Continuing
our discussion of peace, conflict and Colossians 3 from Andy Farmer’s wonderful
book Real Peace: What we Long for and Where to Find It, we come to
Colossians 3:10-11. We have been
challenged to seek the things above, the things as they ought to be, the things
that come out of our reconciled relationship with Jesus Christ. We have seen that there is much in our life
which must be put to death and many ways those selfish, earthly cravings
manifest themselves in our words, attitudes and actions. Each of those things
contributes to peace-breaking rather than peace-making. And now, in Colossians 3:10-11 we come to a
transition in the chapter. Colossians
3:10-11 read, starting mid-sentence:
…and
have put on the new self with its practices, which is being renewed in
knowledge after the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (ESV)
In
verses 5 and 9, Paul declared that we are to put to death and put off what
belongs to the old life. But life in
Christ is not merely a matter of putting off so that there is some kind of
strange vacuum in our lives. The old
self is dead, but Christ has given us a new self. The old self must be put off, to be replaced
by a transformed new self.
You
see, believers have the grace and peace of God at work in our hearts. The presence of God is at work against the
earthly cravings of our hearts and against all the ways those cravings manifest
themselves in our lives. We are being
transformed from the inside out. As we
grow and progress in our Christians lives, we should see less of those earthly
cravings and more of Jesus.
And
so, this is not about new behaviors or trying harder or making new habits. This is not about watching our words a little
more closely or refocusing our desires to be more honoring to God. This is about submitting to the transforming
power of God that is present in your life.
This means that a believer who struggles with anger, by the grace of
God, can choose, in the power of God, not to angry. God is transforming us. He is changing us. He is renewing our hearts into the image of
our Creator.
As
a result, as verse 11 reminds us, God has made a new people. Our unity in Christ is so much greater than
the things that divide us. We hold so
many more things in common than the things that separate us. Paul lays bare many of the typical relational
fault lines in the ancient world. Jews
and Greeks did not associate, but are now one in Christ. The circumcised and uncircumcised were
spiritual opposites, now brought together in Christ. Barbarians, and even Scythian, the worst of
the worst from the edges of civilization, slaves and free people – all are one
in Christ.
We
live in a different world than Paul’s, but we still have divisions. We still gravitate to the people like us and
it is easy to be in conflict with those who differ. Conflict is so easy - me against you, us
against them, whether we are Jews or Greeks, white or black, Calvinist or
Arminian, public schoolers or homeschoolers, or any of the other things that
divide us. The point Paul is making is
that God has created a new people in Christ, a people who are united by the
most powerful, transformative Being in the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ does
– it creates a new community that would have never been formed without it.
So
what does that say to those petty conflicts we have with those other believers who
have slightly different views, those believers who do things in a different
way, or have opposing political views than we do? Remember Christ is all and in all. Only in Christ is there true peace.
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