📊 Colossians 1:19–20 | Paul's Doxology

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📧 In today’s email…

• Paul’s Doxology 🎶 

• This verse’s connection to refute false teaching 👀 

• A reflection question to ponder ⌛️ 

• Tuesday Trivia 📊

 🧠 Memorize

_{see if you know what words go in the blanks}

For in him all the _________ of _____ was pleased to _______,

and through him to reconcile to himself ___ _______, whether on ______ or in ________, making peace by the _______ of his _______.

Colossians 1:19–20

👑 The Preeminence of Christ: Paul’s Doxology

Let’s dig into this unique passage of Paul’s writing.

First, a bit of background:

• Paul is writing this letter on behalf of Epaphras, the man who planted the Colossian church.

• He addresses heresy that promoted Christ PLUS works (ceremonial law and ascetic fasting) to be reconciled to God.

  • False teachers had infiltrated the church, who combined Greek occultism and philosophy with Jewish ceremonial practice, worshipping angels and attempting to win the favor of other spiritual beings in ascetic fashion.

• He emphasizes Christ’s whole sufficiency to gain acceptance before God.

• Verses 15–20 focus on supremacy of Christ in creation, providence, and redemption.

Now, let’s look at this passage to see how Paul speaks of Christ:

This passage is a departure from the rest of Paul’s writing style throughout his epistle, resembling a doxology.

Paul’s words presented here are noticeably more poetic and vivid than the rest of the letter, indicating a shift in tone to command full attention to the glory, majesty, and supremacy of Christ.

In short, Colossians 1:15–20 involves three claims:

• Jesus’ authority as one with God and being the Creator

• Jesus’ role as head of the church

• Jesus’ sufficiency in atonement and reconciliation unto God on our behalf

A few things to note about the dynamics in verses 19 and 20:

• “For in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” 

  • Jesus is equated to God. This highlights a key Trinitarian doctrine that establishes the Son has co-equal with God the Father. This leads us to the logical conclusion that Jesus assumes the same authority, which is crucial to the next clause.

• “…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven…”

  • Jesus’ reconciliation is exclusive and complete. These words speak to the fullness of Christ’s calling of creation back to Creator. Nothing outside of His will is lost, and his authority as God the Son is fully at work in displaying his sovereignty in salvation.

• “…making peace by the blood of his cross.” 

  • Jesus’ death settles man’s debt to God. The phrase “making peace” speaks to the atonement for sin, or paying the price required to fulfill what is owed. Christ placed himself as the price in our stead, therefore making peace between God and us.

💡 We’ll dig deeper into each of these phrases in Colossians 1:19–20 throughout the rest of this week.

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Think about this:

• Earth travels through space at a staggering 66,000 mph.

• There are more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way (3 trillion vs. 400 billion).

• Earth has about 326 quintillion gallons of water — and humans only use about 1% of it.

These facts are absolutely mind blowing, and they are a reminder of how utterly vast creation truly is.

But even more mind blowing is that this creation belongs to a Creator who surpasses these staggering statistics.

And as we just reviewed in our key passage, Jesus Christ is that Creator, one with God who existed before all things and willed our vibrant, exotic, and wondrous Earth into being.

And that same Creator is creation’s Redeemer, whose perfect will is pleased to call you His own.

He has qualified you to be reconciled unto the Father.

He has paid the price that you inherited through Adam’s sin.

He has made the way for you to be renewed into new life.

And nothing can change that—not your failures, your victories, or any degree of your merit.

The work is done.

Reflect 🤔 

So here’s your challenge: Are you resting and rejoicing in the surety of Christ’s nature and work?

Ponder this, and if you need more encouragement, you should check out these verses.

• John 5:24

• John 10:28

• Ephesians 2:8–9

• Matthew 24:11–13

• Romans 10:9

💡 Tomorrow, we’ll dig a bit more into Paul’s doxology (song of praise) and how it uses music to illustrate Christ’s preeminence.

Trivia 📊 

Click one of the options below. Let’s see how you do…

In Colossians 1, Paul says, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and _______."

Answer key ✅ 

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