Colossians 1 - How Can We Please God?

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Introduction to Paul's letter to the Colossians

Paul had never been to Colossae, so this is somewhat of his personal introduction to them. He wrote this letter around the time of 60-61 A.D., which is about 30 years from Jesus' death and resurrection. The purpose of the letter is what we call the doctrine of "Christology", which is the teaching the true nature of Christ. 

The Colossians were dealing with false teachers who said Jesus was not really truly God. Jesus being God is the foundation what we believe as Christians. Why?  If Jesus is not God, he would have to die for his own sins, and we would still be accountable for ours. Paul points to the fact that Jesus with God in the beginning and part of the Creation process thus pointing to the fact that He is truly God. We need to keep the doctrine of Christology always before us. Every heresy in the past 2,000 years has had something to do with an incorrect doctrine of who Jesus is.  

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

As with other letters, Paul writes this letter with Timothy from prison. This is maybe one of the reasons that Timothy and Paul had such a close bond. Though Timothy was not an official apostle, he played a huge role in the spread of the gospel. Usually an apostle is defined as a believer who was specifically called and sent out personally by Jesus. 

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul consistently reminds the churches he is praying for them. Paul realizes that nothing of significance happens without prayer. Paul has heard of their faith, which might be something we might want to think about. Have others heard out our faith? Not only is the gospel bearing fruit in Colossae, but all over the world. It is never about one church from God's perspective. 

The gospel message produces purity when it is preached in purity. The purity of the gospel is ground in the grace God has given us in Christ Jesus. The purity of the gospel cannot be diluted anything even remotely hints of "works righteousness". The purity of the gospel focuses entirely on what God has done for us in Jesus, not what we can do for God. We receive the gospel by grace through faith, and then spend the rest of our lives sharing it with others in word and deed. 

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Note Paul's commitment to pray for the Colossians. They don't STOP praying for them. They pray for the Colossians to be filled knowledge of God's will. This knowledge is given by the Holy Spirit, who is the wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit gives us everything we need to lead a life worthy of our calling. Though we are called by God's grace in Christ, we are challenged by Paul to live a life worthy of what Jesus has done for us. 

This is a great question to continually ask ourselves. Are we living a life worthy of our calling? What does this life look like? 

We know from John 15 that our good deeds flow out of abiding in Christ. John 15 tells us that if we abide in Christ, we will bear much fruit. Fruit that will last. Apart from Christ we can do nothing! 

Also, we see this kind of life pleases God! Though God is pleased with us because of who we are as his children, when we live a life worthy of our calling, it is pleasing to our Father. When I was younger, I always wanted to live a life that would please my dad. It gave me pleasure to see that my dad was proud of me. 

We have a heavenly Father who delights in us, but is also pleased when we do the things he has called us and empowered us to do. It shows we trust Him when we obey his will for our lives.  As we live a life worthy of our calling, we can anticipate these words spoken by Jesus, "Well done my good and faithful servant!"  

The Supremacy of the Son of God

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Again, one of the most important themes in this letter is defining who Jesus is as human being and as God. He is fully human and fully God. Jesus came to us in a human body to give us a glimpse of what God looks like. In fact, Paul says he is the EXACT representation of God the Father. Everything we see Jesus do is something our heavenly Father would do. Jesus completely reveals the love, grace, and mercy of God the Father. 

Through Jesus all things were created. Meaning Jesus was with God at the beginning of Creation. He was the Word that was with God in the beginning, as John writes in chapter 1 of his gospel. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. John 1:14 This affirms the divinity of Jesus. 

Only God could create the world and also have power over every spiritual ruler and authority. Only God could hold the whole world together. Only God could raise someone from the dead. Paul says that Jesus has all of these abilities making him equal with God. 

God was pleased to dwell in Jesus, which also gave Him the power to reconcile all people to Himself through the cross. Jesus is the only one who could have died on the cross, because He was God. God in the person of Jesus died in our place on the cross. The human blood Jesus shed on the cross reconciled us to God, which gave us peace with God. Without Jesus our relationship with God would be broken and as a result we would not have the peace that Jesus gave us. We would be living in fear of God and judgment for our sin. 

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

We have become holy before God because of what Jesus did for us. Our sin separated us from God, and Paul says that as a result "we were enemies of God". But when God sees us now through the lens of the cross, he sees us as holy, without blemish, and free from accusation. For our part we need to continue in our faith in Jesus, as our eyes stay fixed on the cross and the hope we have been given through Jesus. This is the essence of the gospel. 

Our calling is to live like Jesus would if he were us. Our calling is to become part of the body of Christ, of which Paul calls the Church. The church, which has been given the Great Commission as its primary calling, which is to make disciples of all nations who follow Jesus. In the church we call this evangelism and discipleship. You cannot separate the two. Discipleship always leads to evangelism, or at least it should. This is the fruit Paul is talking about. 

How do you need to adjust or align your life to make sure you are living a life worthy of our calling? Are you part of a church that is fulfilling the commission Jesus gave to his disciples and gives to us? Are you a disciple who makes disciples?