Superabundant Peace

Colossae contained a mixture of Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Phrygians. With these people came differing cultures, religions, and philosophical thoughts that contradicted the Gospel Epaphras (a man discipled by Paul) taught the Christians in the city. The Bible study titled Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae teaches about the forces and people that affected the Colossian church.

In Colossians 1:1-2, Paul introduced himself to the church at Colossae by telling about his calling by Jesus. He identified himself and Timothy as connected with them through Christ and as ones who had lived in Asia Minor, the region of Colossae. The Bible study called Identification helps us understand what Paul told the Colossians in these two verses. Paul’s and Timothy’s identification with the Colossians as residents of the region and as fellow brothers in Christ was significant because other people in Colossae caused the Christians of Colossae to question their faith.

Paul almost always began his letters with a prayer for the people to whom he wrote. His prayer of thanksgiving to God for the Colossian Christians in Colossians 1:3-8 shows Paul’s thanks to God for the growth of the Christians in Colossae. In the Bible study titled Thanksgiving in Colossians, his prayer expressed the believers there continued to grow in their faith and show their love for God and the saints. Paul remarked they bore fruit and matured in their faith. He identified Epaphras as their pastor and as one who told them the Gospel truthfully. Paul identified him as a “beloved fellow bond-servant,” who was a faithful servant on his behalf.

Paul’s prayer for the Colossians in verses nine through twelve included intercession for them. The Bible study titled Glorious Might tells us Paul prayed for the Colossians daily that they would grow in Christ so they would be well-pleasing to God. He prayed for God to fill them with the knowledge of His will with spiritual wisdom and understanding so they would bear fruits of good works. Paul prayed asking God to increase their knowledge of Him, strengthen them with all power, and give them steadfastness and patience. He ended his intercession by asking God to give them joyous thanksgiving to Him who qualified them to inherit eternal life with the saints and the Son in His kingdom.

The Bible study from Colossians 1:13-14, titled Snatched and Delivered, explains who the “Father” of verse twelve is. Paul said He is the One who will give them the gifts of verses nine through twelve that Paul prayed for the Colossians. He explained the Father rescued the Colossian believers and all who trust in Jesus for salvation. The Father snatched (rescued) them from the domain of darkness in which Satan immerses people, then transferred them to His Son’s kingdom. Through His Son, each believer receives deliverance (redemption) from his/her sins.  In verses thirteen and fourteen, Paul told what the Father can and wants to do. He began his segue to verses fifteen through twenty that contains his understanding of who the beloved Son is.

In verses thirteen and fourteen, Paul told the Colossian church what God did to answer his prayer for the believers there. With this study of Colossians 1:15-20, he told the Christians how God qualified them and all Christians to share in the kingdom of Light.  The beloved Son of verse thirteen is the One who redeems in verse fourteen. The Son’s role, characteristics, and activities in the Godhead also show his relationship to all people and to believers. In verses fifteen through twenty, Paul helps us recognize God considers Christians beloved, people who receive His pure love (agape) and who share it with others because Christ redeemed them and His Spirit lives in them. Colossians 1:15-20 is about Who Christ is.

Relationship to God

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15 [NASB])

As we read verse fifteen, we must first recognize the pronoun “He” refers to the person in verse thirteen, to the Son. The Son of God is the image of the invisible God. Remember, the Son of God was Jesus, the embodiment of God, not just a likeness. Jesus was the incarnation of God on earth. This means Jesus was visible as God with us; whereas, in the past, God was invisible to our human eyes. God is spiritually visible to believers because of their faith. He gives faith to those who truly seek Him. This means faith and seeing go hand in hand. When a person seeks God, He gives them faith, and they spiritually see Him to trust in Him as their Savior. This faith and sight cause the believer to grow and live out their belief in Him so others can come to see and believe in Jesus, too.

The Son of God is “the firstborn of all creation.” This does not mean God created the Son. In Genesis, we read the Son was there during creation. He actively participated in creation. When Paul said “firstborn,” the Greek word he used was prototokos. Prototokos means preeminent (distinguished and peerless) over all created things. The Son is the image of God from all eternity, so he was preeminent over all creation. As the likeness of God, the Son was the firstborn King over all the kings of the earth. Because God gave humans freewill, He knew they would sin. He planned from before creation to provide a sufficient sacrifice for the sins of all people. God knew from the beginning the only sacrifice that would be sufficient would be one He offered for them. That One would have to be the sacrifice for all people. The only one pure enough is the One most pure, God through His Son. So, God came to earth to live in human form as Jesus, remain sinless, and die a sinner’s death. His death would provide redemption from the slavery to sin and death for each person who believes in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus truly was born from the womb of a woman implanted by the Spirit of God. He was 100% divinity and 100% man. He was the Firstborn of God Himself.

As firstborn and pre-eminent over all things, and as the image of the invisible God, the Son was preeminent over all creation. God – Father, Son, and Spirit – created everything out of nothing, ex nihilo. Nothing existed before creation, so nothing was used to create all that exists. Everything that is and ever has been, triune God created ex nihilo, with His creativity, power, knowledge, and wisdom. The Son created all things ex nihilo. He was from before time, is throughout time, and will continue to exist when time ends when God’s new Kingdom, the new Jerusalem, comes to be. The Son is unified with God. This begotten Son of God, the human and divine Jesus, was the one the Jewish people awaited to be begotten among them. He is the image of God, was visible as God with us when He lived on earth and is preeminent over all creation as creator of life and as the firstborn from death, the re-creator of life for all who put their trust in Him.

