The End of Secular Work

The Supremacy of Christ in all things has been a clear and encouraging theme in the book of Colossians. Christ having made all things and being in authority over all things has established himself as the perfect image of God and the purpose of all creation. How does this apply to our labor?

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

First, work is a good thing. God commanded Adam to work before the Fall (Genesis 2:15), and we continue this work even today. We work to provide for our families. Work can give us a sense of purpose and accomplishment. And, work helps to build our communities. But how we work and why we work is a reflection of our souls, which too belong to God. For this reason, we cannot consider our work to be “secular,” having no relation to religious or spiritual activity. Ironically, those who take pride in building a Godless society may make this point more clear to us, because they have actually elevated their work to a religious or spiritual activity. They have elevated the created thing over the Creator and have fallen into idolatry.

To be clear, our work can certainly be sinful. There are whole industries, both legal and illegal, devoted to indulging our sinful nature and working in these industries would certainly put us at odds with Gods Word. A bigger temptation for us is that we elevate the good work that God has given us above God himself. We can be motivated to work from our hunger for more: more pay, more status, more accomplishment, or even more ministry success. When we work, whether we recognize it or not, we turn the good labor that God has given us into our redeemer instead of God himself.

We are tempted to look to our work to provide for our needs instead of looking God who uses work as means to provides for us according to his riches  (Philippians 4:19).

We are tempted look to our work to affirm and validate us instead of looking to God who affirms us as his children with great love (Galatians 3:26; 1 John 3:1).

We are tempted to identify with our work instead of God and his people (Colossians 3:3).

We are tempted to work to please man instead of God (Colossians 3:23).

Christ has redeemed us by completing a work we could not perform

Ultimately no work can be separated from God since all work belongs to God and reveals what our soul truly desires. And, Christ, by his work, has paved the way for us to put our work in its proper place. Christ has redeemed us by completing a work we could not perform. By living a sinless life and going to the cross, he frees us from the curse of death that we earned from the work of sin that we did perform. Only because of Christ can we put work in its proper place and, thereby, labor out of our satisfaction in God instead of laboring out of our hunger for his creation. When we do this, we begin to model Christ, the perfect image of God, who has supremacy over all things.

Jesus in Every Sphere of Life

In Colossians, Paul administers an antidote to the Colossian Christians who have been poisoned by a false teaching that diminishes Christ’s role in salvation and sanctification. What is this antidote? Just the most breathtaking picture of Jesus the Supreme Son of God we have in all of Scripture (Colossians 1:15–20). The cure for a false gospel and our propensity to legalism and/or licentiousness is seeing more clearly who Jesus is in all his incandescent glory as the Supreme Son of God who reconciles all things through the blood of his cross—and being completely captivated by him, treasuring him, loving him above all else. Only when we treasure Jesus will we actually walk in Jesus (Colossians 2:6). Where should we walk in Jesus you ask? We should walk in him in every sphere of life.

The overarching command Paul gives to the Colossians after displaying Jesus in all his radiant splendor is “walk in him” (Colossians 2:6). Paul then begins to apply this command through a series of instructions that apply to different spheres of life. The structure of Paul’s letter reveals these different spheres. In short, our walk in Jesus begins with our personal union with him, which is intrinsically and intimately linked to our corporate union with him, and expands outward in a series of overlapping spheres. As a whole, we see the following progression: Our walk in Jesus applies to (1) our personal life, (1a) our corporate life in the church, (2) our home life, (3) our formal relationships, and (4) our life in an unbelieving world.

 

Walk in Jesus Personally and Corporately

First, in Colossians 2:7–3:17, Paul applies the command to walk in Jesus to one’s personal unity with Jesus and personal purity (holiness), both of which encompass right belief (gospel fidelity) and action. And, likewise, Paul applies the command to walk in Jesus to the local church’s corporate unity in Jesus and corporate purity, both of which again encompass belief and action. Both spheres, personal and corporate, connect intimately. God renews us as individuals into the image of his Son through our personal union with Jesus. And God renews the church, his body, which is made up of individual members united together because of their common union in Jesus. Therefore, God binds our personal renewal and holiness as individuals with our corporate renewal and holiness as the church (Colossians 3:9–11). We must recognize that the natural and normative context of our personal sanctification is the local church. So, if we find ourselves not walking in Jesus in our personal lives, our intimacy and walk in Jesus as it relates to our life in the local church will suffer. And, if we find ourselves disconnected from a local body, our personal walk in Jesus will suffer. And if either of these is the case, there will be a trickledown effect to every other sphere of our life. Therefore, our walk in Jesus will first apply to our personal pursuit of unity and holiness as individuals and as members of Christ’s body, the church.

