Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 6

Mystery

There is something about a mystery that intrigues us.  It has fueled worldwide exploration, sold millions of tickets at the box office and sadly driven many into bottomless pits of despair looking for spiritual rest.  Such is the backdrop in the Colossian Church.  A group of unregenerate snake-oil salesman are attempting to pawn off a system of spiritualism that is attained by mystical experiences.  And as luck would have it, they were the only ones who knew the ceremonies that needed to be observed in order to reach the next level of enlightenment.  A convenient system for the powerful elite that keeps its subjects continually under thumb looking for their next ecstatic experience.  It is upon this stage that the Apostle Paul presents one of the great unsolved dramas “that has been kept hidden from ages and generations”, Col 1:26.  Let’s read our text.

“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. ” (Colossians 1:24–29, NIV)

Paul will continue his focus upon the Church, first spoken of in vs.18.  The word Church has become synonymous with many things today.  Some good, some bad.  But for the purposes of this study, let’s use Paul’s metaphor of a body to derive our purpose as a church.  Christ is our head and we as his body carry out His wishes.

It’s hard to diminish how important this letter would’ve been to the besieged believers at Colossae.  We really have no perspective on what it meant to be a member of a church body in the first century.  In a culture that thrived upon its caste system, a NT Church was literally a three ringed circus.  Men and women, rich and poor, priest and prostitute all gathered together in this strange new collection of people committed to following the teachings of a dead rabbi from Galilee.  As you would imagine, this group of people quickly became the social pariahs of their day.  Contrast that with the relative ease in which we live as a church today.  In fact I’m not entirely sure what the believers in Colossae even understood about their gathering.  What I mean to say is, just how much did they understand about what a church was?  We live this side of a completed canon and a multitude of books on the topic.  They had to be overjoyed to learn that this crowd of people that had assembled was not merely an accidental get-together based on common interests, but a sovereignly ordained and called out people collected to manifest one of the great unrevealed mysteries of the Old Testament.  There’s was not a congregation of chance.  To that end, let’s look at Paul’s news to them and try to imagine what it must’ve meant to them.  And in so doing, more fully grasp what it should mean to us.

1. Suffering for The Church – vs.24
2. Stewardship of The Church – vs.25
3. Mystery of The Church –vv.26-27
4. Preaching to The Church – vs.28a
5. Perfecting of The Church – vv.28b
6. Empowerment of The Church – vs.29

Suffering for The Church – vs.24

Before us lies what many consider to be one of the more difficult verses in our NT to properly interpret.  While the language on its face may cause us to furrow our brow, when you consider its context and Paul’s other epistles, the meaning becomes plain.

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. ” (Colossians 1:24, NAS)

I’ll call this the part of the Good News that we don’t like.  I initially went the direction of contrasting our distaste for suffering as opposed to the early Church’s, but then I read this verse.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; ” (1 Peter 4:12, NAS)

So these dispersed believers were apparently no more excited about the prospect than most of us are today.  So what’s with being happy for getting beaten up?  I’ve known people, who it seems, made it their mission to behave in such a way that conflict followed them wherever they went.  And I mean conflict for conflict’s sake.  Not “contending for the Gospel” as Jude said, but being contentious for the Gospel.  We ought not to be known for being hard to get along with.  Light will reprove darkness sure enough, without us trying to find extra ways to tick people off.  This is not the kind of suffering Paul is writing about.  The sufferings Paul writes about came upon him as a by-product of being God’s spokesmen to the Gentiles.  Forgive me for quoting Vance Havner, but its been said that a new Christian once asked him if he ought to get rid of all his old friends now, to which Mr Havner replied, “don’t worry about that, if you live like a Christian they’ll get rid of you soon enough”.  In fact, Paul wrote as much to Timothy, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ” (2 Timothy 3:12, NIV).

That being said, why does Paul seem to enjoy suffering?  Suffering is not enjoyable.  Paul was not a masochist.  The rejoicing is all about the purpose that if fulfills.  If I were to say to you that I’ve planned a weekend of fun where I have arranged for you to go to WakeMed and

1. Complete a medical history form and receive a full physical
2. Have a series of laboratory and X-ray tests, as well as an EKG
3. A CT scan will also be completed
4. You will also meet with a surgeon and complete a psychosocial evaluation with a clinical social worker
5. After having completed these tests over the course of weeks you will then be wheeled into an operating room and put asleep while a surgeon slices you open and removes one of your organs.
6. Three weeks later you might be ready to return to work

Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun does it?  But what if that suffering gives life to your dying child?  Pure joy!  The pain has purpose that is indescribably more worthy than that of the suffering.  So Paul says my pain has brought me great pleasure.  I sit in a Roman prison because of my preaching of the Gospel of Christ.  That same Gospel that was heard by Epaphras and others in Ephesus and has given birth to the Church that I now have the pleasure of writing to.  Does my pain have a worthy purpose?  You bet it does.  And while that worth is indeed found in the individual members of that Colossian church, it is most supremely found in whom those people are a representation of, Christ’s body.  “for the sake of his body, which is the church”.  Paul’s secret to not only suffering well but suffering joyously is Christ.  He expressed it this way in Philipians 1:29, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him”.  If Christ likeness is the object of our sanctification and coming glorification, which it is.  Then what greater means may we be fashioned into His image than by that which so typified His earthly life.

Missionaries in training with Gospel for Asia have spoken of the “privilege” they felt in suffering for Christ after being attacked on their Bible college campus in Mumbai, India, earlier in the month.  Seven students were seriously injured in the attack by suspected anti-Christian extremists on May 9.  They were preparing the evening meal when attackers armed with wooden sticks, iron rods and fluorescent light tubes stormed onto the campus, beating them and vandalizing the buildings.  The students tried to speak to the assailants and find out why they were attacking them but got no answer.  Hemanti Kashyap was injured when the attackers hit him in the stomach with an iron rod. He said the incident had given him the chance to live out the difficult lessons he had learned in Bible college.  “Through this situation I learned what the Bible means when it says, “Blessed are those who suffer for Christ,” he said. “This opposition was the test of my faith to march forward and to share the Gospel. They hit my stomach with an iron rod and I was injured, but I am grateful to the Lord Jesus who kept me safe to be a witness for Him.”  Sunil Pattanayap recalls the moment the attack began: “For a moment I was shocked about why this was happening to me. Then I understood that the time had come for me to glorify His name,” he said.  “It was my privilege to suffer for Christ and I am happy today because I can testify that God protected me and brought me safe from death to proclaim His Word and stand as a living testimony for Christ with a strong faith.

So as we approach the “difficult” part of this verse, I hope you’ve already begun to figure it out.  “what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ” has absolutely nothing to do with His atoning work.  The letter to the Hebrews makes that abundantly clear.

“For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation of the true sanctuary – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. ” (Hebrews 9:24–26, NET)

No more sacrifices are necessary or more importantly, accepted on behalf of sin.  What is lacking in Christ’s sufferings is not payment but presentation.  God in His great wisdom has seen fit that we as the bride of Christ serve as an ever-present reminder of the

• hideous nature of sin
• God’s impending wrath against it
• And His glorious victory over it by the death of His Son

Paul’s sufferings are designed to demonstrate the suffering saviour and the all sufficient nature of His salvation.

