Living like the Colossians

Colossians 1:1-2 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.”

Colossians 1:1–2 (NASB95)

하나님의 뜻으로 말미암아 그리스도 예수의 사도 된 바울과 형제 디모데는

골로새에 있는 1)성도들 곧 그리스도 안에서 신실한 형제들에게 편지하노니 우리 아버지 하나님으로부터 은혜와 평강이 너희에게 있을지어다

1. INTRODUCTION

a. My title came from reading some stuff online and I came across, “Living like the Kardashians.” This motivated to title my sermon, “Living like the Colossians.” The book of Colossians is one of the passionate letters the Apostle Paul wrote regarding the supremacy of Christ and the sufficiency of His work for believers. Why is this important? Because Paul’s reminder is when we take our eyes of Him and His finished work, we become displaced and out of order within the Christian walk.

b. The book of Colossians focuses on and highlights the gratitude to Christ for the great salvation He has provided and this is the principal motivation for the Christian life. The book of Colossians stands upon the person and work of Christ and that is the greatest motivation for the Christian in their Christian life.

c. If we can’t be motivated by this central point, then it tells us that we are deceived. I’ve stressed and want to stress again as a caveat. Worshipping God and worshipping theology are two different things. You can have one without the other. When you worship God, you will have good theology. But true worship is not the worship of theology. Rather it is about the person and work of Christ. This is the central hub of Paul’s mission in writing this book.

d. Not only was it a helpful book for the Colossian Christians, but it is a central book for the life of the Christian. If we are to truly understand the greatness of salvation, it must first and start from the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my mission in going through this book. We need more of Christ and a better understanding of Him.

e. So you might ask, why are you preaching Colossians? Because this book deals with the Supremacy of Christ. We might think that this is a question for someone else because we hear this phrase the Supremacy of Christ often, but you must deal with the question, is Christ supreme in your life? Is He king over your life? We will seek to answer those questions as we go through the book of Colossians.

2. BODY

a. Live as those who are called (1:1-2a)

i. A little bit of background for the book of Colossians. The author of the book of Colossians was obviously Paul and it seems most likely that Colossians was written by Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome. The reference to Luke in Colossians 4:14 seems to indicate that Paul was in Rome when he wrote the letter. Acts 27-28 support this as this was Luke’s account of his journey with Paul. Therefore, it seems most likely that Colossians was written during Paul’s first imprisonment in the early 60s most likely between 61-63 AD.

ii. As for the city of Colossae, it was a mixed populated city with people from Phrygians, Romans and the Jewish diaspora. Colossae was a city within the region of Phrygia and the city’s greatness was due to its location. It was in the Lycus valley (Modern day Turkey) on the main east-west road from Ephesus to the east. The Lycus valley also provided plenty of food for grazing sheep and the wool which supported a large clothing industry. But by the time of Paul, Colossae became less popular.

iii. Colossae was also near Laodicea and Hierapolis which later caused Colossae to become less popular by the time of Paul. The Romans made Laodicea the capital of 25 towns and changed the road system which caused Laodicea to be in the junction between four other roads and the east west highway. The final demise of Colossae came in 60-61 AD when a mighty earthquake destroyed Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea.

iv. The last background bit we have to understand about the letter is the theology of the letter. Much of the letter is dealing with what we refer to the Colossian Heresy. The Colossian heresy was a mix of syncretism between Jewish Mysticism and Christianity We notice that Paul combats this syncretistic theology in Colossians 1:9-2:23. Right after his introduction, he moves right away to deal with this heresy. We might think this is Paul writing to a specific people. What does it have to do with us?

v. Unlike Galatians, however, Paul’s rhetoric is relatively measured; Paul does seem to be combating one particular set of teachings in this letter. Those misleading the Colossian believers are accused of promoting teachings that are “according to human tradition” instead of “according to Christ” (2:8). I don’t want to reveal too much but this is why Colossians has such a huge Christocentric approach. Paul’s argument is that all things must be subordinate to Christ.

vi. When you read what Paul is preaching against, we can see the same features even in our culture. So many religions in the world tell us that all religion is the same. But Paul reminds us through Colossians that the person and work of Christ is the only truth with substance. Although our pluralistic society attempts to convince us that there are alternative ways of salvation, Paul reminds us that salvation comes through Christ and Christ alone. We will deal more with the Colossian heresy when we get to that section.

vii. So moving onto the text, Paul starts this letter with a common introduction that he uses in most of his letters. Paul writes that He is Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. This introduction is the same except in 4 books, Philippians, 1&2 Thessalonians and Philemon. We might not see the significance of this introduction but this phrase, an apostle of Jesus Christ is critically important. Why? The word apostolos has a range of meaning in Paul’s letters, sometimes designating simply a “messenger” (e.g., Phil. 2:25; 2 Cor. 8:23) and at other times an “accredited missionary” (e.g., 1 Cor. 9:5–6; 15:7; Gal. 2:9; Acts 14:4, 14). But in his letter openings, Paul clearly intends the word to have its full “official” sense, complete sense: a person called by Christ himself to represent Christ and proclaim Christ and thereby serve as the “foundation” of the new people of God (Eph. 2:20).

