Colossians 3.10c-An Experiential Knowledge Conforms the Believer Into the Image of Christ and Thus the Image of the Father
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday July 17, 2016
Colossians: Colossians 3:10c-An Experiential Knowledge Conforms the Believer into the Image of Christ and Thus the Image of the Father
Lesson # 80
Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. (NASB95)
“To a true knowledge” is composed of the following: (1) preposition eis (εἰς), “to” (2) noun epignōsis (ἐπίγνωσις), “the knowledge.”
The noun epignōsis refers to an “experiential knowledge” of Jesus Christ in the sense of personally encountering through the process of experiential sanctification or fellowship Jesus Christ as He is revealed by the Holy Spirit in a prayerful study of the gospel.
It also refers to being affected by this encounter with Jesus Christ which in turn will result in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
There is no adjunct to identify specifically what is type of experiential knowledge Paul is speaking of.
Is it of the Father’s will as was the case in Colossians 1:9 or simply of the Father as was the case in Colossians 1:10?
The last time this word appeared in Colossians, it was in Colossians 2:2, it was used explicitly of an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ.
This would appear to be the case here in Colossians 3:10 since this new man is the nature of Christ who is the head of the new creation.
This noun epignōsis is the object of the preposition eis which functions as a marker of purpose expressing the purpose for which the new man desired to be replenished.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase indicates that an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ is the purpose for which the new man desires to be nourished.
“According to the image of the One who created him” is composed of the following: (1) preposition kata (κατά), “according to” (2) noun eikōn (εἰκών), “the image” (3) verb ktizo (κτίζω), “created” (4) intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “him.”
The noun eikōn means “image” but is used in relation to the new man or new nature given to the Christian at regeneration which desires to be replenished for the purpose of an experiential knowledge.
The question is whose image is being referred to?
Paul says it is the image of the Creator.
However, is it speaking of Jesus Christ as the Creator or the Father?
The Son was the instrument the Father used to create mankind and all of creation.
It would appear that this “image” is of Jesus Christ for several reasons.
The first is that He is the Creator which Paul asserts in Colossians 1:15-20.
Secondly, Paul teaches in Romans 8:29 that the Father predestined the church age believer to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit’s job after conversion is to shape the believer into the image of Christ in an experiential sense.
By reflecting the character of Christ, the Christian simultaneously reflects the character of the Father since the Father and Son have the same character and nature.
The noun eikōn is the object of the preposition kata which means “according to, in accordance with, in conformity with” since it is functioning as a marker of conformity.
This would indicate that this replenishing of the new man for an experiential knowledge is “in conformity with” the image of the One who created this new man.
The verb ktizo means “to create” in the sense of bringing into existence that which did not exist prior to the creative act.
The word means “to create something out of nothing” and emphasizes the initiation of the object out of previously non-existent material.
Here in Colossians 3:10, this verb speaks of the new man being created by the Lord Jesus Christ.
This participle is in the genitive case and functions as a genitive of production meaning it produces the noun to which it stands related which in our context is eikōn and would indicate that the image is produced by the Creator.
The third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos means “him” referring of course to the new man or new creation or new nature of Christ.
Colossians 3:9 Each and every one of you continue making it your habit of not lying to one another because each and every one of you for your own benefit have stripped off the old man with its practices. 10 Likewise, each and every one of you have clothed yourselves with the new man which is, as an eternal spiritual truth existing in the state of desiring to be replenished for the purpose of an experiential knowledge in conformity with the image produced by the One who created him. (My translation)
The apostle Paul teaches that this replenishing of the new man for the purpose of an experiential knowledge is in conformity with the image produced by the One who created this new man.
Adam and Eve were created in the image of God (cf. Gen. 1:26-27).
However, that image was marred due to their sin in the Garden of Eden.
This marring of the divine image was passed down to their posterity, i.e. the human race.
The Son of God became a human being to restore the image of God in fallen humanity.
The incarnate Son of God’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father enabled this image of God to be restored in fallen humanity.
When the sinner trusts in Jesus Christ, the Father declares them justified.
Simultaneously, the Holy Spirit identifies them with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
This identification conforms them into the image of Jesus Christ and simultaneously it restores the image of God in the justified sinner since Christ perfectly reflects the image of the Father.
This identification conforms them into the image of Christ and restores the image of the Father in a positional sense in that God now views them as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ because this is what He has done for them through the baptism of the Spirit.
It thus sets up the potential for the justified sinner identified with Christ to reflect the image of Christ and thus the image of the Father in an experiential sense which is accomplished when they appropriate by faith their identification with Christ.
Lastly, it provides them the guarantee of their being perfectly conformed to the image of Christ and thus having the image of God perfectly restored in them when they receive a resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church.