 

Walk in Jesus at Home

Second, in Colossians 3:18–20, Paul applies the command to walk in Jesus to the home. It’s easy to see how these spheres continue to overlap. Our union with and holiness in Jesus should directly impact our family life. Here, Paul offers particular ways in which walking in Jesus in the sphere of our home should manifest. But the big takeaway is that our walk in Jesus isn’t only personal and it doesn’t stop at the church doors. Our walk in Jesus should carry over and touch our homes and families.

 

Walk in Jesus in Formal Relationships

Third, in Colossians 3:22–4:1 Paul begins to apply the command to walk in Jesus to our formal relationships. Much could be said about the inherent injustice and sinfulness bound up in any system of human slavery. Suffice it to say, while we must be careful to not import our modern ideas of slavery from our different personal contexts into the text, we still must recognize that though first century Greco-Roman practices of slavery were complex and not monolithic, they nonetheless were a horrid manifestation of the sinfulness and fallenness of man. Furthermore, Paul does not endorse it, and he even encourages availing oneself of freedom (1 Corinthians 7:17–24; esp vv. 21 and 24). But here, Paul aims at something else. He applies one’s walk in Jesus to one’s formal, hierarchical relationships (whether they are one under authority or one in authority)—even those that are unjust. For the purpose of this post, the important truth we glean is that our walk in Jesus must carry over into relationships with analogous dynamics where we are either in authority or under authority so that “Whatever [we] do,” in both just and unjust contexts, we do for the Lord and in knowledge that (1) he will bring justice and (2) he is the ultimate authority (Colossians 3:23; 4:1).

 

Walk in Jesus in an Unbelieving World

Fourth, in Colossians 4:5–6, Paul applies the command to walk in Jesus to our existence in and interaction with an unbelieving world. Paul says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:5–6). Thus, our walk in Jesus must expand out beyond ourselves, beyond our homes, beyond our relationships, and radiate into the lives of those who do not walk in him.

 

So Where Should We Walk in Jesus?

Where should you start walking in Jesus, Christian? Paul tells us in Colossians.

Ask yourself: “Am I walking in Jesus in my personal holiness? Am I seeking to put sin to death?” Or, “Are there still particular besetting sins that I keep hidden in the dark? Are there sins that I continue to embrace?” Start here: Walk in Jesus by pursuing personal holiness and embracing your unity, your identity with him.

And, ask yourself, “Am I walking in Jesus in the local church? Am I a committed member of a local body?” Or, “Am I hopping from church to church? Am I more of a consumer in the church rather than a serving member?” Walk in Jesus by walking in unity and holiness with a local body.

And, ask yourself, “Am I walking in Jesus in my household? Am I honoring my spouse? Am I disciplining my children in love and exemplifying Jesus to them?” Or, “Am I foregoing my privilege of being a gospel witness within my home?” Walk in Jesus by bringing Jesus and the gospel to bear in your home.

And, ask yourself, “Am I walking in Jesus in my formal relationships, even in unjust situations? Am I working unto the Lord first and foremost? Do I respect and honor those in authority?” Or, “Do I work for the eyes of man and undermine authority or disrespect others? Do I lord my own authority over others and treat them unjustly?” Walk in Jesus by bringing your faith to bear in your formal relationships.

And, ask yourself, “Do I walk in Jesus toward outsiders? Do I measure my words and seek to make them thirsty for the truth of the gospel by what I say?” Or, “Do I sway with the prevailing winds of culture or of whatever context I find myself in?” Walk in Jesus by being a gospel witness to those outside of him.

Remember, before you can walk in Jesus, you must treasure him. Then you will know where to walk in him. You will walk in Jesus in every sphere of your life.

