James Nisbet Commentary - Colossians 2:19 - 2:19

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James Nisbet Commentary - Colossians 2:19 - 2:19


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

CHRIST THE HEAD

‘And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.’

Col_2:19

This chapter contains a series of warnings together with the conditions of deliverance; Col_2:19 shews the danger of not holding the Head. Christ is to His people what the Father is to the Son. In 1Co_11:3 we read that the head of every man is Christ, and in Col_2:19 we see that having Christ as Head means to the members three things:—

I. Having nourishment.—The reason that there are so many sickly Christians is because they don’t get proper nourishment. ‘He that believeth [i.e. is believing] shall never hunger.’ We must be always coming, always believing. We cannot live by coming once a month to the Lord’s Supper.

II. Knit together.—Compacted into one. Do you want to be energetic for Christ? You must be constantly coming to Christ to get nourished and energised. You see it depends entirely on holding the Head.

III. Increaseth.—If in looking at our lives we find that our habits and our devotions are just the same as they were some years ago, we may be sure there is something wrong, for we are meant to grow. Remember, we are saved to serve, we are forgiven to glorify. We are sons and daughters, but how often in our lives as such we put a full stop where God only puts a comma. Physical growth depends on food and air, both taken through the head, likewise spiritual growth comes alone from the Head. Have you ever thought that four out of the five senses are in the head—seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling? There is only feeling that is common to the body.

—
Rev. Hubert Brooke.

Illustration

‘All the physical life of a man lies in the head. From the head run little cords, almost innumerable and of exquisite fineness, to every spot in the body, and from every spot in the body little cords again run back to the head. The little cords running up to the head carry intelligence to the head of everything which causes pain or pleasure in that spot from which they come, and the little cords running from the head to the body carry instruction, will, and motion to the affected spot; but all meet in the head. All the guidance and the supply come from the head, and so the whole life centres there. The head is the life. Separate any part from the head, and immediately it dies. Such is union with Christ. As the body lives in the head, we live in Him: we in Him, and He in us.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE REMEDY FOR HERESY

There were false teachers at Colosse. They taught the worship of angels and the keeping of vain Jewish traditions. St. Paul did not say, what is often said now, ‘It is of no consequence what people believe’; he went to the source of the errors of these false teachers. He said they did not hold fast the Head. St. Paul combated false doctrine by proclaiming Christ: his theme was not a theory or a system, but a living Person.

I. Christ is the Head of His Church.—‘He is the Head of the body, the Church’ (Col_1:18). The same truth is found in Eph_1:22 : ‘God gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His body.’ This is expressed elsewhere in different ways. Christ is the Temple and His people are the stones. Christ is the Vine and His people are the branches. Here, Christ is the Head and His people are members of His body.

II. The Body.—‘From which all the body.…” The same thought occurs in 1Co_12:12. In the Body of Christ some members are strong, some are weak. There are babes, young men, and fathers.

III. The bands which unite the Head and the members.—‘All the body by joints and bands.…’ How are Christ and the members of His Body joined together? There are two golden bands. One is the purpose of God. Before the world was made Christ was given to His Body, and that Body was given to Christ (2Ti_1:9). The other band which unites the Head and the members of Christ’s Body is faith. The weak band of faith binds the believer to his great and ever-living Lord, the Lord of life and love. And most surely, where there are these two bands—the purpose of God and simple faith or trust—there the life of the Head flows to the members, according to the Master’s own great and gracious words, ‘Because I live, ye shall live also.’

IV. What follows.—‘Having nourishment ministered, and knit together.’ In Christ there is boundless wealth to enrich, omnipotent power to protect, unerring wisdom to guide, eternal love to support, unchangeable faithfulness to befriend, and all this for me, if I am linked by faith to the glorious Lord of life and love! Out of His fulness I may constantly receive, and grace for grace. Surely there is no need to worship angels and ask for their help or intercession when I have such a Saviour! ‘In Him ye are made full’ (Col_2:10, R.V.).

—
Rev. F. Harper.

Illustration

‘There are a great many of what Rowland Hill called rocking-horse Christians. He went into a house and saw a rocking-horse. “It moves forward,” he said, “and it goes backward, but somehow it does not go onward.” And yet there ought to be an increase of strength, for Christ’s strength is made perfect in our weakness; and of knowledge, for we ought to grow in knowledge of our heavenly Friend year by year; and of peace, for of the increase of the peace of Christ there is no end; and of joy, for a sad Christian is a wrong to a Saviour’s love.’