Christ is the Creator- Colossians 1:16-17

Posted on September 25, 2026 by dkoop

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (1:16–17)

The truth that Christ is the Creator is also affirmed by the apostle John (John 1:3) and the writer of Hebrews (Heb. 1:2).

Because the Colossian false teachers viewed matter as evil, they argued that neither the good God nor a good emanation could have created it. But Paul maintains that Jesus made all things, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible. He refutes the false philosophic dualism of the Colossian heresy. Jesus is God, and He created the material universe.

By studying the creation, we can gain a glimpse of the power, knowledge, and wisdom of the Creator. The sheer size of the universe is staggering. The sun, for example, has a diameter of 864,000 miles (one hundred times that of earth’s) and could hold 1.3 million planets the size of earth inside it. The star Betelgeuse, however, has a diameter of 100 million miles, which is larger than the earth’s orbit around the sun. It takes sunlight, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, about 8.5 minutes to reach earth. Yet that same light would take more than four years to reach the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, some 24 trillion miles from earth. The galaxy to which our sun belongs, the Milky Way, contains hundreds of billions of stars. And astronomers estimate there are millions, or even billions of galaxies. What they can see leads them to estimate the number of stars in the universe at 1025. That is roughly the number of all the grains of sand on all the world’s beaches.
The universe also bears witness to the tremendous wisdom and knowledge of its Creator. Scientists now speak of the Anthropic Principle, “which states that the universe appears to be carefully designed for the well-being of mankind” (Donald B. DeYoung, “Design in Nature: The Anthropic Principle,” Impact, no. 149 [November 1985]: p. ii). A change in the rate of Earth’s rotation around the sun or on its axis would be catastrophic. The Earth would become either too hot or too cold to support life. If the moon were much nearer to the Earth, huge tides would inundate the continents. A change in the composition of the gases that make up our atmosphere would also be fatal to life. A slight change in the mass of the proton would result in the dissolution of hydrogen atoms. That would result in the destruction of the universe, because hydrogen is its dominant element.

The creation gives mute testimony to the intelligence of its Creator. Max Planck, winner of the Nobel Prize and one of the founders of modern physics, wrote, “According to everything taught by the exact sciences about the immense realm of nature, a certain order prevails—one independent of the human mind … this order can be formulated in terms of purposeful activity. There is evidence of an intelligent order of the universe to which both man and nature are subservient” (cited in DeYoung, “Design in Nature,” p. iii). It is no wonder that the psalmist wrote, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world” (Ps. 19:1–4).

The testimony of nature to its Creator is so clear that it is only through willful unbelief that men can reject it. Paul writes in Romans 1:20, “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Like those who deny Christ’s deity, those who reject Him as Creator give evidence of a mind darkened by sin and blinded by Satan.

Jesus also has primacy over the creation because He is before all things. When the universe began, He already existed (John 1:1–2; 1 John 1:1). He told the Jews in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was born, I am” (not “I was”). He is saying that He is Yahweh, the eternally existing God. The prophet Micah said of Him, “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Mic. 5:2). Revelation 22:13 describes Him as “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” As was previously mentioned, anyone existing before time began at the creation is eternal. And only God is eternal.

A third reason for Jesus’ primacy over creation is that in Him all things hold together. Not only did Jesus create the universe, He also sustains it. He maintains the delicate balance necessary to life’s existence. He quite literally holds all things together. He is the power behind every consistency in the universe. He is gravity and centrifugal and centripetal force. He is the One who keeps all the entities in space in their motion. He is the energy of the universe. In his book The Atom Speaks, D. Lee Chesnut describes the puzzle of why the nucleus of the atom holds together:

Consider the dilemma of the nuclear physicist when he finally looks in utter amazement at the pattern he had now drawn of the oxygen nucleus.… For here are eight positively charged protons closely associated together within the confines of this tiny nucleus. With them are eight neutrons—a total of sixteen particles—eight positively charged, eight with no charge.