Stewardship of The Church – vs.25

Not only did God sovereignly ordain the Church, but He also placed the care of its creation and early growth into the hands of men of His own choosing.  Thus Paul identifies himself as such a man

“I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship from God – given to me for you – in order to complete the word of God”

Paul calls himself a servant or diakonos of the church, which is were we derive our word for deacon from.  And this service derives from the fact that God has given him a great responsibility.  The English word stewardship is actually a compound word in Greek made up of oikos (“house”) and nemō (“manage”).  It means to manage a household as a caretaker of someone else’s property.  It should be understood that while there is an implicit function of authority in overseeing the Church, the steward’s primary purpose is to serve.  And unlike many who have sought this position through Church history, Paul understood his role correctly.  “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:16, NAS)

So again the Colossian church is reminded that God cares for them not only to sovereignly ordain their existence but to also place men in positions to care for and watch over them.  Paul says as much, “given to me for you”.  His service to Christ’s body is for their benefit.  Such are all the gifts of the spirit.  Our spiritual gifts are not intended for our own edification. They are given to help us minister to others in the body.  Paul’s gift in this regard was that of preaching the Word of God and seeing to it that the Church was guided rightly.

Mystery of The Church –vv.26-27

So now as the lights darken and organ music begins to eerily play in the background we come to the mystery theater portion of our text.   What surprises does Paul have up his sleeve for us?  Are we in store for a first century Hitchcock thriller?  It’s hardly that kind of mystery but the truth that will be revealed in this portion of text is more shocking than that of any Hitchcock thriller.  We need to remember that one of the backdrops that this revelation appears before is the heresy being taught by some in the Colossian church that a “fullness” of knowledge was possible only through their mystical experiences.

Although I was making a little fun with the Hitchcock thing, there had been a very real unknown aspect to just how God’s redemptive act was to play out.  Consider these portions of scripture for a moment.

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. ” (1 Peter 1:10–12, NIV)

After telling the parable of the soils Jesus said to His disciples,
“Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ” (Matthew 13:11, NAS)

““But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. ” (Matthew 13:16–17, NAS)

So what we have here, according to the previous verse, is “the word of God in its fullness”.  Let’s look at it.

“the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ” (Colossians 1:26–27, NIV)

If there has ever been anything written that should completely destroy my false notions of the Church and to stand in wonder of God’s wisdom, this is it.  From the days of Babel, when the differing nations were born out of abject sin and rebellion, God has had in His mind to call out people from every tongue to make up a new, eternal and holy nation called the Church.  All of the barriers of language and cultural animosities that we have spent so many years constructing would be destroyed by God.  As it is often said, there is no better commentary on scripture than scripture, Paul explains it in Ephesians.  And in fact, it is so plain that it hardly requires explanation.

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. ” (Ephesians 2:11–3:12, NIV)

Preaching to The Church – vs.28a

In the light of this glorious hope Paul busts out in response.

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom” (Colossians 1:28a, NIV)

This is God’s eternally chosen Church.  He would not allow them to be led astray by the Colossian charlatans.  To that end, God set Paul as a steward over this body to both warn and correct error (admonish) and also give forth correctly instruct (teaching) to all His church.  And this done with the totality of wisdom.  This will become evident later in the epistle when Paul writes,

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. ” (Colossians 2:8–10, NIV)

Perfecting of The Church – vv.28b

The results of this work are both stunning and sure.

“so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ” (Colossians 1:28b, NIV)

I say stunning because look at where the Colossians, and us for that matter, have come from.

• “rescued from the dominion of darkness” 1:13
• “alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” 1:21
• “dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature” 2:13

How is that they and we are able to overcome our vileness and wickedness to presented as perfect and mature in Christ?

It is in its sureness that we find our answer.  Paul wrote the Ephesians, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. ” (Ephesians 1:4, NIV).  Our current sanctification and future glorification are assured by an eternal and sovereign decree of God.  Genuine children of God will know both change in their life now and in the future.  This was also the desire of, “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” (Colossians 4:12, NAS)  The Colossian heretics believed perfection was only for the elite, and only attainable by secret societies.

But don’t miss that the means that He chose to employ to accomplish that decree was the admonishing and teaching of the Word of God by imperfect human vessels.  And it was not easy work.

Empowerment of The Church – vs.29

“To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. ” (Colossians 1:29, NIV)

The work that was involved in Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel was intense.  The word he chose to describe it was ἀγωνίζομαι, which you can probably hear a recognizable English word in there.  Agonize.  Paul has not chosen the easy life, nor has Epaphras or anyone else who has committed himself to authentic Gospel ministry.  Though he feels the agony of the labor, it is borrowed ability that accomplishes the work.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. ” (1 Corinthians 15:10, NAS)

“and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might ” (Ephesians 1:19, NAS)

“of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. ” (Ephesians 3:7, NAS)

I immediately thought of a race car as I was trying to place this spiritual empowering into an analogy.  The driver who steps out of the race car after a 600 mile race is exhausted.  Whenever I have to drive for a few hours at a time I am tired when I’m done, it’s worse the longer the distance and more congested the highway.  Imagine driving from here to Orlando in the middle of July with not only no a/c, but with the heat on full blast.  Add to that, cars on both bumpers and doors all the way down there.  You’d be worn out when you got there.  But it was really the car that was the agency that accomplished the work.  I know it’s a poor analogy, as any are when we attempt to relate to the Divine.  The fact of the matter is that God has seen fit in His wisdom to use unworthy men to act as his means to carry out his foreordained will of perfecting his Church body.

For instance, we may so quickly pursue “what the Bible means to me,” greatly emphasizing “to me,” that we completely ignore the distance between ourselves and the text, and compromise the Bible’s historical specificity and thus the nature of God’s graciously given verbal revelation. Worse, the morbid person given to endless introspection will glumly focus on all the passages that establish human guilt; the triumphalistic extrovert will fasten on everything that shouts of victory; the self-seeking hedonist will find passages that speak of life and joy. It is far better for all Christians to read every part of the Scripture, think it through on its own terms, discern, so far as possible, its contribution to the whole of the canon, and then ask how such truth applies to themselves, and to the church and the society of which they are a part.

Because the Bible is God’s word, it is vitally important to cultivate humility as we read, to foster a meditative prayerfulness as we reflect and study, to seek the help of the Holy Spirit as we try to understand and obey, to confess sin and pursue purity of heart and motive and relationships as we grow in understanding. Failure in these areas may produce scholars, but not mature Christians.

Above all, we must remember that we will one day give an account to the one who says,

“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”  (Isa. 66:2)

- D.A. Carson, Collected Writings on Scripture, 52, 53

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 5

It was in a church in Munich that I saw him—a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.

“It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown. ‘When we confess our sins,’ I said, ‘God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. …’

“The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.

“And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

[Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent.]

“Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: ‘A fine message, Fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!’

“And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?

“But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

“ ‘You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,’ he was saying, ‘I was a guard there.’ No, he did not remember me.

“ ‘But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein,’ again the hand came out—’will you forgive me?’

“And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

“It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

“For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’

“I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.

