It was God who did that. That's
the operation of God. But either way, how you choose
to read it, just don't deny the ground of salvation here. It's
not what we do for him. It's not our receiving him. The ground of salvation is what
he did totally by himself as our legal, redemptive, representative,
substitute, surety, redeemer. And this all took place when
he died. Look at verse 13, and you being dead in your sins and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with
him, having forgiven you all trespasses? It could not have
been conditioned on us because all this took place when we were
dead in our sins and before we were born again by the Spirit
as we were naturally born in the flesh. And in the flesh,
that state of spiritual death, no man can please God. It was
all Him. I'm dead to sin in Him legally. I'm not yet dead to sin in its
presence, in its influence. We still have to fight the warfare
of the flesh and spirit, but we're not under the dominion
of sin. That is, sin cannot condemn us. Sin cannot bring us under
wrath, because God will not charge us with our sins. Why? Because
he charged it to Christ. We're in him. And that's all
of this. is based upon what Christ and
what Christ alone accomplished on Calvary. That's the circumcision
of Christ that he's talking about here. He's talking about him
being cut off for the sins of his people to establish the only
righteousness that enables God to be just and justified. And
we'll talk more about this in a couple weeks, but keep that
in mind as you read verses like this and it'll help you to understand
the scriptures.