Earlier physicists had discovered that like charges of electricity and like magnetic poles repel each other, and unlike charges or magnetic poles attract each other. And the entire history of electrical phenomena and electrical equipment had been built up on these principles known as Coulomb’s law of electrostatic force and the law of magnetism. What was wrong? What holds the nucleus together? Why doesn’t it fly apart? And therefore, why do not all atoms fly apart? ([San Diego: Creation-Science Research Center, 1973], pp. 31–33)

Chesnut goes on to describe the experiments performed in the 1920s and 1930s that proved Coulomb’s law applied to atomic nuclei. Powerful “atom smashers” were used to fire protons into the nuclei of atoms. Those experiments also gave scientists an understanding of the incredibly powerful force that held protons together within the nucleus. Scientists have dubbed that force the “strong nuclear force,” but have no explanation for why it exists. The physicist George Gamow, one of the founders of the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe, wrote,

The fact that we live in a world in which practically every object is a potential nuclear explosive, without being blown to bits, is due to the extreme difficulties that attend the starting of a nuclear reaction. (cited in Chesnut, The Atom Speaks, p. 38)

Karl K. Darrow, a physicist at the Bell (AT & T) Laboratories, agrees:

You grasp what this implies. It implies that all the massive nuclei have no right to be alive at all. Indeed, they should never have been created, and, if created, they should have blown up instantly. Yet here they all are.… Some inflexible inhibition is holding them relentlessly together. The nature of the inhibition is also a secret … one thus far reserved by Nature for herself. (cited in Chesnut, The Atom Speaks, p.38)

One day in the future God will dissolve the strong nuclear force. Peter describes that day as the one when “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10). With the strong nuclear force no longer operative, Coulomb’s law will take effect, and the nuclei of atoms will fly apart. The universe will literally explode. Until that time, we can be thankful that Christ “upholds all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). Jesus Christ must be God. He made the universe, existed outside and before it, and preserves it.

JESUS CHRIST IN RELATION TO THE UNSEEN WORLD

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities (1:16b)

Thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities refer to the various ranks of angels. Far from being an angel, as the Colossian false teachers taught, Christ created the angels. The writer of Hebrews also makes a clear distinction between Christ and the angels: “Of the angels He says, ‘Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.’ But of the Son He says, ‘Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom’ ” (Heb. 1:7–8).

Jesus has been exalted “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:21). As a result, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10). With that truth the apostle Peter agrees: “[Christ] is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him” (1 Pet. 3:22).

Scripture is clear that Jesus is not an angel, but the Creator of the angels. He is above the angels, who in fact worship Him and are under His authority. Jesus’ relation to the unseen world, like His relation to the visible universe, proves He is God.

Christ is supreme over all creation, including the spirit world. We, like the Colossian believers, must believe in the deity of Jesus Christ (that Jesus is God) or our Christian faith is hollow, misdirected, and meaningless.

Christ is not only the creator of the world but he is also its sustainer. In him, everything is held together, protected, and prevented from disintegrating into chaos. Because Christ is the sustainer of all life, none of us is independent from him. We are all his servants who must daily trust him to protect us, care for us, and sustain us.

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Sources:

Life Application Bible Notes (Tyndale, 2007), 2029.

John F. MacArthur Jr., Colossians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), 47–50.

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Christ is God – Colossians 1:15

Posted on September 18, 2026 by dkoop

Today we look at a crucial part of Scripture; describing the most important personality in the universe; Christ who is God.  The deity of Christ is the very heartbeat of Christianity, the very essence of all that we believe and the very foundation of our faith.  The deity of Christ is the battleground over which we stand against the cults and the –isms and anyone who wishes to make  Christ, less than He is.

It’s been said that the Bible the “Jesus Book.”  If we understand the Bible, we understand that it is the book about Christ.   In the Old Testament, there is the preparation for Jesus coming.  In the gospels, there is the presentation of Christ; He is come.  In the Acts, there is the proclamation.  The message of salvation in Christ is announced.  In the epistles, we study the personification.  That is, “For to me to live is Christ,” or how Christ, who has died and risen from the grave, returns to live in His people.  In Revelation, there is the predomination or the Christ on the throne, the reign of the King, the Lamb on the throne.

