Soaring thru Scripture! Colossians 1:1-14

Paul's letter to the church in Colossae, verses 1 through 14

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

Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.[b] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

A Little Background

The city of Colossae, at the time of Paul's letter, was in the twilight of its existence. A once great city on the decline. It's population was being overcome with the new age thinking of the day. In the midst of this, Paul's co-worker in Christ, Epaphas, established the church and it was thriving because the new believers embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they were faithful and loving.

Greeting

As was Paul's way, he begins the letter establishing his credentials, stating, quite correctly, that he was an apostle (an eyewitness of Christ) by the will of Jesus Christ. That fact was established on Paul's journey to Damascus. Refer to The Acts of the Apostles chapter 9.

In verse 2 Paul establishes his audience, "the saints". So, he is writing to the believers (Christians) of the church in Colosae.

He goes on the compliment them on being a faithful and loving church and that they first heard the Gospel through Epaphras, a co-worker of Paul's.

Beautiful Prayer

Verses 9 through 11 give great insight into how Paul prayed for the Colossians. It's a wonderful prayer and would be a great way to pray for any believers, new or established, you know. It would be a great prayer for your children, if you have them. Come to think of it, it would be a great prayer to pray for yourself! We all need to be "filled with the knowledge of His will" and "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord".  And what Christian wouldn't want to "bear fruit", "increase in knowledge of God", as well as be "strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy"? I know I would!

Faithful Promise

Looking at verse 13, we are given a wonderful promise. When we are saved, we area delivered from the darkness of our unsaved, sinful life to the kingdom of our King Jesus Christ! As part of being a new creation, we are made members of God's kingdom! We are welcomed into that kingdom with all the rights, privileges and blessings of those who have gone before us and those who are to follow!

Foundational Truth

Verse 14 states an important foundational truth of Christianity. We are redeemed and forgiven through our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ! Without that truth, I think we can agree, Christianity has no real meaning. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we remember at Communion time, the is no Christianity, because Jesus would not be who He claimed to be.

Thanks be to our Father in Heaven, that is not the case and Jesus did rise from the dead and exited that tomb just as He said He would, cementing the fact that He truly is THE Messiah come to earth to redeem His people!

I hope you got something out of this. Something useful, uplifting or encouraging. Please feel free to comment or ask questions! I'd love to hear from you. All I ask is to keep it civil. I promise to do the same.

God bless and keep you!

Bob

What is a Christian?

According to a Pew Research survey, as of 2014, 71% of the US population describes themselves as Christian. That number is falling, unfortunately, but I think it's more realistic the lower it goes.

Christians are looked down on in America these days.

We're perceived as judgmental.

We're looked at as hypocrites.

We're told we are mean.

We're called racist and homophobic.

We're narrow minded, if we have a mind at all.

We're stupid and behind the times.

For those who are actual followers of Jesus Christ, those descriptions could not be farther from the truth.

Even casual observers of Jesus Christ's life can only conclude that He was about love and forgiveness; sacrifice and giving. And those who believe He is the Messiah, come down to earth to take the punishment for our sins and then follow His teachings and strive to live their lives accordingly, are authentic Christians. Quite frankly, everyone else just give Christians a bad name.

Authentic Christians ARE NOT:

Westboro Baptist Church. Let me repeat, authentic Christians ARE NOT Westboro Baptist Church. These people are exactly the opposite of authentic Christians.

The KKK who burn crosses and hate

Crusaders forcing people to convert and killing them if they don't

People who apply their own form of morality on society

Authentic Christians are just people who believe we personally are sinners who have broken our relationship with God and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, come to earth to die for those sins. We TRY to live each and every day the way Jesus Christ would want us to live according to His teaching. We don't always succeed. We're human, after all.

We understand that those who aren't yet Christian watch us closely, scrutinizing our lives to see if we are different. And that's OK. It really is because that's the way God wants it. Jesus said we are to go into all the world to be His witnesses. That means we are to live our lives, not separate from, but within society to show we are different. Jesus is the reason we are different.

Please don't judge us when we fail. God doesn't.

When there is disaster anywhere in the world, generally speaking, Christians are the first on the scene with help. Organizations like Samaritan's Purse have disaster relief teams all around the world at the ready to react to earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and other natural disasters. They bring food, shelter and medical attention.

Authentic Christians help people. Pray for people. All people.

We do these things, because of the great grace and mercy shown to us by God, the Father who forgives our sin and guides us through our lives. We do it in response to His great love for us.

Do we always get it right? No way. We fail. We have a bad day. We sin. But, an authentic Christian will not live that way, perpetually failing, sinning. An authentic Christian will recognize their failure, ask for forgiveness, and strive to do better the next time with God's help.

We are praying for America and the world. Yes, we are even praying for the President and the US government.

Why do we do the things we do? Because we want everyone to know the love and forgiveness that comes from believing in Jesus Christ.

Being a Christian doesn't clear your life of troubles. Far from it, But the Christian life and following Christ gives you an advocate with God. Living the Christian life gives you someone who is perpetually with you to help you through life's turbulent times. More importantly, being a Christian means you have a place with God for all eternity.

So, please, when you see someone who identifies themselves as a Christian, by all means, scrutinize their life. Ask them what motivates their life. If they don't identify the two greatest commandments, then maybe, just maybe, they aren't authentic Christians.

I invite any and all comments and questions. Please keep it civil.

John 3:16

For God So Loved the World

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.