“And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘… Help!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’

“And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“ ‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’

“For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then”

Stories about forgiveness and reconciliation are powerful and strike a chord with us.  And think about this for a moment.  What are the stories that resound most deeply with us?  It is the reunion of a guard and prisoner. It is the story of a Steve Saint who baptizes the Auca Indian who murdered his father.  They are the stories that center upon the vilest of offenses committed against the weakest of us.  The greater the crime, the greater the reconciliation.

This is why we are drawn to these stories.  In us lives the innate understanding of the guilt we have perpetrated against the guiltless one.  We have brutally and viciously engaged in rebellious acts against our God and King.  We long for any hope that we too, “the worst of sinners”, may be reconciled.  So enters the great reconciler.

“ and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him – if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant. ”
(Colossians 1:20–23, NET)

Since completing the introductory portion of his letter, Paul turned his attention on magnifying Christ.  The unseen God revealed in the visible person of Jesus Christ.  All things, seen and unseen, good and bad were made by Him, were made for Him and are presently being sustained by Him.  And though He reigns perfectly and supremely in this world, it would seem that all is not quite right.  His creation wars against Him.  This hostility is no reflection upon His character; it’s a mirror of our own.  And He could allow us to remain at enmity with Him eternally and remain perfectly Holy and Just.  Yet He has sovereignly and graciously determined to reconcile us unto Himself.  We will look at the:

1. Summary of Reconciliation – vs.20
2. Condition Prior to Reconciliation – vs.21
3. Means of Reconciliation – vs.22a
4. Purpose of Reconciliation – vs.22b
5. Evidence of Reconciliation – vs.23

Summary of Reconciliation

“ and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

What does reconciliation mean?  The verb katallassō, from where we get our word “reconciled”, means “exchange” or “to change”.  Paul adds the little preposition “apo” to the beginning of the verb in our verse to intensify its meaning and thus reveal that we are thoroughly, completely, and totally changed.   But if we leave our understanding there, we have robbed Christ of great glory.  For how can we truly express thankfulness if we do not acknowledge who brought about the action?  Our reconciliation, both corporately as an elect people and individually is a supernatural change performed by Jesus Christ the Righteous.  Our change in position before God is not owed to our good sense and superior reasoning capacity.  It is the unspeakable gracious gift of God.

We have learned that reconciled means “to change”, but what has changed?  Paul answers by stating that we now are at peace with God.  The world we now live in is a horribly marred version of the perfection that God created.  The warring that takes place between and among weather, man and animals are simply emblematic of the ultimate warring that is taking place by man against God.  Just as things were good when He created all things, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good”  (Gen. 1:31), they will one day be again.  He will re-create a new Heaven and Earth, Revelation 21.  Animals will lose their instinctual thirst for blood, Isaiah 11:6-9.  Even fallen men and angels will be reconciled, in a sense.  They will change from being the enemies of God to the judged of God.

Condition Prior to Reconciliation

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.”  I had a political science teacher in college who once quoted a story told about the author Henry David Thoreau that recounted a deathbed conversation he is said to have had with his aunt.  She said, “Henry, have you made your peace with God?” He answered, “I didn’t know that we had ever quarreled.”

We are in such great need of change because no other of God’s creation has fallen quite so far as that of man.  We are the unique bearers of the image of the Holy One.  Yet our appearance is more a kin of Satan than that of God.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ” (Ephesians 2:1–3, NIV)

“As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”” (Romans 3:10–18, NIV)

Our condition is not serious.  Ours is hopeless.  We have declared the only one who can help us as our enemy.  We are aliens.  Paul used the same word here:

“remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ” (Ephesians 2:12, NAS)

“being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ” (Ephesians 4:18, NAS)

We had been excluded from the favor of God.  The only presence of God that we would know would be His bitter wrath at judgment.  Our punishment would be entirely just, for we have made ourselves to be the enemies of our King.  And in his righteousness all rebellion must be put down.  We make our enmity known by virtue of our wicked behaviour.  It has been well said that “we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.”  Paul maintains that the former actions of the Colossian believers bore witness to the fact that they lived in abject rebellion to God’s rule.

Means of Reconciliation

“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death”, vs20 says “the blood of His Cross”

To understand the significance and efficacy of substitutionary atonement we must look to the OT.  In fact, it is in the first verses of Genesis when the idea is introduced to us.  After the fall of Adam, God intervenes upon their helpless condition and personally sacrifices one of His one creation to cover (atone) their nakedness (Gen 3:21).  It is in vs.15 of that chapter that Christ’s death is foretold, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”

The following chapter tells us about the inadequacy of a non-blood sacrifice, when Cain’s offering of vegetation is rejected by God.  The sacrificial structure is systematized in the book of Leviticus as a means of pointing towards the true and final offering.  The first thing that is abundantly clear though, is that blood must be shed, “And according to the Law…without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. ” (Hebrews 9:22, NAS).  Be sure it is understood that in the O.T. way of thinking, “blood shedding” is equated with a sure, certain and violent death.  The second is that the innocent must perish for the guilty.  This is portrayed in the restrictions that were placed on type and condition of animal that were permitted to play this role in the sacrificial system.

The constraints and ordinances established in the Levitical system were enormous, cumbersome, complex and restrictive.  But when you consider how High and Holy God is, and how lowly, wicked, vile and depraved is man.  The idea that God condescended Himself to man’s approach at all, is an incredibly unspeakable act of His mercy.  This was all done to pave the way for this.

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–15, NIV)

Purpose of Reconciliation

And why was this done?  As an example of personal sacrifice?  No!  God’s ultimate goal in reconciliation is to present His elect holy and pure before Him.  ” to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation”. Let me make a point that is essential as it has to do with Christ’s work on our behalf.  Forgiveness does not mean Holiness.  Just because I lack guilt, doesn’t mean I possess Holiness.  And without Holiness, no man shall see God.  We need to be Holy and righteous to stand before Him.  The problem is, even without our sin, we have none.  So again enters Christ.  “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ” (Philippians 3:9, NIV).  Does anyone know what we call this theological term?  Imputation.  This is the great trade off.  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV)

Evidence of Reconciliation

For those who have known Christ for any length of time at all, one of the hardest to understand truths we have come to know is that not everyone who professes to be a Christian actually is.  At the end of our Lord’s sermon on the mount he warned that, “ ‘Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” ’ ” (Matt. 7:22–23).

There are many evidences that demonstrate genuine salvation, but none more significant than that given here.  “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. ”

Real faith never finally and completely fails.  It might stumble and fall, but it always perseveres.  The word “if” here is not ean (ἑαν), an unfulfilled, hypothetical condition used with the subjunctive mode, presenting the possibility of a future realization, but ei (εἰ) with the indicative, having here the idea of “assuming that you continue in the faith.” I like the NLT translation of this verse.  “But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.” (Colossians 1:23, NLT)

Continuance in the gospel as it was preached by Paul would show that the person was saved and thus would be presented holy, without blemish, and unchargeable before God. That is, Paul was here addressing truly born-again Colossians, not unsaved professors of Christianity who would follow the Colossian heresy.

Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (Col 1:23). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Paul wouldn’t allow there to be any confusion over exactly what they were to continue in.  They were to hold fast to the good news taught to them by the apostles.  All other messages were to be ignored.  This was a topic that Paul felt very strong about.

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! ” (Galatians 1:8, NAS)

There are many responses that these verses could generate.  Let me give you three.

