Colossians ~ Part 2

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In our next post, we examine Sha’ul’s Letters to the Saints, continuing in Colossians.

Sha’ul of Tarsus & His Letters~ Part 174

Colossians~ Part 2

If you’re feeling burdened by the chaos of daily life, Colossians 1 teaches us that Yeshua is our peace. Take a day this week to set aside distractions-phones, television, and social media. Use this uninterrupted time for prayer, meditation on Scripture, and reflection. Create a quiet space in your home where you can sit with God. This practice not only helps center your thoughts on Yeshua but can also be a valuable teaching moment for your family about the importance of solitude and communion with God.

The Preeminence of The Messiah

¹⁵ He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation,

Yeshua, like Adam, is the visible image of the invisible God (Genesis 1:26-27, “Let us create man in our image.”) See Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:44-49 for a more explicit comparison of Yeshua “the last Adam,” with the first one. Such comparisons are not unknown in Judaism.

¹⁶ because in connection with Him were created all things-in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities-they have all been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.

He existed before all things, or: “He is over all things,” and he holds everything together-the moment-to-moment existence of the physical and moral universe depends directly on his continuing oversight and providence.

Sha’ul shifts from Yeshua’s relationship with the universe (vv. 15-17) to his relationship with the Messianic Community, thus picking up the theme introduced in verse 14 above.

¹⁸ Also, He is head of the Body, the Messianic Community-he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that He might hold first place in everything, ¹⁹ For it pleased God to have His full being live in His Son

It pleased God to have His full being live in His Son. Sha’ul uses the method of seizing on a characteristic distinctive of the heresy he is fighting and showing how it relates to and supports the Gospel. Thus, he follows the pattern he described in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5: “We demolish arguments and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah.”

²⁰ and through His Son to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through Him, through having His Son shed His blood by being executed on a stake. ²¹ In other words, you, who at one time were separated from God and had a hostile attitude towards Him because of your wicked deeds,

Relationship with Yeshua

²² he has now reconciled in the Son’s physical body through His death; in order to present you holy and without defect or reproach before Himself-²³ provided, of course, that you continue in your trusting, grounded and steady, and don’t let yourselves be moved away from the hopе offered in the Good News you heard. This is the Good News that has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Sha’ul, have become a servant of it.

Proclaiming Yeshua

²⁴ I rejoice in my present sufferings on your behalf! Yes, I am completing in my own flesh what has been lacking of the Messiah’s afflictions on behalf of His Body, the Messianic Community.

The Messiah’s afflictions. Either the “birth pangs of the Messiah” of Jewish tradition or his present suffering due to the Messianic Community’s present imperfections, but not His death pangs, because His atoning death is a completed work and does not require completing.

²⁵ I became a servant of the Good News because God gave me this work to do for your benefit. The work is to make fully known the message from God, ²⁶ the secret hidden for generations, for ages, but now made clear to the people he has set apart for Himself, ²⁷ To them, God wanted to make known how great among the Gentiles is the glorious richness of this secret. And the secret is this: the Messiah is united with you people! In that rests your hope of glory!

The Messiah is united with you people, with you believing Gentiles and not only with believing Jews. In that rests your hope of glory, of receiving everything good that God promises to those who are faithful.

²⁸ We, for our part, proclaim Him; we warn, confront, and teach everyone in all wisdom so that we may present everyone as having reached the goal, united with the Messiah. ²⁹ It is for this that I toil, striving with all the energy that He stirs up in me so mightily. ^[1]

Striving with all the energy that He stirs up in me so mightily, literally, “struggling according to the working of him who works powerfully in me.” Compare Philippians 2:13, Ephesians 2:8-9.

In our next post, we examine Sha’ul‘s Letters to the Saints, continuing in Colossians.

^[1]Colossians 1:15-29