Relationship to the Universe

“For by Him 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 through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17 [NASB])

Notice first, the Son of God is the one “by” whom “all things were created.” This word “by” translates as “through,” too. Only through Christ is anything created, which includes any actual living thing and the Church. This brings forward what Paul said before, He is the firstborn of all creation. Without Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, the Church would not exist because redemption would not have occurred. Death - eternal separation from God - would still enslave each intelligent being.

Paul expanded what he wrote in verse fifteen to make sure the Colossian believers understood, the Son of God created all things on earth and in the heavens. The Gnostics thought material things, like the body, were evil and spiritual things, like angels, were good. Since the Son, as the image of God, created both, then both earthly and heavenly beings were good.

Next, Paul said the Son created what is visible and invisible. Each thing a person sees, the Son created. The material world is not bad and can lead a person to recognize someone greater than him/herself exists. A person can see the invisible with spiritual eyes, not the naked eye, once that person receives faith from God because of his/her seeking Him. The Son created all that is in heaven and on earth, what is visible to the eye and what only is discernible with the spiritual eyes God opens. Again, material and spiritual are good, though the Gnostics saw the material world as evil.

Paul continued in verse sixteen when he expanded what the invisible things are that the Son created and over whom He reigns as King. These beings are on thrones, have dominions, are rulers, and have authority. Like Paul expanded for the people of Colossae what visible things Jesus created, he expanded what invisible things He created, too. Paul wrote Colossians and Ephesians nearly the same time. Because he wrote in Ephesians 1:21 about all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is not named, commentators think the thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities of Colossians are angels and their different levels of work. In Ephesians, God exalted Christ above all things and seated Him above all rule, authority, power, and dominion. These words from Paul in Ephesians 1:21 teach us angels are not more important than religious creeds or God. Paul used the terms - thrones, dominions, rulers, and authority - the Gnostics used at the time. The Gnostics used these words to convince the Colossians believers they needed more than faith in Jesus for them to have salvation, to be an advanced Christian. To the Gnostics who taught this, Jesus’ sacrifice was insufficient for salvation. So, they added their own philosophical reasonings and thoughts to what Epaphras proclaimed to the Colossians. By doing this, the Gnostics caused disturbances, confusion, and disagreements in the city and within the church. The main point in this verse from Paul is that Jesus greater than everything created since He created them. This includes angels. The Son of God is Lord of creation, not the angels. He created all creation, visible and invisible, in heaven and on earth. He is superior and His salvation is sufficient.

The Gnostics believed all matter, including the body, is evil and so resurrection from death is impossible as is the full incarnation of God in the form of Jesus. They did not believe Jesus was 100% divine and 100% human. The Gnostics said He was not equal to God or angels. They trusted in salvation by knowledge. This meant they considered themselves more advanced Christians. As more advanced Christians, the Gnostics considered themselves enlightened because they held advanced philosophical thoughts about life and spiritual things. For them, God was far off and spiritual beings of descending importance.  Angels who held positions as/on thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities filled the gap between God and people. Jesus countered all the thoughts of the Gnostics. He creates, sustains, saves, and is greater than all things. God elevated Him above them in His kingdom.

Paul further wrote the Son is before all things. He is prior. The Son of God, as one who created all things, came before everything that is. He also held all things together. The Son did not just create and then let each creation exist in chaos. He had a purpose for each creation and held them together with His power, knowledge, and wisdom for the continuation of the universe. The Son made each created thing unite perfectly into a whole He supports and keeps together. When a person believes in Him for salvation, He unites the person spiritually to be a part of the body of Christ. Only in the presence and power of Christ is everything He created unified and intelligible, not chaotic.

Relationship to the Church

“He is 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.” (Colossians 1:18 [NASB])

When Paul said the Son of God was the head, he used this term metaphorically to refer to Jesus as the most prominent, the Master and Lord. Of what is Jesus the head? Paul said in verse eighteen He is the head of the body. A body without a head to guide it cannot happen. With this word, Paul spoke of the mystical/spiritual body. This body, Paul said, was the Church. The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which means people called out from the world and saved from their sins and from death. These Christians are God’s and they make up the church. With Christ as the head of this body of believers, He leads them physically where to go, what to do, and what to think so they sin less each day as they grow in, through, and by Him. The believers grow to be more like Jesus as they journey with Him each day. The Son is the head of the church spiritually as He leads them into God’s kingdom, their eternal inheritance.

Paul continued to speak about the relationship between Christ and the church in this verse. He said the Son is “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” Because of Jesus’ resurrection, He is the firstborn from the dead just as He was the firstborn (preeminent) before creation and created all things. This means Jesus, as the firstborn from the dead, created the way for humanity to live after death through resurrection for all believers in Him. He is the beginning and chief or foremost of all things and life and the beginning of the church when He called the disciples to follow Him. John 1:1 says Jesus is the beginning of the new creation (redeemed Christians), physically, and spiritually upon their faith in Him. He then gives them the right to be co-heirs with Him in heaven with eternal life. That is what “firstborn” meant for Paul. He used the word prototokos here, too, meaning Jesus was preeminent and the first of the dead to be raised. Because of this, He will lead other people to become new creations formed in His righteous image. By each of these things, Jesus will be first over all things.

