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.
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.
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?
the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
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.
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
savedtoserve.net 