A People in Christ (Colossians 1:1-2)

A People in Christ

Colossians 1:1-2

June 2026 — Land O’ Lakes Bible Church

Introduction

If someone was to ask what the identity of Superman is, we would say Clark Kent. If another was to ask about Batman, we would say Bruce Wayne. Still another asking about the identity of Spider Man, we would say Peter Parker. But what if someone was to ask you about your identity? How would you answer them?

Would you say I am the son or daughter of? Or I am the brother or sister of? Your identity being rooted in your family.

Or would you respond differently? Maybe you would say I am a pastor, a plumber, an electrician, a teacher, a nurse, a doctor, a veteran. Your identity tied to your vocation, your job.

Or maybe part of your identity is where you come from. For me, I can echo Kenny Chesney’s sentiments in the song, Back Where I Come From.

Well in the town where I was raised The clock ticks and the cattle grace Time passed with amazing grace Back where I come from You could lie on a riverbank Or paint your name on a water tank

For I could say, like Kenny, this is where I come from, from the hills of Eastern Tennessee in a small town where these are just some of life in a southern small town. My heritage, my culture could be my identity.

All of these certainly make up part of who we are. But for the Christian, these are no longer the main part of our identity. For in being a Christian, we come to have a new identity as we are united to Christ by faith. An identity that begins to shape us and is the very root of our hope. A hope that our summer series through the Book of Colossians will hopefully root us in more deeply! A hope that we should hold to and rest securely in.

Please then take out your Bibles and turn with me to Colossians 1:1. Feel free to use the Table of Contents. Or, if you need or especially if you do not have a Bible of your own, please grab that Red Bible in your seats and open it up to page #1168.

The book of Colossians is an epistle, that is a letter written to the Church of Colossae by the Apostle Paul as we see in our two verses this morning. This letter is thought to have been written around the year AD 62, at the same time as Philemon while Paul was imprisoned.

The reason for this letter though is that Paul is writing to encourage and strengthen the Church of Colossae in their faith as a false teaching has risen in their midst, threatening them. And though the specifics of this false teaching are not given, we know that there is a threat to the Colossians feeling secure in Christ alone with the encouragement to add other things, including angel worship to their practices.

Therefore, to counter this false teaching, Paul takes the eyes of the Colossians and points them to the one they are to rest securely in, Christ Jesus! For he is their only hope! He is the only one they need! Therefore, this letter centers on Jesus.

One commentator has even stated,  

“Colossians is perhaps the most Christocentric letter in the NT.”[1]

For in Colossians we have this prominent theme, known as the Melodic Line running through it:

Melodic Line for Colossians: All supremacy and sufficiency are in Jesus Christ as the Head of all creation and the Church; therefore, we can rest securely in our union with him.

Therefore, the themes of the supremacy of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ are important themes that fill the letter of Colossians as we are taught to rest in him alone!

This morning then, we are going to look at the introduction of this letter, as well as a brief overview of the whole of Colossians that flows from this introduction. Let us then hear the word of the LORD from Colossians 1:1-2… (Read Colossians 1:1-2…)

Main Idea: The people of God are those who are united by faith in Christ and form a new family, with Christ as their head.

1. An Authoritative Message

2. A New Identity

3. A New Family

1. An Authoritative Message

In the very introduction of this letter, we see that this letter to the Church of Colossae was a letter commissioned by God, carrying the weight of his authority to the new people of God!

For Paul identifies himself there in Colossians 1:1as follows (Col 1:1)…

Despite what some more charismatic thinkers would like you to think, there is a very limited number of Apostles. We see why in Acts 1:15-26.

For there, the qualification is given, that those qualified to be an Apostle are those who accompanied Jesus in the days of his life on earth. One who was there from the days of the baptism of John until the day of Jesus’ ascension. This leaving there in Acts 1, only 2 choices to replace Judas. That of Justus or Mattias, with Mattias being chosen. Outside of this, the only other Apostle found in Scripture is that here of the Apostle Paul. Who, on this Damascus Road travels, saw the risen Christ there in Acts 9.

And it is these Apostles who are commissioned out by Jesus himself to establish the new people of God through the proclamation of the gospel. And it is to these, that such authority was given to speak concerning the church and her establishment.

So, it is upon this authority then, that the Apostle Paul writes to the Church of Colossae, identifying himself as an Apostle, granting him then the authority to speak these thinks.

This being important, for we see down in Colossians 1:7, Paul did not establish the Church of Colossae. Epaphras did.

