An Introduction to the Letter to the Colossians

Introduction: Why study Colossians?

I am sure you, like me, have friends who started out well in the faith but today are far from Christ and His Church. I am sure they, like my friends, got led astray by weird and not-so-wonderful ideas that shifted the focus from Christ; Jesus was still there, He just wasn’t the main focus anymore.

And it is not just individuals that get led astray. There are so-called churches and movements today that still talk about Jesus, but their focus has shifted from Him and the Gospel to other things.

There is nothing new about this. Since the beginning of Christianity there have been those who have sought to lead Believers astray. This was probably the case with the Colossian church. In Colossae false teachers had arisen wanting to add all manner of fascinating philosophies and fantastical experiences to the Gospel. In Colossae Jesus was important, but He wasn’t everything.

And so, Paul, a caring pastor, wrote to the Believers to warn and encourage them. In Colossians we see that Jesus us above and beyond everything else, and we see that living completely for Him is the only way to live a full life.

This is why we need to Colossians.

We live in a world that would seek to distract us to death- taking our eyes off Jesus and tempting us to live a hollow existence. So we too need the message of Colossians. Only when we are convinced that Jesus is supreme over all creation and sufficient for eternal salvation will we mature into confident Christians who live fruitful lives.

As we come to Colossians we must come to this letter with excitement and humility; open to hear God speak to us and work in us. However, to get the most from this letter we must set this letter in its context by considering:

The Author

The Audience

The Overall Picture

With this careful work of preparation, we will be better able to apprehend and appreciate the truth it contains.

So, let us begin by considering… The Author

Colossians begins the way any letter in ancient times would have. In verse 1 we read:

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

Paul begins by identifying himself and Timothy as its authors.

We can very easily pass over these words and fail to recognise their implications. To better appreciate what God is saying in Colossians we must better understand the man God used to write it. So we must consider who Paul is, his story, and what it means for him to be an apostle, how he understands his authority. So, firstly…

 

 

 

Paul’s Story

We probably all know something of Paul’s story. Paul is the man who had the original ‘Road to Damascus Experience’. Saul, the self-righteous Pharisee and passionate persecutor of the Church met with Jesus and was changed forever. On that road he experienced the transforming power of the Gospel and became the Apostle of Grace called to proclaim and pastor in the name of Jesus Christ.

Paul was not an apostle because he decided to become an apostle. Paul became an apostle ‘…by the will of God…’. He had been converted in the Damascus Road, he had met with the risen Lord, and he had been commissioned by Him. This was all God’s doing- it was a sovereign act of grace by a sovereignly gracious God.

Like Paul we must always recognise that God is at work in our lives to bring glory to His name in the various displays of His grace. And each of us, like Paul, bring glory to God as we look to Christ and the Gospel to bring us fullness and fulfilment. We glorify God in our struggles, our cancer, our infirmities, our old age, our anxieties as we look to Christ and find in Him all we need- as we love Him and obey His commands and law.

So when we come to Colossians we should understand that it is authored by Paul- a grace made man- who desired that all would know the Christ who he knew and be taken captive by the wonders of the Gospel that had set him free. It was authored by Paul, but its authority is ultimately found in Christ…

 

 

His Authority

Paul says that he is ‘…an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…’. When Paul says he is an apostle, he means he is someone who has met with the risen Lord and has been personally commissioned by Him as a bearer of the Gospel.

And so, Paul understood that he had been set apart by God to preach the Gospel and shape the Church into what God intended it to be. Paul’s mission was not just to speak about Jesus, but for Jesus and from Jesus. In other words, Paul says: ‘Christ has given me authority and responsibility to bring you to maturity, so listen to me as if Christ Himself was speaking to you.’.

So, Paul’s letter to these Believers ultimately comes from God. This means that when Paul writes about the role of men and woman in the Church and in the home; or when he writes regarding living morally right lives in the family and the workplace, he is speaking God’s words.

