Colossians 1:9-15

Have you ever wondered why it is that Christianity is so divided? In all honesty, I myself hadn’t given it too much thought until recently. Some of the divide exists due to interpretation of scripture; tenants such as baptism, (Acts 16:33) the validity of the rapture, (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16) and spiritual gifts ( 1 Corinthians 12)  are common points of contention. These however are not deal breakers. They do not prohibit fellowship among believers. The issue arises  when, “believers,” have different interpretations of core tenants such as the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, and the resurrection.  Cultists such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses stand in contravention of the bible on these teachings and therefore stand outside the body of Christ.

In looking at the text for this lesson, the striking thing is, no matter how much things change they do remain the same. The battles we fight today within the church are no different really then those fought by the emergent church of the first century and they all center around one central question: Who is Jesus Christ?

As we discussed last week,  Paul is writing the church in Colosse to  deal with heresy as well as legalism which have become manifest within the church there. The primary heresy in colosse was the belief in Gnosticism. This teaching holds that Jesus is not the Son of God one with the Father but a lesser being subservient to the greater being. Jesus is subservient to no one. He is the son of God.

John 5:18

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

Preeminence of Christ

⁹ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

Preeminence is defined as: the fact of surpassing all others superiority. Starting here Paul sets out to show the believers  the superiority of Christ. But, before he does or says anything, he reminds then that he has prayed constantly for them regarding their understanding of the transcendence of Christ.

Paul is showing us how to share the truth with someone; through the Lord, not of ourselves. Paul took his communication with the Colossian church, as I’m sure he did all the churches to the Lord in Prayer first asking that God intervene on his behalf.  Paul is asking  that the church be given knowledge and spiritual understanding, that the questions would be cleared up before the letter was even received. Is this how we approach evangelism opportunities in our lives, is this how we approach our existence – taking everything to the Lord in prayer first? if it isn’t it should be. How is your prayer life, and in conjunction, how is your walk with the Lord?

Paul further prays that the church would walk worthy of the Lord that they would be pleasing to Him and fruitful in every good work increasing in the knowledge of God. We can’t know the will of God and therefore can’t know if what we spend time doing is pleasing to Him unless we spend time with Him through, prayer, fellowship and time in the word. A person that is rooted in the will of the Father is amazing to behold.  Look at  2 Kings.

2 Kings 19:30

And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, And bear fruit upward.

Colossians 1:12-15

¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood,^[a] the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

God has qualified us to be partakers (participants) in salvation and through salvation, he has delivered us from darkness (sin and death apart from Him) and has walked us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. The bottom line – we are redeemed to a right relationship with God the Father by the blood sacrifice of God the Son.

Scripture tells us that we are sons of Adam, born into sin. Who is Jesus Christ?

Luke 3:38

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Romans 10:9

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

You can proclaim your faith in Jesus right now just by talking to God.

Dear Jesus:

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a savior. I believe that you died and rose again on the third day to forgive me of my sins. I want to turn from the ways of the world and follow you for the rest of my life.

 If you prayed and were sincere  it then welcome to the family of God! If you’ve made a profession of faith today I would love to know about it. Feel free to email me at savediiserve@gmail.com or you can simply leave a comment on the site so I can pray for you.

I will post again from the road as my family and I are going on vacation. We will finish chapter one next week.

Until the Whole World Hears,

LD

Colossians 1:3-8New King James Version (NKJV)

Their Faith in Christ

³ We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; ⁵ because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit,^[a] as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; ⁷ as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, ⁸ who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

My pastor said something last night that will stick with me for quite a while, ” We build a bridge for two reasons, you’re  building a bridge to get to their side and, never forget this, the whole purpose of getting to their side is to bring  them back with you.”

He was speaking in terms of relating to people. Not by giving up or damaging your witness but so that you can get to them and bring them back with you. So you can bring them to the truth of salvation. As we dive into the text for this week, the thought of reaching people, of reaching the lost, the backsliden, the damaged, and the hurting in the world weighs heavily on my heart.

Paul is writing this letter to the church in Colosse to deal with some serious issues that had come up within that body of believers. It is also important to remember that Paul had never been to this church in person . This was not a church that Paul planted. Rather, this church was planted by Epaphris whom scholars agree was most likely saved during Paul’s time planting the church in Ephesus.

In versus 3-8, Paul is building a bridge to a group of believers that he has never seen. He starts in verse 3 by telling them that he and Timothy, “give thanks,” to God for them (the church in Colosse), “praying for them always.” what an amazing statement. It speaks to Paul’s heart for fellow believers, Paul’s heart for the church as a whole, and Paul’s character as a follower of Christ. Paul loved them. He gave thanks fort a group of people he had never met, further he’s spent time, “always,” in prayer on their behalf. Is there anyone else reading this that is feeling a bit convicted? Or is it just me?

I say that because I am an arguer and I am competitive; that makes for a rough combination. In short, I like to win. To many times early in my walk with the Lord (and to many more times  in the last thirteen years)  when I found myself with the opportunity to share my faith with a non believer or come alongside a believer in crisis, I’d go into debate mode. Often having my argument prepped before the other person was done speaking, I’d let them have it! Bam! Zowe! and Crack! Just like the old Batman TV fights; I win! Then there was always that moment as I was basking in the glory of victory, looking into my opponents eyes, I would say, “oh yeah, Jesus loves you and so do I.” Let’s just say that when Bob Hokstra wrote the book, Speaking the Truth in Love, My approach was in the chapter entitled,  You’re Doing it Wrong. 