It is best thought that Epaphras had been one who was in Ephesus while Paul was there preaching the gospel. And in hearing it, Epaphras came to believe, and maybe even was trained by Paul before him returning to Colossae with the gospel. And once there, Epaphras proclaimed the gospel to the people, and the gospel bore fruit and increased there where this church was born as these people assembled themselves together as one body in Christ!

But now, Epaphras having planted the church, is now back with Paul informing him of the work of God there and telling them of a dangerous teaching that is threatening the Colossian believers.

And so, as Paul writes to them, reminding them of his authority, so that they may hear his words. His words that seek to encourage them and root them deeper in the person of Christ, so that they may reach Christian maturity!

And so, these words need to be heeded as authoritative and instructive for the Christian life. Not just for the Colossians then, but also us today!

Colossians, along with the whole of the Bible is God’s authoritative word to us. Revealing God to us and what it is that he has called us to.

And so, then to come under the authority of God, we must come under the authority of the Scriptures. For it is here that we learn what it means to know God and to walk in his ways. It is here in the Scriptures we learn what it means to be in Christ and walk in the new life found in him!

The church is not the authority, nor what you have always heard and been taught. We must regularly and continue to return to the Scriptures and be shaped by them, by the authoritative word of God! That’s point #1, An Authoritative Message.

2. A New Identity

Paul’s introduction is standard according to his day. There in Colossians 1:1, he identifies the sender of the letter, him and Timothy. Then in Colossians 1:2, he identifies the recipients of the letter, the Church of Colossae.

Notice though the word choices of Paul here to describe those at the Church of Colossae. He says, (Col 1:2a)…

Saints and faithful brothers, or better yet, brothers and sisters. That is the description Paul gives to those belonging to the Church of Colossae. But notice the fullness of the phrase, saints and faithful brothers (and sisters) in Christ.

This in Christ is essential to understanding the calling of these Christians as saints and faithful. For one, it presses against the foolish notion of the Catholic Church and their understanding of sainthood. For to them, to be a saint is a special title for only a select few as chosen by the church. But that notion goes against the Scriptures.

To be a saint and found faithful is not rooted to a Christan’s life and work, but to their identity in Christ! An identity that comes by faith!

Beloved, if you have come by faith to Jesus, you too then are considered one who is a saint, a holy one of God, and faithful brother or sister in Christ! Not because you in yourselves are holy and faithful, but the one you are united to is! And it is this identity in Christ that is to strengthen us and help us rest securely in Christ because of who he is.

2.1. A New Identity rooted in the Supremacy of Christ

First, consider the supremacy of Christ. As Paul writes this letter, he fixates on Christ being the one who is supreme one who created all and is overall. This being the point of Colossians 1:15-20.

These verses are thought to have been a rich Christological hymn of old because of their exaltation of who Jesus is! For they declare that Jesus is both in the image of the invisible God there in verse 15, before declaring that in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in verse 19.

Paul wants to leave no doubt that this Jesus who we are in is one who is fully God as the Son of God! And because of this, it is then shown as one who is fully God, this Jesus is before all of creation.

Now, in saying that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, Paul is not saying that Jesus is one who was created. For that would miss the point here and go against the whole of Scripture. In saying that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation is to emphasize his preeminence before all of creation. More on that to come in the coming weeks.

But because of this preeminence in creation as creator of all, he also rules overall and holds all together. Including Jesus being the head of the body, the church. Jesus is the preeminent one, the one above all, the ruler of all. And so, none can oppose him. None can overthrow him!

This preeminence, this supremacy is why then that Jesus can come and disarm these rulers and authorities. Why he can come and settled the legal demand for our sins in it being nailed to the cross.

This Jesus then as the one who is supreme is not only then overall, but he is alone sufficient for all our needs.  

2.2. A New Identity rooted in the Sufficiency of Christ

For it is in Christ whose kingdom we have been transferred into from the domain of darkness. It is in him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Our sins had left us dead in them, but Christ has rescued us from those sins through the blood of his cross! For it is in his death that he reconciles us, as noted there in Colossians 1:21-23, to present us as holy and blameless. It is in Christ we are made alive. It is in Christ we are forgiven and the record of our debt canceled.

The sufficiency of Christ is an important theme throughout Colossians. And it is in this sufficiency of Christ that our hopes are grounded in our union with Christ rather than anything else. And this is key in Paul’s argument that there is no other need but Jesus.

For this false teaching encourages the adding on of other things for the Christian life. But Paul points us to Jesus and essentially tells us, see him for who he really is and you will have no other need!

2.3. A New Identity that is secure

Therefore, our identity is rooted to who Jesus rightly is. And because of him being the one who is supreme overall and the one who is sufficient for all our needs, we can come and rest in him and know that our salvation is secure in our union with Jesus!

