1st Chapter of
Colossians
Colossians 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
INTRODUCTION
Paul confirms himself as an apostle before the Colossian church, being that he will battle some of the brethren there for the thoughts they have incorporated into the Christian doctrine. He was made an apostle by the will of God, as he specifies, not by his own doing, which is important to the points he will be bringing up to the church.
What is the definition of an apostle? What are the qualifications? "Apostolos" = One commissioned to continue in a specified work. The primary qualifications are listed in Ac 1:21-22 when they sought a replacement for Judas Iscariot. Notice that only Judas is replaced. When an apostle has died as faithful, he continues to be an apostle in Heaven, not needing replacement on Earth, for their words continue to testify to the commission assigned by Jesus. In John 17:6-21 Jesus illustrates the commission given to these apostles, and how they were to impact others who were not apostles. In Mt 19:28 Jesus teaches how they will continue to be apostles even in Heaven, so nowhere do we see the church practicing a replacement for them, not even after James is martyred (Ac 12:2).
Why is Paul an apostle? He was
not one of the original 12, nor was he chosen after Judas was replaced! Paul
himself describes how he became an apostle by the will of God when he was on
his way to
Colossians 1:2
To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
The holy and faithful are those who are truly part of the body of Christ, the church. This may not include others that thought of themselves as part of the body but were not of holy thinking and unfaithful in doctrine. The brethren are described as "saints" (hagios), which means blameless, sacred, pure, consecrated, and holy (from the root word "hagos", which means an awe-ful thing). They are also described as faithful (pistos), which means trustworthy, true and sure. None of these words mean "perfection" in the faultless sense. They denote perseverance and unwavering loyalty to the commission and commitment to Jesus.
God's will for the church is to receive His grace and peace always. He doesn't want to come to us with judgment or with strife, but mindful that His will for us is to receive His grace and so be changed, holy, peaceful people. "Grace" comes from the Greek word "charis", which means "unmerited favor" - a divine influence on the heart and its reflection upon life, usually producing gratitude, joy and pleasure because of the knowledge of being accepted by God as a son. Ro 5:1-21 explains this grace of God exquisitely. "Eirene", or "peace", is denoted as prosperity, quietness and rest. This is the kind of peace Jesus gives (John 14:27; John 16:33), which is not like the world gives.
Colossians 1:3,4
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints--
Paul is filled with thanksgiving because of the good report he hears of the Colossian church. Their good works cause Paul to pray to God in thanksgiving (2Co 9:12). Their faith was expressed in deeds and manifested in love in such a way that other churches were touched by it. The work we do in love has the capacity of touching and affecting other brethren throughout the world.
Colossians 1:5
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
The work of the church,
faith
expressing itself in love (Ga 5:6), is evidence of the hope
they have believed and accepted, which they obtained from only one place: the
Gospel (1Co 15:1-4). This threesome is also shown as the things that
now remain in 1Co 13:13. They are only possible in and through the Gospel.
This is important because Paul is setting them up for the coming problem the
church was facing: Dependence on human wisdom and emotion (
Hope = Faith + Love
in in for
Heaven Christ Saints
Christ in You (
Colossians 1:6
that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
This Gospel not only is working in the church in Colosse, but all over the world. Paul reminds them they are not alone in this knowledge of truth. They are not the only ones declared holy and special, a point he will develop later on in the letter.
The Gospel is:
1- Good News
2- Truth
3- Universal: For all the world
4- Productive: Bears fruit and increases
5- Graceful: Tells of the grace of God
6- Humanly transmitted
Colossians 1:7
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
Paul reveals to us the founder of the church at Colosse, brother Epaphras. Paul called him a "diakonos" (faithful minister) on Paul's part to the churches he served.
Colossians 1:9
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
PAUL’S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH
Paul reveals his prayer for the church now.
He wants them to:
1- Be filled with the knowledge of His will. It is spiritual wisdom, not worldly. Understanding comes through the experience of using this spiritual wisdom.
To be filled with this kind of knowledge you need to empty yourself of your worldly ways that you have come to know. Transformation only comes when your mind is renewed by the knowledge and understanding of God (Ro 12:2). His will needs to be tested and approved by you as being His, and not your own. This testing happens when you suffer trials of many kinds (Jas 1:2-8).
Colossians 1:10
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
2- Live a worthy life - pleasing God
a- bearing fruit
b- increasing in the knowledge of God
Being full of God's knowledge and wisdom produces a life full of the fruit of good works. Just as the fruit of the trees do not pop up in a day, so the fruit of good works appear over time; a product of genuine discipleship.
Colossians 1:11
being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
3- Be strengthened with power
a- To have endurance
b- To have patience
c- To have Joyful Thanksgiving
The Power of God (Holy Spirit [Eph 3:16]) allows us three gifts that we may translate God's knowledge into spiritual understanding through our various trials and suffering:
-
Patience (hupomone) - the ability to bear things and turn them into glory
-
Endurance (makrothumia) - longsuffering; a spirit that never loses patience; believing in and hoping for man - patience with people
-
Joy (chara) - radiant and sunny-hearted attitude toward life
Colossians 1:12
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
4- Give thanks in a joyful way because God has qualified you to share in an eternal inheritance. You couldn't qualify yourself, so God made up for you what you couldn't do.
