“At the top of the chart there are three divisions with headings.
The heading for Chapters 1 & 2 says the two chapters deal with the subject of CHRIST IS OUR LORD.

Chapter 1:
Christ is the Lord of CREATION
Lord of THE CHURCH
Lord of MINISTRY

Chapter 2:
Christ is Lord of OUR WALK
Lord of OUR SALVATION
Lord of OUR GROWTH

Chapter 3:
The heading is CHRIST IS OUR LIFE
Christ is the life of our MIND
Christ is the life of our BODY
Christ is the life of our ATTITUDE
Christ is the life of our ACTIONS

Chapter 4: The heading is CHRIST IS OUR LOVE
Love for UNBELIEVERS
Love for BELIEVERS

There is also important information in the lower levels of the chart.

During St Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome, which most theologians believe happened in 60-61 AD, he wrote this letter (the Book fo Colossians) to the church at Colossae.

You can look at the map to get an idea of where this city known as Colossae is located.”

Paul never visited, that we know of, the church or the city of Colossae, but most likely his associates had planted the church at Colossae. 

The Apostle had received a report that they were struggling with Christological heresy. What is heresy? It was false teaching. The report came from Epaphras, likely the leader of the church at Colossae, and a convert of Paul, from his more than two year ministry in Ephesus.

Epaphras had come to Rome, in part to serve Paul during his imprisonment. You can read that in Philemon 1:23. But I believe that he was also there to confide in Paul, regarding the dangerous teachings the Colossians were hearing.

So Paul sent this letter, along with the letters to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, with Tychicus, accompanied by Onesimus. Once again, you can read this in Colossians 4:7 & Philemon 1:10-12.

Tychicus was a coworker of Paul, who would have been able to help the Colossian believers understand and apply the apostles teachings in the letter.

WHY IS COLOSSIANS SO IMPORTANT?

The church at Colossae was under attack from false teachers, who were denigrating or putting down and disagreeing with the deity of Jesus; they were teaching that he was not actually God. Paul had never been to the church itself. Yet he addressed these issues head-on.

The nature of Jesus Christ as Creator and Redeemer was non-negotiable with Saint Paul. So Paul wrote to them that he might bring his wisdom to bear on this difficult and trying situation.

It was critical to him that this church know God in His greatness and glory, rather than in the deficient view given them by the false teachers, and you can find this in Colossians 1:25 and Chapter 2:1-2.

The reason that Colossians is so very important is because Paul’s defense of the deity of Jesus Christ is what set the standard for the body of Christ worldwide.

WHAT DO I, PASTOR RICH, WANT YOU TO HOLD ONTO  AFTER THIS SERIES IS COMPLETED?

In the Book of Colossians St. Paul described Jesus with some of the most wonderful language in the New Testament, focusing on Christ’s preeminence and sufficiency in all things.

PREEMINENCE: THE WORD PREEMINENT COMES FROM  A LATIN WORD MEANING, “TO STAND OUT!”

If Jesus is the all preeminent one, it means that He “Stands Out,” and is ABOVE all other  so-called god’s in the universe.

Paul literally presented Christ as the center of the universe, not only as the Active Creator, but also as the Recipient of Creation, and his taking on of human flesh.

He creates the universe, and then He humbled Himself, and becomes a man. Then He receives the benefits of humankind by living off of, and eating off of, the world He created. Christ was, and is, the visible image of the invisible God, containing within himself the fullness of deity. Deity meaning He is God. And that is found in Colossians 2:9.

Because of His divine nature, Jesus is sovereign. He stands alone, above all things, within authority given to him by the father. Consequently, 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.

You can believe what you want to believe, but if your present belief does not line up with this, then you are heading down a side pathway off of the narrow Christian road of Christian doctrine and theology.

The proper view of Christ, as mentioned above, served as the antidote for the Colossian church heresy that it was fighting against, as well as a building block for Christian life and doctrine today and in the future.

YOU MAY BE WONDERING, 

“PASTOR, HOW DO I APPLY THIS IN MY LIFE?”

Your view of Jesus Christ will impact every area of your life. Many today want only practical instruction and helps for life. They don’t really want doctrine and theology because they seem to be out of touch with their day-to-day reality. But the truth is our faith rules everything we do and are. I have many Jewish friends. I have many Muslim friends. None of them wonder what I believe.

I have many secular friends who are not religious, but they know what I believe. They know what I stand for. It is true that I stand behind a pulpit every Sunday and preach the gospel. But before I was a preacher of the gospel in a church, I was a Christian man. And everything about my faith ruled and dictated how I lived, who I hung out with, and what I believed.

Until you get that right, you will always flounder in this life searching for purpose and success.

I hope to be like Paul, well I hope to be like Jesus. Paul was just a man like I am just a man. St Paul’s view was different. He saw that the Christological problems in the church in Colossae had practical importance as well.

Believers‘s have died with Christ; therefore, we need to die to our sins. We have also been raised with Christ; consequently, we must live well in him, and put on qualities that are motivated by Christian love.

And because He is Lord over all. The life of the Christian is a life of submission to Jesus and

His will. The question is, “Are you following after Jesus as you should?” Our faith in Jesus Christ should transform the relationships we have in every area of our lives, in our homes, in our church, and in our world.

Finally, you may be asking what my favorite passage in the book of Colossians is. The entire book is really my favorite passage, but the one that seems to stand out is …

Colossians 2:6-10 ^_ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.