1. Exultation
2. Exaltation
3. Preparation

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 4

What does it mean to enjoy supremacy?  In our country‘s system of jurisprudence it means that 9 people in black robes have the final say over what it constitutional and not.  Their decisions are absolute and unappealable.  In the realm of political rule, the closest examples are found in nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.  Here, kings rule in a system of government that we refer to as an absolute monarchy.  An unelected man serves as both head of state and head of government, thus wielding political power over the sovereign state and its subject peoples.  He is unbound by elections, a parliament or a constitution.  He is all powerful.  Then there was the trio of young girls from a Detroit housing project who went on to set the standard for all female R&B performers during their run of hits in the mid 60’s.

But here’s the thing.  Those Supreme Court judges may be impeached and removed from office.  That Saudi Arabian king can die from cancer, thus ending his reign.  And for what happened to the Supremes I’ve got three words, “No Diana Ross”.

We call and consider people and things supreme that bear no resemblance to true supremacy.  In just a few verses Paul paints a picture the Lord Jesus Christ that ought to sober the drunk and awake the sleeping.  The height, width and breadth of his power and domain are without borders.  Let’s look at His supremacy as it relates to three areas:

1. God the Father
2. Creation
3. The Church

God the Father
“He is the image of the invisible God”
I’m sure each of us can recall statements from unbelievers that go something like this.  “I can’t believe in something that I can’t see.”  Or we’ve experienced times of desperation and waning faith where we wish we could behold with our eyes what we are struggling to hold onto in our hearts.  To them and us this verse is an absolutely extraordinary statement.  The invisible God has made Himself visible!  Just consider that for a moment.  Now while you are considering that, consider this.  The eternal God who transcends not only time and space also transcends form.  What kind of watch do you think God wears?  “That’s stupid”, you say.  That it is.  Time is a divinely created human construct that was instituted by an eternal God.  But we don’t honestly believe that God is bound by it.  He condescends Himself to it so that we have some frame of reference in which to identify with His creatures.  When we look out into space and ponder our Milky Way galaxy we say this is God’s realm.  And it is.  But we don’t limit His ownership to simply this galaxy or universe.  It’s ALL His.  And when we say ALL, that again is a human construct we use in an attempt to try and understand God’s vastness.  For His domain has no domain.

Now what about form?  Does form exist outside of God?  That is to say, is the concept of form so innate and elemental that God abides by its structure?  Certainly not, form is a derivative of God.  What we understand of form is what God as its creator has given us to understand.  I say all of that because I want you to think about this.  The utter condescension and absolute humiliation of the God who created form, became visible.  The invisible God as the visible Christ.  This single statement of truth exposes nearly every false system of worship that has ever been birthed from Hell.  Jesus the teacher, Jesus the philosopher, Jesus the good person are all title that the world is comfortable with.  But Jesus the image and person of God?  No!  And how does this impact the Colossian believers?  Paul writes

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ” (Colossians 2:8–9, NIV)

So if they were tempted to be drawn into this net of deceptiveness, they should be literally slapped in their collective faces and understand that all is found in Christ.  He is fullness of God.

Christ’s relation to the created universe, both seen and unseen is no less revealing.
He is “the firstborn of all creation”
This seems like a rather odd way to describe the uncreated Son of God.  But it is used several other places:

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ” (Romans 8:29, NAS)

“And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.” ” (Hebrews 1:6, NAS)

“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 1:5a, NAS)

In fact this is the phrase that cults like the JW’s have used to deny Christ’s deity.  They argue that this word speaks of a created being.  And if they were right, then they would be right, but they aren’t , so they aren’t and He most certainly isn’t.  Got it?  Let’s look at the word prōtotokos from which we get our translation “first born” and the context in which it appears.  We all know that the word first (pro in Greek) can signify both chronology as well as priority.  The use of this term to describe King David in Ps 89:27  “I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,”.  In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

Let’s read this verse through again.  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ” This first statement is just the beginning of what is to follow in the next several verses.  What we get is a stunning sweep of the enormity of God the Son’s power, authority and superiority.  The practical consequences of Christ’s reign in every molecule of our life for every nanosecond of our existence are truly humbling.  It sets the stage for how the Colossians are going to receive and respond to what Paul will write to them in the coming chapters.  Various kinds of ideologies are competing for their attention.  Wishing to ensnare and enslave them to all manners of philosophies.  But when viewed in light of the extraordinary Jesus presented to us by Paul, it would be a gross overstatement to even call them shams.  He says that it is Christ that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” reside.

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ” Paul tells us that He has right to it because He created it!  We might not always think about that when we consider the creation account of Genesis that it is God the Son who is the creative force in the universe’s origin.  These six verses are not interested in vagaries.  Paul is stressing totalities at every turn.  Jesus does not bear a resemblance to God.  That could be said of us, though marred.  He is the expressed image of that which is not seen.  He is not one of many vying for control over creation He is the protokos or first in order among all.

Everything that has ever existed does so because the Lord Jesus Christ created them.  Absolutely nothing exists outside of His creative domain.  That goes for things in Heaven and Earth.  Seen and unseen.  Paul lists off a few examples, “thrones or powers or rulers or authorities”. The categories that Paul chooses have great significance for readers, then and now.   They refer to both holy and fallen angels, to demons and man.  It is these same “rulers and authorities” that he refers to in chapter 2.

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–15, NIV)

And again in Ephesians 6

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ” (Ephesians 6:10–12, NIV)

So you should begin to feel the weight of the consequences of this passage, if you are aware of where we are going.  Firstly, there is absolutely nothing or no one that Christ did not create.  Every king (good and bad), every angelic being (faithful and fallen).  They all are His creatures.  Secondly, and admittedly the more difficult one to grasp, they were formed and exist even now for Him.  The Apostle Paul and Joseph Stalin served the purposes and pleasure of Christ.  Michael and Satan equally fulfill His plans for His own Glory.  The peace and the war.  The birth and the death.  They all praise Him.  The knowledge of this will be very meaningful to the Colossae who are undergoing various attacks from Satan.

• “fine-sounding arguments.”       2:4
• “hollow and deceptive philosophy”         2:8
• “judge you by what you eat or drink”     2:16
• “delights in false humility and the worship of angels”      2:18
• “self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body”          2:23

Let me again read 2:8-9 but with the addition of vs 10.  And catch the added impact.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
and you have been given fullness in Christ,
who is the HEAD OVER EVERY POWER AND AUTHORITY. ” (Colossians 2:8–10, NIV)

Satan and the fallen angels are Christ’s subjects.  He is their King.  There is no heavenly power struggle.  The Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ is not locked in a cosmic arm wrestling match with the devil.  Each time a young child dies or a tsunami strikes the coast of Asia does not signify a loss of God’s grip.  The Devil and sin serve the purposes of God’s Glory.  You might ask how God governs the sinful without sinning Himself.   This is what theologians call the “mystery of iniquity”.  It is a difficult and sometimes painful subject to consider.  And often we are prone to shy away from that which is hard or doesn’t offer an easy answer, or an answer at all for that matter.  Maybe, just maybe the honest, humbled and hurting heart finds its peace in knowing that evil serves the ultimate best interest of God Himself. It is God in His goodness and in His sovereignty who has ordained the final conquest over evil and its riddance from His universe. In this redemption we find our rest and our joy — and until that time, we live in a fallen world.

