It is thought that a man named Epaphras studied under Paul while he was in Ephesians. Epaphras was from Colosse, a city 100 mile to the east of Ephesians, very near Laodicea. When Paul left Ephesus, Epaphras went back to his hometown, Colosse and started a church there. The fledgling church became the target of the enemy and found themselves in trouble.
Teachers and speakers came to Colosse with new ideas about Jesus; the latest thoughts, corrections and philosophies, blended with traditions and ideas. The speakers sounded wise, some seemed to make sense. The words were comforting in some way. Yet, most of what they taught was at odds with what Paul taught. Most of these teachings didn't fit with the gospel that Epaphrase knew and brought to this chruch.
Epaphras was concerned, yet felt inadequate to deal with these folks. There were too many new thoughts to study and learn. The fine speakers with all the commendations and degrees seemed undebatable. How could he possibly defend the pure gospel and Christ centered Christianity against these educated and refined speakers, let alone all of them. Epaphras recognized these men as false teachers. He needed help; so, he went to Paul with his concern.
Colossians 1:1-2
This is Paul's standard opening of a letter. It's letting them know who is writing, and Paul includes Timothy as being a co-author. He also lets us know to whom the letter is written and that he writes it with the authority of an apostle.
Paul said this was written to the saints and faithful brethren. The terms 'saints' is a term consistently used for believers in Jesus Christ; the faithful brethren may be a more personal and endearing term. Did Paul address this to two groups of folks or was it two terms used to describe a single group of people? We have to at least consider that the addition of 'faithful brethren' may be distinction between those that have held to biblical doctrine and the other 'saints' that were beginning to embrace some false teaching. Another explanation of these two phrases considers the 'saints' as describing their relationship to God while 'faithful brethren' described their relationship to each other.
Colossians 1:3-8
Epaphras is the common denominator between Paul and the church in Colosse. Epaphras was taught by Paul, probably in Ephesus while Paul was teaching there in the school of Tyrannus. After he had heard the gospel and was taught by Paul, he went to Colosse and started a church there. Paul considered Him to be a fellow servant in the gospel and to be someone who ministered on their behalf. The word for minister means a servant. Epaphras was a servant to the people of Colosse. And now Epaphras had declared to Paul and Timothy about these faithful followers and the love in the Spirit.
So Paul had never been to this church. Yet, Paul and Timothy remembered the saints of Colosse in their prayers and thanked God for them. There is no record of Colosse in the book of acts or any record of his missionary journeys leading him there. Paul is writing mostly to a group of people he had never met. His connection to them was through Epaphras who had told Paul about the faithful saints and the work God was doing there. This church was known for their faith and love. Paul gave God the glory for the good things happening there.
Paul starts the meat of his letter by establishing and reminding them what they know to be true. This beginning chapter includes the basic tenets of the faith. Paul is saying we know these things to be true; since they are true, he will establish they shouldn't be decieved or fooled to believing otherwise. It's because of the presence of false teaching that Paul points this out to them. The false teachers were casting doubt about their salvation and teaching another gospel. People were confused and being fooled by it.
Paul is reminding the reader of what they know to be true. Because you are saved by the grace of God, there is a hope that is laid up for you in heaven. That's a big deal. And what Paul doesn't say yet is, don't let anyone steal that hope from you. This hope came to them by the word, from the gospel message. This message had gone out to the entire world. People were being saved and laying up their hope in heaven also. Their hope was no longer in the things of the world.
And as people are saved, they are changed by God. They are sanctified and grown in righteousness. As that happened in Colosse, the Christians began to bear fruit as Christians all over the world did. As we saw in verse 4, they had a good reputation. Paul is reminding them, "Remember where you were. Remember how the gospel came and things changed. Because of that gospel, you are saved and your life is bearing fruit for the kingdom of God." It's easy to lose sight of that from time to time. Sometimes those around you need to remind you.
What is it that you put your faith in? What is the basis of your hope? Is that hope laid up in heaven, untouchable by the filth of the world? Is it secure in the Lord, unable to be polluted by false teachers? What do you believe?
Colossians 1:9-12
Sometimes we struggle in our prayers; what to pray for, who to pray for, how to pray. This is the prayer list of a man praying for a group of people that he's only heard about from an acquaintance. Paul heard about their faith, hope and love and that drove him to pray for them. Here's Paul's prayer list:
- That they might be filled with the knowledge of His will
- Walk worthy of the Lord
- Be fruitful in every good work.
- Grow in knowledge
- Be Strengthened with His might
- For paiteince and longsuffering
- Give thanks to the Father
Maybe your prayer life has been a little impotent lately. This would surely be a good prayer list for any Christian for themselves or any other. These things bring us to a deeper relationship with the Lord. And in that we are kept from deception by the false teachings that are brought before us continually.