The Essence of Paul's Prayer for the Colossians:
-
To be filled with the ever-growing knowledge of the will of God
-
The need to translate this knowledge into terms of our human situation: discerning God's will for us in our lives; constantly letting the Word change us (Ro 12:2) by allowing it to judge our thoughts and attitudes (Heb 4:12) and shaping us through various trials and suffering (Jas 1:2-8; 1Pe 4:12-19)
-
To do this we need power, thus we pray to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit (Eph 3:20)
--Richard Bagget, Sunset School of Preaching
Colossians 1:13
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Why should thankfulness be on our lips, joyfully expressed? Here's the reason: He rescued us! You couldn't rescue yourselves!
God translated us into His Kingdom – An automatic procedure that you can only continue to wonder about until you actually see Him!
1- He transferred us from darkness to light
2- From slavery to freedom
3- From condemnation to forgiveness
4- From the power of Satan to the power of God
5- From deception to truth
6- From confusion to understanding
7- From ignorance to maturity
Colossians 1:14
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Only in this Kingdom de we have what is worth living for on this Earth: redemption through Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. There was no other way to enter this Kingdom other than by God qualifying us through His Son!
We give thanks because:
a- He qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints
b- He rescued us from darkness
c- He brought us into the kingdom
d- He redeemed us and forgave us!
Colossians 1:15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST
Paul now begins to teach them about Jesus' Supremacy: The Colossian church needed to understand that Jesus is sufficient for salvation. His way is the only way, and it cannot be improved upon.
10 POINTS OF SUPREMACY
1- Image of God (Heb 1:3; Joh 14:9)
2- Firstborn of creation (prototokos)
THIS IS WHAT JESUS IS IN HIMSELF
a- The image of God
b- The fullness of
God; see (
Colossians 1:16
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.
3- Creator of all things: this qualifies Him as God.
All things means ALL: what you can see and all those things you can't see, whether they are invisible or spiritual; even the things that are unmovable and uncontrollable by man, like powers and all authorities - unfathomable things that control our universe.
Passages like this one and Eph 6:12 teach that there are in the unseen world numerous varieties of persons and governments of which our visible world is a tiny counterpart, and that Christ's death not only made possible man's redemption, but became the means of restoring the broken harmony of the whole vast "cosmos" (ordered universe) of the seen and unseen. -- Halley's Bible Handbook
created - (ktizo) proprietor, manufacturer, original fabricator.
The visible realm is undivided, meaning that all things within the visible world are subject to the same laws of nature. The invisible realm is divided into the realm of darkness (Col 1:13) and the realm of God's Kingdom. People in the visible realm are also within the spiritual realm. Only those who are saved are within the Spiritual Forces of Good, which is the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom is at war with the Spiritual Forces of Evil (Eph 6:12).
Colossians 1:17
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
4- Before all things
5- In Him all holds together (consist; cohere)
WHAT JESUS IS TO CREATION
a- First born
(prototokos) (
b- Creator of all
things (
c- All things
created for Him (
d- In Him all things consist
Colossians 1:18
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.
6- Head of the Church
7- The beginning
8- Firstborn (prototokos) from the dead (Ro 8:29)
Prototokos - The first and foremost and Primary eternal seed producer and planter.
Protos - First in order of importance
Tikto - to produce (from seed, as a mother, a plant, the earth, etc.), literal or figurative: - bear, be born, bring forth, be delivered, be in travail.
WHAT JESUS IS TO THE CHURCH
a- The Head of the church
b- The Beginning of the church
c- The firstborn from the dead
d- He has the Supremacy in all things
Colossians 1:19
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
Fullness (pleroma) - repletion or completion, that is, (subjectively) what fills (as contents, supplement, copiousness, multitude), or (objectively) what is filled (as container, performance, period): - which is put in to fill up, piece that filled up, fulfilling, full, fullness.
Colossians 1:20
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.
9- Reconciler of all things by making peace through the
blood He shed on the cross. Here is the
essence of God's love as shown through the Gospel:
a- Reconciliator
b- Peace-maker
c- Giving Himself up
Instead of being ruled by wrath or anger because of our sin, our Lord dies to
self (physically and literally) and makes peace through that death, thus
reconciling all things unto Himself by offering a way (grace) where there was
none. Holy God and sinful man bound as one. That is the mystery of the Gospel!
Christ in you (Col 1:27; Ga 2:20)!
This painful sacrifice of Jesus, through torture and much suffering is what is able to appease the Lord's wrath (see verse 22). This sacrifice also draws near all those who want to be at peace and make peace.
Following the example of Jesus, peace is only achieved when you are willing to bear the pain and suffering for others.
