Colossians 1
-Remove the head coach, and the team flounders; break the
fuel line, and the car won’t run; unplug the TV and it has no power to operate.
Whether for leadership, power, or life, connections are all important!
-Colossians is a book themed around “connections.” Paul,
writing probably from Rome during his imprisonment (4:18) in approximately the
early 60s, combats the false teachings, which had somehow infiltrated the
Colossian church. The primary problem was “syncretism,” which is combining
ideas from other philosophies and religions (such as paganism, strains of
Judaism, and Greek thought) with the Christian truth of the gospel. The
resulting heresy later became known as “Gnosticism,” which emphasized special
knowledge and denying Christ as God and Savior. To combat this grievous and
devious error, Paul stressed Christ’s Deity—His connection with the Father—and
His sacrificial death on the cross for sin. Only by “connecting” with Christ
through faith can anyone have eternal life, and only through a continuing
connection with Him can anyone have power for living. Christ is God incarnate
and the only way to forgiveness and
peace with God the Father. Paul then goes on to emphasize believers’
“connections” with each other as Christ’s body on earth. This letter then
becomes an important book to study for spiritual formation in the Christian
life with many important theological truths to consider.
Major Themes:
Christ is God-
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, Lord of all creation, and Lord of the new
creation. He is the expressed reflection of the invisible God. He is eternal,
preexistent, omnipotent, and equal with the Father. He is supreme and complete.
This means we need to understand Christ as being supreme in our lives,
recognizing Him as God’s means for our salvation
Christ is the Head of
the Church- Because Christ is God, He is the Head of the church, His true
believers. Christ is the founder, the leader, and the highest authority on
earth. He requires first place in all our thoughts and activities. We must
welcome His leadership in our lives in all we do and think. No person, group,
or institutional church can regard any loyalty as more critical than that of
loyalty to Christ.
Union with Christ-
Because our sin has been forgiven and we have been reconciled to God, we have a
union with Christ that can never be broken. In our faith connection with Him,
we identify with His death, burial, and resurrection. We should live in constant
contact and communication with God (1 Thess. 5:17). When we do, we will all be
unified with Christ and with one another.
Man-Made Religion-
False teachers were promoting a heresy that stressed man-made rules (legalism)
based on their own fleshly knowledge (Gnosticism). They also sought spiritual
growth by discipline of the body (asceticism) and visions (mysticism) that were
not of God. This search created a deception and self-centered pride through
their own efforts in futility. We must
not cling to our own ideas and try to blend them into Christianity. Nor
should we let our hunger for a more fulfilling Christian experience cause us to
trust in a teacher, a group, or a system of thought more than in Christ
Himself. Christ is our hope and our true source of wisdom.
Structure:
Paul’s introduction to the
Colossians gives his signature-common greeting with grace and peace. He
includes a note of thanksgiving, and a prayer for spiritual wisdom and strength
for those brothers and sisters in Christ (1:1-12). He then moves into a
doctrinal discussion of the person and work of Christ (1:13-23), stating that
Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (1:15), the Creator (1:16), the
“head of the body, the church” (1:18), and “the firstborn from the dead”
(1:18). His death on the cross makes it possible for us to stand in the
presence of God (1:22).
Paul then explains how the world’s
teachings are totally empty when compared with God’s plan, and he challenges
the Colossians to reject shallow answers and to live in union solely with
Christ (1:24-2:23).
With this theological backdrop
established, Paul now turns to more practical considerations—what the divinity,
death, and resurrection of Jesus should mean to all believers (3:1-4:6).
Because our eternal destiny is sure, heaven should fill our thoughts (3:1-4),
sexual impurity and other worldly lusts should not be named among us (3:5-8),
and truth, love and peace should mark our life (3:9-15). Our love for Christ
should also translate into love for others—friends, fellow believers, spouses,
children, parents, slaves, and masters (3:16-4:1). We should constantly
communicate with God through prayer (4:2-4), and we should take every
opportunity to tell others the Good News (4:5-6). In Christ we have everything
we need for salvation and for living the Christian life.
Paul may have never visited
Colosse. The church was probably planted by Epaphras (1:7) and was the least
important city that Paul addressed in any of his biblical letters. This may
account for why he concludes his letter with personal comments about their
common Christian associations, providing a living lesson of the “connectedness”
of the body of Christ (4:7-18).
Read this book with first century
Christian communities in mind, but also apply it to your own life as it offers
many timeless truths to soak in. You will indeed gain a fresh appreciation for
Christ as the fullness of God and the only source for living the victorious
Christian life. Know that your leader, head, and power source is Jesus Christ
and make sure of your “connection” with Him!
Key Verses:
Colossians 2:9-10 “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.”
*Notes from this overview were aided by:
Thomas D. Lea and David Alan Black, The New Testament: Its Background and Message, 2nd
edition, Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN: 2003, pgs. 449-457.
New American Standard
Bible: Life Application Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Mich.: 1995,
pgs. 2096-2097.
-Paul’s primary concern in the first chapter is to let them
know of his love for them and to share the preeminence of Christ Jesus in full
detail. He is the firstborn of all creation, before all things, the beginning,
the Creator of all visible and invisible, holding all things together as head
of the church (Colossians 1:15-18). In Him all the fullness of God dwells and
He is reconciling all things to Himself for His glory making peace by the blood
of His cross (Colossians 1:19-22). He is the One who can present us holy and
blameless and above reproach before the Father if we continue in the faith,
stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel (Colossians
1:22b-23). Paul had shared this message faithfully as a good steward with much
suffering in toil and struggle according to the energy that powerfully worked
through him by the Spirit. He had shared the mystery hidden from ages past that
is now revealed. That mystery is Christ IN us, the hope of glory unto a mature
man with all wisdom (Colossians 1:24-29). *Application* The supremacy of Christ
Jesus as Lord and Savior must be at the heart of everything we do. It is truly
all about Him. He is the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the
Father except by Him (John 14:6). Exalt the Lord in your life in every way and
give Him glory because of who He is and what He has done to give us an
opportunity to live IN Him now and for all eternity. Praise be unto Jesus
Christ our King! He is the Name above all names!
Verse to Memorize-
Colossians 1:27
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