Week Two Colossians 1:15-23

Father God:

I love you and praise You for the mercy You have shown us by providing a Supreme sacrifice.  May be always remember to be steadfast and hopefull in all our struggles in the fact that we have been made your child through Jesus.  May the Spirit help us understand as we study.  In your name we pray, Amen.

 

Colossians 1:15-33  NASB


15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19  For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.  21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Colossians 1:15-33 KJV

15: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18: And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19: For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
20: And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21: And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22: In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Colossians 1:15-23 NIV

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For 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. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And 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. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and 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.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[6] your evil behavior. 22But 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-- 23if 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.

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Jesus is God, Jesus is man.  Paul is leaving no doubt.  Taking it verse by verse, no matter which version of the Bible you use, the Bible says

Jesus:

1.  He (Jesus) is the image of God (the Father)  v. 15
2.  Firstborn of creation (Jesus is also man) v. 15
3.  Jesus is the Creator (one with the Father) v. 16
4.  Jesus existed before all things  v.17
5.  Jesus holds all things in heavn and earth together (power) v.17
6.  Jesus is the head of the Church v.18
7.  Jesus was in the beginning/Jesus was the first born.  Jesus
    is God and man.   v. 18
8.  Jesus is supreme over everything v.18
9.  Fullness of God is in Him, all attributes of God.  v. 19
10. Jesus reconciles us to God by His death.   v.20


We, are sinners.  unholy and unable to be in the presence of God without Jesus.

A.  I was aliented from God before I was saved v.21
B.  My thoughts and actions before Jesus were evil v. 21
C.  I am reconciled to God through Jesus v.22
D.  Jesus makes me holy in God's sight  v. 22
E.  Jesus makes me perfect   v.22
F.  Jesus sets me free from accusation.  v.22


If I may take some liberty here, ..wow, free from accusation. 

Ok, this last sentence i'm struggling with and would welcome some input. 

23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.  (NIV translate it to Paul has become a servant to the Gospel, which Paul himself claims throughout the new testament0.

This follows Jesus set me free from accusation IF......

this is what we in the law field call the CAVEAT.... warning...
watch out...

This tells me as a Christian, we need to firmly established and steadfast, and NOT moved from the HOPE of the Gospel. 

Its a simple sentence, but it says alot.  Are you feeling accused... look in your life, your thoughts, your actions...  have you strayed from the simple truth of Jesus?


Blessings to you all more later.

Love,

Reeann

These were in the other thread, I thought it worthwhile to post them in this one as well.

FROM GERRY:
Before you move on, it might be interesting to see how the Church in Colosse came into being. Colosse was located some 100 miles or so from Ephesus. While Paul was preaching in Ephesus there were some visitors from Colosse who heard his preaching and came to know Christ. One of them was a fellow named Philemon. These visitors returned home and a Church was formed. If you read the first 2 verses of Philemon, it would seem to suggest that the services of this Church were held in Philemon's house. Epaphras was the Pastor and possibly the one who founded the Church.

Though Paul had never visited there, he wrote, as you can see, as though they were one of his. He wrote to emphasize that Christ is the fullness and completeness of God. This because gnosticism had had slipped in with it's false teaching that God did not directly create all that was created. One of the tenets is that God created a creature, who in turn created another, who in return created another until one of these creatures finally created the universe and somewhere in that line Christ was one of these creatures.

The Gnostics were proud, arrogant and boastful, claiming they had a kind of SUPER knowledge. Thus Paul wrote in verse 9 that he prayed and desired that they be filled with the knowledge of God's will "in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."

Paul emphasized to them that Christ was the Head of the body of believers that comprised the Church, and that the body was subject to the Head: That while Christian living was the center of the circle, Christ was the all encompassing periphery of that circle. Pauls companion Luke expressed in this way in Acts 17:28: "For in him we live, and move, and have our being;..."

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From Cheryl:

Yesterday at 09:49 PM cherylq said this in Post #12

Remove the head coach, and the team flounders: break the fuel line and the car won't run: unplugged the electrical appliance has no power: without the head, the body dies. Whether for leadership, power, or life, connections are vital!

Colossians is a book of connections.

Colossians may be the most Christ-centered book in Scripture everything in it lifts the mind and heart to things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

The theme of Colossians is particularly clear: The person and work of Jesus Christ is supreme and sufficient for the believer's salvation and sanctification. Paul knew that the best way to refute error is to focus on a clear presentation of the truth, so he wrote this Christ centered epistle to combat false teachings that were begining to take hold in Colosse.

Cherylq

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Finally, a small study I copies on Gnostism for those, who may be like me, and had no clue what it was

Understanding Gnosticism (from The International Inductive Study Bible)

Much like the church today, many members of the early church were significantly influed by the prevailing philospophy of the day. While some of the New Testament was being written, te church in Asia was being threatened by gnosticism, a philosphy which become the main opponent of the gospel in the early apostolic church.


Many member of the early church were seeking enlightenment, and were easily deceived by Gnostic teachers and led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Some had aparently left the church to form their own community, teaching a different gospel from what the apostles had preached. This movement away from the church caused those who remained to question what was true, and thus confusion crept in.

