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Center of Everything 5 FEB 12

COL 1:13-14 Paul now starts the body of his letter. “He” refers to God the Father. The “power of darkness” is all things of Satan. The ultimate power is eternal death. “Has delivered” in the Greek means to rescue. This is a direct statement that no person can achieve the saving of his/her own spiritual life. Thus God needed to affect a rescue through “his dear Son.” But this rescue requires that the person take hold of Jesus’ outstretched hand (i.e. repentance and faith). “Translated” means to move from one kingdom to another. God made us citizens of Jesus’ kingdom by adoption. A careful point: Jesus’ kingdom is the Church and not some 1000 years of physical rule on this earth. He was very specific about that. (John 18:36 RSV) "Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship was of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world."" Paul put it another way in (Phil 3:20 RSV) "But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ," We are citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We need always to keep in mind as we study Colossians that Paul is writing what he writes to counter the Gnostics, and to a lesser extent the Judiazers. Thus as he uses “redemption” he is thinking of the Gnostics position that unless you belong to their group and advance through their systems, you cannot gain the knowledge of the Gnostics salvation. Paul here uses the Greek meaning full redemption. Thus a lost person immediately has full redemption (yet another reference to Eternal Security) immediately at the moment of salvation (regeneration). This includes “even the forgiveness of sin” which the Gnostics cannot provide.

COL 1:15 “He” means Jesus. “Image” means icon, a likeness. So Paul means an exact likeness. Some say that “God” here means the Trinity. But Jesus is not invisible. We don’t see him now because he is away. (Col 3:1 RSV) "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." However, Jesus is eternally visible for he because 100% human and remains 100% human in his Resurrection Body. He once was only spirit but now forever is he 100% divine spirit and 100% human just as he was on earth. Thus “God” means “God the Father.” The phrase “firstborn of every creature” is a big item of opinion among scholars. The Greek is 4416. prototokos, pro-tot-ok'-os; from G4413 and the alt. of G5088; first-born (usually as noun, lit. or fig.):--firstbegotten (-born). When we look at John 1:1-3 we see Jesus is co-existent, co-equal, and co-identical. This brings us to a companion theological issue. (John 1:1 RSV) "In the beginning was always the Word, and the Word was always with God, and the Word was always God." John uses “God” to mean the Trinity. Thus Jesus was always a Divine Person of the Trinity. He was never divinely born by the Father. Conclusion 1: “Firstborn” cannot refer to Jesus being born spiritually into God. In (John 1:14 RSV) “... glory as of the only Son from the Father." John states Jesus is the only son from the Father. The only way Jesus became a “son” was being born a human. Jesus was the Father’s “firstborn” human (Note God created Adam and Eve) and he is the only-born from the Father. No other human has been born as Jesus was. We note that the Greek for “creature” can mean creation or creature. Conclusion 2: Jesus is the firstborn of all of creation. So what we have Paul doing (as he does so often) is using a common play on words. The position of the firstborn son in a Jewish family was he had the most status. He got a bigger inherence. He took over when the father died. Thus Paul means in effect LORD. Thus the idea should be translated “the Lord of all creation.”

COL 1:16-17 The Greek for “in him” means in the sphere of him (being Jesus). The totality of the Cosmos was created in the sphere of Jesus as one of the Trinity. Some take this verse to mean Jesus was the sole creator. But (Gen 1:26 RSV) "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."" says otherwise. The Trinity created as a joint effort. (Eph 3:9 RSV) "and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things;" But nothing was done without Jesus, hence in his sphere. This Paul expresses as “all things were created through him and for him.” Therefore this Cosmos was made for Jesus. He is the sustaining power of the Cosmos. When he comes again he will no longer sustain the Cosmos. (2 Pet 3:10 RSV) "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up."

COL 1:18 Jesus is also (naturally) the “head”, i.e. leader, boss, Lord, of the Church (all saved of all time). Jesus began the Church. Paul also states he is the firstborn of the dead, in order for him to legitimately be “pre-eminent.” Paul said it another way in (1 Cor 15:20 RSV) "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead in the context of spiritual death. The Church is made up of (1 Cor 15:23 RSV... those who belong to Christ." (Gal 3:26 RSV) "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." This makes Jesus the first member of the Church. So technically, all the faith people of the Old Testament were not really saved until Jesus was raised from the dead. Only then were they officially made part of the Church. This further explains the need for Hades, the abode of the dead (Old Testament: Sheol). Saved people went to the Paradise side of Hades (“Abraham’s bosom”) to await the work of Jesus. When Jesus was finished he cleared out the saved from Paradise. (Eph 4:8 RSV) "Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.""

COL 1:19-20 Again Paul slams the Gnostics with their own terms. “Fullness” was a favorite Gnostic term by which they referred to the very essence of something. They offered a partial fullness on their path of progression in knowledge. Paul clearly said Jesus is the (Greek) “total fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Some think “God” here means the Trinity but it most certainly means the “God” from verse 15, the Father. Verse 20 is a repeat of verse 13-14. The Father, through Jesus, uses Jesus to reconcile all things, whether on earth or throughout the Cosmos (not Heaven) by the Cross event.

COL 1:21 Paul now sums up what he has said so far. They are to remember that once they were lost and as such (Greek) belonged to another while (Greek) hating in their mind (Greek meaning is the total person, similar to how we use heart) [God and thus doing] evil works. This “another” is Satan. (John 8:44 RSV) "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

COL 1:22-23 But now “he” (Jesus) has “reconciled” (saved) them through his “body of flesh.” Another slam at the Docetic Gnostics who said Jesus never was really human. “By his death” means the whole Cross event per 1 Cor 15. All this “... in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him," If one is blameless and irreproachable, then there can be no fault found at the Judgment and thus no reason to not get rewards. (1 Cor 3:14 RSV) "If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward."

COL 1:23 (KJV) “if ye continue” and (RSV) “provided that you continue” sounds just the opposite of what Paul has said about Eternal Security. It sounds like you can become lost again. The Greek reads 1489. eige, i'-gheh; from G1487 and G1065; if indeed, seeing that, unless, (with neg.) otherwise:--if (so be that, yet). It is used here, as Paul often does in many letters, to mean that he assumes their faith is genuine. However, there is another meaning he could be stating which has nothing to do with losing your salvation but does use the meaning “if indeed.” Connecting “in order to present” with “if indeed”, the idea is whether Jesus will be able to present you as “blameless.” This would not be the case for the Christian in 1 Cor 5 or people with a lot of “wood, hay, and stubble” in 1 Cor 3:12-15. The idea is as in (1 Cor 3:15 RSV) "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." Will we embarrass Jesus at the Judgment by being “only as through fire”? Paul is both warning and encouraging the Colossians to be “stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you have heard” to what the Gnostics and/or the Judiazers preach. Paul is not saying that the gospel has already been “preached to every creature under heaven” but that it is being preached and he is a minister to help do just that. Because of the Lordship of Jesus and his right to hold that position, we are (Col 1:10 RSV) "to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." We are to live out our commitment to Jesus as Lord. (Phil 2:12 RSV) "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;" “work out” means 2 PET 1:5-7 and EPH 2:10.

Thus the exalting of the Son can only be achieved by John 3:16 through ACTS 20:21. Jesus is the center of everything because of (John 14:6 RSV) "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me."

Marvin Ganote, Hobbs Study Class, Adult Teacher. Lesson at: http://dma.dreamhosters.com/~ganotemd/lesson.htm or http://homepages.udayton.edu/~ganotem/bible/lesson.htm