Colossians 1:21
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
Paul tells the Colossians that at one time they were enemies because they had not accepted in their minds the need to change their thoughts and ways. They thought they were fine! Perhaps they thought, as most people do, that they are OK folk. Our minds alienate us when we concede to our own judgment of ourselves as opposed to God's judgment. Our own evil behavior testifies against us. That is why you consciously or unconsciously practice evil in the dark, hidden away from other people's eyes, but never escaping God's own tearful eyes as they watch you practice evil (Heb 4:13).
Colossians 1:22
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--
Even though we made ourselves enemies, that did not stop Jesus from giving Himself up for you. His desire is to be reconciled to you and He:
10- Presents us holy before God
Note how this kind of spiritual reconciliation can only come through death of a physical body. So that it is not the flesh which is reconciled or made holy, but your eternal soul.
WHAT JESUS IS TO THE WORLD
Reconciler of all things (Col 1:20)
1- By Peacemaking
2- By providing Himself as the propitiation [atonement] (hilasterion;
Ro 3:25; 1Jo 2:2)
3- To make you holy in His sight (Eph 5:25-27)
a- Without blemish (stains)
b- Free from accusation (Re 12:10) [Satan means "accuser";
Job 1:6]
"hilasterion": having placating force; to appease (expiate) anger by
making concession; to pacify; to make reparations.
Used of the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was
sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement
(this rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which they had
merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the
victim, and that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins expiated);
hence the lid of expiation, the propitiatory, the mercy seat (Ex 25:17;
Heb 9:5). -- Nave's Topical Bible
Only the Gospel of God can deliver peace and reconciliation through the violence of sin. That violent torture of Christ is what has made you “faultless to stand before the throne”. Don’t let the accuser fool you! This Gospel turns human affliction and sin into the way of reconciliation and righteousness, by God’s grace.
Colossians 1:23
if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
Now Paul reminds them of their responsibility to this Gospel: Faithfulness. We are to continue in the faith, no matter what! Unmoved! Don't let anything take your focus off the hope of the Gospel!
Faithfulness is:
1- Continuing (epimeno) in the faith: working; making your life in it and around it.
2- Established (themelioo)-consolidated, having laid a base or foundation- and firm (hedraios)-immovable; settled; steadfast
3- Not moved from hope - not putting your hopes or dreams anywhere else but in the Gospel that will resurrect you.
Three things that authenticate your faith:
1- You heard the Gospel
2- It is preached to all Creation - It is a Universal Gospel, only ONE Gospel for all.
3- Paul is an apostle to this Gospel - This was the true apostolic Gospel.
--Richard Bagget, Sunset School of Preaching
The Colossians were "elitists", thinking they had arrived at a special knowledge (gnosis) and that they had the edge on how to be holy. So Paul tells them it is the Gospel which will only do that, and that they better be in this ONE TRUE Gospel!
Colossians 1:24
Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
PAUL'S GOALS AS APOSTLE
Here is one of the many instances in which Paul speaks of the
sufferings he, and all of us, must complete as members of the Body. According to
this passage, we get some insight regarding the sufferings Jesus went through in
His body. He alone was not to complete that.
Now we, as the Body of Christ, continue
to fill up in our flesh that incomplete suffering. It makes sense since
we are His body. Paul rejoices in the sufferings because he can see the fruit of
it: the saved.
Paul speaks of his threefold goal as apostle to the Gospel of
Jesus:
1- To Rejoice in suffering
Colossians 1:25
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--
Paul is a "diakonos" (waiter or attendant) by the "oikonomia" (administration; dispensation; stewardship) God gave him:
2- To present the Word of God in its fullness
Paul specifically speaks of His special God-given appointment as apostle to the Gentiles.
Colossians 1:26
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
What is the fullness of God's dispensation? Consider it was a mystery that had been hidden, kept shut by God throughout all the ages past, waiting to be disclosed (made manifest; shown in full) to God's elect in the church.
Colossians 1:27
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This word had been kept hidden throughout the ages, and God reveals it to the holy ones. God chooses His saints to know the glorious riches of this mystery. What is the mystery? The most amazing thing that has ever happened: Christ in you! This is the hope that will take you into eternity!
Christ is the Head of the Universe, we approach Him directly, not through intermediary angels. He, not this or that philosophy, or this or that set of rules, but Christ Himself is our Wisdom, our Life, our Hope of Glory. Being a Christian, essentially, is loving Him and living in Him; a Person, a Glorious, Divine Person, through whom the universe was created, and in whom is entire sufficiency for man's redemption and eternal perfection. -- Halley's Bible Handbook
Colossians 1:28
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
3- To present everyone perfect in Christ by proclaiming him, admonishing and teaching with all wisdom!
Preaching and teaching is the avenue through which every man is presented perfect in Christ, and even how husbands present their wives perfect before Christ (Eph 5:25-27)!
Colossians 1:29
To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
4- To struggle and work to this end with all His energy
The energy comes from God. It could be said this energy is a fruit of the Spirit itself.