Paul's Intro & Theme (1:3-2:5): Part One
Introduction:
Colossians 1:3-2:5 is Paul's long introduction to before he moves on to the heart of his letter. He wants this young church to know that his letter is an outflow of the ministry God has given him.
The introduction can be broken down in to three sections. Paul's message is "this is how I am thanking God for you" (1:3-8), "this is how I am praying for you (1:9-23), and "this is what I am doing for you" (1:24-2:5). These three actions lay the foundation for one of the main points of the letter. Paul wants the Colossians to grow to maturity in Christ. He tells the Colossians that he is thankful that God founded their church (1:3-8), that he wants them to thank God for his great salvation (1:9-20) and to appreciate where they fit into it (1:21-23). He also wants them to see his role in ministry to them and God's overall plan (1:24-2:5).
In 2:6 we read the transitional word "therefore" which indicates that Paul is going to build on the foundation of what he has written before through out the letter. It says:
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him... (ESV)
His mention of "Christ" looks back to 1:15-20 where he tells them that it is in Christ where they have true maturity. It looks back to 2:2 where he tells them that Christ is "the mystery of God." Christ is God's eternal secret plan for creating and redeeming the world and Paul wants them to keep this in mind throughout the letter. If you know JESUS you know enough.
Let's look at Paul's Intro and Theme.
1. How Paul is Thanking God for the Colossians
Colossians 1:3-8 (ESV)
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Paul addresses the Colossians as "saints and faithful brothers in Christ" and wish hope and peace upon them (1:2) because he knows that God has already amongst them. And he thanks God for this.
This theme of thanksgiving will be important throughout the letter:
Colossians 2:7 (ESV)
"...rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."
Colossians 3:15 (ESV)
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."
Colossians 3:16 (ESV)
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3:17 (ESV)
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 4:2 (ESV)
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving."
Paul's introductory thanksgivings is not an "asides" but are an important part of theme in the letter.
Paul's beginning with thanksgiving and prayer also emphasizes that what is worked for should first be prayed for. It tells us much about Paul's view of grace and the gospel. The gospel is almost personified here as it is spoken of as at work in the world. But, it works through those who are commissioned to proclaim it. And where truth is recognized and obeyed, it bears fruit.
There are all kinds of "religious experiences" in the world, but Paul lets the Colossians know that those experiences that are of God will exalt Christ.
Colossians 1:3 (ESV)
"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you..."
Paul's use of the word "always" refers to the regularity and consistency with which he prays for them. It doesn't mean that he spent every waking moment thanking God and praying for them, but during his regular times of prayer, he mentioned them to God and interceded for them. He probably kept regular Jewish prayer times, morning, noon, and evening.
This teaches us the power of consistent prayer. Having a prayer list is a good thing. God, in His Sovereignty, has chosen to work through the act of prayer to bring about His Will in the world. Your prayers matter.
He says that he prays to "God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." This is similar to "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" Who Paul would have addressed in prayer before his Damascus road experience. He came to realize that Jesus was in fact the Messiah, that had been raised from the dead. He is the Human Messiah, the Christ. Jesus is fully Human. This title indicates the new covenant that Christians enter into when they are baptized in Jesus's Name and filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). All the benefits of Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are ours. Romans 8:32 (NIV) reads, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
But Jesus is also Lord. As Lord, He is God. The Jews knew only one Lord and Paul did not change that belief when he became a Christian. He just came to understand that God had given a full revelation of Himself in Christ. He had a new vision of God and this vision changed the way he prayed. He realized that everything flowed through Christ. If you know JESUS, you know enough!
Colossians 1:4-5 (ESV)
"...since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven."
Faith, hope, and love have been called the Pauline triad. Paul consistently draws these three virtues together in his letters in various other passages (1 Cor 13:13; 1 Thess 1:3; 5:8). Faith, hope, and love are at the core of what it means to be a Christian. These are the things about the Colossian church that Paul is thanking God for. They are signs of God's grace and peace at work in their lives.
Paul orders the virtues as "faith - love - hope" here. Each word counts and each one is important to the development of the letter's theme:
Faith:
Colossians 1:23 (ESV)
"...if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."
Colossians 2:7 (ESV)
"...rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."
Love:
Colossians 1:8 (ESV)
"...and has made known to us your love in the Spirit."
Colossians 1:13 (ESV)
"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son [the Son of His Love]."
Colossians 2:2 (ESV)
"...that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ..."
Colossians 3:14 (ESV)
"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."
Hope:
Colossians 1:23 (ESV)
"...if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."
Colossians 1:27 (ESV)
"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Faith is not just any religious belief as we use use it today when we speak of different "faiths." Paul speaks of "faith in Christ Jesus." He means the Christian faith and also the sphere in which true faith operates. It must be in Christ Jesus. If you know JESUS, you know enough!
Faith is not only what one believes, but what one obeys. It is not an either/or equation, but both/and. In Romans 1:5 and 16:26 Paul uses the phrase "obedient to the faith."