How many times have each of us cried out to God, seeking His will because we don't know for sure what we should do and we don't want to make a mistake? Wouldn't it be amazing if God would fill us with the knowledge of His will? And if we had that, wouldn't we be able to live our life inclined toward the Lord, living a life consistent with our testimony. In doing so, our life will inherrantly bear fruit from our works. We would also grow in the knowledge of the One we walk with and the One we serve. As we grow in knowledge would we not be in His presence and in His power because we are living in His will. And with all that going for us, wouldn't we be more patient and able to endure this life and the things we deal with? In the end, could we not joyfully give thanks to God? Not just giving thanks but Paul reminds the Colossians, giving thanks to God who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
We didn't just flail about in the darkness and find God on our own and get ourselves saved so we can wander around in ignorance wondering who this God is and what He wants me to do. God qualified us. He found us, we didn't find Him. Each step of every day he is growing us and teaching us. Every day in the things that happen in our lives, he asks us in a new way, "Do you trust Me?" We answer that question by the way we live our lives. Do we live them by faith in the unseen while walking in this world? God's given us His word by which to know Him. It's our road map and book of knowledge. It's the first and most important way to know Him. From that, we are granted the knowledge of His will. We don't have to wander around in ignorance or listen to the speculations of false teachers. He saved us and set us on a path, are we taking the next step he has called us to.
Paul is reminding he Colossians what they knew to be true. The outline of the path looks like this:
He qualified us (make fit or prepare).
- Some of these teachers taught that you had to be qualified by having some knowledge or performing some work. Paul affirmed to them God qualified us and called us. We didn't do this by ourselves. We didn't stumble upon the truth of Christ, it was brought to us by the Holy Spirit. God qualified us. He gave us all the necessary information and opportunities to see and understand the gospel message.
He delivered us from power of darkness (sin & death).
- In this qualificaiton were were brought to the point of decision. He gave us the understanding to see the difference between light and darkness. Up until that time, we were swimming in a sea of sin and iniquity and as happy as pigs in slop. Then God showed us what we really were. Those in Christ made that decision to turn away (repent) from their sin and trust in Jesus.
He has conveyed us into the kingdom of Jesus
- In that time and before kings used to go out in conquests. When a king conquered another empire the people of that empire were taken back to the conquerors land. They were no longer citizens of the old land. They were now citizens of the conqueror's land. This is what the term 'convey' means. Paul is telling the Colossians and us that when you came to Christ we found redemption through His shed blood. We found forgiveness of sin. Because of that, Jesus conveyed us into His kingdom. Our citizenship is now in heaven. We no longer belong to the world. Physically we are still here but our soul is secure in Christ and He sits at the right hand of God the Father.
As Christians in this world, we always need reminded of these things and should never get tired of hearing them. They touch us, stir us and move us to fill our life with the knowledge of His will, live worthy of the Lord, growing in knowledge, strengthened with His power, persevering and moving, yet with patience, not running ahead, but waiting on the Lord. This is an active, thriving life lived with Christ at the center. All we do should speak of the preeminence of Christ. These are the timeless truths of the Almighty God that by grace becomes a part of your life when you are in Christ.
When I met my wife, almost instantly we both knew God meant for us to spend the rest of our lives together. When I see a rainbow I am moved, thinking that's my God. When my children and grandchildren were born, I was moved by these amazing gifts from an awesome God. In everything great and small we see the handiwork of a God who created it all and holds it all together. No matter what happens in the rest of my life, I know and hold these things to be true. No new teaching can change the truths established by an unchanging God. When my mind is fogged by the chaos of the world, when false teachers plant seeds in your thought process, when Satan attacks your faith, these truths become home base; these truths are the unshakable foundation that never gives. They are set on the sure and true Rock of Christ that will not be shaken.
Colossians 1:15-17
God is not visible to us. The Jew's in Paul's day firmly held to the idea that "God cannot be seen". The question then would be, "If God can't be seen, how can He be known?" Anyone would agree that it is very difficult for us to know someone we cannot see and touch and describe. Paul is saying, for us to know God all we have to do is look to Jesus Christ. To see and know God the Father and God the Spirit, we must look no further than God the Son. In John 14:9 it is recorded Jesus said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. Paul said Jesus is the image of God. He is a physical imprint of an invisible God.
Isn't it interesting that we have no real description of the physical Jesus. Yet, we know so much about Him. Jesus is the image of God but Paul isn't talking about anything physical. While Jesus is God in bodily form, He was also God before he was born of Mary. God's attributes are not physical.
