The Prison Epistles: Colossians

THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS:
THE MYSTERY OF GOD—CHRIST IN YOU
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Dr. Paul Manuel—2017

 (This is one of four posts, each studying one of the four epistles the apostle wrote while in prison in Rome.)

Outline:

I. Paul addresses the Colossian church (Colossians 1:1-14).

A. He extends his greeting (vv. 1-8).
B. He offers a prayer (vv. 9-14).

Application: As you evaluate your life, you must have a realistic view of your own relevance.... God will commend you if you are commendable (Jms 4:10).

II. Paul describes a new relationship (Colossians 1:15-29).

A. He recognizes Christ's supremacy (vv. 15-20).
B. He reviews their reconciliation (vv. 21-23).
C. He introduces God's mystery (vv. 24-29).

Application: God has revealed some future events, not all you might like to know but all you need to know to make good choices now (Matt 24:13).

III. Paul extols the Savior's preeminence (Colossians 2:1-23).

A. He explains God's plan (vv. 1-5).
B. He minimizes sin's corruption (vv. 6-23).

1. A circumcised nature is now controlling (vv. 6-12).
2. A restricted lifestyle is now free (vv. 13-23).

Application: The challenge in your adopting any extra-biblical practice is to do so without your attributing to it the authority of scripture (1 Cor 4:6).

IV. Paul advocates a radical change (Colossians 3:1-4:1).

A. He counsels a new viewpoint (vv. 1-11).
B. He recommends a new attire (vv. 12-17).
C. He teaches about various relationships (vv. 18-25; 4:1).

Application: You determine how others view your savior by the way you treat your brethren (John 13:35; Gal 6:10).

V. Paul gives some closing remarks (Colossians 4:2-18).

A. He solicits their prayers (vv. 2-6).
B. He commends several individuals (vv. 7-18).

Application: Your commitment to God...should be manifest in your communion with God... (Luke 18:1).

Paul's letter to the Colossians (62) was one of four epistles he composed (with Timothy) from a Roman prison after his third missionary journey to Asia Minor.¹ The missive was in response to a visit from Epaphras, who then returned to Colossae with this letter from Paul:

You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf (Col 1:7).

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings (Col 4:12a).

I. Paul addresses the Colossian church (Colossians 1:1-14).

A. He extends his greeting (vv. 1-8).

Paul opens this epistle with a standard salutation as he does many of his other letters, by identifying himself, his traveling companion, his audience,² and offering them a brief blessing.

Col 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Although Paul was commissioned as an apostle of the savior—"I will send you far away to the Gentiles" (Acts 22:21)³—he served ultimately God the Father.⁴ As in the salutation of his letter to the Philippian church, Paul mentions Timothy here, his frequent traveling companion.⁵

Col 1:3 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 the saints—5 the 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 6 that 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. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Beginning his correspondence on a positive note, Paul includes an expression of thanks to God⁶ for their faith and love, both of which he repeats elsewhere.⁷

B. He offers a prayer (vv. 9-14).

Col 1:9 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. 10 And 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, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.⁸ 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,⁹ 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The apostle's devotion to prayer¹⁰ indicates that he takes Jesus' assumption ("when you pray" Matt 6:5) as the norm and does not regard this spiritual discipline as an an optional activity or afterthought¹¹ but as a necessary requirement for spiritual growth, which the believer ignores to his spiritual detriment. Prayer is also a proper activity in light of what God has done for the believer (i.e., redemption). This does not mean that God longs for communication with His creatures, as if He is lonely, because God requires nothing outside Himself, being completely independent and self-sufficient. God may enjoy human fellowship, but He does not need it.¹² Paul also recounts the believer's transfer that God performed (stage #1: conversion) moving him from one realm (negative—"the dominion of darkness" v. 13) to another realm (positive—"the kingdom of light").¹³

Application: God does not need anything. There is nothing you can offer Him that He requires. He does want your obedience and worship, and He does derive satisfaction from them, but having them in no way fulfills Him or completes any desideratum in Him. Life—His life as well as life in general—would go on fine without anyone else's involvement, including yours. As Eliphaz asks rhetorically, "Can a man be of benefit to God? ...What would He gain if your ways were blameless?" (Job 22:2-3) The correct answer is 'nothing.' He would gain nothing even if your life were perfect.

Your life is meaningful because God deemed it so and because Jesus died for you, but in comparison to God the measure of your life is meaningless. Bildad says, "man...is but a maggot; [he] is only a worm!" (Job 25:6)¹⁴ Whose assessment of man's worth is closer to the truth, that of Eliphaz or of Bildad? As you evaluate your life, you must have a realistic view of your own relevance. In any event, leave the final analysis to God. As James writes, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (4:10)¹⁵ God will commend you if you are commendable.¹⁶

II. Paul describes a new relationship (Colossians 1:15-29).

A. He recognizes Christ's supremacy (vv. 15-20).

Col 1:15 He is the image¹⁷ of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.¹⁸ 16 For 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.¹⁹ 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church;²⁰ he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.²¹ 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things,²² whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

With this description of Christ, perhaps adapting "an already formed hymn" (Dunn 1996:83), Paul is probably responding to a Gnostic view that some are promoting in the Colossian church (O'Brien 1982:37). His description of Christ's preeminence here is similar to what John presents in the opening verses of his gospel, to what Paul states in his letter to the Philippian church, and to what the author of Hebrews gives:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made..... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 14)

God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9-11)

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb 1:3)²³

These passages are some of the most doctrinally rich in the New Testament and are essential contributions to a developing Christology.²⁴

B. He reviews their reconciliation (vv. 21-23).

Col 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of 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, 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.

Before their conversion believers had the unenviable position of being at odds with God, not merely that the two parties were going in opposite directions but that both parties were openly hostile to each other. While that hostility in no way threatens God, having God as an enemy is a very serious threat to man:²⁵ "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb 10:3 1).

C. He introduces God's mystery (vv. 24-29).

Col 1:24 Now 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. 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 mystery²⁶ that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.²⁷ 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 28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

God has revealed several aspects of this mystery in scripture, some of which He only hinted previously:²⁹

• He will restore Israel.
• He will join gentiles and Jews.
• He will raise the dead.
• He will accomplish much of His plan through the messiah.
• He will accomplish some of His plan through the church.
• He will bring it all to a glorious completion in the end.

These aspects and more are what believers earlier could anticipate with confidence, even if they did not understand them completely at the time.³⁰

Application: There are pseudo-Christian groups today that do not recognize Christ's supremacy (e.g., Jehovah's Witnesses). According to them he is somehow less than what the New Testament authors describe in several passages. The testimony of those texts, though, is consistent and presents a view of the messiah that should both thrill and enthrall you, heightening your anticipation of what is yet ahead in God's plan: a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity for God's people. As you await the messiah's return, however, you are not in the dark about what will transpire, for God has revealed some future events, not all you might like to know but all you need to know to make good choices now. As Jesus said, "He who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matt 24:13). ....

For the remainder of this study with its Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf (29 pages) here.