Colossians 1:21-29. In yesterday’s reading Paul spent some time singing Jesus’ praise, literally. In verses 15-20 we saw that Jesus is God, he has the authority and power, and that he used that power to save mankind and to start a team, the church (called out ones). In today’s reading Paul makes the message more personal to the Colossian believers and also gets a little personal with them about himself.

In verses 21-23 talks to the Colossians about their personal experience with Jesus. In verse 21 we find out that they started out just like the rest of us. He tells them they were alienated. The word means “strangers or separated”. In recent posts I have mentioned several times that or disobedience and rebellion (sin) results in us being separated (death is the idea of separated, see Romans 3:23)) from God. He also told them that they hated God (words don’t get much stronger that the one used here to describe their attitude). Finally he told them that their actions were evil. The world likes to believe that people are innocent and learn to be bad but the truth is we have all gone the wrong way (Isaiah 53:6).

Thankfully Jesus used all that power and authority to provide us a way out. It was very costly to him. He existed as God from all eternity past but then took on a human life, permanently becoming the eternal God-man. Unlike the rest o f us he never acted in a way that was against God. Then he did the truly amazing thing he allowed his guiltless human life be destroyed; he was killed physically on the cross and his spirit was also separated from God the Father (see “Three or One?”) and died spiritually too (He said right before he died, “God why have you forsaken (left, abandon) me.”).

In that way he reconciled us to God; his life was a trade for ours. Now he sits with God the father in heaven and informs the father that the trade means we are special (holy), without defect (a term used to describe the perfect animals that were required to be used in the Temple sacrifices) and without blame. This last word is sort of a legal term meaning that their are no charges against us. Of course there had been, they and we, had been engaged in evil deeds. But the fine or penalty had been paid and we had a clean slate. In the Roman legal system a person had a record of the wrong the had committed. After the punishment was fully paid the record was taken by an official and the word “tetelestai” was written on it. That Greek word literally means “it is finished”; in other words the debt was paid. In John 19:30 it is the last thing Jesus said before he died on the cross.

Verse 23 is pretty difficult. Paul is continuing the thought from verse 22, Jesus traded his life for our so he could present us to God; pure, perfect, and paid for. In this verse Paul tells the Colossian believers that he can only do this if they stay faithful. He tells them that they need to stay “steadfast and established”. One translation says “grounded and settled”. The first word is used for the foundation of a building, that’s pretty immovable. The place they are to be stuck is in the “hope of the gospel”. The gospel, or good news, they had heard gave them a hope of being restored in their relationship with God for all eternity. Now we know from verse 21 that we are all dirty and that it was the death of Jesus on the cross that made us clean. It’s not that we never did anything wrong it’s that Jesus didn’t do anything wrong and when God looks at us he sees Jesus instead.

The death of Jesus cannot be undone and according to 1 John 2:2 it was enough to satisfy the “justice” of God for everyone. Everyone doesn’t go to heaven though (See Revelation 20:11-15), it is only those who have trusted Jesus to make things right for them (John 1:12). In 1 John 5:11-13 John wrote so that his readers could know that they had “eternal life”. The idea of life, remember, is the idea of a relationship and it is forever. If it can be broken then it isn’t eternal. John also told his readers that this eternal relationship with him was given by him and was “in his son” (Jesus). If you have really trusted Jesus to make your relationship with God right then it cannot be undone. According to Paul in Romans 8:31-39 we are told that nothing can separate us from the love of God (and notice he is especially talking about his love as seen in what Jesus has done for us). IN simple terms it is very clear that a person cannot lose their salvation; become unsaved.

