Colossians

Colossians

 

WHEN CHRIST IS EVERYTHING​

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The Gospels show you who Jesus is. Acts shows you what His Spirit started doing. Romans shows you how a person is made right with God. 1 Corinthians shows you how to live together as the church. 2 Corinthians shows you how to keep walking when it gets hard. Galatians shows you that you are free. Ephesians shows you who you are now. Philippians shows you how joy can be real even when life is not.

 

Colossians shows you that Jesus is enough.

 

It is one of the most important letters in the New Testament, even though it is not one of the longest. Paul wrote it because the believers in Colossae were being told something many believers are still being told today. That faith in Jesus is a fine starting point, but it needs to be supplemented. With deeper teachings. With special spiritual experiences. With certain rules. With secret knowledge. With practices that go beyond what ordinary Christians have access to. The teachers in Colossae did not tell the believers to leave Jesus. They told them Jesus was not enough on His own.

 

The question Colossians answers, more directly than any other book in the New Testament, is one many new believers carry quietly today. Is Jesus really enough, or does faith in Him need to be supplemented, completed, or enriched by something else?

 

Paul's answer is one of the clearest in the Bible. Jesus is the fullness of God in human form. In Him every spiritual treasure is already located. In Him you have already been made complete. There is no upgrade missing. There is no inner circle you need to find. There is no special practice or hidden teaching that will give you what He has not already given. Whatever you need, He already is.

 

This guide will not replace your Bible. It is here to walk alongside you while you read it. Open Colossians soon, and let what is said here send you back to the source. And one quiet word at the start of this page in particular: in every generation there are voices that try to add something to Jesus. Some of those voices come from outside the church. Some come from inside. Colossians is one of the books that helps you spot them.

 

Who Wrote It

 

Paul. The same man who wrote Romans, the Corinthian letters, Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians. By the time he writes Colossians he is in prison, probably in Rome, around AD 60 to 62. The same imprisonment that produced Ephesians and Philippians.

 

He had not personally founded the church in Colossae. A man named Epaphras, one of his friends, had started it (Colossians 1:7). Epaphras then travelled to Paul in prison, told him what was happening in Colossae, and Paul wrote this letter in response.

 

That detail matters. Paul is writing to people he has never met (Colossians 2:1). He is doing it because the gospel they were given is being chipped at, and someone needed to defend it. Epaphras went and got him. Paul wrote what was needed.

 

If you are a new believer somewhere far from the apostles, in a church planted by someone else, in a city Paul never visited, you are exactly the kind of reader Paul was thinking of when he wrote this letter. He wrote it for people he could not see, in a place he could not visit, who needed to hear that Jesus is enough.

 

Who He Was Writing For

 

Colossae was a small town in what is now western Turkey, in the Lycus valley. By Paul's time it had passed its peak and was being overshadowed by larger neighbours. The church there was mostly Gentile, with some Jewish believers as well, and it was being pressured by a teaching that mixed several things together.

 

Some of it was Jewish, focused on food laws, festivals, sabbaths, and circumcision. Some of it was philosophical, promising hidden wisdom for those who were initiated. Some of it was mystical, involving visions and the worship of angels (Colossians 2:18). Some of it was ascetic, demanding harsh treatment of the body as a way to spiritual progress. The exact mix is hard to reconstruct now, and Paul does not give it a single name. But he names what it had in common. It was telling the Colossian believers that Jesus was not enough. They needed something more.

 

This is the danger you may also face. Not always in the same form. Sometimes it is another religion offering itself as a deeper truth. Sometimes it is a Christian voice telling you that you need a special experience, a particular kind of spiritual gift, a deeper teaching, a stricter rule, a secret formula. The dressing changes. The pressure is the same. Jesus, plus this. Jesus, plus that.

 

Paul's whole letter is one long answer. Just Jesus. He is the fullness. He is enough.

 

The Tone of the Letter

 

Colossians is calm and exalted. Paul is not panicking, the way he was in Galatians. He is not urgent in the same way. He is in prison, at peace, writing a careful and beautiful defence of who Jesus is. The first chapter contains some of the highest theology in the New Testament, written in poetry. The second chapter is the firm correction of the false teaching. The third and fourth chapters are about how to live as someone who knows Jesus is enough.

 

The tone is the tone of someone who has thought about this for years and has seen the answer steadily. Paul is not improvising. He is unfolding something he has already settled in his own life. He wants the Colossians to settle it in theirs.

 

Who Jesus Actually Is

 

Paul does not start by listing what is wrong with the false teaching. He starts by showing the Colossians who Jesus is. If they see Him properly, the question of whether He is enough answers itself.

 

The opening of the letter contains one of the most extraordinary passages about Jesus in the entire Bible. Many scholars believe it was an early hymn the church sang, which Paul has placed here for maximum effect.