Up to this point in these four verses, Paul had said who the Son of God is and His relationship to God, people, and the church. He said Christ is pre-existent before creation. He is God incarnate and visible with us as “God with us, Emmanuel.” The Son is Creator, crucified, and resurrected. He is more than what the Gnostics taught and more than what the Jews believed. The Jews believed the Messiah had not come because they expected Him to be their warrior king to remove from them the rule of foreign leaders. With these ideas from Paul, we realize, the Son of God, Christ, is supreme in the universe, in the Church worldwide, and in the Colossae church. How can we know this is true? Verses nineteen and twenty tell us.

The Son, God’s Pleasure

“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Colossians 1:19-20 [NASB])

With these two final verses in Paul’s Christology, he emphasizes verse fifteen and God’s good plans and pleasure. The first phrase of verse nineteen says, “It was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.” This is an emphatic expansion of verse fifteen’s statement, “He is the image of the invisible God.” Remember in Colossians 1:10-11 when Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. This manner worthy of the Lord means walking in a way God is well pleased or for His good pleasure. People can only walk in a way that pleases God when they trust Christ as their Redeemer; then the Spirit of Jesus who lives in them guides them. Christians will do good works that bring glory to Him and share the gospel of salvation to other people. For this section, The Father’s good pleasure was for the Son of God, Jesus, to have God’s full image, purpose, and characteristics in Him. Within Christ dwelled the superabundance (the fullness) only God has. The Son of God is fully divine. He has the purposes God has had from the beginning of time, to redeem humanity from Satan, his deceptions, sins, and death. The Son is the “image of the invisible God” because the “fullness (superabundance) of God dwells in Him.” (vs. 15 & 19)

Paul explained what God’s purpose is and why the Son came to earth in the form of a man. He came to be the Redeemer, Reconciler, Unifier, Sacrifice, and Resurrection so all people who believe in Him can be well-pleasing to God, that is to be made righteous and live their lives glorifying Him. Jesus came to be the superabundance people need to get out from the weight of the life they chose that led them away from God. He came to give them what they need to live for and with God during their lifetimes and for eternity. With faith in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians spiritually see the invisible God, then become people of God upon whom He bestows His superabundance, His fullness and good pleasure. The idea that divinity could live within a body totally went against the teachings of the Gnostics who believed the body is evil. They could not understand God made a way for each person to be made righteous, holy and not evil.

This superabundance of God included being made righteous, not because of what any person has done or could ever do, but because of His mercy and grace. Paul said forgiveness and reconciliation with God comes, “through Him (the Son) to reconcile all things to Himself.” God wants people to experience this fullness that comes from Him, this being made whole, redeemed, and clean. Verse twenty is the rest of verse nineteen. The Father’s good pleasure for His fullness to reside in the Son was so that through His Son, through His fullness, all of God’s characteristics, could reside in Christians once reconciled to Jesus, who redemption for all humanity. Did you catch that? God’s superabundance is available to us because of Jesus’ redeeming us. When people accept Jesus as the Son of God, He reconciles them to God.  He changes them from one state (sinner) to another (redeemed and cleansed). Jesus brings each believer into a state of harmony with God and gives them peace with Him.

It is impossible to have peace and harmony with God when we sin (rebel) against Him. Yet, because of God’s great love for us, He provided the sacrifice needed for us to be redeemed, made righteous, and put into harmony and peace with Him! That is reconciliation. Paul said this twice in verse twenty. Paul said Jesus reconciled us, which means brought into harmony. He also said Jesus made peace for us with His blood. The Son reconciled us to God with His blood. Because the Son of God is preeminent, His bringing harmony and unity through His blood to each person who believes in Him affected all creation, “whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

Thoughts to Consider

Jesus’ life on earth as the Son of God and the Son of man is more than a theological doctrine. His life, death, and resurrection provide the reconciling and unifying atonement for all creation. He was the firstborn, preeminent before creation, firstborn from the dead, and firstborn (preeminent) as the head and founder of the body of believers, the Church. The Son created our physical bodies, and He re-created us in His image, spiritually. The fullness of God truly, visibly and invisibly, rested upon the Son to cleanse humanity for God’s good pleasure. God planned for this from before He created anything. He is faithful and has superabundant grace, mercy, and love to make it happen. God is faithful to Himself, His plan, His creation, and His born-again sons and daughters.

Questions to Consider:

• Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?
• Do you believe Jesus was 100% man and 100% divinity?
• What does it mean to you that the Son of God is the head of the body?
• Have you ever heard that Jesus will resurrect you? Does that cause more questions for you?
• What are your thoughts about the Son of God reconciling you with God and giving you peace and harmony with Him?
• Are you ready to stop rebelling against God and have peace with Him?

Today is the time for you to decide who the Son of God is for you? Will you believe in Him and be reconciled with God? Or, will you keep running away from Him and struggle?

For next week, read chapter one again, especially verses 21-23.

