Listen to Podcast in Colossians 1:1-14
In this Colossians podcast 1:1-14, the apostle Paul introduces his letter to the church in Colossae, highlighting key aspects of their faith, the supremacy of Christ, and the work of salvation. This passage is rich in doctrinal truths and practical encouragement.
1. Greeting and Thanksgiving (1:1-8)
Paul begins with a warm greeting to the believers, identifying himself as an apostle of Christ by the will of God and acknowledging Timothy as a co-laborer. He expresses gratitude for the Colossians’ faith in Christ Jesus and love for all the saints (v. 4). These virtues, Paul notes, are rooted in their hope laid up in heaven, which they have heard about through the gospel (v. 5). He commends the gospel’s growth among them, noting its impact on their lives and the faith of the entire world (v. 6).
2. The Preeminence of Christ (1:9-12)
Paul transitions to a prayer, asking that the Colossians be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding (v. 9). This knowledge is not for mere intellectual assent but for living a life worthy of the Lord (v. 10). Paul prays for them to be strengthened with all power so they can endure and be patient, filled with joy and thanksgiving (v. 11-12). His prayer emphasizes spiritual maturity, producing a life of fruitfulness that honors God.
3. The Work of Redemption (1:13-14)
The passage culminates in a profound declaration of the Colossians’ salvation. Paul reminds them that God has rescued them from the dominion of darkness and brought them into the kingdom of His beloved Son (v. 13). This transfer is made possible by Christ’s sacrifice, in whom believers have redemption and the forgiveness of sins (v. 14). The imagery of being “rescued” emphasizes the transformative power of Christ’s work in their lives.
Overall, these verses highlight the centrality of Christ in the believer’s life, His supremacy in creation and redemption, and the power of the gospel to transform individuals and communities.
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Podcast Transcript
Transcript of Colossians 1:1-14 Podcast
Wanna discover your freedom in Christ? Then listen in as Mike Stone and Kevin Smith talk about it today on Grace Coach. Welcome to Grace Coach. My name is Kevin Smith, and we've got my best friend, Mike Stone, with us today. What's up, Mike?
Oh, it's so good to be back, Kevin. It's been a couple months. We took some time off, let the spirit teach us a little bit more, and and here we are. Gonna start the quick one. We talked Last time we talked, we were gonna do a Christmas a special Christmas message, and that never happened.
Never happened. Things get in the way. We're gonna start a brand new book today, the book of Colossians by the apostle Paul, same guy who wrote the book of Romans. And I think it's gonna be great. It's a short book, but power packed.
So let's get right into it. Why don't you read chapter, verse one? Alright. Colossians one one, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and Timothy, our brother. And here he says, by the will of God that this book happened, Paul writing the book of Colossians by the will of god.
And, you know, Paul was Saul before he was Paul and he was murdering Christians, dragging him into prison. On the road to Damascus, we read in Acts nine. Jesus gets right in front of him and says, Paul, why do you persecute me? What are you doing? I'm gonna introduce myself to you, and Paul put his faith in Christ right there and then and how it all began.
That was the will of god, though. Yep. God definitely did a huge miracle of transformation in Paul's life on that road to Damascus. I can't even imagine what it had been like, struck him blind. Yeah.
Oh, got had to be let in, but that's that would that would is a a humbling thing. Can you imagine that? You know, on your way to get these Christians in jail and kill him and everything else, what he was doing, and, Jesus Christ met him in the flesh and struck him blind, and really was a very humble beginning of his spiritual journey. And I'm sure he did not have any thought that he was gonna see again because he really didn't know god the way he learned. No.
God is a forgiving god, and he was gonna use Paul, Saul then, and who became Paul to write wow. What? 80% of the New Testament is written by Paul? It's a lot. A lot.
Yeah. It says, and Timothy, our brother. Some versions say, from Timothy, our brother. So sounds like Paul and Timothy are kind of cowriting this together. Yeah.
It does sound like that. But I think, you know, Timothy was right there with them, helping them, of course, but I think that the the main part of this is Paul writing it. You know, it's writing style and everything else. Yeah. And we know it's the Holy Spirit in Paul, in Timothy, who is really the inspiration here of the word of God.
So verse two, to god's holy people in Colosse, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. Grace and peace to you from god our father. So those two words holy people, that could trip up some people who believe that in order to be a saint or to be a holy person, you need to be canonized and set apart, which we are as born again Christians, but there's religions, the Catholic religions that would believe that saints are special set apart people that had a special purpose and that they themselves are not saints. And that is incorrect because we could read through many scriptures. Romans one seven says, those loved by god and called to be saints, referring to born again Christians.