The Church

Jesus Christ is the fullness of God in visible form who created and reigns over all things.  So it would stand to reason that we already know and understand that reign extends to the Church.  And so it does, but that relationship is so particular that it is singled out for our understanding.  For it is this institution that we are told Christ gave His life for – Eph 5:25.  The Church is not just any organization.  Those are such cold sounding words, institution and organization.  Listen to Paul’s fuller description

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ” (Ephesians 5:25–27, NIV)

“There is a precious and unfathomable covenant love between Christ and His Bride that moved Him to die for her.” – John Piper

When I really begin to take in Christ’s eternal abiding love for His bride, it causes me to consider what we have done to ourselves as the Church, and shutter.  If you’ll forgive the contemporary analogy it reminds me of that youtube video that shows a wedding party prancing down the aisle to some choreographed dance routine.  Let’s read Paul’s announcement.

“And he is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Colossians 1:18, NIV)

Paul give us four truth about Christ’s relation to the Church in this verse.

1. He is the Head
   There are several metaphors used in scripture to describe the church.  A family, a kingdom, a vineyard, a flock, a building, a bride.  But the one that I believe is most significant in that it has no OT equivalent is that of “a body”.

   “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. ” (1 Corinthians 12:12–20, ESV)

   Far from riding “along the sides of the lofty hills which rise above Tarry Town” (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow), the Colossian Church has a head.  And that head is Christ.  They and we work  and rest in the knowledge that He who loved the Church to the point of death also guides and directs her.

2. He is the beginning
   The archē or source of the Church.  As the head of the body He holds the highest rank in the Church.  We would do well to remember that.
3. He is the firstborn from the dead
   Again we run into prototokos.  This time Christ’s superiority is in regards to His resurrection, of all those who have been raised from the dead, or ever will be, Christ is the highest in rank
4. Supreme
   The last portion of the verse makes plain that it is because of His death and resurrection that He is the supreme head of the Church.

Jesus Christ, being the expressed image of God, reigns supreme over the visible world, the invisible world and the Church.  “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ” (Colossians 1:19, NIV) Paul in giving his summation tells the Colossians that fulness is not found in the false teachings and philosophies of the world.  The fulness of God is found in Christ.  And how shall we respond?  The Puritan John Owen wrote it this way,

The revelation made of Christ in the blessed gospel is far more excellent, more glorious, more filled with rays of divine wisdom and goodness than the whole creation, and the just comprehension of it, if attainable, can contain or afford. Without this knowledge, the mind of man, however priding itself in other inventions and discoveries, is wrapped up in darkness and confusion.

This therefore deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them. For if our future blessedness shall consist in living where He is, and beholding of His glory, what better preparation can there be for it than a constant previous contemplation of that glory as revealed in the gospel, that by a view of it we may be gradually transformed into the same glory? (John Owen, The Glory of Christ [reprint, Chicago: Moody, 1949], pp. 25–26)

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 3

The story is told about a small town in the south. For many years, this town had been “dry” in that no alcohol was ever sold or served there. But one day a businessman in the area decided to build a tavern. In response to this new tavern, a group of Christians from a local church became concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. Shortly after the prayer meeting that night, lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

In the aftermath of the fire, the owner of the tavern sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible for his loss. But the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. After his initial review of the case the presiding judge began the trial with an official statement. He said: “No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear: the tavern owner believes in prayer, and the Christians do not.”

As we begin this third of our studies in Paul’s letter to the believers at Colossae I feel compelled to confess to you how woefully unqualified I feel to be teaching this week’s study on prayer.  You see, as we begin to deal with Paul’s prayer for the Colossian church, it’s not just something we read, groan a sound of assent and commend him for.  It’s illustrative for us.  It’s when the descriptive becomes the prescriptive.  This is where I have had to do some heavy personal evaluation and criticism.  Stick with me for a moment because you might be able to identify with me.

There was a time when I was sure of my powerful role to wield if not entirely control the hands of God by my actions and prayers.  If there was a lost person, I possessed the subtilty of speech and sleight of hand to “get him saved”.  If someone was spiritually immature, I knew the regimen of enforceable activities in order to get the desired outcome.  Only those things that seemed truly out of my reach were items for prayer:  A hurricane in the Caribbean that needed diverting, Bill Clinton’s salvation or maybe getting 3,000 people to Friend Day.  But even in what would’ve appeared to be an act of dependence upon God, my prayers still possessed quite a bit of self reliance.  I truly believed that God’s hands were tied without me.

God began to slowly but surely correct my understanding a few years ago.  A sort of Copernican Revolution took place in my thinking.  No longer was man the center of the universe, God was.  If that lost person was saved, it was because God, apart from any and all human means saved him.  If the immature grew in knowledge and faith, it was because of the superintending counsel of God the Holy Spirit.  The small, impudent God that I had constructed in my own image had made Himself known to me.  The ramifications of this were huge.  One of them I immediately began to consider was the role of my petitionary prayers.  How should I and for what things should I be making requests to God for, considering the fact that He is going to always sovereignly accomplish all that He intends to do.  Or to put it more succinctly, “what’s the point”?  If God is sovereign, why pray?

For a moment, consider these passages from Isaiah.

Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure”; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
Isaiah 46:9-11

Here we have an example of God declaring his intentions from eternity past and the accomplishment of them by His own power.  In other words, God providentially brings about in time and history what He has sovereignly ordained in eternity past.  Paul said it this way, God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:11).  Sure seems like we aren’t really needed in that whole transaction.  And that is right, we aren’t needed, per se.  But does that mean that we have no part?

We could very well spend weeks on this topic, but it’s really not necessary.  We can be convinced of God’s intention for us by two infallible proofs.

• He has commanded us to
• He has ordained us to

Jesus instructed his disciples to “Pray, then, in this way” (Matt 6:9).  The 18^th chapter of Luke’s gospel opens with a parable that Luke tells us was told for the expressed purpose of inciting vigilant prayer in the lives of the disciples.  Upon arriving at Gethsemane, Jesus told His men that they might escape temptation if they were to pray (Luke 22:40).  At the end of this very letter we are studying, Paul will exhort the readers in 4:2 to “Devote yourselves to prayer”.  The examples are too numerous to mention but you undoubtedly get the point and have no trouble bowing your mind to that truth.  But what about your heart, your desire to pray.  Sure I get it, I’ve been commanded to, and therefore I will submit myself to God’s command.  But I’m still left with the heart of my question, why.  You see, my query has nothing to do with obedience, i.e.

“Don’t put your head in the oven son, but I want to know why”.  I both know and trust that God’s commands are good.  My “why” question has to do with effect.  Are my prayers effectual?  Do they bring anything to pass that wouldn’t already happen without me?  Let me make plain my intentions here.  I under no circumstances believe that God is under any obligation to answer my ‘why’ questions.  I do not want to find myself in the unenviable position that Job found himself in.