So what was Paul saying to the Colossians. Some experts believe he was saying that you could get unsaved (but the Bible is clear that you cannot). Others think that he didn’t doubt that they would stay firm in their hope of eternity but was using the “if you…” as a way of letting them know what was important to hold onto as a believer, in this case, the truthfulness of the story about Jesus. It seems like a round about way to tell the Colossian believers to stay steady in they way they are living for God. It is interesting that in 2 Peter 3:13-14 Peter told his readers that because of their hope of living with God for eternity that they should be peaceful, spotless and blameless. He actually goes on in the next two verses to tell his readers that Paul has written the same sort of thing in his letters but that Paul’s letters are hard to understand. So maybe verse 23 here is just Paul’s hard way of staying faithful.

There is one more possibility. There really was a chance that the believers in Colosse might start losing hope. In that case though the consequence isn’t that Jesus couldn’t “present” them, they just might be less than perfect; physically, actually.   In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 Paul tells the believers in that city that they need to be careful how they live for God (“build on the foundation”), because in the end their lives will be evaluated, not to see if they get into heaven but for some other sort of reward. We also see in these verses that the actions of some believers will not measure up, their deeds will be “burned up”, they will in some way feel a loss but they will be saved. Paul uses the idea of a fire in 1 Corinthians purging or purifying a person’s work, burning up all the useless stuff. They would get to Heaven but might reek of smoke.

Both the second and third ideas are possibilities Paul might be teaching the “hard way” or some people might learn “the hard way”. Either way the Colossians needed to think about how they were living for God, they needed to hold onto the truth of the Gospel, the hope it gave, and live appropriately (see again 2 Peter 3:13-14).

Paul ends the verse by moving back to the “big picture” he started with in verse 20. In verse 20 we saw that Jesus was reconciling “all things” to himself. (By the way this included not just the lives of believers but the rest of the universe too. The physical universe would be made right again and even unbelieves and demons would have their existence put properly under the authority of Jesus (see Philippians 2:10-11, Romans 8:20-21).) At the end of verse 23 Paul starts with the Colossians who have heard the “good news” about Jesus and then reminds them that that same “good news” had been proclaimed (preached or published) in all creation under heaven. IN the Greek language the verse literally says the “gospel was preached in every creature”. Some say this is his way of pointing out that the story never changes. Psalm 19:1 tells us that the created universe actually inform us of God’s greatness and what he is doing. Paul says the same sort of thing in Romans 1:20. Of course that isn’t the whole story but I wonder if Paul might mean both in verse 23. Sometimes we like to say certain things are “written in stone”, meaning that they never change, Paul might be saying something like that too.

So far Paul has been giving some very strong advise to a group of people he has never even met. He has also included some very strong praise too. In verses 24-29 Paul takes kind of step back so they can get a little better look at him. Remember he was in prison. The original founder of the church, Epaphras, went to Rome to see if he could be of any help to Paul and to let him know how the church was, but most of the rest of the people in Colosse had only heard about Paul. Evidently that were being challenged about the need for “more” in their relationship with God; more knowledge, more of the “old religion” (Judaism), more self-denial, more, more, more. Some might have been put off by the fact that Paul was in jail too.

Right away Paul makes the shocking statement that he is glad that he is suffering. He tells them it is for their sake. Even more shocking he says that he is making up for what was “lacking in Jesus’ suffering”. Wait a minute, wasn’t it Jesus who did it all on the cross? Yes. What Jesus didn’t do on the cross is what he left his follower behind to do. A guy named Luke (a companion of Paul on some of his journeys) wrote at least two books in the New Testament, Luke and Acts (He may have written Hebrews too). He wrote them to his friend Theophilus. Luke was a history of what “Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1) and Acts was the continuation of that story, “The Acts of the Apostles”. You might see it as what they continued to do. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told those original followers that they would be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” It was going to be a difficult assignment. In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul is telling the echurch at Corinth that he and his companions were servants of God for their sake (2 Corinthians 4:5). He talks about sharing in the suffering of Jesus as he continues to serve as a preacher of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:10-12). He even calls the suffering “momentary light affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17). In 2 Corinthians 11:22-28 Paul talks about some of theses “light trials” he suffered, check them out. These particular troubles, that he suffered because he was out telling people about Jesus, were specific trials that Jesus did not go through (But in 2 Corinthians 4 Paul does say his troubles and Jesus’ were linked, “carrying about in my body the dying of Christ”). You see the suffering of Jesus wasn’t “not enough”, it just wasn’t all there was. Jesus suffered what he needed to suffer to redeem us and Paul was suffering what he needed in order to serve the churches.