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15-17

 

Read those lines slowly. They are some of the highest words ever written about a person.

 

He is the image of the invisible God. When you look at Jesus, you are looking at the visible expression of the God you cannot see.

 

The firstborn of all creation. Not in the sense of being created. The phrase in Greek means having priority over creation, the rank of the firstborn. Everything that has ever been made was made by Him.

 

By Him all things were created. Both visible and invisible. The world you can see and the world you cannot. Thrones. Dominions. Rulers. Authorities. Every spiritual power in existence was made by Him.

 

Through Him and for Him. He is the agent of creation and the goal of creation. The world is not just made by Him. It is made for Him.

 

He is before all things. He pre-exists everything that exists.

 

In Him all things hold together. Right now, the universe is being held in being by Jesus. The atoms of the chair you are sitting on are being held together by Him. The molecules of your body are being held together by Him. He is not just the creator. He is the sustainer.

 

If this is who Jesus is, what on earth could you possibly need to add to Him? What deeper teaching could go beyond Him? What spiritual being is not already under His authority? What knowledge could a believer need that He does not already contain?

 

That is Paul's whole point. Once you see Jesus properly, the question of whether He is enough cannot survive.

 

You Have Been Made Complete

 

In chapter 2, Paul takes that vision of Jesus and makes it personal. He says it directly.

 

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority.

Colossians 2:9-10

 

Read this more than once.

 

In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form. The fullness of God lives in Jesus. Not partly. Not in measured doses. Fully. And because you are in Him, you share in the fullness He gives. You are not lacking anything you need for life with God.

 

In Him you have been made complete. Past tense. Already done. The verb means filled to the brim. Brought to completion. Lacking nothing.

 

If you are in Christ, you are not waiting for the next stage. You are not behind. You are not missing a piece. You have been made complete in Him. The fullness that lives in Jesus has been given to you because you are in Him.

 

Sit with that as long as you need to. The voice that tells you that you are not enough, that you need a deeper experience, that you have not arrived yet, that real Christians have something you do not, that there is some next level you have not reached, is not the voice of Paul. Paul says you have been made complete. Already.

 

The work is not waiting for you to finish it. Jesus has already done it.

 

How You Continue Is How You Started

 

The teachers in Colossae were not telling the believers to throw Jesus out. They were telling them that faith in Jesus was the start, but the deeper Christian life happened by adding other practices on top. Paul cuts that off in one sentence.

 

Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Colossians 2:6-7

 

The way you walk is the way you received Him.

 

How did you receive Him? By trust. By turning to Him. By saying yes to what He had done. Not by climbing a ladder. Not by qualifying. Not by special initiation. By coming to Him, empty handed, and being received.

 

How do you continue? The same way. Rooted in Him. Built up in Him. Established in the faith you were given. Overflowing with gratitude.

 

This is one of the most important corrections in the letter for new believers. You are not going to be transformed by graduating from Jesus to something deeper. There is nothing deeper. He is the depth. The way you grow is by going further into Him, not by going past Him.

 

If anyone tells you, gently or not so gently, that you have plateaued because you have not added the right practice or experience or teaching, return to this verse. As you received Him. So walk in Him. Same direction. Same person. All the way through.

 

A Direct Word About the False Teaching

 

Paul is gentle through most of the letter, but in chapter 2 he gets sharp. He warns the Colossians not to let anyone take them captive through philosophy and empty deception, by the tradition of men, by the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ (Colossians 2:8).

 

He warns them not to let anyone act as judge over them in food and drink or in religious festivals, sabbaths, new moon celebrations. These were a shadow of what was to come. The substance is Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).

 

He warns them not to let anyone defraud them of their reward by insisting on false humility, the worship of angels, taking pride in visions they have had (Colossians 2:18).

 

Each of these things, on its own, sounded spiritual. Some of them sounded biblical. The teachers were not openly attacking Jesus. They were standing next to Him and saying "and also this." Paul calls all of it a shadow. The substance, the real thing, the body that cast the shadow, is Christ.

 

If you ever find yourself reading something or listening to someone, and the message is "Jesus is great, and also you really need this practice / this experience / this teaching / this hidden truth", bring it back to Colossians 2. Paul has been here before. He knows the move. The substance is Christ. Anything that adds to Him, even when it sounds spiritual, is a shadow trying to take the place of the body.

 

Your Life Is Hidden With Christ

 

Then comes one of the most beautiful passages in the New Testament about the believer's identity.

 

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

 

Read this slowly.

 

You have been raised with Christ. The same resurrection that lifted Jesus out of the grave has lifted you with Him.

 

Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real self is not on display in your circumstances, your performance, your reputation, what other people think of you. Your real self is hidden, safely, with Christ, in God. No one can reach in and take it.

 

Christ is your life. He is not an addition to your life. He is your life.

