TEACHING ON COLOSSIANS 1:1-14

 

This morning we are beginning our series on the book of Colossians. You should have the book of Colossians in your hands. Notice that it is only four chapters. You can do it!  You can read it! You can learn and grow by reading it!  This is our goal. We want to show you that reading these parts of the Bible are not that hard.

 

The New Testament was written in the common Greek of the time. This Greek was much like English is today….. a language used for commerce and communication about different cultures.

 

Briefly,  this is a letter to a small group of Christians in what is now Western Turkey. The New Testament introductions say that Colossae was, at the time of the writing of this letter now a very great town. The cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis,  which were near by, were more important places. Nature, maybe an earthquake, pretty much wiped Colossae off the map. Some guess that there was a Jewish community there,  and some of the early Christians here may have been Jewish.

 

Paul had never visited Colossae. He had only heard about them from his friend Epaphras. From chapter 4 verse 3,  we learn that Paul is in prison,  where, the scholars are not too sure. And since they don’t know where, the date of this letter is not certain. It was probably written sometime around the year 60,  but again, the scholars don’t really know.

 

The reason for the letter is that Paul had heard that there was some confusion over living the Christian faith and he wanted to address this.  We will get into this as we go along.

 

So, let us begin.. I am going to simply ramble through the verses and see how it goes. We may change how we do this from week to week,  but lets see how it goes this morning. Again,   our goal is simply that you read this book  and that you learn that reading some of the Bible is not all that hard.. and that, if you give it time, will help you grow in knowledge and will help you live more faithfully the Christian life.

 


Colossians 1:1-14 ( NRSV ) 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters£ in Christ in Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

 

These first two verses are a common greeting of Paul. 

 

Apostle – one who is sent with a message

Paul was an apostle “by the will of God.”  -- many of us know the story of his calling

 

Timothy was a younger man than Paul – a faithful friend and supporter of Paul. Tradition says that he became the first Bishop of Ephesus.  His father was a Greek and his mother was Jewish.

 

Saints is a common term for Christians – comes from the word holy. One could almost say: “holy ones.”   Related to our word sanctification – which means to set apart. Christians are holy first in the sense that they are set aside to God.

 

In the early church, they called each other brother and sister. They had a new family, a new bond,  a new community. This new bond is established because they are “in Christ.”

 

3In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

 

This verse begins with the Greek word “Eucharist”  -- and is translated “we give thanks”. Notice the roots of the Trinity – God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ.   Remember that Christ is a title,  which first means Messiah, or anointed one.

 

In this verse we see that prayer was an essential part of the ministry of Paul and his friends.

 

 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 

 

Here we see the reason why Paul is so thankful. He has heard of their faith and their love. Notice here, as in many other places in the New Testament, that it is faith IN Christ Jesus. Faith is not an abstract belief in doctrine or a vague God,  but it is IN Christ Jesus.

 

 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel  6that has come to you.

 

It is interesting here that Paul talks about the Christian “hope that is laid up in heaven.”  He has just talked about faith and love and now hope. In 1 Cor. 13 we read this:

 

And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. 1 Cor 13:13

 

As you read the New Testament, you will find that the hope of heaven was very important to the early Christians. Hope is necessary for all people, simply to live life, but for these early Christians, who had little support around them, the hope that what Jesus taught was true.. the hope of eternal life.. the hope of being with Jesus.. the hope of a place where there was neither sorrow or pain or crying was very important. Otherwise,  why not just give up this Christian stuff and enjoy life?

 

This hope came to these Colossians through the “word of truth.” -- The gospel.  Remember that there was no written new testament. Faith was born simply through the telling of the story of Jesus.. his life.. his death and his resurrection. This gospel is called the word of truth, and it came to them, probably first from Epaphras, and then other Christians.

 

Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.  7This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,  8and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

 

It must have been amazing to Paul to see the faith spreading throughout the world. Here we find an echo of Jesus’ teaching of the mustard seed, or of the leaven in the bread. The gospel,  the word of truth, is a seed that grows into a tree and bears fruit, and this fruit drops its seed and make more fruit.

 

In this passage,  the word of truth, which is the gospel, is expanded and called the “grace of God.”..  word of truth = gospel = grace of God.!  The Colossians were taught by Epaphras, and he is called  a “beloved fellow servant.” …. Literally,  a “fellow slave.”  And the word used for minister is the same word from which we get our word “deacon”..   Paul knew about the situation in Colossae because he heard from Epaphras what was going on.

