Day 180: NT Colossians C1-2; Christ is First; Our Story of Redemption!

Seems to me that every word Paul has written is meaningful and powerful to one seeking Jesus and seeking His Redemption.

This passage is clear about Christ being the First of Everything and the head of the Church. It speaks to reconciliation which leads to redemption.

I always wonder about circumcision and what it meant spiritually. That is clearly revealed in this part of the Scriptures too. A circumcision not of the flesh for health purposes but one of Christ for Spiritual Freedom!

A clear story of Redemption, our story of Redemption…

Nailing sin to the Cross!

And a bunch of other biblical phrases that caught my attention too!

In the Words of Scriptures:

Christ is First!

He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. All things have been created through and unto him (Christ), and he is before all creatures, and in him all things hold together. Again, he (Christ) is the head of his body, the Church.

For it has pleased God the Father that in him (Christ) all his fullness should dwell, and that through him he should reconcile to himself all things, whether on the earth or in the heavens, making peace through the blood of his cross.

Our Story of Redemption:

He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins.

You yourselves were at one time estranged and enemies in mind through your evil works. But now he has reconciled you in his body of flesh through his death, to present you holy and undefiled and irreproachable before him.

Only you must remain firmly founded in the faith and steadfast and not withdrawing from the hope of the gospel which you have heard.

See to it that no one deceives you by philosophy and vain deceit, according to human traditions, according to the elements of the world and not according to Christ.

For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in him who is the head of every Principality and Power you have received of that fullness.

In him, too, you have been circumcised with a circumcision not wrought by hand, but through putting off the body of the flesh, a circumcision which is of Christ.

For you were buried together with him in Baptism, and in him also rose again through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. And you, when you were dead by reasons of your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought to life along with him, forgiving you all your sins, canceling the decree against us, which was hostile to us.

Indeed, he has taken it completely away, nailing it to the cross. Disarming the Principalities and Powers, he displayed them openly, leading them away in triumph by force of it.

Therefore, as you have received Jesus Christ our Lord, so walk in him; be rooted in him and built up on him and strengthened in the faith, as you also have learnt, rendering thanks abundantly.

 

Biblical Phrases:

“by the will of God”

“because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven”

“heard and recognized the grace of God in truth”

“your love in the Spirit”

“filled with knowledge of his will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”

“to share the lot of the saints in light”

“that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”

“no one may deceive you by persuasive words”

“I am absent in body, yet in spirit I am with you”

“puffed up by his mere human mind”

“such a one is not united to the head”

“why, as if still living in the world, do you lay down the rules”

“the precepts and doctrines of men”

“lead to the full gratification of the flesh”

Bible Notes:

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians, Chapters 1-2; Christ is First; Our Story of Redemption!

Saint Paul, during his first Roman imprisonment, heard that some at Colossae were denying the supreme dignity of Christ. In this letter he points out that Christ is above all creatures and denounces anyone who would belittle Him. He adds that the new life of a Christian must be a break from his former life as a pagan.

Colossians Chapter 1: Greeting; Thanksgiving; Prayer for their Progress; Christ is God, Creator, Head; Christ is the Conciliator; Christ is the Center of Preaching.

Greeting:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother Timothy to the brethren in Colossae, holy and faithful in Christ Jesus: grace be to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving:

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you bear towards all the saints because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven.

…heard and recognized the grace of God in truth…

Thus you learned from our most dear fellow-servant Epaphras. He is a faithful minister of Christ Jesus in your behalf; and it was he who made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Prayer for their Progress:

…asking that you may be filled with knowledge of his will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

…to share the lot of the saints in light.

He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins.

Christ is God, Creator, Head:

He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.

 

All things have been created through and unto him (Christ), and he is before all creatures, and in him all things hold together.

Again, he (Christ) is the head of his body, the Church.

For it has pleased God the Father that in him (Christ) all his fullness should dwell, and that through him he should reconcile to himself all things, whether on the earth or in the heavens, making peace through the blood of his cross.

Christ is the Conciliator:

You yourselves were at one time estranged and enemies in mind through your evil works. But now he has reconciled you in his body of flesh through his death, to present you holy and undefiled and irreproachable before him.

Only you must remain firmly founded in the faith and steadfast and not withdrawing from the hope of the gospel which you have heard.

It has been preached to every creature under heaven; and of it I, Paul, have become a minister.

Christ is the Center of Preaching:

I rejoice now in the sufferings I bear for your sake; and what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ I fill up in my flesh for his body, which is the Church; whose minister I have become in virtue of the office that God has given me in your regard.

Him, we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

 

Colossians Chapter 2: Concern for Those who have not Seen Him; Warning against False Teachers; Speculative Errors; Erroneous Practices.

Concern for Those who have not Seen Him:

For I wish you to know what great concern I have for you and for the Laodiceans and for all who have not seen me in the flesh.

Surprised; thought he was going to reference those who have not seen Jesus in the flesh!

…so as to know the mystery of God the Father of Christ Jesus in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

NOTE: no mention of the third God of the Trinity—The Holy Spirit!

Warning against False Teachers:

Now I say this so that no one may deceive you by persuasive words.

…I am absent in body, yet in spirit I am with you…

Therefore, as you have received Jesus Christ our Lord, so walk in him; be rooted in him and built up on him and strengthened in the faith, as you also have learnt, rendering thanks abundantly.

Speculative Errors:

See to it that no one deceives you by philosophy and vain deceit, according to human traditions, according to the elements of the world and not according to Christ.

For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in him who is the head of every Principality and Power you have received of that fullness.

In him, too, you have been circumcised with a circumcision not wrought by hand, but through putting off the body of the flesh, a circumcision which is of Christ.

For you were buried together with him in Baptism, and in him also rose again through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. And you, when you were dead by reasons of your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought to life along with him, forgiving you all your sins, canceling the decree against us, which was hostile to us. Indeed, he has taken it completely away, nailing it to the cross. Disarming the Principalities and Powers, he displayed them openly, leading them away in triumph by force of it.

Erroneous Practices:

 

Let no one, then, call you to account for what you eat or drink or in regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of things to come.

Let no one—puffed up by his mere human mind—such a one is not united to the head, from whom the whole body, supplied and built up by joints and ligaments, attains a growth that is of God

If you have died with Christ to the elements of the world, why, as if still living in the world, do you lay down the rules: “Do not touch; nor taste; nor handle!”—things that must all perish in their very use?

In this you follow “the precepts and doctrines of men,” which, to be sure, have a show of wisdom in superstition and self-abasement and hard treatment of the body, but are not to be held in esteem, and lead to the full gratification of the flesh.