colossians part 1

8/8/2019 Colossians Part 1

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A Resurrection Kinda Life: The Rise Christ The Book of Colossians (I)

Introduction: Why are we doing this?

1. As a Christian, it is a vital point of our life to study the Bible and to live out what itsays

1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in

them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

2. Most Christians havent the faintest clue how to even approach the Bible so it ismy aim to model how to survey a Bible book to understand its contents

Quick Facts About Colossians

Pauls the author. You can read the story of his conversion in Acts 7:60-8:1 and9:1-31

Hes writing to the church at Colosse. Colosse was a fairly large city in what is nowTurkey. Heres a map:

The church seems to have been started by Epahras, who heard the Gospel fromPaul


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Colossians 1:5-7 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye

heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; (6) Which is come unto

you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since

the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: (7) As ye alsolearned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of

Christ;

Paul writes to these Christians who are under the weight of a group of falseteachers who were taking the focus off the risen Christ

His aim is pretty simple: to show that Christ Jesus, the risen Son of God, mustalways take pride of place in the life of the church and the believer

It is interesting that many of Pauls epistles have this progression from a doctrinal

exposition to practical application. This demonstrates a clear Biblical principle that

doctrinal truth leads to sound practice, not the other way around.

This lesson is affirmed by none other than the Lord Jesus Himself:

John 7:17 If any man will do [the Fathers] will, he shall know of the doctrine,

whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

And so, we enter into a survey of the Book of Colossians. Heres a outline of what we

will cover in the next two weeks:

Breaking Colossians Down

The Book of Colossians breaks down cleanly into two

halves:

I. Doctrinal The Risen Christ Chapters 1-2II. Practical The Risen Life Chapters 3-4


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I. The Risen Christa. The Person of Christb. The Ministry We Have in Christc. The Danger of False Teaching About Christ

II.

The Risen Lifea. It Affects Our Personal Conductb. It Affects Our Life in Communityc. It Affects Our Speechd. It Affects Our Friendships

Before we dig into the book proper, I want to look at the prayer of the Apostle in

chapter 1:9-14:

In essence, the Apostle makes two prayer requests:

1. He prays that they might be filled with the knowledge of Gods will (v.9-10)2. He prays that they might be strengthened with all power to endure (v.11-12)

He can confidently makes these requests in the light of what God has done through His

Son in the Gospel (v. 13-14).

Since this Son is the central character in our salvation, Paul now jumps into the rest of

his epistles, unpacking three closely related ideas:

I. The Person of Christ Colossians 1:15-23II. The Ministry We Have in Christ Colossians 1:24-2:7III.The Danger of False Teaching About Christ Colossians 2:8-23

The Person of Christ Colossians 1:15-23:

There are six things about Christ which Paul brings out in Colossians 1:15-23:

1. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God - Colossians 1:15 (cf. Hebrews 1:3; 2Corinthians 4:4)

2. Jesus Christ is the firstborn of all creation Colossians 1:15. (This is not sayingthat he is the first creation of God, rather that He is the pre-eminent One)

3. Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things Colossians 1:16 (cf. Hebrews 1:2)4. Jesus is the Head of all things especially the Church - Colossians 1:17-185. All the divine nature is perfectly displayed in Jesus Colossians 1:19 (cf. Hebrews

1:3, Colossians 2:9)


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6. Reconciliation is made possible because of the cross work of Christ Colossians1:20-21 (cf. 2 Cor 5:16-21)

This amazing Son is the One, who through His death, brings us into a long relationship

with Him (Col 1:21-22)

Almost out of nowhere, Paul moves into a discussion about ministry why? Because, at

its heart, without a foundation in the work of Christ, there is no true ministry

The Ministry We Have in Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:7):

Paul discusses his ministry and we see three lines of presentation in this section:

1. Paul is suffering as a steward Col 1:24-28. Especially interesting is this idea offilling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions (ESV). This is not to say that

Christs sacrifice is insufficient or lacking (cf. Heb 9:12, 24-27; 10:14) but that as

the Church, which is His body, suffers, Christ, the Head, is as affected as we were.

We see this shown in Acts 9:1-5

2. Paul is suffering for the saints Col 1:29-2:3. Paul ministers with the aim thatevery person to whom he ministers will be complete in Christ and see that all

wisdom and knowledge are in Him

3. Paul is sounding a warning alarm Col 2:4-7. Since the Church remains underthreat in every age (cf. Acts 20:28-32, 1 Tim 4:1-5), there is a warning ministry

attached to serving Christ. Paul is aware of this, more so than any other man we

see in the New Testament, apart from the Lord Jesus. The aim is that no-one

would con the Phillippian Christians, even in Pauls physical absence (v.4-5). The

announcementthat makes this possible is clear: just as you received the truth in

Christ, keep standing in that truth (v.6-7, Jude 3)

The Danger of False Teaching about Christ (Colossians 2:8-23):

The Colossian church was suffering under the weight of teachers who claimed to be

deep definitely too deep for the Colossians in their own estimation. In reality, their

teachings were far from deep and so the Apostle goes for the jugular and gives us some

pointers as to what a false teaching looks like:

A. False teaching always takes the focus away from Christ (v. 8-10)B. False teaching always takes the focus away from the Cross (v. 11-15)


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C. False teaching always says that salvation is harder than God designed it to be (v.16-17)

D. False teaching always says that what God has already said is NOT enough (v. 18-19)

E.

False teaching always says that rules, laws and principles are s substitute forrelationship (v. 20-23)

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