Colossians: Part 1 - Ch.1

On To Colossae

As we hit the midway point throughout this month, we are now transitioning from Paul’s letter to the Philippians to his letter to the Colossians. Similar to his previous letter, Paul is encouraging the Colossians because of what he has heard about their faith. Paul says in the first few verses in Colossians 1:3-4 “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;” The first 14 verses in this book cover Paul’s prayers and thanks that he has offered for the church in Colssae, and even though it is written specifically to the Colossians, there are tidbits that we can take away from this as well. Paul then concludes this chapter by talking about how Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, which may sound like a confusing title, but it is a powerful one once we understand it. When discussing the overall purpose of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, the Bible Project hits the nail on the head when they state, “No part of human existence remains untouched by the loving, liberating rule of the risen Jesus. We are invited to live a new-creation life here and now because the new creation began arriving when Jesus rose from the dead.” As we break down this book throughout the rest of this month, and more specifically, this chapter today, let’s see what our Lord has to teach us about our savior and how we can live as the church He designed us to be. 

Thanks & Prayers

To begin, Paul starts off by expressing his thanks and prayers that he has offered up to the Colossians while he has been in prison. Paul encourages the Colossians because of the good report he has heard about them, and even gives credit to Epaphras for planting the church and explaining the gospel to them in the right way. However, even though Paul is explaining how the Colossians are functioning well as a church, we can still learn from this opening about how a church should operate, especially one that is fairly new. We can see this specifically in Colossians 1:9-10 where Paul states, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” We see here that Paul is stating how he has not stopped praying for this church since they have been planted, but he goes even further than that. Paul mentions how he is praying that the Colossians would be filled with knowledge and understanding os that they would walk in a way that is worthy of God, in order to please Him and bear the fruit that His Spirit produces.

This is exactly what we can take away from this letter and apply to every church. First off, we can all apply Paul’s example of praying for our church and other churches around us. Being the Body of Christ doesn’t just mean showing up once a week to be with fellow believers; it also means carrying their burdens and lifting them in prayer that they may be sanctified just as we are being sanctified. This process of sanctification is what will ultimately lead us to walk in a manner that is worthy of God as well. This, we can certainly claim, is the responsibility of the church. If we are living in a way that is unworthy of God, then clearly we are not representing His body correctly. Lastly, we can verify if we are praying for others and being sanctified if we are producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As a group of believers who are being sanctified, we should be becoming more and more like Christ and less and less like ourselves, which will, in turn, lead us to produce what the Spirit has put in us. All of these aspects that Paul recognizes in the church in Colossae should be aspects of our church as well. 

Firstborn of Creation

Furthermore, Paul concludes this chapter by talking about how Christ is the firstborn of all creation. Now, right away, you may be thinking that this is incorrect because Jesus wasn’t born until the New Testament. However, even though Jesus doesn’t enter the world as a man until the New Testament, this doesn’t mean He never existed until then. Remember that Jesus is God, which means He existed before the foundations of the world were ever created! Look at how Paul says this in Colossians 1:17-19 “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,” Why is this important to understand? Because Jesus isn’t just the hope for those who have died after He rose from the dead, but He is the hope of all those who have trusted in God for salvation and have died, even before He came to this earth as a man, because He was always God’s plan for redemption since the begining of time! This is a beautiful reminder from Paul that there is no one on this earth who is not in need of the gospel. On top of that, there is no one on this earth who is too old, too young, or even too lost that the gospel can’t save them. The good news of Jesus Christ dying for us and taking the punishment of our sin is available to all who will repent and believe in Him. Understanding this is what makes a church like the one in Colossae preach the Word of God correctly and powerfully. I hope and pray that as you go through this letter with us, you would strive to be a member of the church that God has designed you to be, and that you understand the power of the gospel is strong enough to reach anyone, no matter what condition they are in. May our Lord continue to sanctify us every day so that we may be the church He has ordained us to be and so that we may be made more and more like Christ. 

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Sources

[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/

[2] BibleProject. (2023, September 13). The Book of Colossians. BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-colossians/