Paul writes this letter to Colossae, a
church community not founded by him, and likely not visited by him in person.
Chronologically, it was written somewhere in the middle of the pack of his
letters found in the Bible. He wrote this
letter while in prison in Rome.
Colossae sits about 100 miles east of
Ephesus. The church was under attack by false teachers, challenging the deity of Jesus and
claiming that He wasn’t from God.
Chuck Swindoll describes the big idea of Colossians as, “In this book, the apostle Paul described Jesus with
some of the loftiest language in all the New Testament, focusing on Christ’s
preeminence and sufficiency in all things. Paul presented Christ as the center
of the universe, not only as the active Creator but also as the recipient of
creation—in His taking on of human flesh. Christ was and is the visible image
of the invisible God, containing within Himself the fullness of Deity (Colossians 2:9). Because of His divine nature, Jesus is
sovereign, above all things with an authority given Him by the Father. As such,
Jesus is also Head over the church. He has reconciled all things to Himself
through His death on the cross, making believers alive to God and setting them
on the path to right living. This proper view of Christ served as the antidote
for the Colossian heresy as well as a building block for Christian life and
doctrine both then and now.”
During Lent my prayer is to go verse by verse the book
of Colossians, followed by a focus on seeking God first. Because He is first
and above all things, we should make it a practice and habit to seek Him first.
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