Mike,

When Paul speaks of the church, is he always referring to Babylon? Particularly in this verse? Or am I way off?

Colossians 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Thanks,

J____

 

Hi J____,

Thank you for this question.

You asked:

“When Paul speaks of the church, is he always referring to Babylon? Particularly in this verse? Or am I way off?

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The answer is that yes, in time, these words will encompass even those who are now Babylon, but no, Babylon is not “His body… which is the church”.

I know that sounds confusing and it will take quite a few verses of scripture to clear this up, so please be patient with me.

You will never understand the answer to this question you ask until you understand that God tells us that He, as Abraham in type and shadow, has “two sons” by two wives, who typify two covenants.The first son is of a bondwoman, and the last son is of a free woman:

Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Not one Christian in a thousand can grasp how “Jerusalem that now is” equates to “this Agar… mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”.

Revelation 12 gives us insight into the meaning of both, Gal 4 and Col 1:24. In Rev 12 we have a woman and a manchild. Both belong to God, but both are different stages of God’s church. The woman and the manchild are the same as the “two sons” of the two wives. It is “the dream is one” principle that we see throughout the scriptures.

The ‘woman’ of Revelation 12 is God’s first church out of whom the manchild comes. But while we are told the woman flees into the wilderness, we are also told that her ‘manchild’ son is caught up to heaven and to God’s throne.
Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
It is right at this point that we are told that a mighty war takes place “in heaven” :
Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Now we have the manchild in heaven, and the great red dragon, the devil, is cast out into the earth where this woman is. Notice that she is not “caught up to heaven with her “manchild” son. This all makes perfect sense to those who are granted to know that ‘heaven’ in scripture is not a geographical location, but is rather the realm of the spirit, “the kingdom of God… within [us]”, in which the judgment of our old, rebellious, first man Adam, takes place. We are “seated with [Christ] in the heavens”, even as “judgment is now on the house of God”, within us:

Eph 2:6 God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven.

Like our Lord, all who are in Him are “in heaven” even while we are yet here on this earth”.

Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

This manchild is not speaking of our head, Christ. Rather this manchild is that part of God’s church which has “come out of” that woman (Rev 18:4). This ‘manchild’ is those who are promised to rule the nations (Rev 2:26-27). This ‘manchild’ is ‘the body of Christ’ which is seated with Him “in the heavens”(Eph 2:6) and is no longer in “the wilderness” with the woman out of whom he has come.

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

We are this wife, this woman, when we are in Babylon. Babylon is this woman of Rev 12, and we are not yet seated in the heavens with our head, Christ (Eph 2:6) while we are yet in this woman. We spend a symbolic three and a half years in Babylon resisting the witness of God’s elect, and then we spend three and a half years witnessing against Babylon.

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [three and a half years], from the face of the serpent.

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days [three and a half years], clothed in sackcloth.

We read the first verses of Revelation 12 like we read the first verses of Job, and we are blinded to what is said later about the woman going into the wilderness while her son is caught up to God and to His throne. After being told that Job was a good man who feared God and hated evil, we are blinded to the greater truth which informs us that Job’s righteousness was self-righteousness which led him to “contend with, reprove and condemn” his own Maker (Job 40:1-8).

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

The ally of this ‘woman’ who is clothed with the sun and who has a crown of 12 stars and who has the moon under her feet, is not the God of the heavens. Her ally who keeps her from being swallowed up by the flood which comes out of the mouth of the dragon, is “the earth”:

Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

While the dragon is very much upset with the woman, he does not make war with her; rather he “make[s] war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In other words the dragon makes war with those who are ‘caught up unto God and to His throne’ while the woman is at peace with “the earth” which is taking in all the deadly lies that come out of the mouth of the dragon.

The woman of Revelation 12 is Babylon, and the ‘Babylon’ of Paul’s day was the synagogue. It was out of the synagogues of that day that God’s church was called. Just look at what Paul did even after affirming that his focus was no longer on his own kin the Jews:

Act 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

But where did they then go to “turn to the Gentiles”? The answer to that question is revealed in the very next chapter:

Act 14:1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.

So when Paul tells us that he is filling up in his body what is behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake which is the church, his is speaking primarily of those like you and me who are being called out of Babylon, which is the church of God of “the bondwoman”.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

So the Truth is just as Paul explains it in Galatians 3 and 4. There is a physical “seed of Abraham”, and there is a spiritual “seed of Abraham”. Both are “the seed of Abraham”. Both are His ‘called out ones’, His church, and both belong to God who is clear in proclaiming to us that “all things… are… of Him”, and that as Abraham had “two wives” and two sons, one by each wife, each wife typifies a separate covenant.

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

“Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid ant the other by a freewoman” is just as true today as it was when Paul wrote those words, because, according to Paul here in this same book, being “in Abraham” is a matter of “be[ing in] Christ”.

Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

As little as this truth is accepted, and as much as it is hated and labeled as “replacement theology”, this is still the Truth. God no longer considers physical birth to be of any spiritual significance, and a physical Jew, to Christ, is “not a Jew” at all unless he is “in Christ”.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Those who will tell you ‘the spirit is the letter’, utterly despise that word “not” and go to great mental exercises to explain it away, but it is still right there staring them in the face. God does not see things in the same way the natural man sees them. Physical Jerusalem is no longer to be considered the capital of God’s Kingdom, and is now no more than Hagar and her “son of a bondmaid” from God’s perspective.

Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem.

The holy spirit tells us that physical “Jerusalem which now is” is Hagar, and her son is called “the son of the bondmaid”. He too, is also called “the seed of Abraham”, but only in an outward, carnal manner, which is of no value to God.

Christ acknowledged this same Truth which simply cannot be received by “the natural man”:

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

So there it is. There are those who are Christ’s church by the bondmaid, who want to kill Christ, and there are also those who are Christ’s church by the freewoman, who are willing to die with Christ at the hands of the seven churches of Asia, who have forsaken Christ and His Christ.

2Ti 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

These are the same “churches of Asia” to whom the book of Revelation is addressed. Why is John on Patmos writing to the people who had forsaken the apostle Paul? It is because they had turned against the apostle John also:

3Jn 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
3Jn 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

That is why the book of Revelation is addressed “to the seven churches of Asia.” Those seven churches of Asia, are the symbol of all the church, which turned away from the doctrines of the apostles, and apostatized before the death of the apostles.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Yes, of course that is primarily an inward and spiritual statement. But when I say primarily, I am not denying that it first had a physical, outward manifestation by which we are made to understand it’s primary inward application:

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

So we are made to understand that Christ died for all men, and that “each in his own order” will receive that salvation. So to answer your question concerning Col 1:24, Paul is speaking of “the church which is his body”.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

This is not ‘the son of the bondwoman’ stage of God’s church. That stage of God’s church will in time also “come out of Babylon”, and will die to the flesh. But “Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children… will not be made heir with the son of the freewoman”.

Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

But the son of the freewoman must be the son of the bondwoman first. That is how we are able to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, [and] keep the things written therein” (Mat 4:4 and Rev 1:3)

Your brother in Christ,

Mike