Colossians 1:1-8
Scripture: Colossians
1:1-8
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our
brother,
2 To the saints and
faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3We 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. He is a faithful minister
of Christ on your behalf 8 and
has made known to us your love in the Spirit. [1]
Devotion
Paul in writing to the Colossians was writing to
a church he had not founded and had never visited. Instead he had heard about
the new church there from Epaphras who had evangelized there and had come back with
his report of the how the church there was progressing. Colossae was a small
town that was later destroyed by an earthquake and not rebuilt. It has never
been excavated so we know very little about the town compared to some of the
other locations where Paul sent letters. This letter and its two companion
letters, Ephesians and Philemon were sent at the same time from Paul and
Timothy by the hand of Tychicus around AD 60. Commentators disagree widely on
the date of authorship anywhere from AD 50 to AD 65.
The letter begins with a typical greeting from Paul
and his co author Timothy. Paul declares himself to be an apostle writing to
the Colossians. Paul gives them a threefold identification. First, he calls
them holy. This means the Colossian believers, in fact all believers, are “set
apart” by and for God. Next, Paul refers to the Colossian believers as
faithful. As he does later in the letter, Paul commends the Colossians for
their steadfast commitment to the gospel. Finally, Paul says the Colossians are
brothers. They are one spiritual family despite differences in background,
race, or any other purely human considerations.[2]
Then Paul says Grace to you and Peace from God
our Father. A typical was of greeting in Paul’s day. Stating then that he always
gives thanks to God for them in his prayers. In verse 4 and 5 the familiar
Pauline triad of faith, love and hope make their appearance. The gospel should
do for us what it did for the Colossians. The gospel of Jesus Christ, like a
seed, is a dynamic force that shatters the hard, stony soil of sin and takes
root as new life. By complimenting the Colossians on how the gospel had taken
root and grown in them, as it has in all the world [3]
It produces faith that preservers through good times and bad. Love for all people
Jew and Gentile alike. Finally, hope for eternal life through the gospel of
Christ.
Verse 6 commends them for believing the gospel
which is growing not only there but in the whole world. The most important date
in the history of any town is when the gospel is first proclaimed in it.
Then Paul lets his readers know that Epaphras has
made known to him the love that the Colossians have for him and for all the
saints. A love given through the working of the Holy Spirit.
[2]
Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians,
vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman
Publishers, 1999), 277.
[3] Max
Anders, Galatians-Colossians,
vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman
Publishers, 1999), 278.
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