In every sense, the Bible is Christ’s story.  It is the book that tells us all about Him.  In Acts chapter 8, that is indicated to us in verse 35 when Philip, talking to the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza, the Holy Spirit says, “Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture (Isaiah), and preached unto him Jesus.”

You can begin at any point in the Scripture and teach Jesus.  In Luke, a familiar passage, chapter 24:27, Christ, after His resurrection, meeting the disciples on the road to Emmaus, “And beginning at Moses,” or the Pentateuch, “and all the prophets,” or the prophetic books, “He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures,” or, the Hagiographa, the holy writings, “the things concerning Himself.”

The Bible is the book about Christ.  It is the book about the revelation of God and the coming of Christ into the world.  It is about God becoming a man.  In every aspect of the Bible, facets of this are made clear.  But of all the statements in the Bible, in the Word of God about God becoming man, none is more significant than the one in Colossians 1:15, for here we have the identification of the Son as God very, very clearly.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Now that is a tremendous statement, a vital statement to the understanding of the Christian faith and the removal of any confusion over who our Lord Jesus Christ really is.

Why does Paul pen this?  Paul understands that there is a certain false system of doctrine being propagated at Colossae, and he understands that because Epaphras has visited him.  Epaphras, undoubtedly one of the pastors of the Colossian church and its founder, has come to visit the apostle Paul.

The apostle Paul hears from Epaphras that there are some terrible things going on in terms of propagation of heresy in Colossae.  One such heresy relates to the deity of Jesus Christ.  The heretics are saying that Christ is not God; that He is not sufficient for salvation; that in addition to Christ, there must be the worship of other spirits, perhaps other angels, if you will.  There must be special visions.  There must be certain knowledge that is sort of super knowledge beyond that which is attainable in Christ.  In fact, the heretics had said that Jesus Christ is only one in a long line of emanating spirits descending from God, and Jesus was one of those good emanations.  He is not God.  He is not even an adequate Savior.  Knowledge beyond Him is the only way to salvation.

The attack of this particular heresy, which apparently later developed into what we know as Gnosticism, the attack was at the deity of Christ and His total sufficiency as Savior.  The heresy was pretty well based upon a philosophical dualism that says that matter is evil and spirit is good, and since God is Spirit, He is good.  But since all of creation is matter, it is evil.  So a good God can’t create an evil creation.

So what happened was God started sending out emanations, or spirits started coming out of God like ripples in a pond.  They kept coming and coming and coming, and the first ones were good and good.  Then they got neutral, and then they got bad.  A zillion emanations down the line, you got some bad emanations, one of whom was bad enough to create the world.  Now, Jesus was just one of these process of emanations, a good one to be sure, but nonetheless, one of them.  He is equal to an angel, and that is why they worshipped these emanations or spirits or angels.

Paul’s point here is to tell the Colossians Jesus is not an emanation from God.  He is not something down the ladder from the character of God.  He is God in human flesh.  Paul has pretty well dispensed with the opening thoughts.  He has greeted them, initially.  He has thanked God for them in verses 3 and following.  He has prayed for them that they would be filled with all of the knowledge of His will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding, and they would walk worthy.

He thanks God for the salvation that they enjoy in verses 12 to 14; the redemption, the forgiveness.  Then he moves right in from there to make his point that this one, who has redeemed us, who has forgiven us, who has delivered us from the power of darkness; this one who is the dear Son, who possesses the kingdom, this one is the image of the invisible God.  That’s vital to his message.

As we look at  verses 15 to 19, we want to see Jesus Christ in relation to five things.  We’ll see Him in relation to God, in relation to the universe, in relation to the unseen world, in relation to the church, and in relation to anything else that might be left.

