Showing posts with label Colossians 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colossians 1. Show all posts

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Teaching Notes COLOSSIANS 1

Teaching Notes COLOSSIANS 1

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Teaching Notes COLOSSIANS 1


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                        COLOSSIANS

The Godhood and The Sufficiency of Christ

The Church at Colossae. Colossae was a city of Phrygia, from
which country some were present at Jerusalem on the Day of
Pentecost, Acts 2:10, and through which country Paul had gone
on both his second and third missionary journeys, Acts 16:6;
18:23. It may be that on one of these journeys Paul had visited
Colossae, though the language of 2:1 may, but not necessarily,
imply that Paul had not been there. Another possibility is that
the church may have been the result of Paul’s work in Ephesus,
Acts 19:10, for Colossae was near the border of “Asia", about
100 miles East of Ephesus. Epaphras, 1:7; 4:12-13, may have been its
founder.   [Epaphras (Greek: Ἐπαφράς) was an observer of the
Apostle Paul mentioned twice in the New Testament
epistle of Colossians and once in the New Testament letter to Philemon.
Occasion and Date‘of the Epistle. Paul was in prison in Rome,
61—63 AD].

He had written a previous Letter concerning Mark,
4:10. Meantime Epaphras, one of the Colossians, had come to
Rome with the word that a dangerous heresy was making head-
way in the church. He was imprisoned, it seems. Then
Paul wrote this Letter, and sent it by Tychicus and Onesimus,
4:27-9, who also bore the Letter to the Ephesians and the one to
Philemon, Eph 6:21.

The Colossian Heresy. It seems to have been an admixture of
Greek, Jewish and Oriental religions, a sort of “higher though ”
cult, parading itself under the name of “philosophy”, 2:8, calling
for the worship of angels as intermediaries between God and
man, 2:18, and insisting on the strict observance of certain Jewish
requirements almost to the point of asceticism, 2: 16, 21, put forth
in high-sounding phrases of an assumed superiority: all as a part
of the Gospel of Christ.

Similarity to Ephesians. Colossians and Ephesians were written
at the same time. They are both carefully wrought out statements
of the great doctrines of the Gospel, to be read aloud in the
churches, and are very Similar in many of their passages. But
their main themes are entirely different: Ephesians, the Unity
and Grandeur of the Church; Colossians, the Deity and All—
Sufficiency of Christ.

Chapter I. The Deity of Christ

Paul’s Thanksgiving for Them, 3-8. “We give thanks”, 3. How
often Paul starts his Letters that way: Rom 1: 8; I Cor 1:4; Eph
1: 16; Pps 1: 3; I Thes 1: 2; II Thes 1: 3; II Tim 1: 3; Pln 4. Good
news from the scattered brethren filled his soul with joyful
gratitude. “Faith", “Love”, “Hope", 4-5, are his favorite words:
Faith in Christ, Love towards the saints, Hope of heaven. Notice
that it is their Hope that is the motive that produces their Love,
“because of", 5. See I Cor 13: 1 Thes 1:3. "Heard-of". 4, does not
necessarily mean he had not been to Colossae, for he uses it in
Eph 1:15. We know he had been in Ephesus. But had been away
some years. “All the world"., 6,.and"‘all creation", 23, mean that
the Gospel had, by that time. 32 years after the death of Jesus. _
been preached to the whole, known world. Within the first
generation the Church became an established world—wide fact.

Paul’s Prayer for Them, 9-12. One of the four most beautiful of
Paul's prayers for his churches, the other three being Eph 1:16-
19: 3:14-19; Pps 1:9-11. “Spiritual wisdom”, 9, means knowing
how to live a Christ-like life. “Strengthened with all power". 11,
so as to be joyfully patient under all circumstances.

The Godhead of Christ, 13-20. Epithets applied to Christ in this
Epistle are: “Image of the invisible God". First-born of tall
creation", “All things created through Him". "He is before all'
things", “In Him all things hold together". “Head of the Church”;
“The beginning", “The first—born from the dead”, “In Him all
fulness dwells”, “Through Him all things are reconciled”, “Christ
in you is the hope of glory", "In Him are all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge", “In Him dwells all the fulness of God-
hood bodily”, "In Him you are made full" (brought to perfec—
tion), “The head of all principality and power". “First-born of
all creation”, 15, does not mean that He Was created, but has the
0 T meaning that He is “heir” to the created universe. '

Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, 1:16. This, "and
such passages as Eph 6:12, are a Biblical intimation that there
are in the unseen world numerous varieties of persons and gov-
elements of which our visible world is a tiny counterpart; and
that Christ’s death not only made possible man’s redemption,
but became the means of restoring the broken harmony of the
whole vast universe.

Suffering for the Church. 24-29, to fill up that which is lacking.
Not that the suffering of Christ is insufficient for our salvation,
but the Church as a whole cannot arrive at perfection till it has
gone through suffering. Paul was anxious to hear his share.
See I Pet 4. “The mystery". 26,27, see note on Eph 3:3.

“Christ in You. the Hope of Glory", 27 The essence of Paul’s
message in this Epistle is this: Christ is the Head of the Universe.
We approach Him directly, not through intermediary angels. He,
not this or that philosophy, or this or that set of rules, but Christ
Himself is our Wisdom, our Life. our Hope, of Glory. Being a
Christian, essentially, is Loving HIM. Living in HIM, a Person, a
Glorious, Divine Person, through whom the universe was created}
 and in whom is entire sufficiency for Man’s Redemption and

Eternal Perfection.

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Overview: Colossians Bible Project




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXTXlDxQsvc


Overview Colossians Bible Project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXTXlDxQsvc

From:

https://www.readscripture.org/


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Colossians 1 New International Version (NIV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[b]

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.



13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,




14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of the Son of God

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And 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. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and 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.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 22 But 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— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move 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

24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To 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.

28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Footnotes:

Colossians 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 4:15.
Colossians 1:2 Some manuscripts Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Colossians 1:7 Or slave
Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts your
Colossians 1:9 Or all spiritual wisdom and understanding
Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us
Colossians 1:21 Or minds, as shown by

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New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Some content adapted from Halley, Henry H., Bible Handbook, Grayson Publishing, Minneapolis, MN.  © 1927 - 1959, 1964

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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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