FRAMEWORKS:
Colossians 1
In
this ‘Framework' we use our usual text PLUS comment style to enable
you, as simply as possible, to catch the sense of his writing.
[Note:
Because it is sometimes difficult to follow the flow
of a letter like this, we have added a synopsis of each chapter
& passage to help clarify where Paul is going with his writing.]
[Chapter
1 Synopsis: thanks for what they have heard of the Colossians,
prayer for their spiritual growth, the glorious Son revealed,
and what he has achieved in them, and Paul's ministry of proclaiming
the mystery of the Gospel to all peoples]
v.1,2
Greetings
v.3-8
Thanks for what God has done in them
v.9-14
Prayers for their growth
v.15-20
The Glory of the Son
v.21-23
The work of the Son in them
v.24-29
Paul's Ministry
v.1,2
Greetings
v.1
(This comes
from Paul and Timothy) Paul,
an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our
brother,
v.2
(It comes to
the church in Colossae with the desire for God's blessing on them)
To
God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters
in Christ: Grace
and peace to you from God our Father.
v.3-8
Thanks for what God has done in them
[Passage
Synopsis: thanks
when they pray having heard of their faith and love, that flows
from the hope of a place in heaven, according to the gospel, which
is now growing throughout the whole world, the gospel that Epaphras
had brought to them]
v.3-6
(when they pray
for them they are thankful for what they've heard about them as
they grow in the gospel which is spreading around the world) We
always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we
pray for you, because
we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you
have for all God's people— the faith and love that spring from
the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have
already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come
to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing
throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you
since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace.
v.7,8
(Epaphras had
come and brought the gospel to them and has come back and told
about them) You
learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful
minister of Christ on our behalf, and
who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
v.9-14
Prayers for their growth
[Passage
Synopsis: News of them prompted the apostles to pray continuously
for them so they may be filled with knowledge of God's will, inspired
by the Spirit, and thus live lives pleasing to the Lord that are
growing in God in all ways, having been rescued from darkness
and brought into the kingdom of light]
v.9
(this has provoked
the apostles to pray constantly for them for God to give them
clarity sabout His will for them) For
this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge
of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the
Spirit gives,
v.10-12
(this in order
that they can live well for Jesus, bearing fruit and growing and
being strengthened by his Spirit to handle all that comes)
so
that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in
every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge
of God, being
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so
that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful
thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance
of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
v.13,14
(for Christ
has taken them out of darkness into the light of his kingdom)
For
he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us
into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
v.15-20
The Glory of the Son
[Passage
Synopsis: Jesus described, his role in heaven, and his work in
the church [a glorious passage for meditation]]
v.15
(Jesus reveals
in himself the Father, being the newly born of a new kingdom)
The
Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation.
v.16
(he created
everything we know) For
in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things have been created through him and for
him.
v.17
(was before
it and now holds it together) He
is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
v.18
(he's also head
over the body, the church, being the firstborn from the dead,
Lord over all) And
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.
v.19,20
(not only did
God fully reside in him, but used him to reconcile all things
from this fsallen world, to the Father) For
God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and
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.
v.21-23
The work of the Son in them
[Passage
Synopsis: what Jesus has done for them – reconciled them to God,
as long as they hold to the Faith – the gospel]
v.21
(those believers
had once been aliens and enemies of God) Once
you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because
of your evil behavior.
v.22,23
(but now God
has reconciled them to Himself through Christ's death, making
them holy and distinct as long as they hold on to their faith
and trust in the gospel) But
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— if
you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move
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.
v.24-29
Paul's Ministry
[Passage
Synopsis: Paul's suffering with Christ while revealing the mystery
that is the gospel for all peoples and calling the church to maturity]
v.24
(Paul is suffering
in prison but that is just sharing in Christ's sufferings for
their sake) Now
I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my
flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions,
for the sake of his body, which is the church.
v.25,26
(he is their
servant by God's command to reveal the mystery of Christ to them)
I
have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present
to you the word of God in its fullness— the
mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but
is now disclosed to the Lord's people.
v.27
(this is that
they share in Christ's glory) To
them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious
riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
v.28
(maturity in
Christ is their goal) He
is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with
all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
v.29
(and that's
he's working hard for) To
this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully
works in me.