This passage falls under the idea established in verse 9; that they may be filled with the knowledge of His Will and all the wisdom and spiritual understanding. The hymn starting in verse 15 probably borrows ideas from multiple places. The Jewish view of this wisdom is captured in Proverbs 8:22-31:
22 "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29 When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.[1]
Paul takes this understanding of wisdom and identifies it with Jesus Christ. God the Father, powerful, mighty and eternal, though seemingly unknowable by wisdom created. Wisdom was from the beginning, either created by God or existing by Him (or both). Paul takes this and says Jesus is the embodiment of that wisdom. It's evident by the work; eternal, mighty and powerful. His visible, tangible and knowable to us. He is supreme and sovereign; by Him we know the way to God the Father and God the Spirit.
In those days a king would wear a signet ring. That ring had an emblem or some identifying mark that said it belonged to that king. When that king pressed that signet ring into the hot wax it was as good as His signature. That wax became the image that was backed up by the full power and presence of the king who made the impression. That impression was the image of the king. That what Paul describes here. Jesus is the image of God. Jesus is God. In bodily form He possessed all the attributes and power and authority of Almighty God.
It is also implied in the language that this image is complete. It's not partial, there isn't some other side we need to discover. Jesus wasn't a manifestation of God for just that day. He wasn't some dark and shady figure in history we have to figure out or have a debate about. God didn't change in some way when Jesus came to earth. What God was in the beginning, He still is today. What God was in the Old Testament, He still is in the New Testament. Jesus is God.
Paul said, He is the firstborn over all creation. This is 'firstborn' as in 'pre-existent' but also supreme and sovereign; having the highest authority over all. He always has been and always will be. He is the highest of high.
Most scholars think that Colossians 1:15-20 came from a poem or a hymn in the early Church that described what Christians believed about Jesus. They didn't have a bible to carry with them to read. So they created these hymns and poems as reminders and statements of faith to avoid forgetting their strong foundation in the gospel. Hebrews 1 sounds very much like Colossians 1:15-20 also.
Hebrews 1
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Hebrews also addresses these faulty beliefs by speaking to the preeminence of God. Your bible says they don't know who wrote the book of Hebrews. When you compare just these passages, it sounds like Paul. But it also shows the consistent message of the Holy Spirit throughout the bible as He worked through 40 different authors to write 66 different books to make up one bible.
Colossians 1:18
Jesus Christ is supreme. Of all who will be resurrected, He is the firstborn. From His resurrection all others are possible. If His resurrection is denied, there is no resurrection. There were people in Colosse who needed to know this. There are people today who need to know this. You can't claim a resurrection without Christ.
He is the head of the church. As the head controls the functions of a body, Christ controls the functions and processes of the church. If Christ isn't at the head, then it isn't a church. Paul just continues to pound away at anything on the buffet of the world religions and spirituality that is not Christ centered.
Jesus is the first and the last. He is above all and involved in every thing. He made it all and holds it all together. He is God, He is the way, there is no other. That gives Him preeminence above all things.
Colossians 1:19-20
The Gnostics thought that divine powers and authorities were distributed to many entities over eons of time. They envisioned many divine powers and the authority and power was dealt out or distributed among them. They saw Jesus as just another of these in that time. The Gnostics used a word to describe the sum total of all power. The Greek word for this is 'plaroma'. The Gnostic would pursue the plaroma; the sum total of all power by learning about the teachings of Jesus. And they would add that to the teachings of a monk, the study of Confucius, and so on throughout time.
However, Paul uses the word plaroma to describe the central place of power and authority in Jesus Christ. In Him all the Plaroma should dwell. The word for dwell doesn't mean 'for a while' or 'for a season.' It means permanently, eternally. Jesus Christ is the sum total of all power. He also has been and always will be. Everything is complete in Jesus and there are no others. Over the eons of time, He always was and always will be complete.
By His work everything would be reconciled to Himself, on earth, in heaven. Now, don't make the mistake of thinking this is a universal reconciliation of believers. This means every debt will be paid. If a person doesn't find their salvation by trusting in Christ they will stand on their works. They will be judged by their righteousness. Everything will be reconciled and many will find the teaching and spirituality they've embraced to be a false sense of security. They will find themselves standing on their own righteousness. And on that day, when it counts, it will be seen by the righteous judge as filthy rags. The books will be balanced in the end. All sin will be paid for. If Christ hasn't paid your sin, you will pay for it. At that statement, half the world would cry, "Well, I don't believe in that." It doesn't matter what you believe if you don't believe the truth.
Colossians 1:21-22
Now remember Paul is talking to the saints here. He's saying you were once alienated from God. The word 'alienated' means owned by another. We are either under the ownership of Satan or the ownership of God. There isn't any between. We always tend to downplay this aspect about our former self. Before we came to the Lord we saw ourselves as "not that bad!" We would never consider ourselves to be under the ownership and authority of Satan. Yet we were, we lived as though we were, and now if we are reconciled through the death of Jesus there was a transfer of ownership.
