Colossians 1 is a beautiful passage showing who God is, what He's done, how He saves, and how you should respond.
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Colossians 1 Summary
It can be so easy to say to a person "I'm praying for you..." Paul goes a step beyond and tells the Colossians exactly why he's praying for them and what he's praying for:
WHY he's praying: to give thanks because he's heard about:
Their faith and love;
How they are bearing fruit as they grow in the gospel;
That God has rescued us from darkness and brought us into the kingdom of Christ, since we have redemption and forgiveness of sins in Him.
WHAT he's praying (continually) for:
That God will fill you with knowledge through the wisdom the Spirit gives;
...so that: you will live a live worthy of the Lord and will please Him in every way.
Verses 15-20 is an example of a Christological passage; that is, a passage that explains who and what Jesus is. If you or somebody you know thinks Jesus was just a nice guy who healed people, this is a great passage to review:
v15: Jesus is the very image of God
v16: Jesus created all things, and all things have been created for Him.
v17: Jesus is holding all things together
v18: Jesus is head of the church, the first to raise from the dead !so that! he might be supreme in all things
v19: God's fullness dwells in Jesus
v20: Jesus has reconciled all things to God by making peace through His shed blood.
Dig Deeper
Paul has dedicated his life to preaching this gospel, and has endured significant suffering in doing so. Yet Paul doesn't see the need to delve into the details of his suffering, as he right away begins praising the newly revealed mystery of the gospel.
The call to respond to God's grace is not something we are to do once in a while when we go to church or when we get a break in our busy schedules.
Instead, we must emulate the attitude and effort that Paul had:
I'm working as hard as possible with the energy that Christ has so powerfully energized me with (literal paraphrase of v29)
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God our Father (v2), the one who rules all things through our Lord Jesus Christ (v15-20)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom the Spirit gives (v9).
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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