Colossians 1, A Spreading Gospel

After the letter to the Philippians in the New Testament is Paul's letter to the Colossians.

The city of Colossae was in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), in the region of Phrygia, inland from Ephesus.  There were residents of Phrygia at Pentecost (Acts 2: 5-12) and Paul traveled through Phrygia in Acts 16 (see Acts 16:6) on Paul's second missionary journey, enroute to Greece.

While in prison (probably in Rome?) Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae. This letter has some strong similarities with his letter to Ephesus.

Colossians 1: 1-2, Grace and peace

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

This is a fairly standard greeting for that time, describing the writer(s) and the intended recipients.

Colossians 1: 3-8, The good news spreads

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-- 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 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. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Presumably Paul has not yet met the people of this church but instead has heard of their growth and development, as the gospel ("good news") spreads throughout the Mediterranean.  Epaphras is presumably the first person who took the good news of the Messiah to Colossae.  It is possible that Epaphras was a resident of Colossae who met Paul elsewhere, maybe in Ephesus, and took the gospel back to Colossae.

Colossians 1: 9-14, Our prayer for you

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.

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, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Paul's prayer here is similar to that in his letter to the Ephesians.  The prayer rambles, one long sentence asking that those in Colossae have wisdom, knowledge, patience, joy... as they come to better understand their rescued state and begin to live out their new citizenship.

Colossians 1: 15-19, Messiah-God

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

At the end of Paul's prayer for the Colossians he goes on to describe the Messiah, the Son, as the "image of God", the leader over creation, indeed the one by which Creation occurred.  These are strong statements; the Messiah is eternal, without beginning or end, God-in-human-form, Creator.

Colossians 1: 21-23, Alienation, Reconciliation

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 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-- 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.

The "good news" has, at its roots, a recognition of human selfishness and capacity for evil, followed by an excited declaration of "reconciliation" with God.  It is not just a declaration of human hope and right actions, but of salvation from evil and darkness.

Colossians 1: 24-29, Commissioned to present Christ

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.  

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 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. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

The devout Jew, Paul, has been appointed ("commissioned") by God, to reach out to the Gentiles, helping lead them into citizenship in the growing empire of the Messiah ("Christ").

Paul continues to describe this citizenship in the next chapter of this letter.