viii. You see Paul was the one who was sent by Jesus Christ to minister and teach the people at Colossae. This is why Paul follows this phrase by writing, by the will of God. As Acts 9 so vividly reveals, Paul’s apostleship was not a matter of choice on his part but on God’s part: it was by the will of God.

ix. What’s significant about this phrase is that there’s no mention of Epaphras in this introduction. Paul mentions him in 1:7 because we know that Epaphras was the one who planted the church and the other churches in the surrounding regions. We also know in Colossians 4:12 that he is their pastor and the one who prays on their behalf.

x. But we see clearly that this phrase was designated for Paul only. In verse 1, we see mention of Timothy as well but is not given the title of apostle. He does refer to Timothy our brother because all Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ.

xi. Through this family network that Paul introduces, we see that all believers in Christ, therefore, are called by the will of God. Paul tells us that he was appointed and called to the ministry to be an apostle for Jesus Christ. That calling to the ministry was not just some title or office. Rather, it has a purpose.

b. Live as those who are faithful (1:2b)

i. Verse 2 tells us what that purpose is. Paul writes in verse 2, to the saints and faithful brethren. The word “saints” marks them out as God’s holy people, chosen and set apart by him for himself. It can refer to holy ones, but it seems to be saying that these holy ones are faithful and in Christ.

ii. But why is this phrase important? Because it tells us that believers are not dependent on themselves.

iii. This seems to be a problem that many Christians today fail to understand correctly. But Paul makes it clearly here. We know that not all Christians are the same. We know that not all Christians live holy lives. But the point of Paul’s statement here by calling them saints is to help us understand that our position in Christ is not based upon how we live but rather God’s calling. You see, we think that we need to do something or do what God wants us to do to be called His children. But to be God’s child means to trust in Him, to know the person and work of Christ and put your full confidence in Him.

iv. When we think about the life of Paul, it wasn’t what he did that caused him to be a believer. It was God’s calling in his life. It was what God did in his life that caused him to be a believer. This is the same thing in our lives. Some of our lives might look no different than the unbeliever. When Satan accuses us and tells us that we are not Christians based upon our lives, the only thing that we can do is admit he is right. But at the same time, we must say that our salvation is not based upon our lives, but in Him and His finished work. This is what will bring about the change in our lives. It isn’t about how well we are doing, but trusting in what He has done.

v. But what’s important here is that Paul doesn’t end with calling them just saints. Rather, he adds that they are faithful brethren. This is the key in understanding what Paul is saying. Although they are not perfect by any means, they are found faithful. They are continuing to grow in sanctification. They are continuing to be more like Christ. They have a relationship with Christ.

vi. This faithful relationship, Paul sums up by saying you are in Christ. Paul is referring to their position, as those who are in Christ, as in their spiritual location. They have been brought into union with Christ. Paul elaborates to define this union with Christ. What does it mean that they are faithful brethren? This is why they are considered faithful. They are full of faith because they are trusting in Christ for their salvation, and there is an appropriate response. Not only are they fully trusting in Him, they are responding in faith. Paul is telling us that by definition, faithfulness is not just trusting in Christ, but responding also to Him in faith. Paul reminds us that faithfulness is in response to God’s faithfulness. Because God is faithful in His promises, we respond to His faithfulness by being faithful.

vii. Paul concludes this section by explaining to us the benefits of being in Christ. What is the benefit of being in Christ Paul? Grace and peace. Paul writes grace to you. Paul tells his readers that their ultimate position in Christ rests in His grace. It is because of God’s grace, His unmerited favor upon you is the reason you stand in Him. It is not our doing. It is not our goodness. The only thing we can offer Christ is our sin. Yet, He is the one who offers forgiveness.

viii. But not only that, Paul tells us we have peace. Peace is difficult for us to understand. But one thing that Paul tells us for certain is that peace comes from God. Many people understand peace only in the negative. We think that peace is the absence of commotion or problems. But true peace, the peace that comes from God is to be calm through calamity. Peace doesn’t ensure us that difficulty will be absent. But rather, true peace is being able to persevere through calamity. This is the peace of God. The peace of God enables us to be calm in the midst of calamity. Why? Because Christ is our peace.

ix. Paul later spells out what this peace is in Colossians 1:20. He reconciled all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross. He later explains what this means in 2:14 by stating “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us; having nailed it to the cross.” We see that the peace we have in Christ is sin is no longer our master. We are at peace, we are free from this burden because of what Christ has done for us. This is the position that we have in Christ.

x. So I want to close with the question I started out with, Is Christ king in your life? Is Christ supreme in your life? May we be found faithful as the Colossians. Amen?

3. CONCLUSION