Questions

Scriptural Reflection
Colossians 1:1–14

Colossians

Colossians belongs to the corpus known as the Prison Epistles of the Apostle Paul, which includes Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon and Philippians, all of which were likely written during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome between AD. 60-62. The letter to the church in Colosse distinguishes itself in that Paul had never been to that church, and this letter was likely carried by Tychicus together with the letters to Philemon and Ephesus.

From the contents of this letter, we know that the church in Colosse was founded by Epaphras, Paul’s co-worker (1:6-7). The letter was meant to be read by the church in Laodicea as well (4:16) which together with Colosse and Hierapolis formed a “tri-city” in the region of Lycus River Valley in Asia Minor. The church in Colosse is obviously made up of mostly Gentile believers.

Like the other Prison Epistles, Colossians deals with pastoral concerns for the church and addresses the threat of false teachings. I will leave it to your own study to discover the peculiarities of the heresies faced by this church, but there is one thing which is beyond doubt: In this letter, Paul powerfully expressed the absolute supremacy of Christ to oppose such heresies.

1:1-2—The Greetings

(1) As much as the sender and recipient appear in the standard greeting, what is the importance of Paul’s emphasis on

a. Who he (Paul) is?—Consider that he is writing to a church that he has never been to and that he will be attacking the heretics in their midst.

b. Who the Colossians are?—Note this was a time of increasing persecution and pressure from a secular society.

1:3-14—Prayers and Thanksgiving for the church

(2) Faith, love and hope (vv. 3-5)—Paul has previously referred to these three as the “greater gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31; 13:13) of the Spirit to the church.

a. What is the object of their faith? (v. 4)

b. What kind of love do they have? (v. 4)

c. How is their hope related to their faith and love? Why? (v. 5)

(3) By the time of this letter (between AD. 60-62), what progress have the first disciples made in the fulfillment of the Great Commission of Acts 1:8? (1:6; see also Acts 19:10; 27)

(4) Paul was excited that the gospel was “growing throughout the whole world” (1:6). How was the spread of the gospel then compared to our present day, some 2,000 years later?

(5) How does this speak to the power of the gospel and the “hope stored up for you in heaven”?

(6) Paul's specific prayer for the church (vv. 9-11) asked God concerning:

a. What they are to have: To be filled with the (full) knowledge of His will in (or through) all spiritual wisdom and understanding (v. 9).

1. They already found faith, love and hope (v. 4,5). What if these greater gifts are given without spiritual wisdom and understanding?
2. How important is it for us to have the (full) knowledge of God’s will? (see 1:10)

b. Purpose: What they had (a) was so that they may live a life worthy and pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the(full) knowledge of God (v. 10).

1. What is meant by a life "worthy of the Lord"?
2. Why is the understanding of God’s will so important to our living a life pleasing to Him?
3. The ultimate purpose of this prayer seems to be the growth in the knowledge of God. Is this your ultimate goal? Why or why not?

c. How: Their walk (b) was through being strengthened by God’s glorious might (v. 11a).

1. Can such growth in wisdom, understanding and knowledge be achieved by our own fervent study of the Word of God? Why or why not?
2. Where does this power come from? (see Eph. 1:19ff)

d. Result: They might attain having great endurance, patience and joy (v. 11b — many follow the Greek manuscripts in assigning “joy” to v. 11)

1. Given the persecution faced by the churches at the time, how important is it that they have endurance, patience and joy?
2. How does their growth in the full knowledge of the will of God and of God Himself contribute to this result?

(7) Thanksgiving (vv. 12-14) — Paul gives thanks for our “part” or “share” in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

a. What is this inheritance? (v. 13)

b. By nature we were not fit or qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints. In whom have we been made fit and how? (v. 14)

c. We are rescued from darkness into light. Have you tasted this blessing? How thankful should you be?

(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
Colossians 1:15–23

1:15-23—The Supremacy of Christ—As Lenski rightly points out, this is not a new teaching to the Colossians, but is aimed to defeat the prevalent heresies of that time that sought to reduce Christ to less than the Creator God Himself:

(1) Who Jesus is (vv. 15-18):

a. The Son is "the image of the invisible God".

1. Read John 1:18; 14:9 and Hebrews 1:3
2. What do you understand by Christ being “the image of the invisible God”? (see Note 1 below)

b. The firstborn over or (before) all creation (“firstborn” has nothing to do with the source, but with time and rank):

1. Read John 1:1-3; Proverbs 8:22-31.
2. What can you understand about who Christ is in relation to all creation?
3. Based on 1:16, what is the scope of “all things” that have been created in Him?
4. What is meant by created “for Him”? (v. 16)
5. Christ is “before all things” (meaning He is not part of the created); and all things have been created through Him and for Him. What is His present role concerning all things? (v. 17; see Heb. 1:3 also)

c. He is the head of the body, the church (v. 18)—This sudden change of focus is most unexpected, yet it is a logical progression of His supremacy over the old creation to the new creation (as noted above, “firstborn” is best understood not from the viewpoint of “source”, but from His supremacy in “time and rank”).

1. What does it mean that the church is now His body with Him as the Head?
2. How does Christ (the “beginning”—perhaps, best translated as “before all things in time and rank"; the firstborn) bring about this new creation, the church?
3. What does being “firstborn from among the dead” imply?

(2) Cosmic reconciliation through Christ (vv. 19-20)—Christ is the Father’s agent in both the old and new creation:

a. What is meant by Christ having all the fullness of God dwell in Him? (see Eph. 1:23)

b. Apart from having reconciled us to Him through Christ, what else has Christ’s redemption reconciled to the Father?

(3) Our Reconciliation with God (vv. 21-23)

a. Who were we before this reconciliation? (v. 21)

b. Since we were enemies of God, how could we ever be reconciled to Him? (v. 22)

c. What is the purpose of this reconciliation? (v. 22)

d. What kind of threat caused by the false teaching to the Colossians is implied in v. 23?

e. How many versions can the gospel have according to Paul? (v. 23)

(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Note 1:

“The sum is this — that God in Himself, that is, in His naked majesty, is invisible, and that not to the eyes of the body merely, but also to the understandings of men, and that He is revealed to us in Christ alone, that we may behold Him as in a mirror. For in Christ He shews us His righteousness, goodness, wisdom, power, in short, His entire self. We must, therefore, beware of seeking Him elsewhere, for everything that would set itself off as a representation of God, apart from Christ, will be an idol.”
(Calvin, 149-150)