You Are of Heaven

If I asked you to tell me about yourself chances are you would, at some point, tell me where you were from. You would, most likely, tell me the name of your hometown or the city in which you grew up. You may tell me the name of your state. This is normal. We often associate our identity with where we are from. For the next few weeks, we will be seeing a lot of this type of identity and place association. That’s because, this weekend marks the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

During the opening ceremony, hundreds of athletes from countries all over the world parade into the Olympic festivities. TV hosts, reporters, and personalities will acquaint us with different individual athletes, by interviewing them or by sharing an insightful story of their fight to make it to the games. And when they introduce them to us, they will often say something like this: “This is So-and-So of Kenya” or “So-and-So of Japan” or “Such-and-Such of Czechia” or “Such-and–Such” of the United States of America.” The point is, the prepositional phrase of [Insert Name of Country Here] identifies who the athlete is. Their identity for the next two weeks is bound up with their country perhaps more than it will be at any other given time.

What’s even more interesting is that some of these athletes may be from one country but compete for another. That’s because, of course, it is possible to become a citizen of another country. That is, an athlete may have emigrated from one country where they were a natural born citizen to live as a citizen in another for which they now compete. You may be “So-and-So originally from the United States” and yet compete as “So-and-So of Mexico.” So it’s possible, then, to change your identity relative to your country. But identity is bound up with one place that cannot be changed.

What place can you be identified with beyond your country? Well, the next logical step would be planet Earth, right? So, in a very true sense, I am Jacob Smith, of Earth. In fact all of us, every human is of Earth. So you are, “[Insert Name Here] of Earth.” In one sense, this is our most fundamental identity as humans. We are humans of Earth. There is no gaining citizenship of another planet. There is no changing your earthly identity. Or is there? Well, the Apostle Paul has something to say about that.

Paul tells the Colossians that a change in their earthly identity is exactly what happened to them when God saved them. Consider what he says to them in Colossians 2:20:

 

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations…(Colossians 2:20).

 

By way of question, Paul essentially says to the Colossians, “You have died to the world.” Paul goes on to expound on this idea in Colossians 3:1–3:

 

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1–3).

 

Again, by way of question, Paul says, “Colossian Christians, you have been raised with Christ, made alive with him, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” And in light of this—their dying to the world and being made alive with Jesus—Paul says, “Seek out and set your mind on heavenly things, not earthly things” (Colossians 3:1–2). Paul’s goal here is to convince the Colossians and ultimately us as Christians that our citizenship, our identity has fundamentally changed.

It’s obvious enough that our dying to the world would warrant our no longer seeking out and setting our minds on the things of earth. Having died in Christ, we are no longer citizens of the world and no longer bound by earthly things. Well, if we’re not citizens of Earth, where is our citizenship? What is our new home? Colossians 1:13 tells us:

 

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).

 

We are now citizens of the Kingdom of God. And even though we don’t see the fullness of that kingdom on earth right now, spiritually, we are fully in the Kingdom of God. We have been raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1). Our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). And where is Jesus Christ right now? Jesus is in heaven seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1). And what Paul alludes to here in Colossians, he makes explicit in Ephesians 2:4–6:

 

God…raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4–6).

 

Spiritually, we are in Heaven right now.

As Christians, the place most associated with our identity is no longer the world or even our planetary home, Earth, that is destined to pass away. The place our identity is most bound up with is Heaven.

If you are in Christ, You are [Insert Your Name Here] of Heaven. And because we are of Heaven we should seek out and set our minds on the things of Heaven.

The first command Paul gives the Colossians is to walk in Jesus (Colossians 2:6). The only way, we as Christians can walk in Jesus here on Earth with all that entails is to first realize that we are no longer first and foremost of Earth. We are of the Kingdom of God. We are of Heaven. Recall the example of Olympians above. They come from over 200 countries. And, to be sure, they will make known where they are from. Athletes proudly wear their national colors, wave their country’s flag enthusiastically, and perhaps even shout over and over the name of their nation. Every athlete brings their nation with them. Well, Christian, you are of Heaven. Don’t be outdone by Olympians. Make it your aim to wear the colors of Heaven and wave the flag of Heaven, as it were. Shout the gospel that is of Heaven. Christian, make it your ambition to bring Heaven to Earth wherever God sends you, for you are of Heaven.