The false teachers had tried to show that Jesus was simply an emanation, that He was just some ripple from the character of God; one of an infinite series of lesser beings that finally reached to evil and were able to create the world.  But Paul says, “Christ is God.”  In fact, in verse 16, he says, “He created everything.”  He’s the one that did it.  The heretics went so far even as to teach that God could never enter a body, because if God entered a body, then good God would be in evil matter.  A good emanation could never have a body, because a good emanation couldn’t take on a bad matter body.  So they taught that Jesus didn’t have a body, that He was a good emanation who was a phantom.

So Paul wants to make it clear that Jesus is God, that He is God in flesh, and that He is the Creator of the universe. He says in 15 that, “He is the image of the invisible God.  He is the image of the invisible God.”  To begin with, God is invisible.  In 1 Timothy, it tells us that God is invisible.  It tells us in the Old Testament that God is invisible, that God cannot be seen.  God is not visible to the human eye.  God is a Spirit and “A Spirit,” said Jesus, “hath not,” what? “flesh and bones.”  God is invisible, but God became visible.  God became a man, and Christ was God made visible.  He is the image of the invisible God.

In Genesis 1:27, we have the use of the term “image.”  It says, “God made man in His own image and likeness.” 1 Corinthians 11:7 says, “Man is the image of God,” again, repeating the same truth, but we need to remember man is not a perfect image of God.

We are certainly not made in the moral image of God:  He’s perfect; we’re not. Adam was created innocent, but  failed the first test.  We are not created in God’s image morally.  Also, we are not omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient, or immutable.

Who is the only really, true, graphic, perfect, flawless, absolutely accurate image of the invisible God?  Were it not for Him being in the image of God, none of us would ever be able to approximate it.

Hebrews 1:3, “He is the express image of His person,” the exact image, the perfect image.  The substance is the same.  Jesus is the exact reproduction of God; nothing missing, altered, nothing changed.  In John 1:18 it says, “No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”  “And when we saw the Son,” John says, “we beheld His glory, and it was the glory of the only begotten of the Father.”

It was just obvious that He was manifesting God.  In Philippians 2:6, “Who being in the form of God,” Christ having all of the character and form of God, became a man, “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant,”

Christ is the identical thought and expression of God.  That’s why Jesus said in John 14:9, “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.”

In Matthew 17, Jesus even let them have a little glimpse of the fact that He was God.  This should end for all time any speculation or argument about it, where we find the Lord Jesus Christ revealing Himself.  Matthew 17, a transfiguration.  Verse 2, “He was transfigured before them: His face did shine like the sun, and His raiment was as white as the light.  And a voice out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased said God, “hear Him.”

The Son, then, is the only perfect representation of God. Men are not.  They are a marred image.

Going back to Colossians 1 and looking at that word “image”, it means a precise copy, a replica.  Christ is the perfect, unblemished replica of God.  He’s not just a sketch; He’s all filled in.  Colossians 2:9, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”  Colossians 1:19, “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness (Pleroma) dwell.”  Jesus is the full, final, only revelation of God with nothing missing.

To think that God became a man, God invaded the world in human form is a staggering thought.

Christ is God revealed in the world.  If you want to know what God’s like, look at Christ.  He’ll tell you what God is like.  If God were man, we would expect Him to be sinless.  Jesus was.  If God were a man, we would expect Him to speak the greatest words ever spoken.  He did.  If God were a man, we would expect Him to exert a profound influence on human personality like no other being that ever lived, and He did.  If God were a man, we would expect that He would do miracles with ease, and He did.  If God were a man, we would expect Him to love, and He did, because He was God, and God cannot be known other than through Jesus Christ.

Secondly, in verse 15, “The firstborn of all creation.”  That particular phrase has caused people a lot of trouble, because they don’t understand what He’s saying.  The first begotten, or the “firstborn of all creation.”  This is a reference to position, not time.   He is not the first created being in terms of time.