First Corinthians one two. Again, Paul opens up his letter to the church of god, those sanctified in Christ and called to be saints. And, here's one I wanted to read in Colossians one twenty two that we will get to. It says, but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death, his death on the cross, to present you holy in his sight Amen. Without blemish and free from accusation.
Yeah. That is definitely something that people don't really hold on to. They don't they don't see themselves as, holy, set apart set apart for good works. You know, not that we're perfect, but we're we're holy. We're we're we're set apart.
God has done something new in each one of us. He's given us his new nature. We have a new heart, and, we we're set apart for good works. You know, the other thing in verse two is I'd like is the word faithful, which is pretty unique in the introductions. Paul typically doesn't use that word when he's doing intros in all the other books.
It's it's this is pretty unique to, Colossians. Yeah. I've found pretty faith pretty interesting. Well, let's read, Kevin, I wanna read verse three to eight. We always thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints, the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you all over the world.
This gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood it in God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who was a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told you of your love in the spirit. Yeah. So I love all of it, but in verse five, it talks about faith and love where it's where it comes from or where it springs from. Mhmm.
And it says that this faith and love that you have spring from the hope that you have stored up for you in heaven. And so when I think about my life down here as a Christian, I know you do too, this hope that I believe the Bible is referring to is the rapture of the saints that's mentioned in first Thessalonians four. Titus two thirteen calls it the blessed hope that we have. That while we're here and in the in the flesh alive that Christ is promising one day, hopefully, if we're still alive or if we've died, it doesn't matter, as he'll meet us in the air. Now that hope, Paul is saying, is where faith and love come from.
As you think about this great event that's gonna happen and you and you swallow it, you keep your mind on it, it really does produce faith in Christ because it's based on hope and love, the love of God and then the love for others. You know, I love Paul does the intros to all the epistles he writes. You really get a sense of the church that he's writing. And, you know, I can just see that this I know there's a a heresy that we'll get into later. But in general, in this opening introduction of this thanksgiving in the prayer, I really get a sense that this church in Colosse was just a a church full of love and hope and great fellowship in the community.
And and Paul wasn't even there. He's hearing this from Epaphras and just, other people that have been there that in the in the last chapter of the book, he's got this big long list of people like he did in Romans. But there's a community that is that the bond of Jesus Christ is very evident in the inter introduction and the conclusion of this book. So Yeah. And he says in verse four, the love you have for all of God's people.
Right. And then in verse six, he says that this has been going on in your life, this love that's been springing from this hope since the day you heard it Yes. And truly understood God's grace. You know, when you you'll ask somebody, what's your understanding of salvation? If you're in an elevator or you got three floors to to have a conversation, and you say, what's your understanding of salvation?
Probably, they they will say is that Jesus died for my sins, and that's it. And you you could say to them, and you should test this out on people. What's the meaning of the resurrection? Well, it proved Jesus was God. Anything else that no.
But that's not the fullness, unless you understand the resurrected life of Christ, that he rose from the dead to give you new life because we were spiritually dead, born that way, and he came to give us new life. That's the fullness. So not only did he take away our sins, but he rose the dead that anyone who believed in him shall have new life. Why? Because we were born dead.
Yes. In Adam, in the image of Adam, spiritually dead. When I learned that, that answered just about everything, and I know you too. But that's why I'm wanna be on a podcast. That's why I wanted to read the book of Colossians.
That's why we did the book of Romans. To help people with god's grace in his fullness. Not just a sliver, not just a part, but the whole gospel. He died. He was buried and he rose again.
Amen. That you know, when you were saying that about being on the elevator, talking to people, and trying it out, I was at work the other day, and I often get into conversations with people at work about spiritual things. And and I got into this conversation with this guy, long story. He he was, like, very, very interesting guy. But he said something about growing up in church, and I said, well, are you a Christian?
And he said, yeah, I'm a Christian. And I usually will follow that up with a question, you know, a clarifying question. But some reason, I didn't at that point. And we did the conversation just went on elsewhere. And I have just been thinking about this guy for a long time.
For you know, it was just last week when I we were working together, but I I really hope I get to work for him. I I did tell him when when we said goodbye that, you know, I hope to see you again back down here. But, you know, that's the thing. It's like we have got this hope that is springing up all over the world. Another piece to this little section, you know, we're in verses three through eight.