In verse 25 he tells us that he was made a “minister”, that word means “servant”, according to the “stewardship” given to him by God for the benefit of the Colossians (and others). The word Greek “stewardship” is word we get the English word “economy” from. In Paul’s time it related to managing a household. In other words Paul is saying, “Jesus left me to run his household, it’s a tough job, but I’m doing for your benefit.” He also tells them that specifically what he is doing is “fully teaching them the word of God.”

In verse 26 he tells them that the message he is giving them had once been a “mystery” but now God wanted his “saints” to know it. Paul uses an interesting word to describe what he was telling them, he said it was “manifest” or had “appeared”. Paul probably uses the idea of “mystery” and of information “appearing” because theses were the same ideas that the people who were trying to pull the Colossians away from Jesus were using. But the Colossians were “saints” (special or holy or dedicated ones) and they weren’t missing out, they had knowledge of a mystery and special “manifestations” too, only theirs was the real deal. In verse 27 he tells them that the mystery they have seen involves seeing God in all of his greatness (riches of his glory), a greatness that is seen in him offering salvation to everyone, even non-Jews. The fact that Paul points out that Jesus’ sacrifice is available to non-Jews (which most of the Colossians were) may poin to the fact that most of the trouble was coming from Jews. The fact that there is so much talk about “knowledge” and “mysteries” and “manifestations” 9and more stuff later) may point to a specific group of Jews known as Essenes. Some scholars think there were two groups of trouble makers some Jews and others “Gnostics”. Gnosticism really wasn’t around this early, not formally anyway, but the Essenes were.

In verse 28 Paul tells them that he is teaching and correcting (admonishing means correcting or scolding) them so that on the day when Jesus evaluates them that he can say, “Check it out they are complete.” Notice that Paul uses the word “wisdom”, another of those words that was probably being use to make them doubt or think they needed “Jesus plus”.   The word used for “complete” here means “to be perfect” or “to have reached the goal”. Again this may be a challenge they were being confronted with.

In verse 29 Paul returns to the idea of his effort for them. He tells them that God is giving him the power that is doing great things through him.   Paul brings together terms and ideas that the opponents were using to try to pull the Colossian believer away from Jesus.   He also talks about other things that might have been a problem for them, like his imprisonment. In this way he is showing them that he is one to be trusted and that he is interested in their wellbeing.

I like it that God is not intimidated by false teaching. Also God is not afraid to do things different from what the world think is cool. It was ok for Paul to suffer, it was actually necessary for Jesus to suffer, and it wasn’t a problem that Paul was in jail either. I like it that God informs us, he want us to know what he is doing; how to have a good relationship with him. It is also impressive that all the smooth talk by the false teachers doesn’t trip God up, “You want mysteries? I’ve got the original.” “Power? It doesn’t get any better than mine, it really gets things done.” Finally I like it that God is watching and cares enough to have one of his servant take control when necessary to keep us on track. Jesus told his followers that he would never leave them or turn his back on them and that he was giving us a “helper” to help us follow him (Hebrews 13:5, John 14:16, 26).

Thank you God for fixing me up, keeping an eye on me and helping me. Help me help other to follow you faithfully. Let my life be filled with hope of your eternal future for me and let me bring that hope to others too.