Then the LORD said to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.”  Then Job answered the LORD and said, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?  I lay my hand on my mouth.
Job 40:1-4

We understand plainly that God commanded it, now I want to look at the 2^nd.  God ordained it. Or said another way, God has ordained prayer as a means by which He accomplishes His eternal purposes.  Consider this for a moment.  Scripture teaches us that God has determined the ends of all things from eternity past and yet you are instructed to pray in order that those ends be brought about.  If you’ve never meditated on that, you need to.  Is it a seemingly contradictory statement?  Sure it is.  No more so that Jesus saying in Matt 16:18 that “I will build my Church” and then turning around in chpt 28:19 and commanded us to “make disciples of all nations”.  But I thought you said you were going to build your Church, we might say to Christ.  The scripture answers us as if to say, I am by means of your disciple making.  The same paradigms can be presented for the justifying and sanctifying works of salvation.

God’s plan is so comprehensive that it not only includes the final destinies of things but also includes the secondary, creaturely processes that work together to accomplish these ends. For instance, God does not simply ordain light to shine on the earth each day; He also employs the sun, the moon, the stars, and countless other things to accomplish that end. God does not merely determine that someone will recover from a disease; He uses doctors and medicine to accomplish the healing. As the playwright of history, God did not simply write an ending for the book of time. He wrote every word on every page so that all events lead to the grand finale (Richard Pratt, Pray With Your Eyes Open, 109-10).

I promised you Biblical examples, here is one from Jeremiah.  Unfortunately this is one of those verses that we are twisting and contorting to suit our needs, but God is speaking of the future of Israel and His intentions to restore her in 29:11. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Intentions is a bad word, they are fixed plans.  God has planned their future restoration, “for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope”.  So what is going to happen in the future to precipitate this renewal?

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile” (vv. 12-14).

The prayers of His people are going to bring about this restoration.  Did their prayers thwart God’s desire to further punish them?  Of course not!  They accomplished precisely what God had pre-determined.  Let me leave this introduction with this thought.  Perhaps we are asking the question incorrectly.  Our original question “If God is sovereign, why pray?” should be replaced with the question, “If God is NOT sovereign, why pray?”

So as we turn our attention back onto Paul’s letter, let’s remember that up to this point we have gotten a look into the heart of the apostle as he pours forth praise and thanksgiving to God for all that he has accomplished and will continue to accomplish in the little town of Colossae.  The fruit of the Gospel is marvelously manifesting itself both in their lives and the world.  Their “faith, love, and hope” give resounding evidence that they have been genuinely converted and are showing forth the sanctifying fruits of the Holy Spirit’s work.

Lest we mistakenly begin to think that this epistle is but a syrupy, warm fuzzy, joy-joy letter, we’d do well to remember why Epaphras has made the 1,000 mile journey to Rome.  There is trouble at home.  False teachings are making their rounds and are threatening to undo the good work that has been done over the previous few years.  So couched in Paul’s introduction is a real heartache for those whom he can’t personally visit. He knows the dangers and struggles that they are undergoing and apart from the plain instruction that he will give later in this letter, he is left to do all that he can do.  Which is the greatest and best that he can do, and that is pray.

Let’s read our text:

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ” (Colossians 1:9–14, ESV)

These six verses express the heart of the apostle as he sits in his prison cell in Rome.  Though the Colossian church is under grave attack of various damnable heresies and he is unable to come to them personally, you will not find any desperation in his voice.   He is confident in both the preserving power of God and the effective means of prayer.  Prayer was not a mundane exercise for an apostle, but one of his two primary ministries.

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Act 6:4 NASB

We will split our text in half and form our two sections for tonight.  Verses 9-11 consist of Paul’s petition, while vv. 12-14 form his praise.

Petition

Paul’s petition is purposeful.  That is to say, he was asking God to perform what he knew the Colossian Church most needed.  I’m reminded of an interview question I was stumped on several years ago.  It goes something like, “what one thing would you do, if you knew you would not fail”?  I stumbled and sputtered searching for an answer that I thought a potential employer would like to hear, but was never settled on the thoughts that it started in me.  So as Paul answer the question of “what are the Colossians most in need of”.  The answer is revealing.  Revealing not only in what we are most likely in need of ourselves, but also in the things we most often pray for.  There were undoubtedly sick and unemployed believers in the Church but we find no mention of temporal conditions as he prays.  In fact, throughout the NT epistles there is little to no acknowledging of the items we as modern-day believers most often concern ourselves with.

In Paul’s petition we will answer three questions:

1. What prompted him to pray?
2. What did he specifically pray for?
3. What was the purpose of his praying?

What prompted him to pray?
Verse 9 opens up to us the event that brought Paul to prayer in the first place.  Namely, the report that he has received from Epaphras.  As we have learned, Epaphras travelled well near 1,000 miles to bring news and seek help for the church that has grown up in the little city of Colossae.  Their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love for the brethren have marked them out as a body of believers.  Since hearing and understanding the Gospel, their lives have been marked by spiritual growth in that they are bearing fruit in their lives.  Though Paul didn’t start this church, nor has he ever visited it, he is overjoyed with the news and has not ceased praying for them.

What did he specifically pray for?
As we will learn later on this letter, the Church at Colossae is facing some pretty heavy-duty threats.  Most, if not all, coming from within their own ranks.  With that in mind, let’s look at the specific requests that Paul makes on their behalf.  It’s actually a single request, that they be “filled with the knowledge of His will”.

The word plerothete (filled) means to be completely filled, or totally controlled.  It is used throughout the NT.  Here are but a few.  When Jesus told the disciples of His imminent departure, he observed that “sorrow has filled your heart.” — John 16:6.  After he had healed on the Sabbath the Pharisees were “filled with rage” – Luke 6:11.  And in Acts 4:31 the disciples were reported to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”.  So as Paul prays for their filling, it is the substance of that filling that is of importance to us.

“the knowledge of His will”
So what do we understand about that?  Does that mean they are no longer wondering about which job to take?  Or whether to buy that new car?  Did “the knowledge of His will” clear all those things up for them?  Is that the knowledge we are longing for?

The word Paul chose here is the compound, epignōsis.  It consists of the normal Greek word for knowledge, gnosis with the added preposition epi on the front for intensification.  So what you have is a deep, thorough knowledge.  Knowledge is a central theme in Paul’s writings.

“For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. ” (Romans 10:2, NAS)

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ” (Ephesians 1:17, NAS)

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, ” (Philippians 1:9, NAS)

“Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, ” (Titus 1:1, NAS)

The scripture does not view the intellect as the enemy of faith.  Understanding is not somehow a betrayal of dependence upon God.  In fact, Paul argues quite the opposite.  It is the increasing understanding of God that increases both the strength of our faith and our dependence upon God.  There is error on both ends of this spectrum.  There is the man who in his never ending search for information believes he has eclipsed the source and diviner of all truth.  He has become the fool.  There is also the simpleton who in his fear of believing that he will find an untruth or contradiction in the decrees of God never asks or searches.  Both betray the great gift that God has bestowed upon his creatures.  Namely, the ability to forever think upon and endlessly desire the greatest object that our minds can never fully appreciate and comprehend, God Himself.

In light of the controversy to come later in the letter, this knowledge stands in stark contrast to the mystic teachings of Gnosticism.  Knowledge is not something that is acquired to achieve enlightenment, but something God-given to those whom He has chosen to already enlighten.  It is this knowledge that directly leads the believer to “spiritual wisdom and understanding”.