Thankfulness in Colossians

The book of Colossians reveals that our walk as Christians hinges on our thankfulness to God for what he has done for us in Jesus, what he is doing for us in Jesus, and what he promises to do for us in Jesus. Even so, we might not instinctually connect Colossians to the concept of thankfulness. Rather, Colossians is most well-known, and rightly so, for having some of the most stunning christological language in all of Scripture. I mean, who can keep themselves from being swept up into the mind-boggling wonder of descriptions like this in Colossians 1:15–18,

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

 

We’re truly breathing the rarefied air of pristine alpine peaks here. But what is Paul’s aim in soaring to these spectacular heights? Well, it is certainly authentic worship on his part, so that would be the ultimate end. But why invite the Colossians into this worship? What gift does Paul seek to impart here? To answer this question, it helps to consider what seemed to be the climate in Colossae.

It seems that some false teaching had recently clouded the Colossians’ view of this christological summit. Given a few of Paul’s commandments, this false teaching was on the order of a strange mix of asceticism, mysticism, and pagan and/or Jewish rituals that all billed themselves as a means to grow in wisdom and knowledge of God. In response, Paul issued instructions such as these:

 

 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath (Colossians 2:16).

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels (Colossians 2:18).

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? (Colossians 2:20–22).

 

But to all these, Paul says “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 1:23–3:1).

In short, false teaching tempted the Colossians to add to the gospel of Jesus some legalistic measures or practices in order to make themselves worthy of God and to increase their knowledge of God. So that was the situation at Colossae. And, that is why Paul’s entire message to the Colossians from the beginning is this:

Jesus the Son of God, who is your life, is supreme; therefore, just as you received Jesus, so walk in him (Colossians 1:18; 2:6).

So, to return to the top, what is Paul’s aim in highlighting Jesus’ supremacy? Well, according to the message I just articulated, Paul aims to spur the Colossians to right obedience. But we might say, how does Jesus being supreme inspire obedience? How are the two connected? We find the connection in the relative clause, who is your life.

See, essential to Jesus’ preeminence is that he is the first born from the dead (Colossians 1:18). It is through supreme Jesus’ cross and resurrection that sinful man has been reconciled to God (Colossians 1:20). It is through supreme Jesus that the Father qualified sinful man to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12), which is their hope laid up in heaven (Colossians 1:5). It is through supreme Jesus that the Father delivered sinful man from the domain of darkness and transferred him to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). It is through supreme Jesus that sinful man has redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14). And, it is through supreme Jesus that sinful man is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his creator (Colossians 3:10). Jesus is supreme. And, his supremacy, his preeminence, goes hand-in-hand with his redemption of sinful man, whom he makes new and to whom he promises eternal, resurrected life. He is the first born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Paul ascends to such apexes to remind the Colossians that this is their present spiritual condition. Supreme Jesus has made them alive and new, and he is making them alive and new. And because of Supreme Jesus, this is also the Colossians’ future. He will resurrect them alive and new to live with God for all eternity.

What should such a reality inspire in the Colossians? Thankfulness. And here we’ve arrived at the main point of this post. Notably, Paul does something more in Colossians, than he does in any other epistle. What is that? He exhorts his audience to thanksgiving.

 

…we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him…giving thanks to the Father…(Colossians 1:9–12).

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6–7)

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful (Colossians 3:15).

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:17).

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2).

 

Colossians is a short book. The density of exhortations to thankfulness is impressive and noteworthy. What does this reveal to us? It reveals this: Our walk as Christians hinges on our thankfulness to God for what he has done for us in Jesus, what he is doing for us in Jesus, and what he promises to do for us in Jesus.

Colossians reveals to us that we must stoke the flames of thankfulness in our hearts. To do that, let’s follow Paul. Let’s take his invitation to try as we might to summit the peaks of Jesus’ supremacy. We must be fascinated by and stand in wonder at who Jesus is and what he has done for us. We must see Jesus as supreme. And, when we see him thus, we cannot help but be thankful.