Colossians Chapter 1

COLOSSE (COLOSSAE), ASIA MINOR, NEAR LAODICEA

The name means punishment
On the major trade route through the Lycus River Valley from Ephesus to the Euphrates Valley in the Roman province of Asia Minor, which is in the southwest corner of what is modern day Turkey.
It is near/at the base of Mt. Cadmius
Made a beautiful, red or perhaps purplish red-dyed wool cloth, named after the city called "colossinum" or "collossinus", which the city was named after
Basically died as any major city by 400 A.D.
It was the home of Philemon and Epaphras
They worshiped angels (Colossians 2:18), particularly Michael, who they thought saved them from a flood, when pagans desired to divert the Lycus River, which subsequently entered underground caverns and spared the city.
Colossae’s first solid mention in a historical document was in the fifth century B.C. by Herodotus, who mentioned it as some “great city” visited by Xerxes the king of Persia on his way, in his military campaign towards Greece.
The city itself has never really been much excavated, due to its location.

(Colossians 1:1 [KJV])
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus [our] brother,

A typical greeting, acknowledging his sidekick Timothy, his son in the LORD, his brother, fellowlabourer
Paul was chosen by God and did not choose, showing it was God's will he be an apostle to the Gentiles

PAUL: BY THE WILL OF GOD

(Acts 13:36 [KJV])
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

Paul speaking of David here in the synagogue.

(Romans 1:10 [KJV])
Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

(Romans 15:32 [KJV])
That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.

(2 Corinthians 1:1 [KJV])
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy [our] brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

(2 Corinthians 8:5 [KJV])
And [this they did], not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

(Ephesians 1:1 [KJV])
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

(Colossians 1:1 [KJV])
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus [our] brother,

(2 Timothy 1:1 [KJV])
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

(Colossians 1:2 [KJV])
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Having apparently never visited them, Paul had a witness, a testimony that they were doing God's Work faithfully
Again, the Deity of the LORD Jesus Christ as He sends grace and peace, impossible if He were not alive, not the Savior, not God the Son, not God Himself

(Colossians 1:3 [KJV])
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Giving thanks, praying always for others...a model for us to follow.
Paul gives thanks top God, as always, and not to mankind. He was appreciative of them, but thanks God for them.
Having apparently never even met them, this is a bold, loving step and a sign of a mature man of God

(Colossians 1:4 [KJV])
Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which][ ye have] to all the saints,

Further confirmation that perhaps Paul never went there is that he heard about them; they had a reputation
Faith, love, in Christ Jesus. This would be a natural result of living for Christ
This love is a verb, not a noun. They loved by serving their brethren, "all the saints"

(Colossians 1:5 [KJV])
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

The hope is waiting for us in heaven, the redemption of our bodies
This hope is an expectation, not an unconfirmed "maybe, I hope so" kind of hope. More of an expectation of a certainty, patiently awaiting
In the word of the truth of the gospel......100% true, 100% certain, 100% reliable

OUR HOPE

Our hope is a real hope of eternal life, that we expect, await with certainty, and it is repeated throughout the Word of God in both testaments. We cannot be former saints, once declared righteous by the Righteous One Who never changes!

(Deuteronomy 33:2 [KJV])
And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery law for them.

(Jude 1:14 [KJV])
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

(Titus 2:13 [KJV])
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

(1 Corinthians 1:7 [KJV])
So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

(Philippians 3:20 [KJV])
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

(1 Thessalonians 1:10 [KJV])
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

(1 Peter 1:4 [KJV])
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

(Colossians 1:6 [KJV])
Which is come unto you, as [it is] in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as [it doth] also in you, since the day ye heard [of it], and knew the grace of God in truth:

The Gospel was preached throughout the entire Roman Empire and beyond, their whole world at the time
Grace only comes from God, as does truth. All three are inseparable to make grace work (must be from God, must be true grace), the truth from God brings grace, as no other faith can say this, making them all from false gods, lacking grace and truth.
All of this must be accepted by faith, not works, also

(Colossians 1:7 [KJV])
As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;

Epaphras was a messenger back and forth, bringing news to both parties
News of any type, good or bad, is necessary, so that we can avoid being anxious, unknowing

(Colossians 1:8 [KJV])
Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

Their love in the Spirit was evidence by their actions (charity) towards the brethren, towards Paul; their preaching the Gospel
This is not the same as "love in the flesh" or, as the world calls it, "love", which is just sex outside of marriage, lust, not to mention abominable

(Colossians 1:9 [KJV])
For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

The will of God is revealed in His Word to us, mostly and most importantly, the knowledge of God through study and prayer, having good fruit, being attached to a good branch on a good tree
This is what Paul and the others were praying for, not individual desires, but needs, spiritual food and physical food
Non stop prayer. Would to God we did that now!

