Colossians 1:1-8
December 3, 2006
Salutation
1:1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you from God our Father!
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church
1:3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 1:4 since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. 1:5 Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel 1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 1:7 You learned the gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave – a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
Paul writes to the young Christian church at Colossae, a church he had never visited. Inland 100 miles from Ephesus, it may have been started by Epaphras, who was converted by Paul at Ephesus. To Paul, the Colossian Christians were evidence that the gospel was bearing fruit as it was being proclaimed by increasing numbers of converts.
In some parts of the “two-thirds world” today, the gospel is still bearing new fruit because of the labors of many new converts, mostly out of sight of the church in the western world. But not out of sight of God!
Verse 5 is the one to remember: “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel that has come to you.” The gospel is still spreading after almost 2000 years. -sdg-
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