“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Colossians 1:21-22 [NASB])

Snatched and Delivered

This Bible study is the fifth in the Colossians series. The first Bible study is Background of Paul’s Letter to the Church at Colossae. In that study, we learned of the cultural, political, religious, and philosophical thoughts that occurred in Colossae at the time of Paul’s writing his letter to the Colossian Christians. The second Bible study in this series is Identification. In that study, Paul introduced himself and Timothy and taught about their identification with Jesus and the believers at Colossae. With the Bible study entitled Thanksgiving in Colossians, Paul prayed with thanks to God for the growth of the Christians in Colossae. This growth showed in their love for God and the saints, and their bearing of fruit and maturing in their faith. Paul identified Epaphras, the founder of their church, as a “beloved fellow bond-servant,” one who willingly submitted to Christ as Paul taught him. In Glorious Might, Paul continued praying over the Colossian Christians in supplication for them. In these verses, Colossians 1:9-12, he told them he prayed for them daily that they would grow in Christ so they would be well-pleasing to God. Paul prayed for God to fill them with the knowledge of His will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they would please Him in all respects by bearing fruit in good works. He asked for God to increase their knowledge of Him, strengthen the them with all power, and give them steadfastness and patience. Paul ended this prayer for the sanctification of the Colossians by asking that they joyously give thanks to God who qualified them to inherit eternal life with the saints in the kingdom of His Son.

In Colossians 1:13-14, Paul explained who is the Father of verse twelve who gives these gifts for which he asked for the church in Colossae. The Colossian Christians knew about Jesus from Epaphras’ teaching. The Jewish believers in Jesus knew about Father God. Paul taught the Colossae believers who the Father is so they would know Him and His gifts as Paul prayed for in verses nine through twelve.

Rescuer

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son…” (Colossians 1:13 [NASB])

To understand this verse, we must understand well the Greek meanings of the original words. Paul said, “For He (this refers back to the Father in verse twelve) rescued us. The word “rescued” comes from the Greek word rhuomai, which means to snatch up or out for oneself. Father God snatched from danger and for an eternal relationship with Him “us,” the Colossian Christians, Timothy, Epaphras, himself, and each believer in Jesus Christ. God didn’t snatch them away from the fire and tell them to go on their merry way. He snatched them out for Himself because He loves each person and wants each to have the best in life, not just what is merely good. Only God gives the best. The musings and thoughts of people, and for the Colossian people the musings of the early Gnostics, never could be good enough. Nothing Gnostics or any person thinks can ever save people from an eternal death separated from God. Only by God’s snatching people away for Himself from Satan gives people the best. Paul explained next what God’s best is.

In this part of the sentence, Paul said, the Father snatched the Colossian believers from the domain of darkness. What is the “domain of darkness?” The word “domain” means a place where a person or being has authority and power over others. This person or being has power over how one lives. This one has authority to establish morality for that dark domain. For Paul, a spiritual power ruled over this domain. He made this point with his next word, “darkness.” Jesus said He is the light of the world in John 8:12. So, the spiritual power who ruled in this darkness has morals and authority opposite of Jesus’. That being is Satan. Jesus’ moral authority always comes from His characteristic of goodness. This means Satan’s moral authority comes from his evilness. When Satan exercises his moral authority on people, they do things of which God does not approve. Satan blinds people not to see or think of God. He makes them ignorant of divine things and leads them deeper into ungodliness and immorality. What Paul wrote in this verse means God snatched out for Himself believers in Jesus from the spiritual power and influence of Satan’s immorality and ungodliness.

As noted, “rescued” means to snatch out. So, once God snatches believers out of Satan’s domain, He puts them in His perfect place. The Father, by His grace given to repentant sinners who believe in Jesus, extends His mighty hand to snatch believers out of Satan’s domain of darkness. He puts them in His holy place, where no immorality and godlessness exists. He puts Christians in the “kingdom of His beloved Son.” Jesus’ godliness and divine moral authority reign in His kingdom. Because His Spirit lives in each believer, Jesus’ authority reigns in their hearts. They no longer need fear Satan, but “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,” be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, be steadfast and patient, and joyously give thanks to the Father for giving them the hope of an inheritance in His kingdom. (Col. 1:9-12).

Deliverer

“…of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13c-14 [NASB])

Beloved

The Father snatches people from Satan’s grip. He rescues them and sets them on moral, godly ground in Jesus’ kingdom. The Father’s Son is not a mere mortal He used to affect His plan of salvation. This Son is beloved by the Father. The word “beloved” comes from the word agape, of which Paul wrote in verses four and eight when he spoke of the Colossians’ love for the saints and their love in the Spirit. Agape love comes from God’s character and is a pure, unselfish, and visible love. First, God acts based on this love, then His snatched-out children act on it. 1 John 4:8 testifies, “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” [NASB] Further in 1 John 4:16, he wrote, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in live abides in God, and God abides in Him.”

God is love, and this love comes from His character. This agape love for people occurred before He formed them, as He strove to lead, provide, and protect them, and when He came in flesh with His Son’s birth, life, and death to cleanse people from their sins. Paul said in verse 13, the beloved Son of God reigned in the kingdom of righteousness and the children of God He snatched from Satan lived in Jesus’ kingdom. Just as the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father, this same love flows to people. God’s heart, His pure and unselfish love, desires that He snatch out each person from Satan’s dominion of darkness and to live in the beloved Son’s kingdom. He acted on this love by sending the Son to show His love by living a sinless life and dying a sinner’s death as the sacrifice for all sins for those who believe in Him and repent of their sins. Jesus’ sacrifice of pure love made it possible for people to live no longer in Satan’s domain of darkness, but in the kingdom of light.

