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Colossians, part 7, Ambassadors for Christ

Paul treats the Colossian church as a portion of the first fruits of creation. Colossians 1:21, 22 says,

²¹ And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now reconciled [apokatallasso] you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

Sinners need justification; enemies need reconciliation. In this case, Paul focuses on the fact that before their conversion to Christ, the Colossian believers were “hostile” to Him. In other words, they disagreed with the revelation of Scripture and opposed Jesus Christ. However, when they repented and turned to Christ, they were “reconciled” to each other, and peace then prevailed.

The Greek word for “reconciled” is apokatallasso. It refers to a two-sided reconciliation. This occurs when both sides declare peace, unity, and agreement. It is distinguished from katallasso, which is a one-sided peace, which occurs when one of the warring parties declares peace. An example of this is found in 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19,

¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled [katallasso, “conciliated”] us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [katallage, “conciliation”], ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling [katallasso, “conciliating”] the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation [katallage, “conciliation”].

Here Paul uses the term katallasso, because he was referring to what Christ did for the world prior to its response. As each person responds in kind, reconciliation takes place. Yet it takes two conciliations to make a reconciliation.

In Colossians 1:22, Paul was addressing believers whose katallasso matched Christ’s katallasso. Hence, he used the term apokatallasso, “reconciliation.”

An Enduring Peace

Colossians 1:23 then qualifies this reconciliation, saying,

²³ If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

The clear implication is that believers may be “moved away from the hope of the gospel.” In other words, they may later lose faith and fall away from Christ. If and when that happens, their reconciliation reverts back to a mere conciliation, because the peace is no longer mutual. Yet it does not change the fact that Christ has already conciliated the world, “not counting their trespasses against them.” A falling away simply postpones the inevitable reconciliation for the individual and ultimately for the reconciliation of the world as a whole.

When all of the dead are summoned before the great White Throne, all will then know the truth. Philippians 2:10, 11 promises,

¹⁰ So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess [profess] that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

It is evident that this universal submission to Christ will not take place in the present age. Because it includes those “under the earth” (that is, the dead), it can only be possible at the general resurrection of the dead that is described in Revelation 20:11, 12. Standing before Christ, the great Judge, no one will be able to argue against the truth or deny His great love. They will learn of His work on the cross, conciliating the world to Himself.

Hence, even though they will be judged by the “fiery law,” called the “lake of fire,” they will understand that the law of Jubilee limits all debt incurred through sin. This will give them hope as they serve Christ and the overcomers who “reign with Him” (Revelation 20:6) until “the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

This is the “word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19) committed to Paul and all who are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). This is the “good news” of the Gospel, even though it includes some temporary “bad news” of divine judgment. Nonetheless, this “lake of fire” is not a torture pit but the administration of divine law after sinners have been “sold” on account of their sin to a redeemer who, by example, will teach them righteousness (Isaiah 26:9).

Violating Diplomatic Sanctity

In Colossians 1:24 Paul says,

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s affliction.

This is reflected also in Philippians 1:29,

²⁹ For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for his sake.

The enemies of the gospel are hostile to Christ and also to His ambassadors. Hence, they could expect to be mistreated or even persecuted for agreeing with Christ. If an ambassador brings a hostile message, the chances of his being mistreated are high, but if he is mistreated for bringing good news, it is a serious affront. Either way, it is a violation of diplomatic sanctity.

There is a good illustration of this in 2 Samuel 10:1-4,

¹ Now it happened afterwards that the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, ³ the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away.

We do not know how Nahash had treated David with kindness, for there is no record of it. Nahash had treated Israel as an enemy in 1 Samuel 11 in the early days of King Saul. Most likely, 25-30 years later, Nahash gave David asylum during Saul’s persecution. When Nahash died, his son’s advisors were suspicious of David’s ambassadors, thinking they had come with nefarious motives. So they insulted the ambassadors, and in so doing, they insulted David.

Beard shaving was a severe insult in the ancient Near East—especially for Israelite men. Cutting the garments to expose the body was public sexual humiliation. This was not just a personal insult—it was a diplomatic act of war.

So also, Christ’s ambassadors, including the Old Testament prophets, were often mistreated and insulted, even as Christ Himself was mistreated. The message of the ambassadors was the gospel, the good news of Christ’s conciliation and one-sided offer of peace. Some accept it and are reconciled, while others, believing that the ambassadors have a hidden, evil agenda, insult and humiliate them unjustly.

But Paul, who knew the history of the prophets and of Christ’s death on the cross, accepted this hostility as a matter of course and even with joy. Being an ambassador can be dangerous. While Christ suffered once for the sin of the world, He continues to suffer through His body until the reconciliation of all things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.

The Mystery of the Gospel

Paul writes in Colossians 1:25,

²⁵ Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God, bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God.

Paul did not choose this mission—God assigned it to him as a divine trust, a delegated responsibility, and a sacred administrative charge. It was to “fully carry out” the gospel, to bring God’s revelation to its full international scope, to extend the covenant promises beyond Israel to the nations and to creation itself.

Colossians 1:26 continues,

²⁶ that is, the mystery [musterion, “secret, hidden”] which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, ²⁷ to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Paul spoke of this “mystery” also in Ephesians 3:4-7,

⁴ By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; ⁶ to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, ⁷ of which I was made a minister….

Christ’s work of reconciliation was not limited to Israelites, nor even to the church, but included all nations (“Gentiles”) and to the creation itself—everything in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth. Paul had been called as an apostle to the nations, even as Peter had been called to minister primarily to the Jews. So Galatians 2:7, 8 says,

⁷ But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised, ⁸ (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles).

Peter and Paul did not preach two separate gospels. They preached one gospel to two different groups of people. Peter’s ministry was more difficult in that it was hard for a Jew to give up his view of exclusive "chosen" status, whereas Paul’s ministry seemed more generous, granting equal citizenship to non-Jews. Paul’s ministry was thus controversial among the Jewish believers. Yet the essence of the gospel remained the same—showing how the Holy Spirit begets “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”