As Paul the apostle
continued his letter to the Colossian church, he began to address the
false teachings of the Judaizers who were promoting “works”
combined with faith as a requirement for salvation. He told the
church members not to allow others to judge them “ in meat, or
in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the
sabbath days”,
and in chapter two and verse seventeen Paul gives the reason for not
allowing this condemnation. We read:
Which are a shadow of
things to come; but the body is of Christ.
The
verse begins, “Which are a shadow of things to come;”
Paul called these laws, rules
and ways “a shadow”
or “an image cast by an object and representing the form of
that object; a sketch, outline, or adumbration” “of things to
come” which refers to “the hereafter, the future or what is
about to come”. Just as the “shadow” of a body shines on
a wall or floor is not the real person, so were the rituals and
traditions of eating, drinking, and holy days such as the new moon
and sabbath not the real image either.
The
verse continues, “but the body is of Christ.”
Paul continued by showing the image that formed the shadow was
“the body is of Christ” or “Jesus”. Paul
employed the disassociation conjunction “But” to declare
the superiority to the “body of Christ” to the “shadow”
of Him. Each “eating, drinking, and respect of holy days” was
only pointing to the real image which was Jesus Christ when He came
to the earth, and when the church members understood the place and
purpose of the rituals, they would know that they all pointed to Him.
When we
consider the brilliance of God Almighty, we may be often overwhelmed.
Our God knew well in advance that Jesus would come and be the Savior
of the world, and even the ordinances and laws which He commanded
among men were pointed to Jesus. There was more than one purpose for
these wonderful laws and traditions, but the main purpose was to
reveal the real person of Jesus Christ and not just His shadow. The
“shadow” only demonstrated there was a real image behind
it. As we ponder these things, let us allow our minds to think about
all the laws concerning fastings, feastings, images, and ways to
conduct ourselves as being only a “shadow” of the real
person Jesus. Perhaps then shall we bow ourselves before Him in
worship and declare, “You are worthy to receive all glory, honor
and praise”.
Next
time Paul writes about voluntary humility, worshiping angels, and
intruding into those things which he has not seen,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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