“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; 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.” Colossians 2:11-12
How odd I should be able to sit in a chair and type on a computer keyboard with my fingers. I still have a flesh and blood body, even though my body, “by the circumcision of Christ,” has been removed. I remember as well my baptism in Black Jack pond in 1956. I do not remember dying, yet I did; I do not remember being resurrected, yet I was. So, are circumcision and baptism only symbolical? I was baptized, but did not die (except when under water, I breathed throughout the whole experience). I have a flesh and blood body, yet that body has been removed.
Here, then, is the paradox and the truth: I did die, and my body was “cut” away. Not in this “real world,” but in the ultimately real world of the heavenly places. Interestingly, by the way, while Ephesians and Colossians share several key terms and concepts, the word translated “heavenly places” does not occur in Colossians. Yet, the concept is present in that letter. Circumcision and baptism are two “heavenly places” realities.
Circumcision was for Israel a literal act with great symbolical value. Circumcision was a physical mark communicating a greater truth: Israel had been set apart and reserved for God alone. Circumcision was a mark of God’s ownership. Just so for believers as well. In the heavenly places, the “powers and authorities” see our circumcision as the mark of God’s ownership. We are his, and we have been set apart for the Lord and for him alone. The “powers and authorities” know they can neither touch or possess a believer. They know believers have been “rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
Baptism is a ritual of Judaism as well as being a symbolical act of obedience for believers. Basically, baptism was and remains a ritual washing for Jews. If a Gentile converts to Judaism, as a final act in the process, he will undergo baptism as both a cleansing act and as an act of transformation. He enters the water a Gentile, and exits the baptismal pool as a Jew. For followers of Jesus, baptism speaks to our being washed clean from our sins, and also tells of our transformation. In the drama of baptism, we symbolize our death in Christ to self, and our resurrection to new life in Him.
In the realm of the heavenly places, the powers and authorities see the reality of both circumcision and baptism. They see, by the manifestation of the manifold wisdom of God, the removal of the body of flesh, and the death, burial and resurrection of the believer to new life in Christ. The power and authorities have no choice but to honor what God has done.
What the powers and authorities try to do in this world is convince believers they can come under their control. This is a scheme of the devil: he wishes to convince believers he has more authority and power than he actually does. He wants the followers of Jesus to believe he is not defeated. If we grant him more power than he in fact has, he can temporally defeat us. Yet, he knows the defeat will not last. He is aware of the ultimate reality of our salvation, protection and preservation. He also knows he himself is defeated and all his works have been destroyed. The devil knows the true, ultimate reality of the victory of the Cross. He, as the demons, knows the truth about God. And he, just as the demons, “shudder” at the truth.
Peter made an interesting statement about our salvation. He said, “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:18-19) What was the point Peter was making? He was declaring how final and absolute redemption in Christ is. If God had only purchased our salvation with gold and silver, someone could amass a greater fortune and buy us back from God. Our salvation, if based on temporal things, would then be temporary. God instead bought us out of slavery to sin with the “precious blood” of Christ. That purchase price was eternal and of the greatest value. No price of greater value could be or can be paid. Our salvation is absolute.
With that absolute and irreversible salvation comes total and absolute protection and preservation. No power in the universe can overcome the work of God. What is your ultimate reality?
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