Here’s a quick review of what we’ve learned in the first 16 verses of our expository study of Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Colossians 1:1-2 we saw how Paul, the author of this letter, represented himself as \u201can apostle of Christ Jesus.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>This was important because apostles had very specific biblical qualifications, such as being an eyewitness of Jesus\u2019s resurrection, hand-picked by Christ, and given unique powers to perform miracles His name. Paul\u2019s calling was corroborated by Luke\u2019s record in Acts 9. We also saw how Paul was an apostle \u201cby the will of God,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> noting the importance that each of us live in submission to God\u2019s will every day, even when He requires that we do things that are difficult or uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In verses 3-5 we explored a great insight into the relationship of the Godhead when Paul wrote, \u201cwe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…\u201d <\/em><\/strong> Here we examined the distinct, individual personalities of God the Father and Christ the Son. We also learned how important it is for Christians to be mindful of how we portray our love and faith to others, as Paul stated that he had \u201cheard of [the Colossian\u2019s] faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.\u201d <\/em><\/strong> We, too, want others to see our faith in action through the love we have for our brothers and sisters in Christ. And Paul reminded the church of the \u201chope laid up for them in heaven\u201d<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 a hope secured and guarded by Jesus Christ our Lord (also see 1 Peter 1:3-5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we moved into verse 6, we learned more about the \u201cthe word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you.\u201d <\/em><\/strong> The gospel outlines our hopeless sinful state and the good news of a Savior who was willing to save and restore us to righteousness. There is truly no better news that mankind could ever receive! The gospel \u201cindeed in the whole world is bearing fruit and increasing\u201d <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 going out to lost souls through the work of the Holy Spirit and believers who humbly submit to His calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In verses 7-8 we learned a little about Paul\u2019s friend and beloved servant<\/em><\/strong> of the church, Epaphras<\/em><\/strong>. We were reminded that ministry is not something we can do on our own, and it requires the dedication of many with servants\u2019 hearts to reach the lost and disciple believers. Epaphras brought news of the Colossians to Paul, and while Paul likely never visited the Colossae church, he wrote this letter to address the concerns Epaphras shared as well as to bring encouragement to the young church. Epaphras was a \u201cfaithful minister of Christ on [their] behalf\u201d <\/em><\/strong>and doing everything he could to properly shepherd the Colossian church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting into verse 9, Paul reinforced the importance and necessity to pray for believers when he wrote they had \u201cnot ceased to pray for you.\u201d <\/em><\/strong> While it is impractical to literally never cease praying, this likely meant that Paul and his companions continued to beckon God in prayer on behalf of these believers, never giving up in their requests for the Colossians to \u201cbe filled with the knowledge of his [God\u2019s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.\u201d <\/em><\/strong> What a beautiful prayer request this was, and Paul\u2019s words are a reminder that we need to pray for spiritual blessings more than for worldly blessings. The things of this world are fleeting and temporary, but the wisdom and knowledge that comes from God is eternal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Into verses 10-11 Paul reminded the church to \u201cwalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.\u201d <\/em><\/strong> He said the same thing to the Ephesians and Philippians, reinforcing that our walk as believers is not a passive activity, and that saving faith is more than a one-time event. It is a moment by moment surrender of our will to God\u2019s so we can \u201cbear fruit in every good work.\u201d <\/em><\/strong> When we bear fruit, we bless others, we bless God, and we are blessed as we are \u201cstrengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Moving into verses 12-14, we saw how God the Father has \u201cqualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.\u201d <\/em><\/strong> The Father orchestrated our salvation, and Christ completed it on the cross. Our beloved heavenly Father \u201chas delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>We are currently citizens of Christ\u2019s kingdom, and He paid a very expensive price to purchase and free (ie: redeem) us from the dark dungeon of sin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In verse 15 Paul explained how Jesus Christ is \u201cthe image of the invisible God,\u201d <\/em><\/strong>showing us a picture of Christ\u2019s true divinity and majesty. He alone has the splendor, power, and authority of His Father. And we learned that Christ is \u201cthe firstborn of all creation,\u201d <\/em><\/strong>meaning that Christ has preeminence (or rank) over all creation, and was the first to be raised from death to life in eternal glory. The Father raised Christ from the dead in the same manner He will raise us from the dead and clothe us with an imperishable new body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, we left off at verse 16 where we saw that \u201cby him [Christ] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities\u2014all things were created through him and for him.<\/em><\/strong> In this chapter of Colossians, Paul repeatedly affirmed Christ\u2019s claims of divinity and Sonship, and we see here that, through Jesus, the Father brought all things into existence. Scripture reveals the unity of the Father and Son, working in perfect harmony since before time began. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s a quick review of what we’ve learned in the first 16 verses of our expository study of Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae: In Colossians 1:1-2 we saw how Paul, the author of this letter, represented himself as \u201can apostle of Christ Jesus.\u201d This was important because apostles had very specific biblical qualifications, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colossians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}