God's Fellowship

Rescued & Redeemed

Colossians 1:1-14, 21-23

Colossians is a real letter written by a real person (Paul) to real followers of Jesus (the Colossians) who were part of a real church in a real place (in modern-day Turkey) during real historical events. This isn't a hypothetical piece of fiction. It's real. And it's true.

Paul was 1300 miles away under house arrest in Rome (same place as today's Rome) when a friend visited him to give an update on the church. It went something like this:

“Our brothers and sisters in Colossae are doing pretty great, but...”

Life often feels like that, doesn’t it?

“Things are pretty great, but...”

That’s because we still live on earth where Jesus absolutely and positively reigns in the hearts and lives of his followers and the power of sin absolutely and stubbornly causes destruction wherever it can.

The Christians in Colossae were bombarded on both sides. On one, false pagan ideas encouraged people to pursue a life defined by sex, money, and power. On the other, certain legalistic religious ideas demanded people follow unnecessary ceremonial laws and rituals in order to earn God’s forgiveness.

Paul writes that neither of these two ways is right. Paganism is a lie, and legalism is empty. Instead, Jesus himself is the one and only “right way” because he has defeated the powers of pagan religions and has abolished the demands of legalistic rituals. He is the first and last, the beginning and the end. He is the King of kings and our redeemer.

Read & Reflect

Colossians 1:1-23 (especially 1-14 and 21-23)

What do these verses say about life before or without Jesus?
What do these verses say about life with and following Jesus?
What do you think about these differences?
What do you learn about God in these verses? (When Paul writes "God" he almost always means the Father.)
What do you learn about Jesus in these verses? (When Paul writes "Lord" he almost always means Jesus).
What do you learn about the Holy Spirit in these verses?
What do you learn about humanity and yourself in these verses?

Extra Info

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The city of Colossae was located in the southwest corner of modern-day Turkey. The city was a Roman province, like many other places during that time. Long before Paul wrote this letter, the people of Colossae were known for making dark red wool cloth, called colossinum. By the time Paul wrote his letter, the city had gone from being an important metropolis to being a second-class city to being a run-down ruin because of earthquakes in 17 and 60 AD. The city was rebuilt after each earthquake, but it never regained its status. By 400 AD, it no longer existed.
Philemon (Paul’s short letter to him is in the New Testament) was from Colossae.

Extra Verses

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Ephesians 2:1-10

Extra Things

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Watch the videos below to hear and learn more about Colossians and Jesus as our rescuing redeemer.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2103 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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