Supremacy in the Gospel

Date and Place of Writing

Colossians is considered one of Paul’s prison letters along with Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon.  The Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Colossians about A.D. 60–62, while he was imprisoned in Rome. Paul was awaiting his trial before Emperor Nero. One purpose of its writing was to correct the heresy that had sprung up in the Asian city of Colosse.

Colosse was in the Lycus Valley, about 100 miles east of Ephesus in Asia Minor. Its name is possibly derived from Colossus, a large statue that may have been named for the unusual shape of stony deposits there. Colosse is about 12 miles from Hierapolis and Laodicea, the other two cities of that valley (see the location of these three on the map between Acts and Romans).Several references in Colossians lead us to believe that Paul had yet to visit Colossae. Epaphras is a beloved servant who appears to be a representative sent from the church at Colossae to bring reports to Paul. 

Purpose of Writing

First, to show the Doctrine of the Declared Supremacy of Christ in the gospel, redemption, creation, the church, and ministry.

Second, to show the Danger of not defending the Supremacy of Christ, leading to Empty philosophies, religious legalism, and man-made disciples.

Third, we must show the Demonstrated Supremacy of Christ in purity, fellowship, home, work, witness, and service.

INTRODUCTION

Colossians 1:1-8

Colossians 1:1–2 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Paul begins first by addressing himself as an apostle of Christ who finds himself in the Gospel ministry of Christ by God’s will. Paul met Timothy on his second missionary journey and became his mentor. Timothy travelled with Paul and Paul called Timothy his true son in the faith.

Through Paul’s introductory testimony we are reminded that God has a plan for each of us (by the will of God). Though your position may not have an official title or status, the Lord calls each of us to serve according to his will and plan for our lives. As a follower of Christ and participant in God’s kingdom, every believer has significance and purpose because each had been called by God individually.

“Called to be an Apostle by the Will of God”

You hear some people say well, “I have always been a Christian,” “I have always known God.”

This is an untrue statement. You did not come out of the womb knowing God and His Son Jesus Christ. You were not born a Christian. You became a Christian simply because of God’s grace and mercy as He has pursued your heart and affection. Those whom he has called he has justified, and those whom he has justified and those whom he has justified he has also glorified (Romans 8:30)

The Adopted People

The letter is written to the saints and the faithful brothers in Christ. Therefore, Paul is addressing his letter to those who have been reported as having a strong faith.

Here, Paul highlights two great New Testament themes at the outset. The first is God's Fatherhood and our adoption as his Children. 

On this theme, J. I. Packer says, ‘Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers; higher than justification … adoption is higher because of the richer relationship with God it involves’. The second theme Paul highlights is the deity of Christ Jesus. Paul will repeatedly stress this in what is often called the ‘Great Christology’ of Colossians 1.

The only way anyone could ever possibly have grace and peace is if they are in Christ.

As Members of God’s family we have a great reason to be grateful. What provokes your heart to gratitude.

BIG IDEA: As Members of God’s Family, We have a Great Reason to be Grateful

Colossians 1:3–8 ESV

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Significant threats were made to the church at Colossae, and Paul will address them. However, he starts his letter by affirming the positive, good things that are taking place in the Colossian Church. 

Are you the ultimate pessimist or optimist? Do you always see the cup as half empty or half full?Is the sky always falling, or does your world consist of rainbows and unicorns? 

You will notice that most of Paul’s letters begin with the positive. Take note of church leadership. Have you ever been a part of a church where the sky is always falling and the church is in a desperate situation? I call this the chicken little syndrome: " The sky is always falling.”

Or maybe you have been in a church where everything is rainbows and unicorns; they live in denial of the threats facing the church. Paul does not do either of these two things. He acknowledges and celebrates the church's wins, but at the same time, he recognizes and warns the church against the coming threats to the gospel's mission. 

Matt Chandler in His book “The Explicit Gospel” stated:

The Explicit Gospel is both the gospel on the ground and the gospel in the air. They are complementary—two views of the same redemptive plan. To focus too long on either one, to the exclusion of the other, is dangerous to our soul and has significant implications for how we live out the Christian life.

