The Writings of Colossians

Have you ever heard someone question who Jesus Christ really is? Maybe you sat down to have a conversation with someone. They told you they were spiritual and so you thought you would have some things in common. As they begin to talk about what they believe about Jesus, something seems wrong. The more you listen to their ideas something that once seemed clear to you is now becoming unclear. This situation and the confusion that comes from it happened during the time of the early church. The people in a town called Colossae heard many ideas about who Jesus Christ was. We don’t know exactly what was being said about Jesus, but based on the response that came from Paul in the form of the letter to the Colossians we have a good idea of what they were considering. Maybe some people began to say, “Jesus was just a really good man.” Perhaps others were saying, “Jesus was a prophet!” Some people may have taken a different approach saying, “Jesus wasn’t human at all! He was purely God on earth!” Or perhaps they even said, “Jesus is just a good role model but on spiritual matters you have to look deep inside of yourself.” When Paul heard all of these ideas being spoken he was still in prison. He knew he may never get the chance to see the church in Colossae in person, but that didn’t stop him from taking action. He wrote a very personal letter to them. From the very beginning of the letter Paul makes it clear that through this letter Paul is going to teach on Jesus’ identity. Paul teaches who Jesus is and he also explains what life in response to Jesus Christ should be. 

Unlike some of the other letters Paul wrote, this letter to Colossians is not a letter of correction. In fact, Paul begins the letter by telling the church in Colossae that he thanks God for them and commends them on their pure love for Jesus Christ and the people. Paul is relieved to hear that even though the church was being exposed to false doctrine, they weren’t turning from their faith in Christ. It is Paul’s main desire to counter anything this church heard about Jesus that is not true. He wants to make sure they know the truth so they will not be led astray. 

So who is Jesus Christ? Paul teaches that knowing Christ should not be difficult and mysterious. Paul wants to make the knowledge of Christ clear for this church! Paul teaches that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and that all things were created through Him and for Him. The church at Colossae was striving to pursue Jesus Christ whole-heartedly, and Paul was overjoyed to hear this, but Paul heard that some people were also setting man-made rules and regulations of how to behave as a Christian. And, on the other extreme, some Christians blended in so much with what society no one could tell they were Christians. So who was right and who was wrong? Should there be many rules? Should there be total freedom? How should the church respond to all this? Paul simply says, “Define your life by the gospel you first heard about Jesus.” The church at Colossae had started with Jesus and Paul is encouraging them to stay with Jesus.