And this is what I think Paul's wrote in verse six, at the end of verse six, god's grace in all its truth. Yes. You know, all its truth. Not just art. Not half not half the truth.
Yeah. All the truth. That is right. You know? And I think that's, again, going foreshadowing a little bit what this book's about, but I think Paul wrote that because people were saying a lot of heresies about Jesus Christ.
And was he really deity? Was he really, you know, God in the flesh? Was he really, you know, the son of God? And and and just that goes on. Satan is doing that all over the world.
It's a it's a spiritual battle. And this this guy I was working with was saying all this stuff that I'm just like he's like, oh, I don't know if I can trust the whole bible. I'm like Yeah. Well, let's go on. For this reason in verse nine, for the reason he just mentioned in verse three to eight, 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 wisdom and understanding that the spirit gives so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing good fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance in his holy people in the kingdom of light. Wow. That is one long sentence. Verse 13. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness.
It's not will rescue us. He has rescued us and brought us into the kingdom of the son. He loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Something it's not something we get. It's not something we get if we ask God to forgive us.
No. You don't ask for what you already have. If you knew you had it, you wouldn't ask for. It's something you have. We have been redeemed and we have been forgiven.
And so we're just best off just believing that and stop asking God to do what he's already done. That's the full gospel. There is a moment in time, like it says right here, for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves. In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. It's you were from in darkness at one moment.
When you receive Christ, you're now in Christ. That's a huge theme in Paul's writing. You know what I really noticed, Kevin? I gotta say, I love the so that's. It's like, why are you telling us this, Paul?
Why are you telling us in verse nine that God will fill you with the knowledge of his will through all wisdom and understanding of the spirit? Well, it says why. So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him by faith in every way, not by works, but by faith. And then jumping to verse 11, that he strengthened us with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance. Because once you've been strengthened with his power through the word of God in your mind, in your heart, that really strengthens you when times get tough, and it gives you great endurance and patience.
So I just love the so that's. Amen. The therefors. Like, what's it there for? That's what the that's what therefore means.
It's just like a common sense approach to me when I read this. Well, you know, that's another and we've talked about this a little bit in the past. But in verse 12, it says, joyfully giving thanks to the father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance. But the words endurance and patience, I mean, that makes light of challenges that come into the world. And when challenges come our way in the world, if we crumble and fall and, like, woe is me and no.
We can joy if we can joyfully give thanks for all things in Christ, that is saying right here in black and white. That's how we can endure and have patience Yeah. You know, through through the challenges of the world. And how about this in verse 12? I know we don't feel very qualified in the in the spirit.
You know, we might I'm qualified at my job, or I'm qualified in sports to do things. But to be qualified in the spirit, to be qualified that god has qualified you, it's not a disqualification because when you do bad things. Right? No. It is you are qualified all the time.
You're qualified in your in your goodness, in your badness, in your good in your right thinking, in your wrong thinking. You are a god has qualified you. Period. And it's not something we get. He has done that to a born again Christian.
How many of us know that? We're qualified. And, again, kinda going back to the same thing, it's like, doesn't mean that we're perfect. Just means we're in Christ. Mhmm.
And you can choose to live in the flesh and be miserable, or you can choose to live in the spirit and express Jesus. Either way, you're qualified in this site. It doesn't take away from your qualification. No. As far as being perfect, Kevin, we are perfect, but in his eyes.
And it's not not because of the things we do. We know that. Right? We know we don't think clearly, you know, all the time or even part of it. But because we have the living perfect one, the one who has been qualified, Jesus Christ living in us, we have that.
We're clothed in his righteousness. We are perfect in his sight. It we just read that we're blameless in him. So Paul is trying to get this out there because Christians need to know what they have. And if any book, Colossians is one of the greatest.
It's just these first fifteen 14 verses. What we have as born again Christians, this is really amazing stuff. Well, it's gonna be even more amazing when we look in the next 15 verses at the supremacy of Christ and all that Christ is, man. I this next section, I often just come and read it. It is like candy.
It's like it's it's like my go to section so often. You're gonna have to hang on, Kevin, because that's all the time we have for this podcast. Man, what a what a hook for next podcast. How about it? Back to that.
What a setup. What a setup. Yeah. We'll get into Colossians one fifteen through the end of the book, but, this has been great. I I hope anyone listening today get your Bible out.
Just look on the phone. Just go to Colossians one through 14 and go over these verses again, and you will be blessed as God starts to teach you what you have in Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening to Grace Coach. If you want to connect with us, we would love to engage with you.
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