Col 1

Colossians

Paul starts out the chapter with expressing his gratitude for their faith, love and hope.

Colossians 1:3-5 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.

Verse 6 is an incredible powerful and encouraging statement:

This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

He prays that they will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, walk in a fashion that would be deemed worthy of the Lord, that they would continued to be strengthened by God’s power, and produce fruit.

Colossians 1:9-10 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

I really like how the chapter concludes. Paul describes his ministry, which he took great joy in suffering on behalf of Christ and His church. Paul sees himself as a person who has been entrusted with a incredible mystery…

Colossians 1:24-27 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.