The term 'gnosticism' comes from te Greek work, gnosis, meaning "knowledge" Gnisticism is a philosphy of which centers on a search for higher knowledge. The Gnostics taught that this knowledge was not intellectual knowledge but a knowledge which the ordinary Christian was incapable of attaining. Once a believer came into possession of this extraordinary knowledge, according to Gnostic thought, he had "salvation."

-the first major Gnostic doctrine was the supremacy of knowledge. Certain 'pneumatikoi' or "spiritual ones' claimed ot have special knowledge of the truth. Ordinary Christians did not or could not possess this secret of higher knowledge.

-The second major doctrine of gnosticism was the "separation of spirit and matter." All matter was considered to be evil and the source of evil. The spirit was considered to be good and impervious to defilement by anything the body (matter) did.

Claiming a so-called higher knowledge beyond that revealed by God in Christ Jesus and through the prophets, gnosticism had its origins in the philosophies of the Greeks and the Romans, in the creeds of Plato and Philo, and in the religions of the East, especially those of Persia and India. As long as Christianity kept its Judaic roots, it was free from these heresies. However, when Christianity spread to Gentile territory, an attempt was made on the part of Eastern philosophical religion to form an alliance with it.

Many Gnostics allegorized the Old Tesament and did not interpret its teachings literally. They strayed from the veracity of the Word, which would have exposed their erroneous teachings regarding creation, sin, and restoration of all things. They failed ot see how a supreme God, pure in spirit and essentially good, could create a universe of matter which they considered evil.

When the Gnostics embraced Christianity, they split into factions on the subject of Christ's diety. Two of the major factins taught as follows:

1. The Docetic Gnostics denied the humanity of Jesus. The word 'docetic' comes from te Greek wod "dokeo", "to seem." According to the Docetists, it was impossible for God, who was spirit and good, to become flesh, which was matter and evil, in the person of Jesus Christ. They believed that Jesus was a phantom; He didn't possess a real flesh-and-blood body. He only seemed to have a body.

2. The Cerinthian Gnostics (followers of Cerinthus) separated the man Jesus from the aeon, the power of Christ. They believed that when the dove came on Jesus at His baptism, the power of Christ came and rested on the man Jesus. This power then departed before His death on the cross. So it was simply the "man" Jesus who died, not Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.

These Gnostic heresies denied that God became man and walked this earth in the person of Jesus Christ to bring redemption and salvation to mankind. Having eliminated Jesus Christ as the only way to God, the Gnostics believed they could make their own way to God through their inquiry and knowledge. Faith and one's deeds were viewed as having no significance in salvation or the life of a believer.

Understanding the basis of gnosticism and the forms of thought that it took in the early days of the Christian church will enable you to better understand te doctrinal heresy which some of the New Testament writers addressed.

thank you Gerry, that makes so much more sense that way. It also affirms the three parts of salvation

Justification (freedom from the PENALTY of sin); Santification (Freedom from the POWER of sin) and Glorification (Freedom from the PRESENCE of sin).

It makes sense, Jesus saves completely, but does that mean we should sin so grace may abound, BY NO MEANS!!



Gerry, what is Phillips?

appreciate it!

This time I am trying to stay away from notes; but sometimes I struggle with what the passage is actually saying. This is ESPECIALLY true for the prophets for me! but thats the next studY

2nd April 2003 at 10:20 AM Gerry said this in Post #13

If I may, I would like to add th the translations you have already posted these verses from Phillips.

1:15-20 - Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God. He existed before creation began, for it was through him that every thing was made, whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen. Through him, and for him, also, were created power and dominion, ownership and authority. In fact, every single thing was created through, and for him. He is both the first principle and the upholding principle of the whole scheme of creation. And now he is the head of the body which is composed of all Christian people. Life from nothing began through him, and life from the dead began through him, and he is, therefore, justly called the Lord of all. It was in him that the full nature of God chose to live, and through him God planned to reconcile in his own person, as it were, everything on earth and everything in Heaven by virtue of the sacrifice of the cross.

And so it would sem that no matter what translation one uses, Paul makes it very clear here just exactly Who Jesus was and IS.

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AMEN Gerry!  and I have to admit, reading Phillips version does make me want to jump and praise Jesus!

Many Gnostics allegorized the Old Tesament and did not interpret its teachings literally. They strayed from the veracity of the Word, which would have exposed their erroneous teachings regarding creation, sin, and restoration of all things. They failed ot see how a supreme God, pure in spirit and essentially good, could create a universe of matter which they considered evil.

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I was re-reading this thread today. I was struck by this paragraph. Modern man has excelled in knowledge in alot of ways, but the ignorance of faith in education and book learning in place of a relatioship with the Creator has not changed one bit.

i don't think you angered anyone. !

This study is filled with stuff. This week just reading Paul's call to the ministry and to proclaiming the Gospel, there is so much in there, so much I don't understand. I am gonig to go forth though, I am sure I will study this book again! I can only bring the study from my level of knowledge, with is not alot! However, I still feel that its important for me to continue for me, and this letter to the Colossians is showing me ALOT of where I stumble before. Praise God I appreciate those who are praying and the input anyone puts as it helps me a great deal.

Blessings,

reeann

i'm extending week two this week because I don't feel prepared to go onto the next section. Thank you all in advance for your continued prayers.