Colossians 1:12-14 - Rescued from the dominion of darkness

1:12

Patience and endurance may sound rather dull, but Paul also wants them to be giving joyful thanks to the Father, for we have been qualified to “share in the inheritance of God’s holy people in the kingdom of light” .We have been qualified to receive a glorious inheritance. This counteracted some of the false teaching attacks on them. They were qualified, false teachings would try to tell them that they were not qualified, that they needed something more.

1:13,14

How were they qualified? God had rescued them from the dominion of darkness, and brought them into the kingdom of the Son who God loves.  Through Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. It is true that of ourselves we are not worth, but in Christ we are forgiven, our sins are no longer held against us.

Colossians 1:9-11 - To be filled with the knowledge of God

1:9

The fact that the Colossians were doing well did not stop Paul and his co-workers praying for them, indeed they had not stopped praying for them. We are then told what they prayed for. It is instructive to look at what Paul prayed for, and consider our own prayers for ourselves and for others. They naked God to fill them with knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. We should know God well.

1:10

The purpose was not to fill them with knowledge for the sake of it, but so that they could live lives that were pleasing to God, bearing fruit in every good work, and to grow in the knowledge of God. We all need to know God better.

1:11

It is  also so that they would be strengthened with all power according to His glorious  might. Then notice what all this produces “great endurance and patience”. Paul is not prating for an easy life for them, but that they may be more Chrislike. Endurance and patience are powerful weapons.

Colossians 1:6-8- A faithful minister

1:6

It was not just with the Colossians that the gospel was having this effect, the gospel was bearing fruit in the same way throughout the world. The gospel is a universal message, intended for all people at all times. In order for it to bear fruit it needs to be heard, and the grace of God needs to be understood. It is a gospel of grace, not one on earned merit..

1:7,8

We now learn that they heard the message from Epaphras. Paul was an apostle, but he did not work alone. Epaphras preached the gospel and founded the church, Paul describes him as a “fellow servant” and a "faithful minister of Christs”, he was part of the work of Paul. He also reported back to Paul how well the church was doing.

Colossians 1:3-5 - Faith and love

1:3

Although Paul had not founded the church in Colossae, he still had an affection for them. He prayed for them and thanked God for them. We also get the third mention of Christ. Paul was an apostle of Christ, he calls them “the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, , now he calls God “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”, everything if Christ centred.

1:4 ,5

Paul now says why he gives thanks for them. It is because of their faith in Chris, and their love for all God’s people.Faith in Christ and love for God’s people should be characteristics of any healthy church.  THis faith and love arise from the hope stored up for us in heaven. Heaven is real, it is not an imaginary place. The “true message of the gospel” talks about this hope. This is in contrast to false gospels which tend to lead to guilt, fear and division.

Colossians 1:1,2 - by the will of God

1:1

Paul was not afraid to mention his apostleship. Indeed in letters like Galatians and Corinthians he makes a big thing of it. He knew his calling, and the job that God had given him. He was an apostle “by the will of God”. But he did not separate himself for the letter also comes from “Timothy our brother”. Timothy was special to Paul (see the pastoral epistles), he should also have been respected and loved by the church as a whole.

1:2

Having said who the letter is from, we now come to the recipients, “God’s holy people in Colossae”. They were set apart for God’s purposes, he then calls them “the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ”. So they receive “grace and peace” "from God our Father”. Everything is focused on the Lord. It is all God-centred.

Colossians - Introduction

Introduction

Colossians is one of the “prison epistles” (Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon), probably written in about AD 62, while Paul was a prisoner in Rome. Colossae was in Asia Minor, now Turkey, and lay on a major trading route. It had been a major city, but had since fallen in stature, and in Paul’s time was a second rate market town. Paul had not founded the church there, instead Epaphras had been converted during Paul’s ministry in Ephesus and had carried the gospel to Colossae.The letter was written partly to counter heretical teachings. The false teachings are never outlined explicitly, so we have to deduce what they were from the content of the letter. The letter puts the primary focus on Christ, in some ways the content is similar to that of Ephesians. My study bible suggests that the elements of the false teachings were:

1. Ceremonialism, with strict rules concerning food, drink and circumcision

2. Asceticism, teaching that this was the way to control fleshly desires

3. Excessive interest in angels

4. Denigrating the importance of Christ

5. Emphasis on secret knowledge

6. Reliance on human wisdom

In short, there seems to have been influence from early forms of gnosticism, and philosophical Judaism,

While writing these notes I am reading through Spurgeon’s commentary on Colossians.

Ecclesiastes 12 - Make the most of life

12:1-7

This chapter begins by urging us to “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth”. A theme of Ecclesiastes is that we should make the most of the time we are in, for we do not know when it will come to end, but we do know that it will indeed come to an end. Of course each of us will one day come to an end. We might think that the writer of Ecclesiastes  is a bit of a misery guts, with his dwelling on death, but I think he actually wants us to live life to the full, and appreciating our finitude is a key to this. In the last year some of us will have lost people, in the coming some of us will lose people. When that happens we cannot actively love them anymore. Of course, we can still remember them fondly and be thankful for them, but we can no longer do anything for them. We must love people while we can, we must make the most of the times we are in.

But why does the writer begin this section by urging us to remember our creator? If we are to make the best of now, then we need to act in obedience to the Lord.

12:8

“Meaningless, meaningless!” says the teacher. Here is a place where Ortlund’s view that the NIV translation is wrong comes to the fore. The writer is not saying lif is meaningless, but life and the seasons of life are fleeting, here for a time, then they are gone. So we should make the most of them.

12:9-14

Here we have a statement of the Teacher’s purpose. The Teacher was wise, he was prepared to consider the harsh realities of life and death, to face up to them, so that he could “impart knowledge to the people. He wrote what was “upright and true”. “Fear God and keep His commandments”, is his key teaching,