Colossians 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2To the holy and faithful[a] brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[b]
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[c] behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption,[e] the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of Christ
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For 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. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And 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. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[f] your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if 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.
Paul's Labor for the Church
24Now 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. 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27To 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.
28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Footnotes:
[a] Colossians 1:2 Or believing
[b] Colossians 1:2 Some manuscripts Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
[c] Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts your
[d] Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us
[e] Colossians 1:14 A few late manuscripts redemption through his blood
[f] Colossians 1:21 Or minds, as shown by
4 comments:
Col 1
Sooooo much in this chapter! Where to begin??? My thoughts in no particular order:
v 15-23 are so incredible. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation….
v 21This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, 22yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
Still a very hard concept for my Human side to grasp, "you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault" how can that be for me? I continue to ask myself. I think it is better to learn to accept the wonderful gift we have been given (which you may or may not feel worthy of) than to expend too much energy worrying about. What good is the gift if you never open it and use it to its full potential?
The NLT says
9So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. 10Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.
Sometimes I wonder if this is the part I keep forgetting to do “continually do good, kind things for others” and that it may hold the secret to reprogramming my selfish brain.
Father God, thank you so much for your word. Let it strengthen us and encourage us daily to do as Jesus did and serve (Mark10:45).
In Christ,
cas
Col 1
28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
One thought overwhelmed me after I read this chapter. To what end do I labor? What is not only my true goal in life, but more importantly is God in the focus? Do I labor on God's behalf? As a soon-to-be-father-for-the-second-tome, I immediately thought of a woman's labor as a visual, and wondered whether Paul's word choice was indeed perfect. He's struggling, pushing in great pain, that we may be (re)born in Christ, that we may live, and he struggles even in the face of death. Are we even laboring at all? Someone you know at some point in your life decided to go through a significant amount of suffering that you may learn and know Jesus. I know that there are times we are scared of the potential pain and discomfort of laboring for someone we know, but I'm certainly convicted by Paul here.
For what or whom do you labor?
Father, help us to step outside this comfort zone that you have allowed us, let us go forth as your children, and mature into spiritual parents. Help us to aid Paul's quest of presenting "everyone perfect in Christ" to You father, let us truly be Your instruments. We ask these things in the name of Your Son, who labored for us.
Amen
crb
This chapter is truly filled with alot. After reading it and digesting it, one thought remained in my mind. God is oh so powerful and loves us unconditional. And ask so little of us although he gave up so much for our sins.
Lord I come to you today asking for strength to fight your battle in places I normally would not.
Amen,
LT
Thanks again, Men, for the words and insights. I agree with lrt about how great God's victory in our lives is and how we tend to not fight the battles we should.
Paul's prayer in vs. 9-12: For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
is absolutely awesome. We should pray this for one another. We should be fighting alongside each other even though we are not face-to-face. Men, we need each other in this battle each day.
Another huge reminder and praise is vs. 13 that we have been "rescued from the dominion of darkness." I love the image of that and yet it is not just an image...it is the reality of life without Christ.
Lord, we praise you this day for the battles you fight for us and the victory you have won for us. Apart from you we would still be slaving away in the dark caverns yearning for the light of day and the freedom. Continue to shape our hearts to desire Your ways more than our own, to see other's struggles as areas for your power and grace to transform, to seek You each and every day.
In the Grace of Christ I pray,
Amen
er
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