Redeemed

With most of verse thirteen, Paul told the Colossian Christians who the Father is. With verse fourteen, He told them how God transferred the Colossian Christians from the domain of Satan to the kingdom of His Son. Paul told them it came because of redemption, the forgiveness of sin. Redemption is an old word and so we need to understand its context to grasp the depth of its meaning. It comes from the Greek word apolutrosis, which means a ransom caused by payment. In slave days whether that be ancient, medieval, renaissance, Victorian, or modern times, people could indenture themselves as bond-servants to have a debt paid by the one to whom that person would serve. The only way that person could have freedom from their servile position was by repayment of the indenturing loan. This purchasing gave to the person what they had previously forfeited, their lives in exchange for a debt. For people sold into slavery, the only way for release from slavery was for someone to pay the slaveholder. These examples emphasize the distance between where the rescued person now stands and what had enslaved that person, a debt, whether or sin, destitution, or entrapment. God caused that distance for the person because of His payment of the redeeming price and snatching the person away from slavery to Satan, sin, and death. Christ paid that redemption price for sin with His sinless death on a sinner’s cross. Redemption by Jesus allows the redeemed person to see God’s work of grace, the greatest of His riches (His Son), given for payment of his/her death penalty. That defines God’s grace.  Jesus’ cross redeems us and puts a distance between believers and Satan. Satan cannot cross the bridge of the cross because he is unholy. He has no power over Christians’ salvation or eternal life with God. Jesus is the deliverer of the redemption payment for people. He delivers people from sin to salvation, from godlessness and immorality to godliness and morality.

Redemption came with a great price for God. That price was the sacrificial death of His sinless Son, who died as a man on a sinner’s cross. Redemption moves Christians from the domain of Satan to the authority of Jesus. Yet, redemption is more than just Jesus dying and people believing in Him as the Son of God. We must understand people are sinners. They are unholy. Holy God will not be where unholiness is, just as dark and light cannot be in the same place. For sinners to be in God’s presence, forgiveness of sins and cleansing from sins must occur, too.

A person sins when he/she misses the mark; they do not live holy lives. No person can live a holy life without the help of God. Likewise, no person can become holy without the help of God. Jesus redeems a person from the domain of Satan and puts him/her into the kingdom of light when the person believes in Him as the Son of God and when that person confesses and repents of his/her sins. This person regrets his/her sins and way of life and gives his/her life completely into the hands of God. God snatches the person away from Satan. He redeems him/her from his/her old way of living and sends the Spirit to live within him/her to guide that person in His moral way of living as a redeemed and cleansed child of God. Jesus paid the redemption price for each soul from the one who enslaves each person. He paid this price because of His agape love for us from before He created us. God’s agape love now lives in each Christian. That Christian should live out each day the faith, love, and hope God gives so other people will see Him and want to follow Him.

Thoughts to Consider

God snatches us for Himself away from Satan, sin, and eternal death. He transfers us to His Son’s kingdom. Jesus delivers us by paying the redemption price to buy us from the one who enslaved us and returns us to Life. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. [John 14:6] Jesus will save us from our sins and the death we deserve when we believe He is the Son of God and confess and repent of our sins. He is our deliverer. As we live with God daily in obedience to Him, we mature as Christians. Maturing as a Christian means pleasing God in all respects, increasing in the knowledge of Him, and receiving His strength with all His power. Redemption should cause us to look at God’s grace and realize we do not deserve it. We do not deserve God’s riches. We sinners deserve death. But God, in His love and mercy, gave the greatest of His riches, His Son, to die on a sinner’s cross, to redeem and forgive us, and reconcile us to Him.

Questions to Consider:

•  Do you live in the darkness of ungodliness and immorality?
• Do you recognize you are a sinner?
• Do you want the path of your life to change, to be moral and godly?
• Do you want God’s grace to snatch you for Himself out of Satan’s hand and save you?
• Do you want Jesus to redeem you from your slavery to sin?
• Have you asked Him to forgive you and to save you?
• Are you already a Christian, but recognize you have sin in your life you want Jesus to forgive so you can be in a right relationship with Him?

Today is the time for each person to consider his/her life and decide if they want to live in the domain of darkness or the kingdom of the Son.

For next week, reread Colossians 1 and focus on verses 15-20.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For my Him all things were created…” (Colossians 1:15-16a [NASB])

Glorious Might

With the first Bible study in this series on Colossians titled Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae, we learned of the background of the Colossians. Several cultures, belief systems, and philosophical thoughts influenced them. The second Bible study in this series, Identification, taught us about Paul’s greeting and introduction of himself and Timothy to the Christians in Colossae. In this greeting, Paul identified himself with Jesus and with the believers in Colossae, as he did Timothy. In Thanksgiving in Colossians, Paul prayed, offering thanks to God for the growth of the Christians in the church of Colossae as shown by their love for God and the saints. He continued to thank God because these Christians constantly bore fruit and matured. Paul identified Epaphras, the founding pastor of this church, as a “beloved fellow bond-servant,” one who willingly submitted to Christ as Paul taught him.

