10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
“In Him” provides one of the most assuring promises the Christian has. Christ is the all-sufficient One, and therefore being “in Him” meets all of our needs. In both the letter to the Ephesians and now to the Colossians, we are constantly brought back to Christ and the fact that we are “in Christ” and therefore securely placed in the most advantageous situation possible.
In our passage today, we see that “in Him you have been made complete.” This could also be translated, “made full.” What a tremendous truth coming after verse 9, where Christ is indwelt with the fullness of Deity. We have been made full “In Christ.” This does not mean that we are, therefore, deities ourselves. But, the fullness of Christ is ours, we do not need ritual circumcision, philosophy, human inventions or any human merit. There is nothing we need besides Christ. Since He is the “head over all rule and authority,” there is no need for any other rule or authority. No religious system beyond faith in Christ is needed. Religions that teach there is more knowledge and insight than what God has revealed in Christ, are therefore false. He is the be all and end all. And we are complete and full in Christ.
In fact, all that we had before Christ, that we hung our hopes upon, have been buried, put in the past as being useless and dead. That is what our baptism signified. But now we have been raised with Christ, who Himself was raised from the dead by God. Paul weaves the complete package deal here.
Through the centuries religions have risen that claim to possess a new or greater insight into spiritual things, but this implies that Christ is not enough. False religions in someway diminish the exalted nature of Christ as being fully God and fully man, who came to dwell among humans. But He is not just a prophet, a great moral teacher, a pointer of the way to God. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, manhood and Deity in perfect harmony. And we who believe need nothing else. For in Him we are complete and we have been raised up with Him, as though being alive from the dead. What more could any religion offer us, now that we have Christ, and in Him we have everything we need for life and godliness (see 2 Peter 1:3).
Lord Jesus, help me to know the depths of wisdom and insight found in You. I want to know You better and all the glories of being raised with You.
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