Bible Study on Colossians - Part 6

Direction and Guidance

Just as man’s physical body needs direction and guidance from the head, so does the church.

"And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:18-20).

The Church

What would you say the church is? The church is a people and not a place, a body of believers and not a building. It is the invisible or universal church into which all believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit the moment they believe in Christ.

“Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts. In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit” (l Corinthians 12:12-13).

“And God has put all things under his feet and made him supreme Head of the church, which is his body…” (Ephesians 1:22-23).

The church wasn’t known in the Old Testament. It didn’t start until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to indwell the believers. Pentecost was a feast celebrated by the Jews 50 days after the Passover feast. If you have read Acts, you might remember that from chapter 1:

“During the forty days after his crucifixion he appeared to the apostles from time to time. In one of these meetings he told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them in fulfillment of the Father’s promise…. John baptized you with water, he reminded them, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit in just a few days.”

Then in Acts 2:1, seven weeks (50 days) had gone by since Jesus’ death and resurrection and the Day of Pentecost had now arrived.

“As the believers met together that day, suddenly there was a sound like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the house where they were meeting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on their heads. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Colossians 1:18 goes on to say: “He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”

Christ was in the beginning and was also the first one to rise in an immortal body. It marked His triumph over death.

First Place

This is the place that Christ has in heaven now and will have in eternity and that is the place He should have here on earth. This is a question you can ask others if you are talking about spiritual things: “Do you think you are going to heaven or do you want to go to heaven?” Then in a kind way, explain to them that in heaven Christ will have first place in everything and if He does not have first place in their life for the 90 or so years here on earth, why would they want to go to heaven where he would have first place for eternity.

Colossians 1:19:

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.”

Another verse that stresses the deity of Christ, that he is God is verse 20:

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

Reconciliation

Reconciliation means making friends with an enemy. God is not man’s enemy so he is not reconciled to man. People are reconciled to God; man is the one who is hostile and needs to accept the free gift that is offered.

Even the earth needs reconciling.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the . We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:20-22).

There are some you might talk to that have a problem with Romans 3:23:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

They will say, “I don’t see why I’m a sinner. I’m as good as anybody else.” We can agree and say, “Yes, you probably are, but everybody else is a sinner too.”

There ARE Absolutes

For God there are absolutes. It is like you can’t be just a little bit pregnant. For God there is no “just a little bit of sin/wrongdoing.” If you have ever done anything that you are sorry about or feel guilty about, you have sinned. God is holy and can’t abide sin so that would bar you from heaven.

Let’s look at it this way:

God looked out and saw a bunch of rebellious people. His holiness and justice had to say, “Punish the sinner.” But then his love said, “Pardon the sinner.” These two opposing ideas had only one solution. God passed the maximum sentence that was consistent with his righteous character – death and eternal separation from Him. Then, to satisfy the demands of His love, God said, “I’ll die in their place and they can go free.” Then, all people will have to do is come to me and say, “Thank you, I’ll let you take my punishment.” Then God says to the person, “From now on, I look at you through that blood that was shed and I will see you as holy. Now you are worthy to enter my kingdom forever.”

Then you have to tell that person you are talking to that God doesn’t keep anyone out of heaven – which means spending eternity separated from God and that is what the Bible calls hell – people choose not to go to heaven. The peace that is made through his blood shed on the cross is salvation.

This verse is again what we have talked about before. As the Old Testament says,