There are two good reasons for that.  Number on reason, He never was created.  He said, “Before Abraham was,” what? “I am,” in John 8:58.  Revelation calls Him “the One who was, and is, and is to come.”

What does “firstborn” mean? Prtotokos the Greek term refers to position. It refers to rank; it refers to right of authority, to primacy; not to chronology.  The firstborn is the one who has the rights of inheritance.  In the Jewish context, everybody knew that. Even in the Gentile context, everybody understands that.  They had no question in Colossae about what he was referring to; that Christ was the honored One, the privileged One, the prestigious One, the Father’s heir.

Back to Hebrews 1 again.  He says, “In these last days, God has spoken unto us by His Son.”  AND, “His Son whom He has appointed heir.”  The heir was appointed by the Father.  Normally it was the firstborn, but if the firstborn was disqualified for some reason, the father wanted to give it to another he had the right to do that. But he had to be appointed by the father.

In Revelation chapter 5, God is on the throne and the scroll is in His hand, the title deed to the earth, sealed with seven seals, as was customary with Roman law.  For sealing a will, it had to be sealed seven times so you couldn’t unroll it without it making an obvious distraction.  “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?’”  Who is the possessor of the earth?  Who is the heir to take over the world?  Who has the right to control the earth, to take it back, to inherit it?  “And no man in heaven and earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the scroll or even to look at.”  John says, “I cried a lot because nobody was found worthy.” 

Where’s the firstborn?  Where is the prtotokos?  Where is the primary one?  Where is the heir?  “‘Weep not,’ one of the elders said to me, ‘The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll, and loose its seven seals.’ And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood the Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.  And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne.”

Here is Christ, taking the title deed to the earth as the prtotokos to take over and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.  From chapter 6 to chapter 19 is the takeover of the earth until He finally reigns in chapter 20.  Verse 13 echoes the sentiments of heaven.  “Every creature that is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them heard I saying, ‘Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.’”  You see, all the universe echoes in, chiming in, that this One is worthy.

The sad fact is, that the one thing Satan wants to do is make sure nobody understands that, make sure nobody really believes Jesus is God, make sure nobody really believes that He is not a creature, but that He is the primary one of all personalities.  So in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In whom the god of this age,” who’s that?  Satan, “has blinded the minds of them who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Satan doesn’t want people to know He’s the image of God.  Satan doesn’t want people to know He’s the only one who has a right to rule in the world.  Satan doesn’t want them to know, so their minds are blinded by unbelief.  That’s a good verse to show somebody when they tell you, “Christ isn’t God.”  You can explain to them why they believe that.

In John 10:33, the Jews answered.  Jesus made a lot of claims, but the Jews got the message.  People say, “Jesus never claimed to be God.”  Rediculous!  Jesus never claimed to be God?  The Jews answered in John 10:33, “For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because you, being a man, make yourself God.”  They got the message.    They knew exactly what He was claiming.  He had claimed divine authority over angels.  He had claimed divine authority over men.  He claimed, in fact, divine authority over everything when He said, “All authority is given unto Me in heaven and earth,” Matthew 28:18.  He claimed divine authority over the law, over the Sabbath, over the tradition of the elders, every bit of it.  He claimed power to forgive sin, power to raise Himself from the dead, and He proved it!

Jesus is God. Do you know it? Do you believe it?

www.Upwards.Church

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Source:  Adapted from Grace to You, Christ Above All, by John MacArthur
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Christ our Salvation – Colossians 1:1-8

Posted on September 11, 2026 by dkoop

We can have “confident hope” of what God has for us now and  in heaven because we know that our salvation and future destination are sure. We are free to live for Christ and love others.  If we find ourselves doubting or wavering in our faith or love, remember Christ, what He as done, how much He loves us, how He has changed us and our final destination—heaven.

Colossians has a distinctive message, one that is extremely relevant to people living today. It is primarily a letter of hope: the hope that comes by means of the gospel.  At the time it was written, there was a serious threat to the faith of the Colossians. A garbled mixture of religious error, arising from both a Jewish and Greek background, was threatening the church.