For as long as we continue to hold fast to Jesus, the hope of glory is ours! The hope of our inheritance is secure! For this is the whole purpose of Paul’s letter here to these Colossians.

As the threat of false teaching presses against them, trying to persuade these Christians that there is more that they need in addition to Jesus, Paul points them to Jesus and who he is, so that these saints and faithful brothers may rest secure in him! For Jesus and Jesus alone is all that they need! He is their full assurance! He is the one that they can rest in forevermore!

Beloved, the same goes for you and I. False teaching will continue through the ages to creep into the church and try and corrupt the gospel and teach us that we need something more than Jesus!

There will be false teaching that creeps in and teaches us that we need to abstain from that which God has not forbidden to be secure. There will be false teaching that creeps in, teaching us that we need others to protect us and keep us secure lest Christianity be stamped out. Beloved, look to Jesus, the all sufficient and supreme ruler of all and to him alone for your salvation, for your security! For it is in him and him alone who we can find rest in!

But maybe you are one who is not yet in Christ. Friend, we are so glad you are here this morning and hearing the beauty of who Jesus is and what he offers all who will come to him by faith. Friend, it is our prayer here at Land O’ Lakes Bible Church that you too would come and be united by faith to Jesus. That you would confess your sin and turn from it and come to Jesus and call upon him as Lord.

If you would like to know more about this, come find me after and I would be happy to talk with you about these things. Or even better yet, grab someone near you in the pew this morning and talk with them. They can help you understand these things.

But friend, beware too the cost of rejection of these things. For if Jesus alone is sufficient, if he is supreme over all rulers and authorities, and if he alone provides security of eternal hope, there is no other hope of eternal life apart from Jesus. And if you continue in your rejection, you will remain under the legal demands of the law as you have rejected the only one who can cancel the debt of your sins. Do not take these things lightly, friend. See your need of Jesus today! See that in him the grace and peace of God are offered!

That is point #2, a new identity (in Christ).

3. A New Family

As a new people of God are formed in Christ, so is a new family. For notice there in verse 1, how Paul introduces Timothy as his fellow author of this letter, he states, our brother. Then again, in how Paul addresses those in Colossae, this group of Christians. He not only calls them saints, because they are the holy ones of God in Christ, but he also calls them faithful brothers (and sisters) in Christ.

Part of our new identity to be united to Christ by our faith is to be fellow heirs with Christ, and as we are then fellow heirs with Christ, we become this new family as we are all made to be brothers and sisters in Christ! And it is this family of believers then that becomes an essential part of our Christian lives.

For the Christian life was never meant to be lived alone. The Christian life has always been communicated to be lived together. And the book of Colossians shows why we need our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Just consider Epaphras there in Colossians 1:7. The Apostle Paul tells us that he is a beloved fellow servant. Then in Colossians 1:8, we are told that he is a faithful minister of Christ on behalf of the Colossians.

In Colossians 1:9-14, we see how not only does Paul pray with thanksgiving to God for what has taken place in the Colossians, but he also prays for them to increase, to be strengthened, to endure. He is then interceding for his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

But then he goes on in Colossians 1:24-2:5 to tell of his ministry. A ministry laboring, even in chains, to present these Colossian believers mature in Christ. That this is the end for which he toils and struggles with all his energy, strengthened by Christ himself!

He toils and struggles, so that they may reach the riches of full assurance of the security that they have in Christ! He labors to ensure that they are firm in Christ!

But not only does the Apostle Paul labor in these ways for the Colossians, so that they may be strengthened in their faith, he encourages them to do this amongst themselves.

In Colossians 3:14-17, Paul gives the church instructions regarding their local assembly, their local church. He tells them to put on love, being bound together. He tells them that they are one body. Elsewhere Paul teaches that we are one body with many members (1 Cor 12:12), where we get the language of church membership. And as this one body, the believers are to be knit together in Christ, laboring to build one another up in Christ.

A body that teaches and admonishes one another. For that is the importance of the local church, to build one another up, to strengthen, and to sustain one another. For it is by carrying out the one another’s in the local church, that help us to endure and continue on firm in the faith.

APPLY!

Conclusion

Paul’s letter to the Colossians centers our eyes on Christ as the Sufficient and Supreme Redeemer who brings about a secure salvation. Therefore, let us this summer dwell on the riches of Christ and learn to treasure him more!

Let’s pray…

[1]Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum, & Charles L. Quarles. The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown. (Nashville, TN; B&H Publishing Group, 2009) 600.