Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic
Colossians 1
- About the title: As a man, Jesus is a man of God; as God, Jesus is the God of men.
Greeting
Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Colossians 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their Faith in Christ
Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
Colossians 1:4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
Colossians 1:5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
Colossians 1:6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
Colossians 1:7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
Colossians 1:8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
Preeminence of Christ
Colossians 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Colossians 1:11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed (transferred) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
Colossians 1:14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- Note: To be the visible Son of the invisible God means that the Son can be seen, heard, and felt.
- There is a visible spectrum of Light and an invisible spectrum of Light. The Son is the visible form of the invisible Godhead.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities (rulers) or powers (authorities). All things were created through Him and for Him.
Everything man builds rots and decays; Whatever God builds stays and stays.
Colossians 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
- Jesus existed before the creation.
Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
- ►Note: The Firstborn from the dead means Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead never to die again. He was the first fruit of God’s harvest. He is the only “begotten” Son of God.
- ►Note: Jesus is Head of the Body: the church.
- Being the “Head” means taking responsibility for the care of the body. A man is the head of his wife. It is his responsibility to nurture her.
- A man who does not nurture his wife is like a man who abuses his own body.
- Jesus gave this example when He washed his disciple’s feet. He who is greatest in heaven is the servant and receives the greatest honor. He who is least in heaven is the one who lifts himself up. Examples in scripture: Do not take your seat at the head of the table, Jesus giving His life for the church, Jesus washing his disciple’s feet.
- Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
- Jesus is called the King of the Jews BUT for the Gentile (with exceptions) church, He is the Head of the body of Christ, His bride.
- Prior to Jesus’ crucifixion God worked only with the Jews, with gentile exceptions. After the crucifixion God works with gentiles, with Jewish exceptions. For the most part the Jews are blinded to the gospel until the times of the gentiles come to an end. The times of the gentiles (aka the age of grace, aka the bride of Christ) comes to an end at the rapture, then the seven year tribulation begins.
- Daniel’s 69 weeks ends at Jesus’ crucifixion. Daniel’s 70th week begins at the rapture. The seven year tribulation is Daniel’s 70th week and is the major part of the book of Revelation when God once again turns His attention to the Jews. He will deal with the Jewish people until every last one recognizes Jesus not only as their Messiah but as the Son of God as well.
- For more information on the Rapture: See: The Rapture Is It Real? The Rapture PreTrib
- For more information on Daniel’s 70 weeks: See Timeline Daniel’s 70 Weeks (scroll far down to headline in green “Non-Literal Units of Time” number 2.)
- For more information on The Bride of Christ and the Jews: See Jacob’s Two Wives
- Timeline: NOTE: JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED ON PASSOVER 31 AD
Reconciled in Christ
Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness (of the Godhead) should dwell,
- ►See Gen. 1:1 and John 1:1 both describing how Jesus is both “with God” and “is God”.
Colossians 1:20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
- Those who are covered by the blood of Jesus are those who accept Jesus’ identity by faith. A man’s sinfulness makes him the enemy of a perfect God. Having his sins covered transforms him into the perfection that only a perfect God can accept, making the faithful at peace with God. A declaration of a permanent truce is enacted.
Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
Colossians 1:22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—
- ► Becoming blameless is an event which happens immediately upon recognizing that you are a sinner and God is your only hope of finding Eternal Life, Peace, Truth, and Direction.
- It also means you have to give up your own understanding and take on the understanding of God. You can’t demand God to do it your way. There is only ONE way and that way is God’s way.
- There is only ONE truth and that Truth is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Godhead. He is THE “Way”, THE “Truth” and THE “Life”.
- Every man is a sinner separated from a perfect God. Every sinner is sentenced to death. God sent Jesus to earth as a man to present His own body as a sacrifice to purchase the life of all men who are sentenced to death. Jesus covers the sinner’s blood with His sinless blood so that man can also be perfected.
- ► The apostle Paul will present the Bride of Christ perfectly spotless before the throne of God.
Colossians 1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Sacrificial Service for Christ
Colossians 1:24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
Colossians 1:25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship (dispensation or administration) from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
Colossians 1:26 the mystery (secret or hidden truth) which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
- The Bible is a progressive revelation in God’s plan for man. Progressive revelations are called dispensations. Each dispensation has own God’s special instructions.
- In the Garden of Eden it was the dispensation of innocence and the instructions were (1) replenish the earth with children, (2) subdue the earth, (3) have dominion over the animals, (4) care for the garden, and (5) abstain from eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
- After Adam and Eve sinned until the great worldwide flood it became the dispensation of the conscience of knowing right from wrong. God added 1) a curse on the serpent, 2) a curse on the woman in trying to please her husband and bearing children in pain, and 3) a curse on men trying to provide for his family in pain.
- With Noah came the dispensation of Human Government protecting men from men. God’s instructions are to (1) replenish the earth again, (2) permission to eat meat, (3) and the addition of capital punishment.
- With the tower of Babel and the faith of Abraham, God calls out a special people into the dispensation of promise for the Hebrews who are to be a model for the world.
- God adds the dispensation of law to the Hebrews. It continues until the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by the Hebrews.
- The dispensation of grace is then included reaching out to the gentiles. It is the new covenant at the last supper and begins on Pentecost.
- The final dispensation is called the Millennial Kingdom of Christ and will last for 1,000 years as Christ Himself rules on earth (a Theocracy). This Kingdom will fulfill the prophecy to the Jewish nation that Christ will return and be their King. The only people allowed to enter the Kingdom are the born-again believers from the Age of Grace in their glorified bodies, and the righteous survivors of the seven years of tribulation.
Quantum Study Bible 