This is what Paul is thankful for, that the church is bearing fruit here on the ground but it is all motivated by the hope of the eternal kingdom which is the gospel in the air.

Even if you go to church, it doesn't mean that you are being exposed (or exposing others) to the gospel explicitly. Sure, most people talk about Jesus, and about being good and avoiding bad, but the gospel message isn't there--at least not in its specificity and its fullness. 

Paul is thankful for the church's bearing fruit on the ground, but it is all motivated by the hope of the eternal kingdom, which is the gospel in the air. 

What is the Gospel?

Defining the Gospel

Gospel does not mean God’s news, but Good news. In the Greek the word gospel is derived from the word euangelion (eu[good] + aggello [to proclaim]). It reflects good news, joyful news, or glad tidings.

In scripture, preeminent is defined as having paramount rank, dignity, or importance, essentially being first in all things.  

Note: Paul has no reason to doubt the genuineness of the Colossians faith in the gospel of Christ. The gospel should rank supreme and paramount in every true believers life.

How do you Know Whether Someone is A true born-again believer? 

It is most evident in the Faith, Hope, and Love of God’s people. Paul thanks God for the Colossian people because of their genuine faith, hope, and love. 

Paul feels thanksgiving well up inside him when he sees the true marks of a Christian's existence: his presence in the Church. 

Marks of the Preeminence of the Gospel in the Lives of God’s people.

Note: These qualities of being a Christian are not natural.

1. True Christians Have a True Assurance in the Gospel

Note: Notice Paul says that we “always” thank God. We do not just thank God when things are going well or when everything works out as we expect it to. We thank God in all circumstances of life.

Paul is reassuring the Colossians that they have heard the true gospel, and there is evidence that this has occured. 

Many counterfeit gospels are being spewed out in the world today. Paul’s primary concern in writing this letter is that the Colossians will hold to the gospel's truth. 

Where does the gospel's truth come from? It comes from the truth of God’s word. 

The continual attack on the truth of God's Word is a recurring theme in Christianity, stemming from the beginning when Satan first questioned God's authority in the Garden of Eden. This attack manifests in various forms, including doubts, lies, and attempts to undermine the Bible's authority. It's a battle for the truth, where the enemy seeks to distort God's message and lead people astray.

*Doubt and Skepticism - doubting the authority and truth of God’s word. Doubting God’s goodness; doubting God has their best interest at heart; doubting that God can work all things out for their good and his glory; filled with constant worry and anxiety that does not show the peace that passes all understanding.

* False Teachings - Presenting alternative interpretations or Denials of biblical truth. Choose to believe the lie over the truth of God’s word.

* Cultural Influences - promoting values and ideologies that contradict scripture.

What is the Churches Relationship to the Truth?

First of all it is the means by which we come to GOD.  Jesus is the truth and His gospel was given to reconcile us to him.

2 Timothy 3:15 ESV

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Jesus even calls himself the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6.

The church should be a pillar and a buttress of truth to the world.

1 Timothy 3:15 ESV

if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

*The Reassurance of our Faith

This faith is a certain consequence (rather than a cause) of God’s work in a person’s life.

In this context, Paul is not saying that faith in Christ leads to an experience of the spirit; his purpose here is the presence of unchallenged evidence. What is the true evidence of a person's faith in the preeminent Christ? 

The true spiritual person is led to put their full faith and trust in Christ.

To say that I believe in God is not sufficient evidence to convict me of being a Christian. Satan believes in God and trembles.

Unless by ‘God’ is meant the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (e.g. verse 3). Those whose faith is in Christ Jesus acknowledge no other God.

Faith in Christ is a sign of true spiritual life.

Jesus Christ is the key to unlocking the kingdom of God to all who believe.