Though the terms wisdom and understanding may be synonymous, sophia (wisdom) may be the broader of the two terms. It refers to the ability to collect and concisely organize principles from Scripture. Sunesis (understanding) could be a more specialized term, referring to the application of those principles to everyday life. Both sophia and Sunesis are spiritual; they deal in the nonphysical realm and have the Holy Spirit as their source.

Believing, submissive Bible study leads to the knowledge of God’s will. A mind saturated with such knowledge will also be able to comprehend general principles of godly behavior. With that wisdom will come understanding of how to apply those principles to the situations of life. That progression will inevitably result in godly character and practice.
MacArthur, J. (1996). Colossians (29). Chicago: Moody Press.

What was the purpose of his praying?
Paul was purposeful in how he prayed for people.  He knew that the knowledge of the Holy would result in certain actions in the lives of the believers in Colossae.  The knowledge of God’s will that brought about wisdom and understanding would unavoidable produce 5 things.

1. Walk Well — “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects”.
   Whether your translation reads “walk” or “live”, the word is used throughout the NT and its Hebrew equivalent in the OT to denote one’s pattern of daily conduct.  A mind controlled by knowledge, wisdom, and understanding produces a life worthy of the Lord.  Though we understand we are unworthy of Christ, Paul nevertheless commands us to live worthily.

   To the Thessalonians he wrote “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12).

   He exhorted the Ephesians to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1).

   He told the Philippians to “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27).

2. Bear Fruit – “bearing fruit in every good work”
   Fruit bearing is always the product of righteousness.  Christ said in John 15:8 “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples”.  Scripture defines fruit in numerous ways.  Hebrews 13:5 says praise is a fruit.  Paul spoke of converts being fruit in Romans 1:13.  And of course we have the attitudes given to us in Galatians 5:22-23 that we commonly refer to as the “fruit of the spirit”.
3. Growth – “increasing in the knowledge of God;”
   Another result of knowledge is more knowledge.  Or better said, growth.  So what is emphasized here is a continual process of filling our minds with God enhanced understanding of all things.  We never arrive or learn, grasp and rejoice fully on this earth.  So we continue to long for more of Christ.
4. Strength – “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might”
   We enjoy a continuing strengthening because God in His incredible wisdom and goodness has seen fit to minister to and through us by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.  It is said this way in Eph. 3:16, “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man”.
5. Perseverance – “for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously.”
   They were in the midst of difficult times and more of those awaited them.  There is no sugar-coating trials and sufferings.  The writer of Hebrews said as much in 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” It is the hard, painful, refining work the persevering faith allows us to endure that produces the joyous dependency upon God that Paul is praying for them here.

Paul is only half done with his prayer for this church.  It is very short, no wasted words or fluffy platitudes.  But consider this.  What he has asked God to do for them would prepare them temporally on this Earth and eternally in Heaven to joyously worship and walk with God.

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 2

There are 183 days until we officially need to be ready to answer the question “what are you thankful for”.  I readily admit that I don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about that question.  Now consider how replete the scripture is with instructions to give thanks to God.  A form of the word thanks or thankful appears ~150 times in the NT.  But what is most instructive is the repeated object of that thankfulness.

I happened upon the website http://thankfulfor.com as I was searching for ‘things people are thankful for’.  What follows is a sampling of items that I thought were interesting.

• catching up with family this weekend in the land of 10,000 lakes
• the attic fan. Don’t even need the A/C yet!
• I’m thankful for a fun day off with the boy yesterday Free White Sox game, ballpark nachos, Robin Hood movie date, and SOUPLANTATION/SWEET TOMATOES. WOOT
• Wisdom to continue with a right decision, as hard as it can be sometimes. Using words for encouragement. Ribbon. Flowers. Costco. America. The prospect of going to church tomorrow. I’m so thankful, God.
• Google ~ Go there today and “insert coin” to play Pac Man! Happy 30th B’day, Pac Man!
• God’s grace
• I’m thankful that my Lakers are playing so well in the Western Conference Finals
• Kids growing up and showing independence
• Dog slobber!!!
• the universe stopping me before I made a mistake.
• Thankful to live in a place where the garbage truck takes away the trash from my house. Even if it’s at 6 am
• My new iPhone that arrived today after a three month wait!
• my openness to growth and change. I’d be such a different person, and possibly a really negative person, if it wasn’t for it.

As you can see, the things for which people are thankful for run the gamut.  From the seemingly trivial, to the momentous.

Anyone who has spent any time at all in a church that engages in the practice of “testimony time” knows that even for Christians, placing our gratitude in its correct place is sometimes an elusive task.  One of the reasons why we study and meditate upon scripture is so that our minds would:

1. be made aware that God is the benefactor of all things
2. we as the beneficiaries would be overwhelmed by gratitude
3. give all thanks to whom it is due

Verse 3

Paul continues his introduction with a word of thanksgiving, “We give thanks to God”, and who should he attribute these praiseworthy gratitudes to but God Himself.  Paul rightly understood God as the giver of all things.   He also establishes what will become a integral part of his apologetic in presenting the supremacy of Christ by establishing Jesus’ kinship with the Father. “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. In introducing his piece on prayer, “praying always for you”, Paul also explains to us the situation that prompted his thanksgiving in the first place,  In fact, another way to translate this verse that might provide a bit more clarity to its structure is “In our prayers for you we always thank God”.

Verse 4

A verb that figures prominently in this first chapter is ἀκούω which means ‘to hear’.  Paul writes, “since we heard”. As is the case with English, hearing doesn’t always denote understanding.  However its appearance here is rather straightforward.  Paul now gives us the reason for his thanksgiving in vs 3.  Epaphras has traveled over 1,000 miles to bring news of the Colossian believers.  This thanks takes the form of three graces.  “Faith…Love…Hope.”  Paul likes this trio and has referred to it previously.

“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. ”
1 Corinthians 13:13, NASB95

“constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, ”
1 Thessalonians 1:3, NASB95

Let’s look at their ‘faith’ first.  “of your faith in Christ Jesus”. Please note that the faith ascribed to these brethren is not an ambiguous faith.  Not a fanciful interest in an unnamed deity, but faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.  Pistis (faith) means to be persuaded that something is true and to trust in it.  Far more than mere intellectual assent, it involves obedience.  Saving faith is carefully defined in Scripture and needs to be understood because there is a dead, non-saving faith that provides false security (James 2:14–26).

James 2:14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

Throughout the text of scripture we see as an evidence of genuine discipleship and regeneration the loving of the brethren.

The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1 John 2:9-11

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:10

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35

We must understand that true faith does not exist in a vacuum, but inevitably and persistently manifests itself in our lives.  Most notably through our love for the brethren, “and the love that you have for all the saints”. One of the effects of faith in Christ is a growing attraction and desire for Christ.  And seeing that other believers are His embodiment, however imperfect, we will be naturally drawn towards one another as if unto Christ Himself.

Verse 5

The last of our trio is that of hope.  “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven”. There isn’t much in terms of a word study that can bring much more clarity to this word than what we already understand it to mean.  “a patient waiting and a confident expectation”.  In fact it is this very expectation that our two previous nouns spring from.  The NIV translates the verse this way.

“the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven”
Colossians 1:5, NIV

And stored up for our eternal pleasure in Heaven is the gift of God Himself.