 

9For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you

 

Since Paul had heard of their love in the Spirit,  of their faith in Christ, of their hope in heaven, and of the growth of their faith,  he is encourage to continue praying for them.  In the following we see a great example of what leaders should be want to see happen in their flock, and also of what we would hope to see occurring in our own lives. As we go through this prayer, notice how it relates to our recent series on the characteristics of the Christian.

 

and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s£ will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,  10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.  11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully  12giving thanks to the Father,

 

So Paul prays first that they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  What a great prayer. Notice the words… knowledge.. wisdom.. understanding. The Christian faith does require some effort to know.. to understand.. to discern.. In a real sense, this is what we are doing right now, and we have been doing, and will continue to do. The Christian brain is not empty, but it should be day by day filled with God’s truth. One of the ways that we get it is through reading and studying of the Bible. But notice also here, and is many other places, that it is “spiritual’ wisdom and understanding, meaning that this truth is taught by the Spirit of God.

 

This knowledge of God’s will is not just so that we can possess knowledge and think of ourselves as being smart… it is for the purpose of leading lives worthy of the Lord… for the purpose of bearing fruit,  which means doing good, and not evil in the world. This is an incredible important concept to grasp. How should we live? What should our values be?  What should be important to us as Christians?  We can only answer these questions if we grow in our knowledge of God’s will… not just ours. So much of our life is governed by the teachings and the ways of the world around us… but often God’s ways are different than our ways,  as Isaiah teaches us.   

 

Notice also in this passage the concept of “growth”,  Christians should be growing in their knowledge and understanding of their faith.

 

Next Paul prays that they might be “made strong”.. I like this image.. Christians need strength to live a faithful life. It is not always easy. But we get our strength from the one who has “glorious power’.. But  notice what we need this strength for.. so that you

 

may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully  12giving thanks to the Father,

 

We need strength to endure.. to endure life with patience  and to be joyful. When I used to think of the power of God,  it was power like lightning and thunder… but hopefully as I grow in my faith I am seeing the power of God more to help us love, forgive,  be generous,  even to suffer wrong… in other words, we see the power of God more in the cross than we do in an earthquake or the roaring seas. These early Christians were often ridiculed, mocked, and persecuted because they worshipped a Jewish carpenter. How stupid is that? So to live a simple Christian life in Colossae, or Philippi, or Rome, meant that one had to have extra spiritual strength to endure and to have joy in their life.

 

This passage ends with another encouragement about their future and with a theological statement about what God has done for them.

 

 who has enabled£ you£ to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.  13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,  14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.£

 

Again Paul refers to their future  in speaking about their inheritance. Most people would like to inherit a lot of money… but here Paul reminds them of their eternal inheritance. I always find this concept difficult to believe.. and one that most comfortable American Christians don’t think too much about. But imagine you are suffering for your faith. Imagine you are in jail for your faith… or you lost your job because of your faith… or you are hungry because of your faith…. And you are enduring this…. The hope of an eternal inheritance can give you strength to go on.

 

And while we don’t have time…. Verses 13 and 14 are loaded with Christian truth. Listen to the words… rescued…. Power of darkness… transferred… kingdom of the son… redemption… forgiveness of sins..

 

Here is the gospel in a nut shell. If we can understand these verses,  we will  understand our faith. The spiritual truth in these verses is foreshadowed in the Exodus story. The Israelites are in slavery in Egypt… they are under a power of darkness… and they are led by Moses through the red sea to freedom – to a new life and kingdom.

 

Christians,  in the spiritual realm,  are delivered from the power of darkness and have their allegiance transferred to the kingdom of Jesus. This is possible because of what Jesus has done on the cross. The word redemption is one word that tries to describe what Jesus did for us. It has the image of money buying a slaves freedom. Jesus’ paid the price for our freedom. This freedom brings us forgiveness,  which sets our souls free.

 

Well, we could go on,  but I hope this has been helpful. Next week Padre Francisco will be with us,  so we will only touch on the next section in chapter one.  But please read it carefully. It is one of the most   sublime statements about Jesus in all of the New Testament.