Colossians 1:15-20. In yesterday’s reading Paul told the Colossian believers that their love and dedication to God prompted him to pray for them all the time. He wanted them to keep learning about Jesus. He wanted them to learn more and more about how to honor God with their lives and to keep living for God. He would pray that they would be made strong by God. Probably more of a mental and emotional (maybe even spiritual) strength to keep them living for God. He also wanted them to be steady, patient, and have joy, more things that tell us the strength was more internal and probably not about muscles. He then gave a reason for why we should live for God; the reason behind the kinds of things he was asking God for is that we are citizens of a new kingdom. The old kingdom we were part of is described as being dark (being in the dark, complete darkness, is very uncomfortable it probably symbolizes all that is bad or evil). We see that darkness is bad because Paul tells us we have been rescued from it and now are in the kingdom of Jesus who paid the price so we cold be forgiven for our disobedience and rebellion (sin). This last part confirms that the kingdom of darkness was bad; it is where we would have been without Jesus, separated from God for eternity.

Experts say today’s reading is a song or hymn about Jesus. Even with the little bit of Colossians that we have read so far it is clear that somebody was challenging the believers in Colosse about their relationship with God. In verse 6 Paul told them that they had heard and understood the truth. In verse 5 he told that that their hope of being with God in Heaven one day was based on truth that they had heard. He told the Colossian believers that he prayed regularly and asked God that they would be filled with knowledge and understanding and wisdom of God’s will. Clearly some one was challenging them to know more, to understand more. If you read the “Intro to Colossians” you know that some experts think the Colossians were being challenged by and old belief system called “Gnosticism”. That system would challenge people in just the way we see the Colossians being challenged. Gnosticism really didn’t become a belief system for until many decades after Paul wrote to the Colossians. There was a branch of the Jewish religion, a group called Essenes, that was also in love with spirits and mysteries that may have been the challenge. Paul’s answer so far has been Jesus. The trust and belief of the Colossians was in the “Chosen One” (Christ), Jesus. It was Jesus who brought them out of darkness and in to his kingdom. So it seems fitting that Paul would take a little time to talk more about Jesus and he does that in today’s reading. The fact that verses 15-20 seem to be a song just makes this information that much more memorable, at least if you know Greek.

Scholars disagree on how the “song” might be divided, what the stanzas or verses are. By the way, this song may not have even been set to music, making it more of a poem that a song. Based on the contents of the song there are two different parts. The fist part is verses 15-17 and the second part is verses 18-20.

In verses 15-17 we see Jesus in relationship to the creation. First we are told that Jesus is the “image” of the invisible God, the “firstborn” of all creation. The word “image” contains two ideas that are always part of it. The first idea is the idea of a symbol. You might think of the idea of a “logo”. When you see a logo you think of the product or company that it represents. The symbol doesn’t’ have to be abstract though because the Greek word used here also was used for a reflection in a mirror. Obviously what we see in a mirror isn’t the real thing but it certainly looks like it. The other idea that the word contains is the idea of appearance. That doesn’t mean the way something looks like, “She appeared sick.” It’s the idea of “showing up personally” like, “Spiderman appeared at just the right time to save the girl.” We sometimes us the word “manifestation” to mean the actual appearance of someone or something. What Paul is saying here is that Jesus is the exact visible appearance of the invisible God. In Hebrews 1:3 we are told that Jesus is the “exact representation of God’s nature.” The word translated “nature” means actual real existence or being. In Jesus we see God, not because he is a reflection, but because he is God.

Second we are told that Jesus is the “firstborn” of or over all creation. In the Greek there are only three words: “Firstborn”, “all”, and “creature or creation”. There is no preposition, that is why some translations say “of” and others say “over”. The word firstborn can sometimes means a person who is born first but it is only used that way once in the New Testament. It is usually used to describe someone who has first position in terms of leadership. The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew but was eventually translated into Greek. It seems that the Greek translations was used a lot in Jesus’ day. In that translation the Greek word used here was used repeatedly for this idea of the child who would be the head of a household or for other people who had the head position of leadership (Psalm 89:27, David (v. 20) was clearly not God’s physical child or even the first king ever born, but he would be the king among kings). So Jesus is the head over all of creation.

