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Colossians bible study

Colossians 1:3-8 Devotional

May 7 – Colossians 1:3-8

FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF CHRIST

Today, we continue our devotional on Colossians by looking at 1:3-8. The expression “we thank God” occurs frequently in the Pauline Epistles. The term implies both a statement of thanksgiving for what is received from God and an element of praise for God’s character which originated it. Paul’s thanksgiving occurred in prayer. While this may seem obvious, there are some subtleties that are interesting. The passage contains various synonyms for prayer. Together they demonstrate the importance of prayer for Paul. He could pray in times of difficulty, and he could pray in times of joy.

Since Paul often emphasized the activity of prayer, he wanted to share the fact that he actually remembered them in prayer. The joys and concerns of the Colossian congregation meant enough to Paul that he prayed about them. When this is compared with the other epistles, a sizable impression emerges regarding the extent of Paul’s prayer life. He prayed for all the churches. Several factors appear regarding Paul’s prayers. First, they were continual. The church was regularly in Paul’s mind and thoughts. Second, the prayer was directed to God. Finally, the prayers were intercessory, “when we pray for you.”

Let’s take a look at today’s verse:

3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (NASB)

Key Takeaways:

  • Paul was a man of prayer and so should we be people of prayer.
  • The gospel bears fruit in believers and grows all over the world
  • Saved by grace alone

Closer Look:

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Colossians 1:1-2 Devotional

May 6 – Colossians 1:1-2

GRACE AND PEACE FROM GOD

The previous post finished our reading plan from the “Unshakeable” series from Northeast Bible Church. Now, we embark on a new devotional journey. Over the next few weeks, we will look at the book of Colossians. This will still take the form of a devotional with study and application. These devotional posts will focus on what the text is saying and how it can be applied to our current lives. Don’t forget, some texts may have multiple applications. Our current moods and situations may cause us to focus on one more than the other or the Spirit may point something out that we need to hear.

These posts are definitely not meant to be detailed studies on Colossians like you would find in commentaries. You probably won’t find synthetic charts, outlines, deep expositions or detailed discussion on some of the controversial passages (there are many great resources out there for this). But what we will do, is read God’s Word, review the background or context, and look for applications.

However, in this first post, I would like to provide some general information to get us on the same page regarding Colossians. Today, our text will be shorter so we can review the author, purpose, background, time frame, and introductory statements.

We start our study by getting an overview of Colossians, including the place, the time, the author, and the setting, as these will help us better understand the text. Knowing more about the context is helpful in going deeper into the text to understand more about what the author is saying and what the ultimate Author is saying. Thinking through these things will help us in our application of the text and its principles.

Overview:

The Book of Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul about a.d. 60–62, while he was imprisoned in Rome. One purpose was to correct the heresy that had sprung up in the Asian city of Colosse. Paul seems to write as though he had our own society in mind. Even today, new cults claim to be Christian yet deny the deity of Christ and the basic beliefs of Christianity. Many today view Jesus as no more than “a great teacher.” Paul’s patient correction of the Colossian believers should remind us that we need to keep the worship of Jesus Christ central in our churches. But we must remember, some of these “new” beliefs have its source in the occult (though hidden under new names) and in other religions that go all the way back to the beginnings of history with the fall of man.

Pantheism is at the center of the New Age movement and other movements like it. It teaches that “all is God.” But their God is not a personal being; he is an impersonal energy, a force or consciousness. This thinking leads to another idea. Since all is one and all is God, we too are gods. One of the goals of the New Age movement (and maybe the only goal) is to awaken us to the god who sleeps within us, to teach us to live like the gods we are. This type of thinking is reminiscent of Satan’s temptation in the Garden of Eden.

Paul described Jesus with some of the grandest language in all the New Testament, focusing on Christ’s preeminence and sufficiency in all things. Paul presented Christ as the center of the universe, not only as the active Creator but also as the recipient of creation—in His taking on of human flesh.[1] Christ was and is the visible image of the invisible God, containing within Himself the fullness of Deity (Colossians 2:9). Because of His divine nature, Jesus is sovereign, above all things with an authority given Him by the Father (1:15-20). As such, Jesus is also Head over the church. He has reconciled all things to Himself through His death on the cross, making believers alive to God and setting them on the path to right living (1:21-23). By providing a proper view of Christ, it served as the cure for the Colossian heresy as well as a building block for Christian life and doctrine both then and now.

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