Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow (Col 2:16-19, NIV).
Clearly the word "head" in Colossians 2:16-19 refers to a literal head that is connected to a literal body. But how does a part of the body lose the connection to the head, and why?
Paul refers to the "head" in chapters 1 and 2 of the letter to the Colossians:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Col 1:15-20, NIV).
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead (Col 2:9-12, NIV).
Jesus is the head of the body, the church, for God's fullness is in him.
Jesus is the head of every power and authority, and we have been given God's fullness in Jesus.
Clearly fullness has something to do with the "head."
The "fullness" of God refers to everything God is: instead of found wanting, poor, and in need, God is "full," rich, and able to give to others from his overflow. Hence, when the Bible says the fullness of the Godhead is in Jesus, it means Jesus is "full" of God, not wanting in any respect of the divinity he shares with God the Father and God the Spirit. And because all the fullness of God was in Jesus, he was able to bless us with salvation:
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16-17, NIV).
The law of Moses didn't include grace; the law required Israel to keep the clean/unclean laws in order to remain holy and receive the blessing of life on earth; those who failed were cursed. The grace that came with Jesus gives us eternal life freely because the Holy Spirit sanctifies us (Acts 26:18); all who are in Christ have received the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:8).
Since the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, we no longer need to observe the Law of Moses in order to become holy. Yet, holiness is not just a singular passive moment of reception in the New Covenant; we must manifest the holiness of God in all that we are and do:
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:13-16, NIV).
When we lived in ignorance of God's truth, we conformed ourselves to the desires of the "flesh." But now that we have come to know the truth, we should no longer live the way we used to, but transform our minds to recognize God's will:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom 12:1-2, NIV).
Once we have renewed our minds to think with God, and recognize God's will, we know we ought to set aside the desires of the "flesh," or the "old self," and put on the "new self":
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all (Col 3:5-11, NIV).
This "new self" is the mystery Paul so often spoke of: Christ in us, us in Christ, the head and the body united, joined together (Col 1:26-27, Eph 2:14-18). The church, as the body of Christ, is the fulness of Jesus, the visible manifestation of the head, who fills all things:
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way (Eph 1:22-23, NIV).
It is here that we find the key to understanding the meaning of the word "head" in Colossians 2: we cannot be the fulness of Christ unless we are holy in body and mind.
Because we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we are baptized in the body of Christ the moment we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10):
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (1 Cor 12:12-13, NIV).
Being part, a member, of the Body of Christ is the birthright of every child of God, but we can disconnect ourselves from the head if we allow our minds to remain unspiritual. The unspiritual mind seeks that which the "flesh" desires; the spiritual mind seeks that which the Spirit desires.
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other (Gal 5:16-26, NIV).
The unspiritual mind is puffed up, it delights in false humility, human regulations, and traditions. It has every appearance of wisdom, but it cannot restrain the "flesh." Instead, the unspiritual mind seeks to please the "flesh," and by doing so, it disconnects the worshiper from the source of its spiritual growth.
Paul uses all kinds of metaphors when he speaks of our spiritual walk with God, but all metaphors have one thing in common: they all speak of growth. Whether we are part of a body, a building, a family, or a nation, we are meant to grow until we reach maturity in size and knowledge.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:11-13, NIV).
The fulness of Christ has a measure (Greek: metron) that we can attain. By disconnecting itself from the head, the source of growth, the worshiper will remain a perpetual infant in Christ.
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? (1 Cor 3:1-4, NIV).
The Corinthians were still "fleshly" instead of having become spiritual; they hadn't transformed their minds to think with Christ (1 Cor 2).
In order to grow into maturity, we must remain connected to the head, for all wisdom and knowledge is found in Jesus (Col 2:1-8). As we grow in knowledge, our minds are transformed to recognize the will of God; as we grow in wisdom, we learn to restrain the flesh and live according to God's will (Jas 3: 13-18).
Instead of authority, the "head" in Colossians 2 speaks of spiritual growth. Paul wished that none would become puffed up and disconnected from the head; instead he wished that all of the members of the body would grow into the head with all humility, for without Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5).
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