True faith is a gift from God centered on Christ. Faith is not something you can muster up or create on your own it is a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

The most significant difficulty people have with the assurance of their salvation today is that they are basing their born-again status on an experience or feeling and not on the truth of God’s word. Faith is based on our objective response to the spirit of God working in our lives. Do you believe what Jesus said in John 10:28-29

John 10:28–29 ESV

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Or what John writes again in 1 John 5:11-13

1 John 5:11–13 ESV

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

Faith points to the past as the starting point of the Colossians spiritual Journey.

Colossians 2:7 speaks of being “rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught.”

Hebrews 10:22 ESV

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

The True tested genuineness of our faith is tested by fire.

1 Peter 1:7 ESV

7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

*The Reassurance of our Love.

First, Paul identifies the Colossians by the love they have for all the saints (1:4) and later, “your love in the Spirit” (1:8).

Note: notice the word “all,” not just some, not only those we like and get along with, not only those who always agree with us. We are called to love all of the saints.

While faith looks back to Jesus as the source of our confident faith, Love is seen in terms of its effects on other people in the present. Faith and love are inseparable because true faith cannot be contained in the head, the heart, or the lips. Sooner or later, it reaches completion in the hands and feet, in the action of love for others. 

Love for others is the evidence of a redeemed heart.

1 John 3:14 ESV

14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

Later in the letter, Paul challenges the Colossians to, above all else, “put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (3:14). Our sincere affection for one another emanates from the undeserved love we have received in Christ. 

*The Reassurance of our Hope.

Look at the connecting word “because” which leading us to understand that love springs out of our hope that is laid up for us in heaven. Some have also seen the phrase because of the hope as modifying the overall reason for giving thanks.

However, I think the more probable meaning of the word “because” and it’s placement is to modify both our faith and love. Our love is inspired and prompted by our great hope in the eternal kingdom of God.

“Hope that is Laid up for us in Heaven”

The focus of our hope gives us an eternal perspective on this life. If our hope is in the things that this world can bring us or in other people or things, then we are hoping on temporal things. Hope is about tomorrow and fulfilling God’s promises to us in Christ. 

2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV

20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

Hope can be defined as ‘a patient waiting and a confident expectation.’ Its foundation is the truth of the gospel. Trusting in God's promises gives birth to hope. 

2. True Christians Have a Hearing and Understanding Response to the Gospel

“You have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.” This supposes a past hearing of the word truth, aka the message of the gospel.

“In the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing - as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.”

A present reality has affected the whole world and has caused the bearing and increasing of fruit since it was first heard and understood by the people. 

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

We must have ears to hear and understand the word of God. The great mystery of the gospel is that it is not fully heard or grasped by all who hear it proclaimed.

*Hearing with Understanding Comes Through the Secret Hidden Wisdom of God

We read in 1 Corinthians 2 about a secret hidden wisdom that not everyone hears or understands. The key to de-crypt the code to the secret hidden wisdom of God is the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:7–10 ESV

7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

How do you know if someone has heard and understood the secret hidden wisdom of God?

It is an absolute miracle of God when He restores the physical sight of the blind. But the greater joy comes when God opens your eyes and helps you understand spiritual truth for the first time. Your life is dramatically and forever changed.

We read repeatedly about Jesus calming the storm, the nation of Israel walking through the Red Sea on dry land, Jesus opening the blind mans eyes and causing the lamb to walk, and even Lazarus walking out of the tomb. We do and should stand amazed at all of these amazing miracles. However, the greatest miracle of all is the spiritual renewal we receive when the spiritually dead person comes to life. When the once hidden things of God are revealed to those who were once dead men and women walking.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHETHER SOMEONE HAS RECEIVED THE SECRET HIDDEN WISDOM OF GOD

1) Do they hear God speak?

If you can honestly say that you have never heard God speak to you, then you are still lost. God speaks to His children, He knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him. He calls His Sheep by name, and they follow Him. (John 10).

2). Do they come to God with a Humble and Broken Spirit?

Coming to God with a humble and broken spirit means approaching Him with a heart that is deeply aware of one’s sinfulness and God’s holiness, having a desire for forgiveness and reconciliation. It is a state of knowing one’s absolute dependence on God, surrendering to His will.

