The letter to the Colossians, written by Paul the Apostle during one of his imprisonments, is a message of encouragement to a church community he had never met. The community, started by a co-worker of Paul's named Epaphras, was facing cultural pressures that tempted them to turn away from Jesus. Paul writes to challenge them to a greater devotion to Jesus and to address these pressures. He emphasizes Jesus as the exalted Messiah and the true image of God, who has reconciled humanity and creation through his death and resurrection.
The letter is structured around a poem that describes Jesus as the creator and ruler of all, and Paul uses this poem to demonstrate how Jesus' resurrection transforms human experience. Paul argues that Jesus' work is complete and doesn't need to be supplemented by following laws or observing rituals. Instead, followers of Jesus have the power of his resurrection to change them.
Paul challenges the Colossians to live as new humans, characterized by mercy, generosity, and love, and to set their minds on things above. He also provides practical instructions on how to live out this new humanity in a first-century Roman household, where relationships between husbands, wives, children, parents, and slaves are transformed by the rule of Jesus.
Throughout the letter, Paul emphasizes that no part of human existence remains untouched by the loving and liberating rule of the Risen Jesus, and invites the Colossians to live in the present as if the new creation had already arrived.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Paul's letter to the Colossians was written during one of his imprisonments.
2. The letter was addressed to a group of people that Paul had never met.
3. The church in Colossae was started by a co-worker of Paul's named Epaphras.
4. Epaphras had recently visited Paul in prison and updated him on the church.
5. Paul wrote the letter to encourage the Colossians and address some of the cultural pressures tempting them to turn away from Jesus.
6. The letter has a poem that is the centerpiece of chapter one, describing the crucified and exalted Messiah.
7. The poem has two parallel stanzas and uses language and imagery from the books of Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Proverbs.
8. The poem describes Jesus as the true image of God and the firstborn over all creation.
9. Jesus shares in the very identity of the one true creator God.
10. All reality, powers, and authorities were created by Jesus.
11. Paul addresses the cultural pressures tempting the Colossians to turn away from Jesus, including mystical polytheism and pressure to observe the laws of the Torah.
12. The Colossians were tempted to worship various Greek and Roman gods and to include Jesus as one more deity.
13. There was pressure from the Jewish Christian community for non-Jews to follow all the laws found in the Torah.
14. Paul argues that Jesus fulfilled all the laws of the Torah on behalf of humanity.
15. Jesus' death and resurrection freed the Colossians from any obligation to spiritual powers and elemental spirits.
16. Paul challenges the Colossians to set their minds on things above, where Jesus is seated at God's right hand.
17. Paul describes the new humanity that is characterized by mercy, generosity, forgiveness, and love.
18. This new humanity transcends ethnic and social boundary lines.
19. Paul provides practical instructions on how this new humanity might look like in a first-century Roman household.
20. Paul argues that in a Christian household, the risen Jesus is the true Lord, and relationships should be transformed accordingly.
21. The letter to the Colossians concludes with a request for prayer and instructions about Christian slaves and masters.
22. Onesimus, a former slave, is mentioned as accompanying the letter and is referred to as a faithful and beloved brother in the Lord.
23. Paul asks Philemon, Onesimus' former master, to receive him no longer as a slave but as a brother.