Colossians 1:1-2

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 1

For a epistle that was written 2,000 yrs ago by a man who I share nothing in common with religiously, traditionally or occupationally, to a people on the other side of the planet with whom I have zero identification with culturally.  This is an amazingly easy to understand letter.  Ofttimes we must make exhaustive historical studies into an area’s culture in order to properly interpret and then apply a text of scripture to our contemporary time.  And while to be sure we will do our due diligence in that, the parallels between the church at Colossae and us today jump off the page at us.

In a day where ecumenism is all rage, the rallying cry from all corners is “unity at all costs”.  All are content to deal with a Jesus who is “good teacher”, a “moral person”, a “philosopher” or other such condescension.  Colossians will have none of that.  He is the:

• “head of the body”
• “the firstborn”
• “the image of God”
• “the first in all things”

Where those who understand and believe the Genesis account of origins are routinely, roundly and raucously laughed at and off academic institutions throughout our country, this epistle has a word for you.  1:6 instructs us that through Jesus Christ “all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him”.

An issue that hits very close to home for me, and us I’m sure, is the place of traditions, programs and the like in the life of the believer.  While I will admit it would be easy and somewhat satisfying to lift a few passages from this letter and construct a polemic against the practices that characterize modern fundamentalism, the truth of the matter is that we, like our brothers at Colossae are prone to set ourselves captive to various masters.  To us, Paul says

• “no one will deceive you through arguments that sound reasonable”
• “Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.“
• “Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days”

We often become confused and frustrated with the apparently anemic effects of the gospel upon those who purport to “receive” it.  Salvation appears to be little more than an intellectual assent to a religious code of conduct.  Former passions, lusts and desires continue to ravage and overwhelm its adherents.  Are we confined to a life of spiritual squalor without the hope of transformed hearts and minds?  Not by a long shot.  Paul prays that

• “fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.”
• “He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son”
• “they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”

That’s all well and good you might say, but what about my everyday living.  Home and work is where my life is lived out.  You might be surprised to learn that the recipients of this letter had families and jobs too.  How do I interact, behave and live out my faith on this horizontal plane?

• “Wives, obey your husbands”
• “husbands, love your wives”
• “Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness”
• “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity”

In this little letter there is a wealth of information that demands our meditation, prayer and action.  So let’s take a few minutes and do a little investigative work so that we’ve constructed a context upon which to properly interpret and then apply this epistle.

Author(s)

We learn in the first verse that Paul and Timothy are the authors of this epistle.  Timothy most likely operating in the capacity of Paul’s secretary (amanuensis) since the 1PS “I” is used throughout the letter.  Paul’s authorship remained unquestioned until the rise of 19^th century “higher criticism”.  After having read the objections posed, I agree with the overwhelming majority of evangelical scholars of yesterday and today that there is credible reason to doubt Pauline authorship.  If any additional convincing is needed, consider the fact that such church fathers as Eusebius, Origen, Clement, Tertullian, and Irenaeus all attested to Paul’s authorship.  We undoubtedly require no introduction to Paul, but will examine different aspects of his ministry and background as we travel through the letter

Date and Place

We do know that Paul was imprisoned during the writing from such verses as 10 “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner” and 18 “Remember my imprisonment” of chapter 4.  Along with the letters to the Philipians, Ephesians and Philemon these make up what we commonly refer to as the “prison epistles”.  There are a few opinions as to where Paul was imprisoned during the writing.  Caesarea, Ephesus and Rome are the suggested sites but there is no convincing evidence to question the traditional location of Rome.  We can follow Paul’s voyage to Rome in chapters 27 and 28 of the book of Acts.  Pointers exist in these writings to give us a sound reason to believe that he wrote roughly around 62 A.D.  4:7 and Eph 6:21 tells us that Tychicus carried these letters back to the different churches.