Paul tells the church that he loves them and spends time praying for them and then he tells them what he knows of their fellowship. Paul has heard of the faithfulness of this congregation of believers as well as their love for the, “saints,” the church at large. I wonder if that is a statement that could comfortably be made about us and our churches today? Are our churches known for their faith in love? Or, are we simply going through the motions , simply checking church off of the list for the week?

When we have an honest walk with Jesus, our love shows because we have hope. Every time I think about hope, more specifically the hope we have in Jesus, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

 “Man can live about 40 days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.” —Unknown

It is the hope we have in Jesus that gives us our faith and our love. Christians look to the second coming of Jesus, Christians have a relationship with Him through prayer, fellowship, and the reading of His word.Christians know that when we leave this world, it is not the end but a beginning.  The hope in what is to come is what Paul is speaking of here. It is that hope that changes the way we as believers, look at death, handle funerals, and serve the world at large. Peter revels in this hope:

1 Peter 1:3

[ A Heavenly Inheritance ] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

This section comes to a close with a reminder that we are all given this hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul also recognizes the fruits that the Lord as brought forth in Colosse and gives a nod of encouragement to the pastor that planted the fellowship.

It always amazes me to hear the testimonies of lives changed by the gospel; lives changed by hope in Jesus. Through one moment of humility and acceptance we find ourselves doing things that were impossible and unconsidered previously.  From all the full-time missionaries that serve globally; to the group that is leaving my church this week to go on a short-term mission trip to Brazil; to the new believer who because of Jesus is able to put down the bottle and pick up a bible – set aside despair and discover hope! Give thanks for them all and pray for them always.

Until the Whole World Hears:

LD

*Next Week:

Verses 9-29 We will finish Chapter 1

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^[a]

Colossians 1:1-2

And so it begins. Today we start our study of an entire book of the bible; chapter by chapter and verse by verse it is my prayer that theses studies will be a blessing to you and bring you into a closer understanding and relationship with God.

Paul the apostle wrote four prison epistles all around AD 62 and all from Rome.  Paul’s letter to the Colossians is one of two letters Paul sent to churches he had never been to; the other being the letter to the Romans. The church in Colosse was planted by Epaphus  whom scholars agree was converted along with Philemon and “all which dwelt in Asia,” while Paul spent two years with the church at Ephesus.

Acts 19:10

And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

It is worthy to note here the faithfulness of God. As you look at the map above (the same one that is most likely in your bible), it not only shows the rout that Paul took  but it speaks volumes to the faithfulness, the power, and the sovereignty of God. Jesus told Ananias to go to Saul of Tarsus (Paul):

Acts 9:15

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

Paul was used by God to do all of those things. Paul was obedient to his calling and the Lord of the universe was faithful! This is a promise that all of us can hold fast to. For Paul as for us it wasn’t easy to be sure but God’s blessing was on Paul as it is on us we only need be obedient to the call of our Lord.

In the text, Paul Greets the Colossian church by giving them His credentials, ” I Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. The word apostle (apostolos in the Greek) means sent one. Paul is telling the church succinctly that he has been sent to deliver what follows. We read this today and can easily skip over it. After all, of corse Paul is an apostle all we need to do is view the width and breadth of his ministry to know that! But, as my pastor reminds us consistently Paul didn’t have the benefit of the bible as it is today. He could not simply turn to the right and discover how it ends; he was living it, every day, in the moment. So how did he know he was sent? How does he make that statement with such boldness?  Put simply, Paul had encountered Jesus and had been changed. On the road to Damascus Paul (then Saul) the persecutor of the church, the willing witness of the death of Stephen was knocked off his high horse if you will.

Acts 9:5

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

Because Paul has encountered Jesus he can not ony say with boldness that he has been sent but can confirm by whom, ” by the will of God.”

Are you living in God’s will for your life today? If you are reading this and have had an encounter with Jesus you too can speak with boldness knowing that the Lord of creation has a plan and a purpose for your life. As to what that plan is, the Lord is faithful He will reveal it through His relationship with you. As you spend time with God in prayer, study of His word, and fellowship with the saints you will know.

For those of you who might have stumbled upon this and honestly can’t say what you are still reading this, welcome to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Are you tired of living life, “on purpose,” as the world teaches? Do you want to live life, “With purpose?” God has a plan for your life and wants to share it with you.

Before you can enter into a relationship with God He must do  business with you. Put more plainly, you must do business with Him. Jesus said:

John 14:6 [Full Chapter]

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

In order to have a relationship with God you must first deal with the truth that you are a sinner in need of a savior. Jesus Christ (God in human flesh) came to this earth, forsaking His glory to die as final payment for our sins. The bible says that the wages of sin is death – Jesus paid that price – one time for all time.

Paul ends his greeting in verse 2 by addressing the saints and fellow brethren; those are fellow believers who have also come into relationship with Christ. If you would like to be addressed among the saints, simply ask Jesus to come into your life. You can do this by praying a simple prayer like this one:

Dear Jesus:

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a savior. I believe that you died and rose again on the third day to forgive me of my sins. I want to turn from the ways of the world and follow you for the rest of my life.

 If you prayed and were sincere  it then welcome to the family of God! If you’ve made a profession of faith today I would love to know about it. Feel free to email me at savediiserve@gmail.com opr you can simply leave a comment on the site so I can pray for you.

Next week we will be going through Colossians 1:3-8. Have a blessed week!

Until the Whole World Hears,

LD