Psalm 51:16–17 ESV

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Many people miss this truth. Rather than repent, they try to "clean up their act," give more, pray more, or busy themselves in other religious activities in the hopes that God will finally "get over" being mad at them. In Psalm 51, David says that God wants none of that. External religious activity cannot replace internal, heartfelt contrition (1 Samuel 16:7).

3). Do they receive the Truth or does the Truth Repel them?

The Holy Spirit is necessary to hear and understand God’s word’s truth. God’s true church has always been where people hunger for the truth from God’s word. The Bible indicates that some individuals may be blinded or unable to perceive the truth due to their hearts' condition. This is not a punishment from God but a consequence of their own choices and the influence of a "god of this age" that keeps them from seeing the "light of the gospel." 

Romans 1:18 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

So what should we do with a person who does not receive the truth of the gospel?

2 Timothy 2:25–26 ESV

25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Notice that Paul writes that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth of God. In other words, the reason that some people believe and some do not believe is not because they have ultimate self-determination, but because God may or may not grant them to repent and believe. It is a gift of the sovereign grace of God alone. “For by grace you have been saved by faith, but this is not your own doing it is the free gift of God.”

ULTIMATELY, WHEN GOD IS REVEALED, KNEES BOW

Isaiah 45:23 ESV

23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’

One day, the hearing and understanding of the secret hidden wisdom of God will be seen and heard by all of creation. On that day, every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of the Father.

*Hearing with Understanding Leads to a Fruitful Reproducing Life

Our purpose statement at the Journey is that “we are disciples who make disciples.” The calling of every believer who has ever walked the face of this earth is that we bear fruit that doesn’t stay in our own small corner of the world. It is a fruit that grows, expands, and eventually replicates.

Remember the Movie “The Gremlins?”

A gadget salesman is looking for a special gift for his son and finds the ‘mogwai’ but sells it to him with the warning to never expose him to bright light, water, or feed him after midnight. All this happens, and the results are disastrous as it begins to multiply at an alarming rate.

Paul encourages the Colossians that the truth of the gospel was not only bearing fruit with them but that it was increasing and bearing fruit all over the world. Epaphras was fulfilling his responsibility by sharing the good news and was therefore, considered faithful. Epaphras was God’s instrument that He used to reach the Colossians with the gospel. This reminds us of his designed plan for us to carry the gospel message to the nations. As Paul charges the Romans in Romans 10:14-15

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

CONCLUSION

Here is the problem: The owner of the mogwai did everything they were not supposed to do to keep it from multiplying and expanding. All believers everywhere have the fruit of Salvation that has taken up residence in their lives, but we are not doing any of the things we know will multiply the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. 

Paul encourages the Colossians that the gospel's truth was not only bearing fruit with them but that it was increasing and bearing fruit worldwide. Epaphras fulfilled his responsibility by sharing the good news and was considered faithful. Epaphras was God’s instrument, and He used him to reach the Colossians with the gospel. This reminds us of his designed plan for us to carry the gospel message to the nations.

What are you doing today with what you have been given? Maybe you should be going about spreading the faith, love, and hope you have been given in Jesus Christ. What would it say if we were to write a report card for your life today? 

* Would it say stalled out and barely moving?

* Would it say dead in the water, not moving at all?

* Would it say moving forward and reproducing the fruit you have been given?

If you stopped being a part of the Journey Church today, would anyone miss you? Would they say they miss your great faith, hope, and love? Or, would anybody miss you because your fruit was not present and increasing in the church?

Epaphras also declared to us your love in the Spirit. Paul regards love (agape) as the first and most important fruit of God’s saving grace (1 Cor. 13; Cal. 5:22). Love is the first grace because it is the greatest and is often included in the others. 

Paul instructs us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to examine ourselves, to see whether we are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?

Where are you, Christian? As members of God’s family, you have reasons to be glad, you have a reason to be thankful, you have a reason to be going!