 

When Christ is revealed, you will be revealed with Him in glory. The future of your life and the future of Jesus are tied together. When He returns and is shown for who He is, you will be shown alongside Him.

 

If you have ever felt small, hidden, unseen, unrecognised, this passage is for you. Your life is not lost. It is hidden with Christ in God. Hidden is not the same as forgotten. The hiddenness is safety. The day is coming when what is hidden now will be revealed.

 

Living Like Someone Who Has Been Made Complete

 

The second half of the letter shows what life looks like when you have settled the question. Jesus is enough. You have been made complete. Now what?

 

Paul says, take off the old self and put on the new self (Colossians 3:9-10). Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity (Colossians 3:14). Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (Colossians 3:15). Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you (Colossians 3:16). Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Colossians 3:17).

 

Notice how this is different from what the false teachers were offering. They were promising hidden depths through new practices. Paul says the depth is already in Christ. The way to grow is to let Him fill more and more of your ordinary life. Your relationships. Your conversations. Your work. Your home. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, in His name. Not as performance. As gratitude.

 

Then he applies it to specific relationships in chapter 3 verse 18 to chapter 4 verse 1. Husbands and wives. Parents and children. Workers and employers. These verses have sometimes been misused, so read them through the Jesus Paul has just shown you. The Lord who lays down His life. The Lord who protects the vulnerable. The Lord who never uses authority for selfish gain. The Christian life happens here, in the ordinary places. Jesus is not somewhere up in a higher spiritual realm waiting for you to access Him. He is here, in your kitchen, in your office, in the conversations of your family, asking to be the centre.

 

A Few Threads from the Old Testament

 

Colossians does not quote the Old Testament heavily, but the Christ hymn of chapter 1 is full of Old Testament resonance. The phrase "image of the invisible God" echoes Genesis 1:27, where humans are made in the image of God. Paul is saying Jesus is what humanity was always meant to be, and infinitely more. The line about creation through Him echoes Proverbs 8 and the wisdom traditions of the Hebrew Scriptures, where God's wisdom is described as the agent through which the world was made. He is identifying Jesus with that wisdom.

 

In chapter 2, Paul writes about circumcision, the Old Testament sign of the covenant, and says that in Christ believers have received a circumcision not made with hands. The old sign cut a piece of flesh from the body. The new reality cuts the old self away from the heart (Colossians 2:11-13). What the law could only point to, Christ has fulfilled. The shadow has been replaced by the substance.

 

If you came from a religious background, this is for you. The old signs and rituals are not where the substance ever lived. The substance was always the person they were pointing to.

 

How to Read Colossians

 

It is a short letter. Four chapters. You can read it in one sitting, and there is real value in doing exactly that.

 

If you are not sure where to begin, here is something gentle to try. Read chapter 1 first, slowly, focusing on the Christ hymn from verse 15 to verse 20. Read it as worship, not just as theology. Then sit with chapter 2, the firm correction of the false teaching. Then chapter 3, the practical outflow. After that, go back and read the whole letter from chapter 1 to chapter 4 in sequence.

 

Colossians pairs naturally with Ephesians. The two letters were written at the same time and share many themes. Where Ephesians focuses on the church as the body of Christ, Colossians focuses on Christ as the head of the body. Read together, they give you a complete picture.

 

Keep coming back to chapter 1 verses 15 to 20 throughout your life. It is a passage to grow into.

 

What Colossians Means for Your Life Now

 

If you have come to Jesus and find yourself wondering whether you are missing something, whether the real Christian life is somewhere you have not yet reached, whether other believers have found a depth you have not, Colossians is your letter. You have been made complete in Him. Already. The fullness that lives in Jesus has been given to you because you are in Him.

 

If you are being told, gently or not so gently, that your faith needs to be supplemented with something else, take the message back to Colossians 2. Run it through Paul's test. Is the substance Christ, or is it being treated as a shadow you need to add to Him? If anything is being placed alongside Jesus as if He alone is not enough, Paul has already given you the answer. The substance is Christ. Nothing else needs to be added.

 

If you are working out how to grow in the Christian life, return to chapter 2 verses 6 and 7. As you received Him, so walk in Him. The way you grow is the way you started. By trust. By going further into Him, not past Him.

 

If you feel small or hidden or unseen, return to chapter 3 verses 1 to 4. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Hidden is not the same as forgotten. The hiddenness is safety. He is your life. The day is coming when what is hidden now will be revealed in glory, with Him.

 

And if anyone ever asks you what makes Jesus different from every other spiritual teacher or path, return to Colossians 1:15-20. He is the image of the invisible God. By Him all things were created. He is before all things. In Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body. In Him all the fullness of God dwells. Through Him God reconciled all things to Himself by the blood of His cross. There is no one like Him. There never has been. There never will be.

 

He is enough. You are complete in Him.