This fourth Bible study in the series covers Colossians 1:9-12. These four verses told the Colossian believers how Paul prayed for them daily. This prayer sets the standard, according to Paul, for a maturing, devoted Christian. It incorporates four main points with it and states definitively the Father qualifies each believer. Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers about how they should grow to maturity in Christ is the goal to which each believer in Jesus should strive. Paul’s letter to them is a letter to us today. Let’s consider every verse of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and what each should be because of his or her relationship with God.

The Prayer

Pleasing God

“For this reason, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask 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…” (Col. 1:9-10a [NASB])

Paul’s request to God for the Colossian Christians occurred because of their faith, hope, love, fruitfulness, and maturity. (Col. 1:3-8) Because these Christians believed and were being sanctified, Paul said he had not ceased to pray for them. He interacted with the Lord, seeking His will as he prayed for the Colossians, so what he prayed was God’s good and perfect will. Prayer occurs when you exchange your human desires for God’s desires because of the faith He gives you, which you live out. This kind of prayer connects you intimately with God. Because of Paul’s close relationship with the Lord, he recognized the Colossian believers’ sincerity in wanting to be closer to and more like Jesus. He asked God to fill each Colossian believer from His person with what is necessary for life as a Christian. Paul’s very long sentence with multiple dependent clauses specifically stresses how a Christian can live a life that is “well-pleasing” to God. Paul spoke about the knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom, understanding, and walking in “a manner worthy of the Lord” in these two verses.

Knowledge

Paul taught to live a life well-pleasing to God requires being “filled with the knowledge of His will.” The Gnostics would have been interested in this letter because Paul spoke of knowledge. Remember, for the Gnostics, knowledge led to freedom. Yet, nowhere did Paul say the Gnostic idea of knowledge was what he spoke about. Instead, he contrasted the Gnostic philosophical knowledge with the “knowledge of His will.” Paul spoke of a specific knowledge that comes from the fount of all being and knowledge. No other knowledge is greater or is absolute. This knowledge is precise because it comes from God’s knowledge. The word “will” Paul uses comes from the Greek word thelema, meaning God’s will, His best offer to people which they can accept or reject. This “will” speaks of God’s purpose to bless and offer grace to humanity through Jesus. A fruitful and maturing Christian will seek the knowledge of God’s will.

Wisdom

More than that, a Christian will seek spiritual wisdom. The word “spiritual” comes from the Greek word pneumatikos, meaning that which comes from the Holy Spirit of God and exhibits the effects and character of the Spirit. Paul did not pray the Colossian believers would have any wisdom. He specifically prayed they would have wisdom coming from the Holy Spirit of God. Since God knows all things (omniscient) and is the author of all things (the Creator), He and the Spirit would have all spiritual wisdom. Paul prayed the Colossians would have this spiritual wisdom as they grew in the Lord and bore fruit.

Understanding

Paul grouped the knowledge of His will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding together. Without knowledge and wisdom, understanding a situation is difficult. It would rely on what you have experienced and could surmise; a human-based understanding. That understanding is limited. Paul did not pray for a worldly wisdom. He prayed for wisdom that came from God’s knowledge gained through prayer and the study of His word and the wisdom to know the ramifications of a situation, so that a godly understanding and assessment of it would lead to a godly resolution of it. With only worldly knowledge and wisdom, people do not consider the power and grace of God. With godly knowledge and wisdom, a complete understanding, including God’s power and what He did through Jesus, guides a believer to a godly understanding and solution. Who wants a resolution based on worldly knowledge and wisdom? Don’t all people want to know the best way to approach things and people, so they consider everything and find an absolutely correct solution? Growing in the knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding leads Christians to the best solutions. God is well-pleased when these occur 

Godly Walk

To walk in a manner worthy of the Lord requires knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding. Knowledge without application is useless. Wisdom without all-knowledge (knowledge that comes from God, omniscience) isn’t true wisdom. Understanding without knowing the full picture, having God’s knowledge and wisdom, is worthless. These, applied to each other and then to life, lead to living a life well-pleasing to the Lord. The worthiness of which Paul wrote in his prayer, “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,” means getting worth from Jesus that matches the actual value. When people see the way you walk and equate it to the way Jesus lived while on earth, you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. The worth of anything must be compared to something else to show its value. For Christian, people compare us to Christ. When Christians live like Christ in actions, words, attitudes, and thoughts that reflect His ethics, grace, and love because of their personal relationship with and worship of Him, they live in a manner worthy of the Lord. They please Him.

Followers of Christ please Him wholly by seeking to be like Him, seeking His will, His wisdom, and His understanding, and walking in His ways. When they are this closely connected to God, that is “in all respects,” they bear fruit. This fruit speaks of a quality of life within a person, of the Spirit’s remolding them into Jesus’ image. Paul prayed the Corinthian Christians would know God very well and be connected intimately to Him. This intimacy with God would show their knowledge and faith in Jesus, which included His wisdom and understanding. It would lead to living the fruit-born life from the super-abounding overflowing of the Spirit in them. When you see a child of God overflowing with the Spirit and abounding in “every good work,” nothing else can explain the life this person lives. These works, these actions, occur because of the Spirit living within the believer. When questioning how and why, the only answer is because of God’s miraculous work in the person’s life. Fruits, a change in a person’s life - character, attitudes, and being - come from the quality of a life hidden with God in Christ Jesus. (Col. 3:3) Christians die to their old lives and the Spirit gives them a new nature, Christ’s nature. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Paul prayed this for the Colossian church. We continue to pray this prayer for every Christian today as they profess Christ as their Savior, begin and continue their walk with Him, and walk through life and its trials. This prayer teaches how each Christian should strive to live. Believers should seek to have an intimacy with Jesus that re-makes them and then overflows in super-abounding fruit of good work, God’s work.

