COLOSSIANS at a glance

PURPOSE: To deal with the biblical errors that have shown up in the church there and to show the believers that all they will ever need can be found in Christ.

AUTHOR: It is once again the Apostle Paul.

THE ORIGINAL AUDIENCE: The church in the Asian Minor city of Colossae.

WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN: Approximately AD 60, during Paul’s Roman imprisonment.

THE SETTING: Paul had never been to the city of Colossae. Apparently the church was started by Epaphras & other converts from Paul’s missionary travels. The Colossian church had be infiltrated by the false teaching of “religious relativism”. *

SPECIAL FEATURES: Christ is presented as having absolute supremacy & sole sufficiency. This letter has similarities to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, possibly because it was written around the same time; however, it has a different emphasis.

 

THE BLUEPRINT

 

1. What Christ has done (Ch. 1:1 - 2:23)

 

2. What Christians should do (Ch. 3:1 - 4:18)

 

                  In this letter Paul clearly teaches that Christ has paid for sin, that Christ has reestablished our relationship to God, and that Christ gives us the pattern & the power to grow spiritually. In Christ lives all the fullness of God. Once we learn what he is like we understand what we need to become IN Christ. Because Christ is Lord over all creation, we must crown him as Lord over our lives. Since he is the head of the church, we should work at developing our vital connection to him.

 

Here is what Paul has to say regarding the supremacy of Christ:

 

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” - Colossians 1:15-20 NLT

                  Up next are the Mega Themes. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

 

In His Name & for His Glory

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible

* Relativism is any theory of knowledge, truth, morality, etc., holding that criteria of judgment may vary with individuals and their environments. (Relativism. (n.d.) Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. (2010). Retrieved March 6, 2024, from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/relativism