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And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus Phil 4:7 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Monday, October 13, 2025
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Overview of the New Testament: The Epistles Bible Verse:Colossians 1:15-19, 3:1-17 (ESV) "Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell . . . . * * * I f then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. . . . Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body." Message:
Colossians, the third of Paul’s prison epistles, is unusual in that Paul had never been to Colossae. It is a short epistle (four chapters) and quite readable, although the only new territory it covers are several specific heresies.
The overall “big idea” in Colossians can be seen in the first verses: the utter and total importance of Jesus Christ to us. Paul leaves no doubt that Christ is God. He existed from the beginning of time; He came to earth to save us; and His love for us, His power, and His sufficiency for our salvation cannot be doubted.
The epistle is filled with praise for the believers in the church, so the problems it addresses were not as widespread as the comparative uproar in Corinth and Galatia earlier. While Paul does not define the false teachings, his plea that “no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition,” together with his specific admonition that “the fullness of deity dwells bodily [in Christ]” (Col. 2:8,9), point to some variant of Gnosticism.
Rutland Psalter
Angel sleeping with a lion
Rutland Psalter (1245)
Gnosticism comprises a wide range of pseudo-Christian belief systems, mixing the Gospel with pre-Christian Greek philosophies. Gnostics taught that all matter is evil. A Supreme God or pure good could not mix with matter; thus, they hypothesized a pantheon of lesser deities interposed between God and the world. Jesus and the Hebrew YHVH were two of these lesser deities.
Having established the basics of sound Christian belief in the first two chapters — with emphasis on the full divinity of Christ — Paul devotes the last two chapters to practical advice about how to live as a Christian. The transitional paragraph (above, beginning “If then you have been raised with Christ”) is a clarifying statement, connecting our spiritual life to our daily life. It is sometimes hard to grasp what concepts such as “born again” mean; many people find that the beginning of Colossians 3 helps their understanding of the great Christian mystery called “life in Christ.”
At the end of Colossians, Paul mentions a letter to the Laodicean church, and asks the Colossians to greet them and swap letters with them. (The Laodicean epistle has not been found.) Perhaps Paul hoped that the zeal of the Colossian Christians would rub off on the Laodiceans! Because the church at Laodicea is criticized harshly later on, in Revelation 2 and 3, for being “lukewarm”; Christ threatens to “spit it out” of His mouth!
Meditation : Prayer : God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and Spirit of God amidst us, direct our way unto you. Make us to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end we may establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before you, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.,,,,,Amen. |
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