Increasing in the Knowledge of God

“…and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Col. 1:10c [NASB])

Paul prayed the Colossian church would live a life well-pleasing to the Lord. He asked God to increase their knowledge of Him, too. As noted above, this knowledge that comes from God is absolute and perfect. It lacks nothing, but the knowledge people of the world gain from philosophical conversation and studying is incomplete.

Paul prayed these Christians would increase. This increase would come from knowing God more, a growing in maturity in relationship with Him. Knowing about God differs from being in a relationship with Him. Paul said in Romans 1, people can know of God from what is visible in creation. People can know of Him through listening to preachers and teachers, from reading the Bible, and from praying to Him. No one has an excuse for not knowing about God. Even the demons believed Jesus was the Son of God, but they didn’t and couldn’t believe in Him for salvation. (Matthew 8:28-34) A Christian should want to know more of God than just the basics. He/she should want to know Him in a deeper way, be related intimately to Him through a daily relationship with Him, so he or she can be like Him. When a person falls in love and marries, he/she wants to know all about his or her spouse. That person wants to know what happens in his/her spouse’s day, what causes him or her to act the way he or she does, what he or she believes, and why he or she espouses certain beliefs. That creates intimacy in a relationship. Each believer should want this depth of relationship with God, and more, so he/she becomes more aligned with and more like Jesus. Increasing in the knowledge of God happens because of first-hand experience of a life lived with Him.

Knowing God in this way is seeking God and living in faith according to His will. This intimacy leads Christians to act because of their love of God, not just because of obedience. Paul meant this when he prayed the Colossian Christians would increase in the knowledge of God. A relationship with God is not static; it should always increase/grow. Christians should have this desire in their hearts, to be intimately close to God so that every action, word, or thought occurs because of their love for God, not just because of disciplined obedience. When a person knows his/her spouse well, he/she knows when the spouse wants a drink or needs to talk. That person is in tune with him/her. Christians should be that in tune with God, too. That is the level of intimacy with God Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians.

Strengthened with all Power

“…strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for attaining of all steadfastness and patience…” (Col. 1:11 [NASB])

Paul continued with his prayer for the Colossian believers. He asked God to strengthen them with His might.  Just as Paul prayed for the Colossians to have the knowledge, wisdom, understanding, walk, and good works that come from knowing God intimately, he prayed the believers would have the strength “with all power” that comes from His might. Paul asked for the ultimate in verses nine and ten. He continued asking for the ultimate by asking for the power of God to strengthen them.

Like God’s knowledge is complete and the knowledge of people never can be, so His strength is almighty because it comes from the source of all strength, Himself. God’s power is ultimate. What is this “power” Paul prayed? It comes from the Greek word dunamis. This word is from where the English word dynamite originates. God’s power gives the power and strength in each sphere of believers’ lives to grow in sanctification daily. It prepares them for the time when they will receive their future reward and He makes them holy, the time of their glorification in heaven. Christ saves each Christian at a point in time, but believers should not stay the same as from that moment. They should grow in intimacy with God by being reshaped by His Spirit, seeking His knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. This will cause believers to live in the world bearing fruit and increasing in maturity in Him. Living in the world being led by our love for Jesus is sanctification. Jesus’ salvation of people who seek Him as part of their close relationship with Him causes them to grow toward perfection. Without God’s dunamis power, Christians stagnate. They strive in their own power to do what they think God wants them to do and be what they think He wants them to be, but they don’t recognize what that is for sure because they have mixed their limited human knowledge into what they understand of God. That isn’t dunamis power. Dunamis power comes down from a higher plane, from God, to a lower plane, humanity. God gives it to His people who intimately relate to Him, seek Him, and walk in His ways to help them live, be, and grow to be more like Jesus.

This “glorious might” shows God’s excellence, not the person’s excellence, aptitude, or abilities. It brings glory to God, not the person. People cannot explain the source of this power in any way other than from God, so it has intrinsic worth. No person could create it or cause it to be used for God’s glory. God gives this power from His glorious might to those who seek Him, to know Him, and to live a life well-pleasing to Him. Knowledge and wisdom are not enough, as the Gnostics put espoused. Knowing what is right and doing right not enough. (Doing the right thing does not pay for admittance into heaven. By accepting the grace of God offered through Jesus Christ, a person can receive salvation from his or her sins and have the hope of eternal life in heaven.) Each person will face trials and the way a person journeys through them will determine how he or she comes out of them. If a person goes through them in his or her own strength, he/she will finish the journey battered, torn, worn out, and possibly angry and discouraged. For a Christian in a close relationship with God who seeks His knowledge and wisdom, seeks to grow in His relationship with Him, and who God strengthens with all power from His glorious might, that believer will end his/her journey possibly battered and torn, but with a glow because he/she recognized God went through the trial with him/her, learned something from it, and gave God glory because His hand was with him/her. God’s power came down to that Christian and how he/she lived through and finished that journey caused him/her to glorify God. That believer sees and saw where God’s hand was with and on us him/her through that hard period. It makes him/her fall to his/her knees and thank Him for sustaining and never leaving him/her.