The Letter to the Colossians does not express the personal opinions of Paul- a so-called ‘man of his time’. No, this letter is the eternal Word of God useful for the teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training of Believers in every generation. The contents of this letter applied to the Believers in Colossae centuries ago, but they apply just as much to us today also. We must listen to this letter to the Colossians as if Jesus Himself were addressing us today.

So, let us turn to the Believers who originally received this letter. When we have a better understanding of who this letter was written for we will better understand its message for us today…

 

The Audience

In the ESV verse 2 reads like this:

² To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae…

Again, in just a few words we are given a wealth of information and instruction. Here we learn that God addresses His People as ‘saints’ and calls them to serve His purposes in a particular setting.

‘Saints’

Contrary to a common misunderstanding, being described as a ‘saint’ is not a moral judgment- it is not a matter of how high someone has climbed on an imagined ‘Ladder of Righteousness’. Instead, the term ‘saints’ or ‘holy ones’ refers to all God’s People. It is a declaration of what God has done in and for all Believers. They are called holy ones because, in Christ and by grace, they have been set apart by God to belong to Him and called to live for Him.

In Colossians we learn that Believers are made holy by God and then called to pursue holiness in every aspect of their lives as a witness to what God has done. Believers are to be easily distinguished as they live in an unholy culture. Everything about them will be different from the corrupted world in which they live.

Believer, in Christ, you are a ‘holy one’ called to pursue holiness as one of God’s chosen People. This is a difficult, weighty challenge so take heart from what Paul says next.

 

 

Paul stresses that every Believer in Colossae was ‘…in Christ Jesus…’. In other words, they had been delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into vital union and communion with Christ Jesus. They were washed in His blood and given a new standing in His grace. They were given a completely new identity- they were now part of the family of God and called to bear the family likeness.

The same is true for all Believers today. We, too, are vitally connected to Christ and have entered a personal relationship with Him. The fullness of His all-sufficient life is flowing into our lives. All that Christ is and all that He possesses belongs to us. And so, Paul begins this letter by reminding his first readers, and Believers through the ages, that they have this privileged position in Christ Jesus.

It is vitally important for Believers to grasp that they are ‘in Christ’; personally and vitally connected to Him, like branches to a vine or members to a body. Believers are God’s People belonging to Him and to each other because of Jesus and their relationship to Him. And this relationship to Christ changes everything for the Believer- who they are and how they will live. This truth becomes more apparent when we consider the…

‘Setting’

According to Paul the saints are two places at once: they are in Christ but they are also at Colossae. The wonderful theological assertions that have been made (that these Believers are holy, faithful, family, in Christ) apply to a particular group of people in a specific location in the world. This is not a letter of abstract ideas for an imagined, idealised people. This letter contains truth for real people, living out their faith in the real world.

Due to it’s location in the Lycus Valley, in modern day Turkey, Colossae had once been a prosperous and important city. There had been a thriving economy and the city had been located at an important crossroads of two well-travelled highways. In former days, as travellers came and went, the city had been exposed to many different religions and philosophies which had thrived and mixed together.

The Believers in Colossae lived in a city which was a melting pot of cultures and worldviews. And we must not forget that above all this Colossae was part of the Roman Empire- where Caesar was lord and promised peace and provision for all loyal subjects.

So, Colossae was not an easy place to be a Believer. Outwardly they were opposed by the surrounding culture. The message of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ is Saviour and Lord of all, was in direct opposition to the worldview of Colossae. The person of Jesus and the message of the Gospel struck right at the heart of its cultural pluralism, fascination with power, worship of Ceasar, and its pursuit of material comforts.

And inwardly there were tensions that threatened to undo them. They faced divisions within their fellowship as false teachers sought to lead them away from Christ. And yet, God had placed them there to live as holy ones united to Christ and each other.

