Read – Study Notes – Colossians 1:11-20

Col. 1:11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
Col. 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
Col. 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Col. 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

• • Paul’s prayer finishes in verse 11 & 12 asking that they be strengthened in these efforts by God’s power
    • So that they might attain steadfastness and patience
    • All the while giving the Father thanks for including us in His inheritance
• Paul now moves to a jumping off point into his most powerful presentation of Christology, the doctrine of Christ
  • The key for every church who wants to be sound and healthy, is to understand who the man Jesus is

Col. 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Col. 1:16 For 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.
Col. 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Col. 1:18 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.
Col. 1:19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
Col. 1:20 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.

• Paul wants to magnify the person and work of Jesus Christ within the minds of this church
  • Paul describes Jesus’ image or person in relationship to three things:
    • To Deity
    • To Creation
    • To the Church
• These are the three areas of knowledge we must get right if we are to mature properly as a Christian
  • First, we must understand Jesus’ relationship to Deity
    • Jesus is the image of the invisible God
      • Provided the physical connection to God for us
      • We can’t see the Father nor the spirit, they can only be manifested through His creation
        • Moses and the burning bush
        • Pillars of cloud
        • Thunder/lightning
      • But men did see Jesus
      • He is the member of the trinity who can be seen
        • And today we see Him living out in the lives of His church
        • That’s why we reflect Jesus in our actions and words
  • Secondly,  we’ve already touched on His relationship to the Creation
  • Finally, we must understand Jesus in relationship to the Church
    • He is the head of the church – and this headship can have no true meaning if it doesn’t mean that Jesus is actively making decisions and directing the work of the church through men
      • It must be that what is happening in His church at all times is happening according to His plans and purposes
• So the preeminence of Christ is Paul’s point here
  • There is nothing else of value or meaning in our religious experience as Christians except Christ, and Him crucified
• But that’s the basic problem with the Colossian church
  • They’ve taken their eye of the ball
  • They’ve left their first love
  • Like the church at nearby Ephesus

Rev. 2:4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Rev. 2:5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

• Here are these two sister churches, experiencing the same effects
  • Moving the teaching of Jesus aside
  • And they stand to lose their lampstand; their position as a church in this world
• Just as when a church arrives, God has planted it. And when a church leaves, their lampstand has been removed
• In verse 20 Paul has begun to make a transition, narrowing down to the individual

Col. 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His

• Christ’s work on the cross was the saving work of creation
• Paul transitions away from a discussion of the person of Jesus Christ to a discussion of the work of Jesus Christ