Included in this next seemingly simple statement of Paul’s is an unspoken commendation of Epaphras.  “of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel”. For Paul reminds his readers that the message of Christ he has already written and will continue to pen is the same good news that they have already heard from Epaphras.  Remember when I told you that we’d see that verb “to hear” again?  Well here it is again, maybe to emphasize the fact that although this gospel is regarded as foolish by “those that are perishing” 1 Cor 1:18.  To those whom God has given ears to hear, and eyes to see it is based on fact and grounded in evidence.  Or as Hebrews 11:1 puts it “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

The phrase “word of truth” appears at least 3 other times in the NT.

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ” (Ephesians 1:13, NASB95)

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. ” (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB95)

“In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. ” (James 1:18, NASB95)

Here we see the first appearance of the word gospel in the letter.  Probably no other word in Christendom has been so used by so many to say so little about news so great.  The gospel has become a catch-all for every activity under the sun.  From gospel magic to gospel bowling, we have sought to legitimize our endless parade of inane business by attaching the precious story of redemption to it.  Gospel literally means “good news”.  This simple definition ought to adequately drive us to a proper and fuller definition by answering two questions.  Namely,

1. What is the news?
2. Why is it good?

Answering the one fully will require us to examine the other and vice versa.  For instance, if I was to say to you that the gospel was the fact that Jesus died on the cross to save you, would you say that is the gospel?  You might say Yes and No.  Yes that is the news, at least part of it.  Then again, you might furrow your brow and say “save me from what”?  What makes this news good?  Now if I explained to you that you were under the just condemnation of a Holy Judge because of your crimes and awaited your death sentence, this saving message takes on a completely different meaning.  Paul’s letter beautifully explores the different aspects of this news.

I like how John Piper puts it in his book God is the Gospel

Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! All rebels, insurgents, dissidents, and protesters against the King! Hear the royal decree! A great day of reckoning is coming, a day of justice and vengeance. But now hear this, all inhabitants of the King’s realm! Amnesty is herewith published by the mercy of your Sovereign. A price has been paid. All debts may be forgiven. All rebellion absolved. All dishonor pardoned. None is excluded from this offer. Lay down the weapons of rebellion, kneel in submission, receive the royal amnesty as a gift of imperial love, swear fealty to your sovereign, and rise a free and happy subject of your King.

Our English word evangel comes from the greek εὐαγγέλιον.  As is common in many English words, εὐαγγέλιον can take the form of a noun or a verb(εὐαγγελίζω).

And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel(noun) and believe
Acts 15:7

Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached(verb) to you the gospel(noun), which you received, in which you stand,
I Cor 15:1

So as we go through the letter keep in mind both the simplicity and complexity of what the gospel means, the beauty of the diamond as a whole and the intricacies of the individual facets.

Verse 6

It would seem that Paul writes this piece of text for their instruction. “which has come to you, just as in all the world”. They are reminded that Jesus Christ is not another tribal deity whose influence is confined to certain geographic area.  The glorious news of the Sovereign Christ is for the entire world.  The diffusion of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire foreshadowed its spread throughout the world. It is a message of hope for all people in all cultures. The true church, the Body of Christ, is made up of people from all over the world.

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
Rev 5:9

And as we mentioned in our study last week, far from being an ineffectual message of moral compliance, the gospel is living and alive.  “also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it”. Those whose hearts have been divinely prepared and received this gospel have manifested its results in not only radical obedience but mind transformation.  This isn’t news to the Colossians, they are experiencing it!  Since the day they heard and believed the preached word, they became partakers with others throughout the world in the wondrous working of the gospel.

Hearing is sometimes insufficient.  Ashley experiences this on a regular basis.  Because of her hearing loss she often has trouble distinguishing words, particularly in a crowded room.  And its often not because of a lack of hearing the sound from the lips of a person, but in the ability to distinguish and understand the words spoken.  Such was not the case with the Colossians.  “and understood the grace of God in truth”. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this but consider the reason why those who lack understanding do so. It is not given to them.  In fulfillment of the prophecy given to Isaiah we read in Mark’s gospel,

so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”—Mark 4:12

We must always be careful to always attribute any spiritual understanding we have as given to us by a gracious God.  For without it, we would continue in darkness, despair and death.

Verse 7

And who was it that taught them the truth of the Gospel?  “just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant”. We are introduced to Epaphras the pastor.  I say pastor because from what we learn about his role and care for this body of believers, he is sure acting like one.  Paul identifies Epaphras as the man who is teaching this body and who is

“always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. ” (Colossians 4:12, NASB95)

And if I understand 4:13 correctly,

“For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.” (Colossians 4:13, NASB95)

He might’ve also been instrumental in the founding of the church’s in those two cities as well.  Paul describes him as a ‘slave’ of Christ.  It’s unfortunate that many translations choose to render the Greek word δοῦλος as a bondservant or servant, since these are completely different positions from that of a slave.  He is wholly owned by his master Jesus Christ.  He does not go to work for Him from 8-5 and return back home.  His life and breath are dependent upon his master.  And Paul regards that Epaphras has labored well.  The Colossian church heard and understood the message exactly as Epaphras told it to them and he paid him the compliment of confirming that he got the message right.  Here is why I say that.

• vs6 heard and understood the grace of God
• vs7 “just as” Epaphras taught it
• vs7 “who is faithful”

“who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf”. He is faithfully serving Christ just as Paul would want to be doing if he were able.

Paul rounds out this section by recognizing that greatest of fruits in their lives.  “and he also informed us of your love in the spirit”. Paul regards love (agape) as the first and most important fruit of God’s saving grace.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22

1 Corinthians 13

So as we bring the thought of thanks full circle, consider Paul’s testimony.  In his imprisonment he praises God for the gospel, and for the Colossians’ reception of it.  In light of that, let us consider not only that which we are grateful for, but the wonderful privilege and sobering responsibility of being His agents in proclaiming this gospel of His grace.

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.

Tempe, AZ – In an unprecedented move, a national gathering of Independent KJV-Only Fundamentalist Baptists met in Tempe, Arizona to discuss the issue of website reform. While for the past 15 years churches and leaders within the IKJVOFB movement have resisted change, the fast growth of the web and new browsers now available have led the group to decided that something had to be done. Among those decisions passed were,

• Churches would upgrade their computer systems to at least Windows 98.
• Animated GIFs should be limited to no more than 50% of a page’s image content.
• Underlined, bold and italicized text at the same time on a website should be discontinued. Churches or independent “evangelists” may continue to use any combination of the two, but not all three at the same time.
• All-caps may be used but only in reference to the KVJ-only position, “liberals,” Calvinism, or when referencing James White. When referencing “common” points of doctrine (i.e. the Trinity, virgin birth, resurrection, etc.”) all-caps may no longer be used.
• Sites must contain no more than two frames.
• Font sizes should be no larger than 78, with the exception of referring to the KJV-only position, “liberals,” Calvinism, or when referencing James White.
• Spelling on websites must be at least 85% correct.
• Sites should take no longer than 4 minutes to load.
• Pictures should be kept to under 4 MB in size.
• Background music on sites should be completely eliminated.
• Sites should be updated at least every 3 years.
• Color schemes should be used that allow the text of the site to be at least barely readable.
• Plans should be made to discontinue writing sites in basic HTML on a plain-text editors by the year 2019.