Verse 16 tells helps us see that is what Paul meant because in that verse Jesus is described as the creator of all things in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible. Paul uses the words heaven, earth, visible and invisible to describe what Jesus created. Some scholars think that Paul arranged the words in a pattern called a chiasm, there are parallel ideas that are arranged like they are reflected in a mirror. If the there are two ideas, A1 and B1, then their parallels are A2 and B2. The chiastic arrangement is A1-B1-B2-A2. So Heaven is parallel with invisible and Earth is parallel with visible. Heaven can have different meanings in the Bible, but in this case it is parallel with invisible and means the invisible created realm of spirits. In the second part of verse 16 he uses four words all that deal with authority: thrones, rulers, dominions, and authorities. These may refer to authority on the earth but in Ephesians 6:12 Paul uses very similar language to describe authority in the spirit realm. Remember that Paul wrote Ephesians at the same time he wrote Colossians. Also later in Colossians (2:18) we see that some people had been trying to get the Colossians to worship angles. It is more likely that Paul is talking about “spirit” authorities to point out that Jesus is master over them along with everything else. In the end of verse 16 Paul makes sure we understand that since Jesus created all things that all things exist for whatever purpose he has for them.

Verse 17 Paul gives a summary by telling us that Jesus existed before everything that was created (visible and invisible, everything) and that he also keeps the whole thing running. Jesus not only was the creator but his actions continue in his creation every day.

In verses 18-20 we see Jesus as the head of a new creation too. In Genesis 3 the original creation was cursed because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, that was part of the consequence of their sin (see Romans 8:20-22). According to Romans 8:19 the whole creation is waiting for the “sons of God” to be revealed or seen. It is clear from the rest of Romans 8 that the “sons of God” are believer in Jesus and the whole creation is waiting to be set free from the effects of sin along with us. The Greek word that is translated “church” means “to call out”, like when people are picked to be on a team. Paul explains more about this team when he uses the idea of “firstborn” again this time in relationship to death.

The “dead” is parallel to church in this verse and is a description of what we are without Jesus; we die physically and are dead spiritually too (separated from God). In 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 Jesus is called the “first fruits” of those who are asleep (dead). It is similar to the idea of being “born” first. Also in Colossians 1:18 we are told he is the “beginning” that word is also parallel to “firstborn”. Jesus was the first to come back to life permanently from physical death. His resurrection proved his power or authority over physical death and helps us know he has power to restore our relationship with God too. So the idea of “leader” and “authority” is still here too.

Verse 18 ends by telling us that what Jesus has done leads to him having “first place” in everything. Again the idea of authority, but now it is not just over the “called out ones” but over everything.

In verse 19 we are told that it pleased God to have all “fullness” live or dwell in Jesus. The fullness is talking about all that God is; all that was in Jesus. Jesus was 100% God and !00% man. Verse 20 tells us why this was pleasing to God. Because Jesus, as the eternal God-Man, was able to pay the eternal price for the sins of all mankind (1 John 2:2). He was reconciling (the word means to restore a previous time of harmony) and bringing back peace between God and all things both in heaven and on earth. This was done as he died on the cross.

Jesus’ death on the cross was enough to pay the price for the sins of all mankind opening the door for us to live in peace and harmony with God forever. His actions also affect the whole physical universe that has been winding down and wearing out since Adam and Eve sinned. Once all of mankind who will turn back to God do, there will no longer be any need for a broken world to remind us of our broke relationship with God and the world will be restored to it’s former perfection too. Jesus, in his life, death, and resurrection proved that he is God in human flesh and has the power and authority to fix it all. Paul wanted the Colossians, who were being tempted to think that they needed more than Jesus, to see that Jesus is all that there is, and he is all that we need.

God I’m not great at singing but I do appreciate who you are and the fact that you love me. Help me remember always who you are and what you have done. Let my life be a song to you, honoring you and praising you through my thoughts and actions. Help me remember that you made it all and yet you became a man to remake me, and others too. Thank you for such a great love, help me remember that you are all there is to live for.