Day 280 – Colossians: Introduction

“𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦. 𝑆𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦/” 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 2:9-10 𝑁𝐿𝑇

Colossians is a book of connections. Writing from prison in Rome, Paul combatted false teachings that had infiltrated the Colossian church. The problem was syncretism – combining ideas from other philosophies and religions (such as paganism, strains of Judaism, and Greek thought) with Christian truth. The resulting heresy later became known as Gnosticism, emphasizing special knowledge (“gnosis” in Greek) and denying Christ as God and Savior. To combat this devious error, Paul stressed Christ’s deity (His connection with the Father) and Christ’s humanity (His sacrificial death as a human man on the cross for sin).

Only by being connected with Christ through faith can anyone have eternal life, and only through a continuing connection with Him can anyone have power for living. Christ is God incarnate and the only way to forgiveness and peace with God the Father. Paul also emphasized believers’ connections with each other as Christ’s body on earth.

This epistle is for an embattled church in the first century, but read it also for its timeless truths, and gain fresh appreciation for Christ as the fullness of God and the only source of living the Christian life. Jesus is your leader, head, and power source.

Prayer: Father, thank You for using this letter to the Colossians to teach us today to be careful of heresy and to use discernment for everything we hear that might sound like to truth. Teach us to test all messages against the truth of Your Word. Amen.