Having God’s might causes each Christian to have all steadfastness and patience. Without God’s might, their strength would fail. Believers would grow tired and give up or collapse under the weight of the trial. With God’s might, they can endure the challenges God allows and grow from it. The “steadfastness” Paul wrote of here is patience upon which a person acted. This person lived out the characteristic that did not deviate from the path set before him/her to act like the unbelieving person he/she was before the Spirit changed him/her. This steadfast/enduring person puts patience into action and remains loyal to his/her faith in God and grows in faith because of it. Opposition and sacrifice does not make him/her fall away from his/her faith in God.

The “patience” Paul wrote of is an inner stability or not reacting rashly. It allows time to pass before saying or doing something when reacting to an occurrence. This patience comes from God’s might, just as does the steadfastness about which Paul wrote. This patience is an internal constancy. When Christians apply this patience to actions, it becomes endurance/steadfastness.

Giving Thanks

“…joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Col. 1:11b-12 [NASB])

For these things - God’s knowledge, all His spiritual wisdom and understanding, a daily relationship and walk with Him, His strength with all power, all His endurance and patience - Paul wrote he gave joyous thanks for the Colossian believers. As we each understand, these attributes come from God and often work themselves in us as lessons when we go through trials. Paul gave thanks for trials. He gave thanks for the grace God gave the Colossian Christians, though they did not deserve it. James wrote in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (NASB) Like James, Paul thanked God for His grace that led the Colossian Christians through trials of the past, in the present, and in the future because it led them to grow stronger with God’s attributes helping to mold them.

Like in verse three, this thanks in verse twelve comes from the Greek word eucharisteo and means remembering and giving thanks to God for the grace He gave you, which you did not deserve. God’s grace gave and would give the Colossian Christians power and strength, endurance and patience, knowledge and wisdom, and fruit and good works if they chose to seek Him daily in prayer, Bible reading and studying, listening to godly preaching and teaching, and fellowshipping with other believers. When Christians seek to follow God, to be in a close, personal relationship with Him, He gives grace. Paul joyously gave thanks for that grace He would give the Colossian Christians, even if they learned it from trials.

Paul joyously thanked the Father because He qualified the believers in Colossae to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. God makes each believer sufficient by the sufficiency of the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. He gives each person enough power to live on earth in a way pleasing to Him because of His grace. The sufficiency and power come from God alone. Nothing anyone could ever do or think would make him or her sufficient to be called saints or to be able to live as His child. People are inadequate, but God offers us the adequate grace to save and enable us to live in this world as His child whose actions and words give glory to Him. God’s grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection makes believers righteous so we can share in the inheritance in Light, the hope of eternal life. This light is the true Light of God. He completes the sanctification of each believer, making them free from every imperfection so they can enter heaven. Jesus will glorify true followers of Jesus into the kingdom of light. That hope is to what each believer looks forward and for what Paul gives joyous thanks. God makes each believer fit to share in His kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection gives Christians the hope of eternal life - defeat over death - and eternity with God in His kingdom.

Thoughts to Consider

Paul’s joyous thanks occurred because of what God had done in the lives of the Colossian Christians and what He would do in their lives because of His grace. Because of His grace, God enables His children to have the knowledge of His will, have all spiritual wisdom and understanding, walk in a manner worthy of Him, please Him in all respects, bear fruit in every good work, increase in the knowledge of Him, receive strength with all power from His glorious might, and gain steadfastness and patience. Each of these characteristics have their source in God. Four times Paul used the word “all.” God gives from His whole being to grow believers in sanctification toward glorification, to be more like Him.

Full and true strength, power, might, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, fruit, good works, steadfastness, and patience originate in God and come from Him to those who seek Him. God gives these to people who believe in and have a close, personal relationship with Him. No person can create these attributes from within him/herself. What we Christians create from within themselves is not enough to combat the trials God allows and the tribulations Satan throws against us. Instead of seeking for something that seems good or good enough, Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (NASB) Seek God and His attributes and you will have the best at hand for what you face. 

Questions to Consider:

•  Have you believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, confessed your sins, and asked Him to save you?
• Are you developing a close relationship with God?
• Do you seek God’s will each day through prayer, Bible reading and study, sermons, and teachings?
• Do you know you are a Christian but realize you have done nothing with God since that point you asked Jesus to save you?
• Do you find that whenever you face a particular trial, you can never seem to win?
• Do you get angry, frustrated, and fed-up with people and situations then want to do something drastic?
• Now that you have considered your own relationship with God, what do you need to tell God and for what do you need to ask Him to forgive you?

Each person who has a close personal relationship with God, should grow continually, bear fruit, and mature in their Christian walk with Him daily. If  a day comes when you say you have finished growing, then you will know you still have more growing to do. Our goal is for God to be well-pleased with us. Paul outlined in his prayer in Colossians 1:9-12 how that would be well-pleased with us.

“He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved son, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 [NASB])