By the hand of the one we once served, we would have been presented for reconciliation with all our sin and shame; filthy and embarrassed at how we hated the things of God. Satan would have thrown us before God and then accused us. However, in Christ, we have a new owner. We went from bondage and shame to being presented holy, blameless, and above reproach. We can only imagine what it will be like to be presented holy before God. I think that will be the first time we come to a full realization of our sinfulness and it will stand in contrast to the preeminence of Jesus Christ. That's when we will come to a full realization of His amazing grace. We are without blemish and free from accusation.
Colossians 1:23
We are a new creation in Christ; a new man or woman. We love God and desire to be obedient. When we are saved, we are kept in the faith by the same faith that saved us. It is a faith given by God to persevere. It is a faith to be grounded, steadfast and immovable. It's faith given to remain in Him. Then we have the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide our lives and let us know when we are running off in a ditch.
Our salvation isn't a one time transaction we took care of on some day when we recognized a problem. We are changed and given a new heart and new desires; but there is also a continuing process. Our 'working out' our salvation is living life consistent with the testimony we have. To continue in the faith isn't a work; it's a life lived in faith with out eyes on Jesus. We are anchored to the gospel; the cross and the resurrection. We don't 'outgrow' that. We don't graduate to something greater, there is nothing greater. To move away from the gospel is to turn your back on Jesus and the gospel.
1 Peter 1 says......
3 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, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
When we are soundly saved, the evidence of that is we remain established and firm, not wavering in the hope of the gospel. Our hope is laid up in heaven. The hope isn't here with me hoping I can gut it out, living a life that is good enough. We don't look to ourselves. We look to Him.
Colossians 1:24-26
Paul said he rejoices in the suffering that comes from speaking and preaching the gospel. God commissioned him to present the word. This gospel, that offers salvation, which makes up the body of Christ, is the mystery kept hidden for ages and generations. Now, it's right before us.
Colossians 1:24-26
The false teachers thought only a few could know this mystery and that it was exclusive. Paul says the mystery is revealed and it is Christ in you, the hope and glory. Jesus Christ isn't exclusive. He didn't die on the cross for a few good men and women. He made it clear, there are no good men or women. Our hearts were all deceitful and wicked. We had no righteousness of our own.
Yet, God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. These are those foundational things that speak of the preeminence of Christ. The world will woo you and tempt you to look over the buffet of goofy stuff out there. All that stuff will please the flesh and tickle your ear. But it is low and it will leave you with a hope that is in you or in the world. In Christ, our hope is laid up in heaven. And it is secure there.
A day is coming when we will be presented Holy, blameless and above reproach. Until then, we show our faith and the power of the preeminent One we follow when we continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel.
***
Paul is just getting warmed up in the letter to the Colossians and already he is destroying the beliefs of the false teachings.
- To those who taught that Christ wasn't eternal or that He wasn't God.
- Paul reminded Christians everywhere across time, what we know to be true. He is God, Holy and High and eternal.
- To those who were worshiping angels above Jesus:
- Jesus created all things both in heaven and earth; all things visible and invisible; even the thrones, dominions, principalities and powers.
- This is speaking People were putting angels and spirits in a position of power as mediators between them and God. But all these ranks of angels, both good and bad; all the thrones and dominions which are seats of power in both this world and the spirit world all answer to Jesus Christ. Every one of them answers to Him.
- To those who say we have to find our own way through life; that we have to discover the secrets to find our way back to God.
- Paul says, all things were created through Him and for Him. He made it all and He holds all things together. He is actively holding it all together, making it work together for His purpose and glory. He didn't make it and go away. He's right in the middle of everything.
- To those who worship nature and mother earth above all:
- God is in all matter only in the sense that He made it all; as in He left His fingerprints on His creation.
- God is also omniscient, present everywhere, but Hedoesn't reside in the rock or the tree so that we worship those things or offer reverence to them. His presense if visible in the creation and creativity; God's fingerprints on what He created.
- To those who taught Jesus was just another power or authority to learn from on the path seeking the fullness:
- Jesus is the fullness. He is the sum total of power and authority. It is by Him all things will be reconciled – which implies it will be by no other.
Some of these beliefs were brought to Colosse. They were around before then and they have continued on for centuries. They aren't labeled "Warning: False Teachings." They've been packaged up with the world and the flesh and they look very religious and very spiritual. When Paul speaks of the preeminence of Jesus Christ he destroys the beliefs of so many of these heretical teachings.
©2017 Doug Ford
[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Pr 8:22–31). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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