CHAPTER 1

(A.D. 64)

INTRODUCTION

¹Paul, a n Apostle of Jesus Christ (it is through the Apostle that the Holy Spirit leads the Church, and does so according to the Message given him, which in Pauls case was the Message of Grace) by the Will of God (only the Lord can set a person in the Office of the Apostle; man cannot do such), and Timothy our Brother,

²To the Saints (the moment a person accepts Christ, they become a Saint) and Faithful Brethren in Christ (proclaims the fact that some in Colosse were faithful to the Gospel Paul had brought to them, but at the same time others, it seems, were somewhat shaken in their allegiance) which are at Colosse (was written from Rome by Paul, while he was in prison): Grace be unto you, and peace (made possible by the Cross), from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

THANKSGIVING

³We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (thanksgiving presents a characteristic quality of the type of prayer offered by Paul), praying always for you (a proper understanding of the Cross gives one a proper prayer life),

⁴Since we heard of your Faith in Christ Jesus (Paul did not found the Church at Colosse; in fact, it was probably founded by Epaphras, who gave him the information recorded here), and of the love which you have to all the Saints (Agape Love),

⁵For the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven (presents the last of the trilogy, Faith, Love, and Hope), whereof you heard before in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel (is meant to contrast the true Gospel of Epaphras with a false gospel of false teachers);

⁶Which is come unto you (meant to differentiate it from the false message of the Gnostics), as it is in all the world (refers to the True Gospel being the same the world over); and brings forth fruit, as it does also in you, since the day you heard of it(the True Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified will always bring forth fruit in the capacity of changed lives), and knew the Grace of God in Truth (the Grace of God cannot function accept in Truth, which is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified):

⁷As you also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant (as stated, he was a disciple of Paul), who is for you a faithful Minister of Christ (reflects the fact that Epaphras was the spiritual father of the Colossian Saints);

⁸Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit (it was Love produced by the Spirit of God, made possible by the Cross).

GRACE

⁹For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not ce+ase to pray for you (the cause refers to the fruit they were bearing for Christ, with prayer offered for them that this fruit would continue, and not be stifled by a false message), and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His Will (His Will, and not that of others) in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (proclaims that which proceeds only from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit);

¹⁰That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing (walk refers to ones behavior and that it can be accomplished only by making the Cross the Object of ones Faith, which gives the Holy Spirit the latitude to perfect our walk), being fruitful in every good work (which is guaranteed, if Faith is properly placed in the Cross), and increasing in the Knowledge of God (presents the knowledge of the Cross, which pertains to the Finished Work of Christ);

¹¹Strengthened with all might, according to His Glorious Power (power to live a Holy life, which comes through Grace, with the Cross as the means), unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness (joy, because proper Faith guarantees Victory);

¹²Giving thanks unto the Father (which all should do constantly), which has made us meet (qualified) to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light (presents the standing of the Believer in Christ):

¹³Who has delivered us from the power of darkness (refers to being rescued by His strong Arm as a mighty conqueror, made possible by the Cross), and has translated us into the Kingdom of His Dear Son (while the Cross is not the Source [that being Christ] the Cross is the means):

DOCTRINE

¹⁴In Whom we have Redemption through His Blood (proclaims the price that was paid for our Salvation), even the forgiveness of sins (at the Cross, the Lord broke the power of sin, and took away its guilt [Rom. 6:6]):

¹⁵Who is the Image of the invisible God (the Son is the exact reproduction of the Father; a derived Image), the Firstborn of every creature (actually means Jesus is the Creator of all things):

HIS CREATIVE WORK

¹⁶For by Him were all things created (presents the Justification of the title given Christ in the preceding Verse), that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible (things seen and not seen), whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers (refers to both Holy and fallen Angels): all things were created by Him, and for Him (Christ is the Creator of all [Jn. 1:3]):

HIS PREEXISTENCE

¹⁷And He is before all things (preexistence), and by Him all things consist. (All things come to pass within this sphere of His Personality, and are dependent upon it.)

¹⁸And He is the Head of the Body, the Church (the Creator of the world is also Head of the Church): Who is the Beginning (refers to Christ as the Origin or Beginning of the Church), the firstborn from the dead (does not refer to Jesus being Born-Again as some teach, but rather that He was the first to be raised from the dead as it regards the Resurrection, never to die again); that in all things He might have the preeminence. (He is the First and Foremost as it relates to the Church.)

¹⁹For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell (this fullness denotes the sum total of the Divine Powers and Attributes);

THE MEDIATORSHIP OF CHRIST

²⁰And, having made peace (justifying peace) through the Blood of His Cross (presents His Blood as being that which satisfied the just demands of the broken Law), by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself (speaks of the result of Faith in the Cross); by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven. (The Cross not only addressed the Fall of man, but as well the Fall of Lucifer.)

²¹And you, who were sometime (in times past) alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works (total depravity), yet now has He reconciled (made possible by the Cross).

²²In the Body of His flesh (the Incarnation, God becoming flesh) through death (refers to the fact that the reconciling act of Christ is not by His Incarnation, but by His dying [II Cor. 5:21]), to present you Holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight (all made possible by the Cross):

SERVICE

²³If you continue in the Faith (at the same time says it is possible not to continue in the Faith; the Faith is Christ and Him Crucified) grounded and settled (the Foundation of the Faith, which Object must always be the Cross), and be not moved away (moved away from the Cross) from the Hope of the Gospel, which you have heard (pertains to the fact that they had been brought in right), and which was preached to every creature which is under Heaven (the Message of the Cross is the same for all); whereof I Paul am made a Minister (the meaning of the New Covenant was actually given to Paul, which is the meaning of the Cross [Gal. 1:11-12]);

²⁴Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you (Paul was in prison when this Epistle was written), and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh (suffering for Righteousness sake) for His Bodys sake, which is the Church (Satan opposes the Message of the Cross like nothing else):

²⁵Whereof I am made a Minister (says plainly that he is a Minister and not a Mediator, which some have attempted to read into the previous Verse), according to the Dispensation of God which is given to me for you (the way and manner of administrating the Work), to fulfil the Word of God (presents the Apostle not wanting to become sidetracked on some minor issue that did not emphasize the centrality of the Gospel, which is the Cross);

²⁶Even the Mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations (refers to the Gentiles who would be partakers with the Jews of the Gospel, and actually in the same Church), but now is made manifest to His Saints (manifested to Believers, but not to the world):

²⁷To whom (the Saints) God would make known (desire to make known) what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles (refers to the fact that the Cross is for all, and is not limited by racial or national lines); which is Christ in you (made possible by the Cross), the Hope of Glory (the full realization will materialize at the coming Resurrection):

²⁸Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom (tells us the Bible is the only revealed Truth in the world and, in fact, ever has been); that we may present every man perfect (mature) in Christ Jesus (refers to the Cross, and what He did there):

²⁹Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working (refers to Christ working in Paul through the Might and Power of the Holy Spirit), which works in me mightily (which will work mightily in anyone, if the Object of Faith is always the Cross).