(Colossians 1:10 [KJV])
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

The will of God is also how WE walk with Him
The more we know God, the more we know His Heart, the closer we get, the closer we follow, ergo the more fruitful

(Colossians 1:11 [KJV])
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

We are weak but He is strong
Longsuffering is suffering for a long time
Long time suffering teaches us to learn patience, if we are willing to learn it

(Colossians 1:12 [KJV])
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

This world is/has nothing to be thankful for, but who we are in Christ and our future redemption is everything to be thankful for
Giving thanks to God, for anything we are thankful for, it must be thanks to God and God alone

(Colossians 1:13 [KJV])
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Darkness is this world and the world is in the power of the prince of darkness, more evident than ever
We are not the same in the Kingdom of Light, but rather translated (removed, moved to heaven, conveyed, changed)
Today we say interpret from one language to another; but the definition was originally, in English, not so
It means being changed to a different form, moved to a different place, spiritually, positionally

TRANSLA'TE,TRANSLA'TE, v.t. [L. translatus, from transfero; trans, over, and fero, to bear.] v.t. [L. translatus, from transfero; trans, over, and fero, to bear.]

To bear, carry or remove from one place to another. It is applied to the removal of a bishop from one see to another. The bishop of Rochester, when the king would have translated him to a better bishoprick, refused.
To remove or convey to heaven, as a human being, without death. By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death. Heb 16.
To transfer; to convey from one to another. 2 Sam 3.
To cause to remove from one part of the body to another; as, to translate a disease.
To change. Happy is your grace, That can translate the stubbornness of fortune Into so quiet and so sweet a style.
To interpret; to render into another language; to express the sense of one language in the words of another. The Scriptures are now translated into most of the languages of Europe and Asia.
To explain.

(2 Samuel 3:10 [KJV])
To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.

(Colossians 1:13 [KJV])
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:

(Hebrews 11:5 [KJV])
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

(Colossians 1:14 [KJV])
In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:

The Blood of the LORD Jesus Christ is all important in redeeming us
"In whom...", the person, the God Man Himself, redeemed, forgiven

(Colossians 1:15 [KJV])
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

That person , the God Man the LORD Jesus Christ, who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1), was God the Son sent to earth, became flesh in the image of mankind, who was in Genesis created in the image of God (Genesis 1:126-27)
Man makes his children, but not from dust, and certainly can not make them reborn, twice born, born again

(Genesis 5:3 [KJV])
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, THE FIRSTBORN OF EVERY CREATURE

(Genesis 9:6 [KJV])
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

(2 Corinthians 4:4 [KJV])
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

(Philippians 2:6,7 [KJV])
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

(Hebrews 1:3 [KJV])
Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

(Revelation 3:14 [KJV])
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

(Revelation 1:5 [KJV])
And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

(Romans 8:3 [KJV])
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

(Colossians 1:16-18 [KJV])
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.

You simply cannot deny that Jesus is God Himself, being the Creator of and over everything listed here.
Making it, being LORD over it, holding it together
"all things" is repeated five times here, just to ensure that there is not any, teeny, tiny bit of confusion

(Colossians 1:19 [KJV])
For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell;

These "all things" is that fulness

(Colossians 1:20 [KJV])
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say], whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.

Being over all things means only He can reconcile all things which are fallen away back to Himself, no one else, including ourselves
Peace, through His violent death, (blood, cross) was then passed to us, our reward being Heaven, His reward being people (us) to fellowship with forever
Nearly all modern versions change "his cross" to "the cross", an error introduced and an attack on God's Word itself.
The heavens will be reconciled when the enemy is kicked out, judged forever, removed forever

RECONCILING "THINGS IN HEAVEN"

