Intro to Colossians

Intro Stuff

Written by Paul to a church he didn’t plant but one he knows.

Written because there have been philosophies floating around and threatening to take the Colossians captive

Paul is writing to remind them that Christ is above every other philosophy and should stand alone as our hope

Paul reminds the Colossians that Jesus is the greatest person to ever live and also their only hope to live a changed life.

Christ is the ultimate person

Colossians 1:15 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Not that he is a created being, but he is the king and first in priority over everything that was made.

Colossians 1:16 ESV

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Jesus was actually the instrument of creation. The gospel of John also teaches this. The people always knew that God was creator over everything, but John and now Paul are teaching that Christ specifically was instrumental in the creation of everything.

Colossians 1:17 ESV

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

He is not just another created person, but he has existed from before everything was created in the beginning.

And not only is he eternally existing before creation, but he’s also holding it all together.

Then Paul just comes out and says it, putting all the pieces together:

Colossians 1:19 ESV

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

Everything that is in God is also in the man Jesus.

Jesus is God.

Jesus has unified us to himself

Colossians 2:13–14 ESV

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

We, a sinful people found guilty and powerless to live up to God’s standards, a people who have flatlined after suffocating ourselves in sin, have been made alive in a union with the man Jesus Christ in whom is all the fullness of God.

Though we find ourselves spiritually dead as a people and without hope, we are made alive by the strength of Jesus Christ.

We are dead to the sin that we used to practice, and alive to the righteousness that is found in Jesus IF we are in Christ.

Because being “in” Christ is a full unity with him.

Just as Christ was crucified, we are crucified with him. When he died, we died with him to sin.

But so too just as Christ was raised, we were raised with him to life.

Which has some serious implications for the way we should be living and what we should be prioritizing

We now have strength to live changed lives

Colossians 3:1–4 ESV

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

If you are in Christ, if you believe in him and trust in him, if you have been united to him in his death and life, then you need to be seeking him and his ways and not this world and its ways.

If you have died to sin and have been raised up to a righteous life, then you need to set your mind on good things and leave the former things in the past.

Colossians 3:5 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Instead,

Colossians 3:12–14 ESV

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Paul even prescribes what you should be doing in order to see this change made in your life:

Colossians 3:16 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

This type of transformation happens in the church and nowhere else. This transformation happens when we come together around the word of God and let it dwell in us. This change happens when we come together and teach each other, sing songs to God together, and do all of that with thankful hearts.

And lastly, Paul again recognizes what makes this change possible:

Colossians 3:17 ESV

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Whatever we do, whatever change is made in our lives, whatever we put on, it must be in the name and in the power of Jesus. If we do live a changed life, it will only be because Jesus has united himself to us and has resurrected us into a new life.

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