Believer: as you look around today how do you feel? Perhaps like the Believers in Colossae- outwardly we face a culture opposed to the exclusive claims of Christ and the Gospel; inwardly there is the temptation to find fullness of life apart from Jesus and the wonderful truth of the Gospel.

Then take heart from what Paul says here. In Christ all Believers receive fullness of life in His work of reconciliation at the Cross. In Christ we follow the One of all power and wisdom who has overcome sin and death and will bring all things under His perfect rule in God’s perfect time. In Christ we are given all we need to live a life worthy of the One who has called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.

To help us in this we must absorb what God teaches us through Paul in this letter as a whole and so we turn now to consider…

The Overall Message

In Acts 19 we read of Paul’s three-year ministry in Ephesus. During Paul’s ministry, a Colossian named Epaphras travelled to Ephesus and responded to Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel. Epaphras returned home and began sharing the good news of Christ, which resulted in the birth of the Colossian church.

Sometime later Epaphras visited Paul in Rome. From what we read earlier we see that the Colossians had been bearing fruit and this provoked thanksgiving. But Epaphra also shared the news that a dangerous teaching was threatening the Church at Colossae. Paul writes this letter to respond to this situation and to encourage these Believers in their growth toward Christian maturity.

When Paul hears of the spreading influence of this teaching that devalues Christ, he writes this letter of warning and encouragement. He emphasises the supremacy of Christ over all powers. He declares the sufficiency of Christ for salvation and sanctification. Paul calls the Believers to behold Christ in all His awesome glory and amazing love and to find fullness of life in living for Him.

Of all the books in the Bible, the Letter to the Colossians may rightly be considered the most Christ-centred. There is the great ‘Christ-Hymn’ in Chapter 1 and the call to find fullness in Christ in Chapter 2. And in Chapters 3 and 4 Christ is to be Lord over every aspect of life inside the Church, the home, and the workplace.

In this short letter Paul goes to great lengths to proclaim the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ in all things and for all people. The good news of Christ’s lordship over creation as well as His redemption for His People is declared from start to finish in this Christ-centred letter.

Paul focuses on these themes because the world, both that of the early Christians and our own, undermines the truth of Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency for all of life. All of us will face times when we wonder if Christ really is enough. As we live in the world we will struggle with doubts about God’s sovereignty and salvation, we will despair when life seems confusing and out of control, and the foundations of our faith will be shaken as we journey in this life.

Paul, seeking the maturity of all Believers, writes this letter to address these very real dangers. He seeks to strengthen our faith by fixing our eyes on who Jesus truly is and the full implications of what He has done. We are strengthened to combat the temptations to surrender to worldly ambitions and desires, reduce the gospel to mere religious principles and practices, and to separate our belief in Christ from our behaviour for Christ.

 

 

Throughout the entire letter Paul redirects our focus back to Christ, who is the Creator of all things, Savior of all peoples, and Victor over all enemies because of His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. In Colossians we are clearly focused upon who Christ is and what He has accomplished. And as our focus is directed to these wonderful truth we are equipped to live by faith, walk in obedience, and glorify God.

So, we see that the message of Colossians is that we must embrace Christ fully and live for Him completely. Only in Christ- the One who is supreme over creation and sufficient for salvation- can we find fullness of life.

In Colossians we hear the call of God upon us, as His People, to receive Christ as Saviour from sin and submit to Him as Lord over all of our lives. In Christ we, as individuals and as a congregation, are to glorify Christ by loving Him and obeying His commands and Law.

 

Conclusion

In Colossians we are called to live a life worthy of the Gospel by keeping our eyes firmly focused on Jesus. This is a calling to behold Jesus Christ in all His glory and grace; to acknowledge that He is supreme and sufficient, Lord and Saviour. And then we are to live for Him and enjoy the fullness of life that comes from loving Him and obeying Him with all that we are. So, in the coming weeks as we study together, may each of us draw closer to Christ, be made more like Christ, and learn to live completely for Christ.