The Colossian's faith was something that could be seen and heard and felt. He further defines this faith by saying it is demonstrated by "the love that you have for all the saints..." Loving community is a sign of God's Grace at work in a church. In verse 8 Paul will round out his introductory thanksgiving with a praise for the Colossians "love in the Spirit."
Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love God with our all. The second greatest is to love those who are near to us like we love ourselves. And the way that the world looking from the outside in to the church will know that we are disciples of Jesus is because of our love. Paul is thanking God because he sees the fruit of love in the lives of the Colossians!
Colossians 1:5 (ESV)
"...because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel..."
Paul is not just talking about the state or act of hoping. He is talking about what is hoped for. Hope is something stored up in heaven. Faith and love flow out of hope. It may be that the preaching of Epaphras who first shared the gospel with the Colossians emphasized this aspect of Christianity. The pagans in the first century would have been very attracted to this sort of "hope." The thought of a future hope is a powerful motivation for faith and love. This present world is not all there is! There is a world to come, and our hope is in JESUS! If you know Him, you know His Promises and are assured that there is enough for you in the here and the hereafter!
Paul's mention of hope is a bridge for what he is going to talk about in 4-5a. And all of this is still in the context of what he is thanking God for.
Paul says that they have heard "the gospel." The gospel is a proclamation. We are called to declare and demonstrate God's reign! The gospel still changes people's lives. It is both a command to be obeyed and a power that has been let loose in the world (Rom 1:16-17). The truth of the gospel is like a lion. You do not have to defend a lion, you simply let him out! It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes! We identify with and obey the gospel by believing, repenting, dying to self, being buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk with Him in newness of life through the baptism of the Holy Spirit! If you know JESUS, you know enough!
Colossians 1:6 (ESV)
"...which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth..."
The gospel had come to them. It showed up like a person on their doorstep declaring the reign of God. God has chosen to work through the gospel! And Paul is thankful that when the gospel showed up in the little city of Colossae it bore fruit. It didn't show up in vain.
It had come to all the world. Paul is using hyperbole here, or speaking of the Mediterranean world. The gospel had not reached the Chinese or the Native Americans, but everywhere that it had come it was bearing fruit. It was bearing fruit in every nation and people group whose doorstep it showed up it showed up on.
Paul was saturated in the OT and there are echoes of Genesis 1 here. When God created the animal kingdom and humanity He commanded them to "be fruitful and increase in number" (1:22, 28). When God called Abraham he promised to make him fruitful and multiply him until he was a great nation. His offspring grew into the nation of Israel and eventually Christ came. God is recreating the world through these promises of fruitfulness and increase. Later Paul will speak of this re-creation (1:15-20).
"God is doing through the gospel what He always intended to do. He is sowing good seed in the world, and preparing to reap a harvest of human lives recreated to reflect His Glory!" (N.T. Wright).
This isn't some abstract theological theory. Paul says that it is happening "among you." The gospel is changing the lives of the individuals and the church. The "you" here is plural. God is at work in our lives together. We are the Body of Christ.
The reason it works is because "you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth." God doesn't save us apart from ourselves. When Epaphras preached the gospel to the Colossians they responded with both their intellect and emotions. They were all in. They realized that knowing JESUS was enough! It is by His Grace that we are saved. The deeper you understand what God did for us on the cross the more of a worshipper and praiser that you ought to become! Our spiritual/emotional encounters with God should propel us on to seeking deeper understanding. Deeper understanding will not make us less emotional or responsive to the Spirit. Paul said that he would pray with the Spirit and with the understanding (1 Cor 14:15).
Colossians 1:7-8 (ESV)
"...just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit."
Part of the mystery of the working of God's Grace is that just as God works through prayer to bring about His Purpose and Will, He also works through the proclamation of the gospel. The Colossians heard the gospel through the words of Epaphras. God is the One Who chooses the means through which He will work and He has committed Himself to work through the preaching of the gospel.
There are those who share the gospel and those who hear and obey it. Paul calls Epaphras his "beloved fellow servant." He is not his competition. They are on the same team. Epaphras is "a faithful minister of Christ on... behalf" of the Colossians. He is doing what Paul would do if Paul was there in his own unique way. You cannot do the work of God that God has called you to do the way someone else does. God doesn't make copies. Christianity is not a cookie-cutter faith. God made you you.
Paul does indicate his authority to speak into their lives. Epaphras was working along with and under the authority of Paul. They were a team. We should be a team as we share the gospel. We should be a team as we raise our kids. We should be a team as we reach for our community.
When the Colossians received the gospel from Epaphras, they were baptized with the love that comes from the Spirit. And this is how Paul ends his introductory thanksgiving. The love of God is the fruit of the Spiritual life. We love Him because He first loved us! We realize that He died for our sister, and brother, and neighbor and so we love them. We want to love what He loves. He loves those people that we interact with on a daily basis. We are a part of a new beginning, a new creation. We are not in the Lycus valley in the tiny city of Colossae, but we are in the East side of Houston. God's love is still here wanting to baptize us with the LOVE that can change the world!