(Matthew 24:29 [KJV])
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

(Luke 10:18 [KJV])
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

(Revelation 12:3,4 [KJV])
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

(Revelation 12:12 [KJV])
Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

(Revelation 20:10 [KJV])
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

(Colossians 1:21,22 [KJV])
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Wicked works is religion, the world's religion
The LORD Jesus Christ's Blood, Cross, Body, Flesh, Death...for us...to reconcile us to Himself this is the Gospel the world rejects
We are therefore declared righteous, holy, unblameable, unreproachable by that same set of things

(Colossians 1:23 [KJV])
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

A person who falsely believes that one can lose their salvation would use this verse out of context, with glee and shout that the word IF is proof!
You must first be IN THE FAITH (a believer), Whose foundation is built on Christ, not on works, not hearing the Gospel and walking away from it, rejecting it.
Context, context, context will save a whole lot of heresy, every time.

CREATURE, n.

That which is created; every being besides the Creator, or every thing not self-existent. The sun, moon and stars; the earth, animals, plants, light, darkness, air, water, etc., are the creatures of God.
In a restricted sense, an animal of any kind; a living being; a beast. In a more restricted sense, man. Thus we say, he was in trouble and no creature was present to aid him.
A human being, in contempt; as an idle creature; a poor creature; what a creature!
With words of endearment, it denotes a human being beloved; as a pretty creature; a sweet creature.
That which is produced, formed or imagined; as a creature of the imagination.
A person who owes his rise and fortune to another; one who is made to be what he is.Great princes thus, when favorites they raise, to justify their grace, their creatures praise.
A dependent; a person who is subject to the will or influence of another.

(Colossians 1:24 [KJV])
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

Paul rejoiced in his sufferings, something we should do, as it makes us stronger, wiser, more patient-something great times will not do
Christ suffered for us, so that we can be eternally free. He further promised us tribulations, until our ultimate redemption
This world can give us grief, but nopthing like taking the sin of the entire world on our body, on the Cross, even if we were to die on one, as some do today in Muslim countries

OUR SUFFERINGS FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST

(John 16:33 [KJV])
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

(John 14:27 [KJV])
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

(Matthew 13:21 [KJV])
Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

(Mark 4:17 [KJV])
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

(Mark 10:30 [KJV])
But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

(Acts 8:1 [KJV])
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

(Acts 11:19 [KJV])
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

(Acts 13:50 [KJV])
But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.

(Romans 8:35 [KJV])
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

(2 Corinthians 12:10 [KJV])
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

(Galatians 5:11 [KJV])
And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

(Galatians 6:12 [KJV])
As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

(2 Thessalonians 1:4 [KJV])
So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

(2 Timothy 3:11 [KJV])
Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of [them] all the Lord delivered me.

(2 Timothy 3:12 [KJV])
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

NOT TO FORGET PAUL'S OWN SUFFERINGS

(2 Corinthians 11:23-28 [KJV])
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I [am] more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty [stripes] save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; [In] journeyings often, [in] perils of waters, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils by [mine own] countrymen, [in] perils by the heathen, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

(Colossians 1:25 [KJV])
Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

Paul was the leader of the Gospel to the Gentiles, according to God's Will, God's Timing
God said that the Word would come to the Gentiles, and there is an entire study on that subject right there

(Isaiah 9:2 [KJV])
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

(Matthew 4:15 [KJV])
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

(Matthew 4:16 [KJV])
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

(Acts 18:6 [KJV])
And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook [his] raiment, and said unto them, Your blood [be] upon your own heads; I [am] clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

(Colossians 1:26,27 [KJV])
[Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The church in the wilderness was a mystery rooted in and hidden in the Old Testament
The Church, to Whom God would reveal the riches of His Glory in the life to come, where our mansions are being built!
The hope of glory is Christ in us, the Holy spirit of Christ indwelling us, which is a true hope, an expectation, nothing iffy about that, but a certain, sure thing

(Acts 7:38 [KJV])
This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

(Colossians 1:28 [KJV])
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

The warning is the warning of hell, eternal separation from God, flames, darkness, without any hope, FOREVER
Teaching in all wisdom means to teach from the Word of God, not in man's "wisdom"

(1 Corinthians 2:4 [KJV])
And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

(1 Corinthians 2:13 [KJV])
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

(Colossians 1:29 [KJV])
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

We must remember that it is Jesus who does the actual work, not us, to save. He uses us but, ultimately, it is Jesus Christ Who does the saving, giving us the grace through strength to do it at all, always.

Colossians Chapter 2