The Introduction (Colossians Bible Study – Chapter 1)

Happy January and Happy 2018!! We made it into a new year!

To get things rolling on the right track this year, I thought it might be fun to do another Bible Study! This go-round we’ll be diving into the book of Colossians!

For me, Colossians is uncharted territory. It’s one of those books that I’ve simply never explored. But this month, we’re changing that! We’re going to dig in together!

Now let’s get into Chapter 1!

A Little Background: Colossians is actually a letter written by Paul to Christians of a place called Colossae. There were some false teachers in the church and some things that were being taught that were off, so Paul decided to write and basically let them know that they need to get it together. According to history and study, it’s likely Paul had never visited this church, yet was still compelled to write after hearing what was going on from Epaphras, one of the Colossians and a fellow minister of the Gospel.

One of the first things that popped out to me in the chapter was Paul’s introduction of himself as
An apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God.” There’s been a huge debate over whether or not Paul was actually an apostle ordained by God. Some people actually believe he was a false teacher whose teaching was actually the opposite of God’s teachings. I’m still studying both sides of this debate myself and will get back to you all when I come to a conclusion. Or, perhaps, I could do a post about it, with both sides being argued? We’ll see. Anyway, I just wanted to point that out to you all.

Another thing I noticed was in verse 2: “Saints and faithful brethren.” According to my study, Saints are simply those who are born again and believe in God. However, faithful brethren, to some, indicates those that didn’t fall victim to the false teachings and who were truly trying to be the true church. I would assume, the “real church,” and the “church folks.” 

The next thing I noticed was the way the letter was formatted. It was almost as if Paul was writing it like a prayer. He gave thanks and praise to God and let the people know that they were in his prayers, acknowledged saving from sin, and then got into the meat of what he needed, which is basically like a prayer. We start out by thanking and praising God for what He’s given and done for us, then repentance of sins, and then we go into our prayer. I just thought that was interesting.

In verse 15 of Colossians, Paul calls Jesus “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Isn’t that beautiful? And it’s true – Jesus is the son of God and part of the Trinity. He’s been around just as much as God has, so it makes sense.

Verse 16 states that “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…” At first, this threw me off because I was like, “Jesus didn’t create the Heavens and the Earth, God did.” But I think what he was trying to say was that Jesus has always been around and a member of the Trinity, therefore, he technically was a part of the process. Jesus didn’t become Jesus until he took on his human form. 

Then when you get down to verse 26, you see Paul talk about the “mystery.” What mystery? That Jews and Gentiles could all be a part of The Body. For so long people thought that Jews and Gentiles were not equals, but Paul was saying that in Christ, we no one is greater than the other and that he is inside all of us.

..whew! I noticed a lot, didn’t I? Lol.

What is your take on the first chapter of Colossians? Any thoughts on Paul? Let’s discuss! Share in the comments below! Join me back here next Sunday as we dig into chapter 2!

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