In Him [Jesus] all the fulness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. In Him we have been made complete. We were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. We were buried with Him in baptism, in which we were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead, Colossians 2:9-12.
In saying the removal of the body of flesh,Paul was referring to the fact that Jesus was the last Adam, or the old creation. This is why he said, “I have been crucified with Christ,” Galatians 2:20. When Jesus rose from the dead a new creation was formed through a new covenant —“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord. “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people,” Jeremiah 31:33.
God has fulfilled the promise of His new covenant by pouring forth His Spirit on all who believe in, and follow, Jesus. This pouring forth of His Spirit has formed a new creation, the spiritual body of Christ, the church; two creations — first the body of Adam; then the body of Christ.
We, who now walk by the Spirit, consider ourselves dead to sin (the old creation) and alive to God in Christ Jesus (the new creation), Romans 6:11. Although we still inhabit the body of the old creation, our Lord, through the new creation, provides a way of escape from every temptation known to the old creation, that is, the flesh, 1 Corinthians 10:13. Therefore, in this walk we find that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has, by the grace of God, set us free from the law of sin and of death, Romans 8:2.
For this reason Paul said, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh,” Galatians 5:16. This is all accomplished through faith in the working of God, who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen, Ephesians 3:20, 21 (see first paragraph).
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
Please weigh everything I say on the scales of the word of God.
jondavidbanks.com 