A Resurrection Kinda Life: The Rise Christ – The Book of Colossians (I)

Introduction: Why are we doing this?

1. As a Christian, it is a vital point of our life to study the Bible and to live out what it
says

1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in
them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

2. Most Christians haven’t the faintest clue how to even approach the Bible so it is
my aim to model how to survey a Bible book to understand its contents

Quick Facts About Colossians

• Paul’s the author. You can read the story of his conversion in Acts 7:60-8:1 and
9:1-31
• He’s writing to the church at Colosse. Colosse was a fairly large city in what is now
Turkey. Here’s a map:

• The church seems to have been started by Epahras, who heard the Gospel from
Paul

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 Colossians 1:5-7 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye
heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; (6) Which is come unto
you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since
the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: (7) As ye also
learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of
Christ;

• Paul writes to these Christians who are under the weight of a group of false
teachers who were taking the focus off the risen Christ
• His aim is pretty simple: to show that Christ Jesus, the risen Son of God, must
always take pride of place in the life of the church and the believer

Breaking Colossians Down

The Book of Colossians breaks down cleanly into two

halves:

I. Doctrinal – “The Risen Christ” – Chapters 1-2

II. Practical – “The Risen Life” – Chapters 3-4

It is interesting that many of Paul’s epistles have this progression from a doctrinal
exposition to practical application. This demonstrates a clear Biblical principle – that
doctrinal truth leads to sound practice, not the other way around.

This lesson is affirmed by none other than the Lord Jesus Himself:

John 7:17 If any man will do [the Father’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

And so, we enter into a survey of the Book of Colossians. Here’s a outline of what we
will cover in the next two weeks:

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 I. The Risen Christ
a. The Person of Christ
b. The Ministry We Have in Christ
c. The Danger of False Teaching About Christ
II. The Risen Life
a. It Affects Our Personal Conduct
b. It Affects Our Life in Community
c. It Affects Our Speech
d. It Affects Our Friendships

Before we dig into the book proper, I want to look at the prayer of the Apostle in
chapter 1:9-14:

In essence, the Apostle makes two prayer requests:

1. He prays that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will (v.9-10)
2. He prays that they might be strengthened with all power to endure (v.11-12)

He can confidently makes these requests in the light of what God has done through His
Son in the Gospel (v. 13-14).

Since this Son is the central character in our salvation, Paul now jumps into the rest of
his epistles, unpacking three closely related ideas:

I. The Person of Christ – Colossians 1:15-23

II. The Ministry We Have in Christ – Colossians 1:24-2:7
III. The Danger of False Teaching About Christ – Colossians 2:8-23

The Person of Christ – Colossians 1:15-23:

There are six things about Christ which Paul brings out in Colossians 1:15-23:

1. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God - Colossians 1:15 (cf. Hebrews 1:3; 2
Corinthians 4:4)
2. Jesus Christ is the firstborn of all creation – Colossians 1:15. (This is not saying
that he is the first creation of God, rather that He is the pre-eminent One)
3. Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things – Colossians 1:16 (cf. Hebrews 1:2)
4. Jesus is the Head of all things – especially the Church - Colossians 1:17-18
5. All the divine nature is perfectly displayed in Jesus – Colossians 1:19 (cf. Hebrews
1:3, Colossians 2:9)

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 6. Reconciliation is made possible because of the cross work of Christ – Colossians
1:20-21 (cf. 2 Cor 5:16-21)

This amazing Son is the One, who through His death, brings us into a long relationship
with Him (Col 1:21-22)

Almost out of nowhere, Paul moves into a discussion about ministry – why? Because, at
its heart, without a foundation in the work of Christ, there is no true ministry

The Ministry We Have in Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:7):

Paul discusses his ministry and we see three lines of presentation in this section:

1. Paul is suffering as a steward – Col 1:24-28. Especially interesting is this idea of

“filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions” (ESV). This is not to say that
Christ’s sacrifice is insufficient or lacking (cf. Heb 9:12, 24-27; 10:14) but that as
the Church, which is His body, suffers, Christ, the Head, is as affected as we were.
We see this shown in Acts 9:1-5
2. Paul is suffering for the saints – Col 1:29-2:3. Paul ministers with the aim that
every person to whom he ministers will be complete in Christ and see that all
wisdom and knowledge are in Him
3. Paul is sounding a warning alarm – Col 2:4-7. Since the Church remains under
threat in every age (cf. Acts 20:28-32, 1 Tim 4:1-5), there is a warning ministry
attached to serving Christ. Paul is aware of this, more so than any other man we
see in the New Testament, apart from the Lord Jesus. The aim is that no-one
would con the Phillippian Christians, even in Paul’s physical absence (v.4-5). The
announcement that makes this possible is clear: just as you received the truth in
Christ, keep standing in that truth (v.6-7, Jude 3)

The Danger of False Teaching about Christ (Colossians 2:8-23):

The Colossian church was suffering under the weight of teachers who claimed to be
deep – definitely too deep for the Colossians in their own estimation. In reality, their
teachings were far from deep and so the Apostle goes for the jugular and gives us some
pointers as to what a false teaching looks like:

A. False teaching always takes the focus away from Christ (v. 8-10)
B. False teaching always takes the focus away from the Cross (v. 11-15)

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C. False teaching always says that salvation is harder than God designed it to be (v.
16-17)
D. False teaching always says that what God has already said is NOT enough (v. 18-
19)
E. False teaching always says that rules, laws and principles are s substitute for
relationship (v. 20-23)