The City of Colossae

Colossae was located in the region of Phrygia, in the Roman province of Asia, in what is now part of modern-day Turkey.  It sits in a valley about 100 miles to the east of Ephesus.  Colossae was already a great city when the Persian king Xerxes (The Ahasuerus of the book of Esther) marched through it in 481 b.c. It was situated at the junction of the main trade routes running east from Ephesus and north to Pergamos. In Roman times, however, the road to Pergamos was rerouted through Laodicea, bypassing Colossae. That, coupled with the rise of Laodicea and Hierapolis, led to the decline in importance of Colossae. In Paul’s day it was a small city, over-shadowed by its more prosperous neighbors. Largely abandoned by the eighth century, Colossae was destroyed in the twelfth century. Archaeologists have found the remains of the acropolis, theater, and church. The site is currently unoccupied.

The Church at Colossae

Colossae was predominantly a gentile city but as we will learn in Paul’s letter, there was a significant Jewish population, possibly transported there by Antiochus the Great during the 2^nd century BC.  What is most interesting to me about this church is how it was started.  Paul makes plain in the first chapter that he has never been to this church and therefore did not start it.  Luke tells us that during Paul’s three-year stay in Ephesus on his third missionary journey, “all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord.”  So most likely Epaphras traveled from Colossae, was converted and returned to start this church.  I say it is interesting but what I really mean is exciting.  Just think, an apostle didn’t begin this work, just a dude who came to Ephesus to hear the gospel preached.  He brought the message home with him and before he knew it there was a church.  I understand that it could be foolish to take a descriptive event and make it prescriptive but I am none the less encouraged by the fact that it is the centrality of the gospel that begins and sustains a work of God.  It can’t go without mention that Colossae is over 1,000 miles from Rome, yet here stands Epaphras at Paul’s door seeking help for his struggling body of believers.  What was so urgent that it would bring a man, what would’ve been, half way across the world?  Let’s look.

THE SALUTATION

“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.”

As was common in the ancient eastern world, letters began with introductions. No name would’ve been more recognized than that of the apostle Paul.  A brilliant mind whose pedigree is given to us in Philipians 3:5-6
“circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless”. He authored half of our NT yet considered “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” as greater wealth than all he had accomplished.  Made plain in his introduction is the fact that the word he send to Colossae is God’s.  He is God’s ἀπόστολος, from which we get our transliteration apostle from.  In its simplest form we can define this title as a “messenger”, but we understand through particular uses in the NT this designation is an office that carries a distinct equipping that was imparted by God upon but a few men.  So Paul has plainly laid out that which is to follow is the Word of the Living God.

In fact Paul tells us, maybe for the purpose of defending his apostleship, that he serves in the office of apostle by sovereign the decree of God.  No other apostle faced a more unlikely road to apostleship than that of Paul’s Damascus road experience.

Though I had previously mentioned Timothy’s name in the authorship part of our study, that was not meant to suggest co-authorship.  Timothy was Paul’s traveling companion and served as his scribe.  He is also included in the introductions to 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon.  Much can be said of their relationship, but let me quote John MacArthur

Paul had a unique and special confidence in and love for Timothy. Timothy had ministered to him for many years, ever since they first met on Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 19:22). Although Paul was now a prisoner, faithful Timothy was still with him. Perhaps no passage expresses Paul’s feelings about his young friend more clearly than Philippians 2:19–22:

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.”

Paul addresses his readers as “saints and faithful brethren”.  These two terms are not to convey separate ideas but rather complimentary descriptions of a single group of believers.  Saints is translated from ἁγίοις which means separated and is where we derive our term holy from.  It is always important to remember that the descriptor saint or holy is not referring to a degree of spirituality that they have attained but to the status that God has placed them into.  For he has separated them from sin and unto Himself.  Faithful denotes the very source of the separation-genuine God-given, saving faith.

As Paul does in each of his other twelve epistiles, he greets them with the familiar refrain of “Grace to you and peace from God our Father.”  Inasmuch as God is the source of both, Paul says those two blessings derive from our great God and Father.