👑 Colossians 1:19–20 | "..the fullness of God..."

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📧 In today’s email…

• 🤔 The purpose of Paul’s letter

• 🍽️ Passage context: Christ’s sufficiency and correcting false doctrine

• ❤️ A short reading to prepare your heart for the week

• 🎵 A song to help you memorize this week

Let’s dig in…

 🧠 Memorize

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:19–20

Author & Audience Context: Colossians ✍️ 

• Author: Paul

• Audience: Written in Greek for the church in Colossae (a province of Asia Minor = modern-day Turkey); he also mentions the neighboring church in Laodicea.

• Book: This epistle was written during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, after a visit from Epaphras, the man who planted the Colossian church.

• Purpose: Paul’s epistle to the Colossians encourages the church in strengthening their assurance and warning them of teachers who would deceive them with false teachings that undermine Christ’s sufficiency as our reconciler before God, summed up in the opening of Chapter 2.

Passage context: The Preeminence of Christ ✝️ 

The verse we’re memorizing this week is part of “The Preeminence of Christ,” which is Paul’s hymn-like prelude to his encouragement and warning to the Colossian church, highlighting Christ’s supreme authority as Creator and Redeemer.

It’s easy to want to go the extra mile — after all, this notion of “above and beyond” saturates our work ethic at home, at our jobs, and in our churches.

Putting in extra effort pays off in dividends, successes, and victories — much like an athlete conquering a challenge.

So, doing more gains more, right? In most cases, the answer is, “Yes!”

But when it comes to gaining the favor of God, there’s nothing we can do to increase God’s acceptance apart from the work of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, the church in Colossae became entranced by teachers who promoted “extras” to gain and secure acceptance with God.

Most notably, they promoted the ideas that Christ’s work had to be paired with:

1. 🗓️ Observing special days (ceremonial law) and

2. 🙅 Abstaining from certain food and drink (asceticism)

On top of this, they were attempting to appeal to angels and other spiritual beings to gain even more security for their souls.

To address this, Paul reminded the church that Christ is the supreme authority as Creator and Redeemer, being one with God and reconciling sinners to God through His death on the cross.

As you engage with our passage this week, savor the promise and assurance that is conveyed in Christ’s authority and mercy, especially focusing on the word “all.”

💡 We’ll dive into Paul’s use of “all” and his writing style later on this week.

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Apply & respond 🏃‍♂️ 

We’ll unpack Paul’s words about Christ’s preeminence in more depth throughout the rest of the week. 👑 

But for today, consider this truth:

Christ’s sufficiency to reconcile us to God relies on His fullness with God — His being God.

Our works, no matter how well intended, do nothing to secure that reconciliation.

Pray 🙏 

Lord, as I meditate on your Word this week, speak to me and give me ears to hear your voice.

I know that your Son’s work is complete and final, and that it is all I need to be reconciled to you. My debt has been paid with the death of your Son, and nothing else is needed to satisfy that debt.

Teach me how to rest and rejoice in that assurance, no matter how much my flesh may yearn to do more to gain more.

Amen.

Read 📖 

Read Colossians 1 slowly, preparing your heart to be worked on this week.

Bonus: Read it out loud with a friend or loved one 🍽️

Listen 🎵 

Ever wonder why you can remember lyrics from a song you haven’t heard in 20 years? What if we could use that to help us memorize the truths of Scripture?

Even further, what if we could pair that with a classic catechism, designed to deepen our understanding of doctrine and worship?

The work of Getty Music and their colleagues has been a tremendous asset for Christians across the globe, supplying churches with songs that pierce through the noise.

There’s one song from their catalogue that fits this theme of assurance in Christ’s sufficiency, written a few years back: “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.”

It’s like a catechism put to chords and melodies, alternating between questions and answers that fully outline Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency as Redeemer, Savior, and King.

You can listen to “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” on Spotify here to help you savor Christ’s sufficiency this week! (or click here to listen on Apple music) 

LAUGH 😂