Colossians 2:6-15
Paul
uses a powerful image to speak of the triumph of Christ (Col. 2:15). The Romans
won victories in war. When they conquered their enemies in military battles
they marched toward Rome. A celebration ensued when the Roman army marched into
Rome.
A
Roman general led his army through the streets of Rome as crowds gathered. The
general rode into Rome on a two-wheeled chariot pulled by four horses. The general
wore a purple robe, a laurel crown, and glowed in the grandeur of victory. Soldiers
waved trinkets, jewelry, and other things which they took from the enemy. When
Titus captured Jerusalem his soldiers held high the Jewish candelabras and the
golden table along with scrolls of the Old Covenant.
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prisoners followed the procession, a symbol that Rome maintained its peace,
freedom, and power while overpowering it enemies. The whole procession filled
the streets of Rome with celebration, dancers, singers, soldiers in triumph,
and the emperor himself in the glory of Roman victory.
Paul transfers this image onto Christ. Greater than Roman conquest is the triumph
Christ delivers. Christ defeats the enemy and takes captive Satan himself. The
historian Josephus tells of Romans decorating the city with garland laurels
during a triumph. Paul uses the image to explain the eternal victory of Christ
which decorates the hearts of believers with the laurel of peace.
How
does Paul further describe this victory?
The
Symbol of Victory: The Cross (Col. 2:6-14).
Paul
yearns for the Colossians to welcome Christ in their lives and so walk in him
(Col. 1:6). Christ’s love demonstrated on the cross takes root in the soil
of the soul as love and establishes a firm faith for living (Col. 1:7). Paul
knows that the world offers alternatives to the cross: philosophy, tradition,
material sufficiency, intellectual self-sufficiency, and independence from God
along with the worship of false gods. Paul, however, proclaims the truth of
One God through Christ who gives personal, life-changing, and eternal victory.
John Calvin warns of being “intoxicated with false confidence.” Paul
invites true believers to place confidence in Christ.
The
cross of Christ removes all obstacles on the path to victory (Col. 1:14). The
cross supplies love (Col 1:7). The cross infuses the soul with grace that leads
to gratitude (Col. 1:7) The cross produces forgiveness (Col. 1:13).
The
American poet Robert Frost spoke of a road which he took that made all the difference:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” For Paul the road of the cross made
all the difference.
The
cross calls for personal response. C. S. Lewis once said, “Our highest
activity must be response, not initiative. To experience the love of God in
a true, and not an illusory form, is therefore to experience it as surrender
to His demand, our conformity to His desire.” To surrender to the cross
of Jesus is to be changed forever, or in the words of Oswald Chambers, “to
be severely altered.” God’s love alters us for good (Col. 1:7).