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Introduction to the Introduction
The Bible is made of up of 66 books that were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by over 40 different authors.
Each one of these books in some way points to Jesus.
As Christians we are called to serve Jesus and to develop a relationship with Him.
One of the ways we can grow in our relationship with Him is by studying what the Bible says about Him.
Colossians is no different.
It is a beautiful book written by Paul that reminds us that it’s all about Jesus.
In fact, that is what I am calling this series, “It’s All About Jesus.”
As we began to look at this book, we need to understand why it was written, to whom it was written, what was it written about, and how this book written almost 2000 years ago can be pertinent in our lives today.
What
Colossians was one of four prison books written by Paul.
This means that it was written when Paul was in a jail cell, most likely in Rome, being persecuted for preaching and teaching the Gospel of Christ.
I love the fact that Paul was bold enough to go to jail for his beliefs and had the ability to use that time to strengthen others’ beliefs in the form of a written letter.
If believing in Jesus was a crime today, would you go to jail for it?
Would you encourage others with your faith from a jail cell?
Paul mentions
Who
Paul was writing to the people of Colosse.
This was a city in Phrygia in Asia Minor.
It is in part of what we know today at Turkey.
Colosse was on the upper part of the of the basin of the Meander River.
The closest towns were Hierapolis and Laodicea.
If you study these towns in Scripture, you will find them mentioned several times.
How
So how did Colosse know about Jesus?
We learn in , especially verse 9, at the time of Pentecost people were gathered in Jerusalem.
When the Holy Spirit came upon them, the Bible tells us that they began speaking in there native language.
Phyrgia, where Colosse was located.
People came under the influence of Christ and some how took the Gospel, the Good News, back to their homes.
Paul speaks in
The “interior” refers to areas that would include Colosse.
If you look at your map in the back of your Bible, you will see that Paul’s 3rd missionary journey took him right through there.
In fact, we learn from Acts that Paul spent some time in that area making disciples and teaching others about the ways of Christ.
Why
The recipients of this letter were Christians that had found Christ under the leadership of Epaphras.
He is mentioned a couple of times in this letter.
Colossians 4:12
We learn from that Epaphras was in prison with Paul.
Paul was invested in the people of Colosse.
They are his “grandchildren of the faith” so to speak.
Paul is writing to people that had converted from a life without Christ to a life with Christ.
Colossians
Colossians
You can see from these verses that Paul reminds these new Christians that there was a time in their lives that was dark and when you have Christ in your life, the dark things are gone and the light has come.
The people of Colosse would have influenced by stories of the gods of classical Greek culture as well as many mystery religions which promised entry to a select higher world if you did the right things.
Over time and with cultures mixing together, many of the practices were mixed together.
Ac the same time, according to , there were synagogues in almost every city.
It has been calculated that the adult male Jewish population in the area of Colosse was about 11,000.
As Christianity grew and these cultures were mixed, new converts believed they had to jump through hoops of tradition and a mixed bag of religious practices to have a relationship with Jesus.
As you can imagine, false teachings and false doctrines demoted Christ from His position of authority and encouraged practices that were contrary to the Truth of God.
Today, more than ever, we hear of and see people saying that there is more than one way to get to God and there are plenty of ways to get to heaven.
When Epaphras informed Paul of these false teaching that existed during that day, Paul wrote this letter as an antidote to the poison that was spreading.
Today, there is much poison being spread and this antidote is still what we need.
The importance of studying a book like Colossians is that every section and subsection of the main body of this letter is accurately summed up with reference to Christ Himself.
In other words, it’s all about Jesus.
This brief letter shows one of the Bible’s fullest expression of the deity of Christ and the Supremacy of Christ.
Colossians shows us that Jesus Christ is the invisible God and all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him.
As a result, our salvation and conduct should be impacted.
We should give thanks to God because of Jesus.
If we do this with the knowledge and understanding about who He is and what He has achieved, everything else will fall into place!
Having shown you all this, let’s look closely at .
Letters today typically have the sender’s name at the end.
In the day which this was written, the sender’s name was listed at the beginning.
We have already established that Paul wrote this letter.
Paul identifies himself as an apostle.
By definition, an apostle is an envoy, an ambassador, or a missionary.
In the New Testament, it is one that carries the message of the gospel.
Part of the New Testament requirements of an apostle was have been a witness of the resurrection.
We learn in the other passages that Paul identified himself as one that had seen the resurrected Lord.
1 Corinthians 1
Paul took this role seriously.
He calls himself an “apostle to the Gentiles.”
Romans 1:
Romans 11:
We see in other letters that Paul calls himself an apostle:
Paul believed wholeheartedly that he existed because of meeting the Risen Christ on the Road to Damascus.
Galatians
2 Corinthians
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
He reminds his readers that as an apostle, he is appointed by the Risen Christ.
Hew as an apostle personally representing Christ on earth.
Paul, as an apostle, calls us to be an example as well:
Philippians
One of the reasons Paul points this out is to show his readers ways to identify true teaching from false teaching.
In this study we are undertaking, we will see furthermore how to do this, but the first test of true teaching is does it come from the AUTHORITY OF THE RISEN CHRIST?
Paul announces here that is is an apostle.
He distinguishes further that this is the will of God.
He is not attributing to this by his own merit, his own strength, or his own sufficiency, Paul is showing utmost as an apostle, is being and doing the will of God.
This reminds me that God does have great plans for each of our lives.
He set apart Isaiah:
Isaiah 4
He set apart Jeremiah:
Jeremiah
And He set apart Paul:
Goa
God has plans for you and me!
It is God’s will that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, Whom God gave to us and for us in order that we might be able to access His holiness!
Paul also lets us know that Timothy is with him and also helping him with this letter and ministry.
In , Paul calls Timothy his son.
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