When different religious ideas compete with one another, it leads to unrest in society. That condition is reflected in the letter to the Colossians and you will recognize it is what we face today. We are assaulted on every side by humanists, cultists and various philosophies, all of them claiming to be the truth. The letter to the Colossians is very important in the New Testament record.

In the opening verses the apostle emphasizes the word hope, in marked contrast to the hopelessness of the world of his day.

The Colossians too were once hopeless but they had found hope. And with it they found two other enormously valuable commodities, called faith and love. Look at the opening words of the letter:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.” (Colossians 1:1)

These days it is necessary to point out that when the Scriptures talk about “brothers” and “brethren,” it always includes sisters as well—“sistern.” Lol. If we understand the biblical truth about mankind we would not get into the awkward situations we find ourselves in today, where we wonder whether we ought to call a woman a “chairperson” or “chairwoman,” or what. ‘ The Bible says. “In the beginning,” it says, ” God created man, male and female he created them, and he referred to them as “man”  or “mankind.” Women have as much right to the word “man” as males do. They can properly call themselves the “sons of God” just as men do, and they can properly include themselves in the term “brethren” as much as men do. Both are “men” in that generic sense. If we understood that there would be no need, to republish the New Testament, eliminating all so-called chauvinist terms.

Paul continues,

“To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and which you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you…” (Colossians 1:2-6a)

Did you pick out the three words that are crucial there: faith, hope, and love? We could say these are favorite words of the apostle. He uses this triad in several of his letters. In 1 Thessalonians he writes about “your work of faith,” “your labor of love,” and “your patience of hope.” Many have already remembered that wonderful triad at the end of 1 Corinthians 13, “And now abide faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.”

Yes, love is what is needed in our world. But according to this Colossian statement love comes from faith. And where does faith come from? The NIV puts it this way: “the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and which you have already heard about in the word of truth.” It is extremely important to recognize that these wonderfully warm words, faith, love and hope, are related. Notice that two of them are four-letter words (love, hope), so not all four-letter words are bad. These words mark what we could call qualities of authentic Christians. If you are really a Christian, if you are one of the “holy and faithful brothers,” the mark will be: you have faith and love which spring from hope, and that hope is found in the gospel.

Paul calls the Colossians “holy brothers.” Christians are holy because they belong to God. By faith the Colossians had believed what God said, therefore God claimed them for his own; they belonged to him.

Paul also calls them “faithful brethren.” Here is the first hint of the struggles going on in the church at Colossae. There were strange doctrinal ideas floating about in an effort to upset these people and turn them away from their faith. But Paul is encouraging them to remain “faithful brethren”—consistent, dependable, genuine believers, because of a constant supply of love and hope from the Spirit (verse 8).

Hope produces faith, and faith in turn grows into love. Hope is the root, faith is the plant, and love is the fruit. Hope is foundational. This gives rise to the question, what produces hope? We all desperately need hope. Without hope men lose the desire to live. We have all had hopeless moments when we felt like saying, “What is the use of going on?” What, then, produces hope? Here is Paul’s answer, “hope stored up for you in heaven and which you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come unto you.”

Hope is awakened by the gospel. That is the good news. The gospel addresses itself to losers. Not to the successful, but to the failures, the weak, the empty, the lost among us—and it gives them hope. When nothing else can give them hope, the gospel will. But how does hearing the story of Jesus: his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection and his coming by the Spirit, give hope that awakens faith and stimulates love for others? The answer is in this one phrase, “the hope stored up for you in heaven.”

To most, that immediately suggests life after death. After this life we will go to be with the Lord and all the glory of eternity will then be ours. That is a wonderful hope, but that is not what this phrase means. If we take it that way, it gives credence to Marx’s accusation that “Religion…is the opium of the people.” If all the gospel offers to Christians is that they will go to heaven when they die, this may well tend to make them content with their lot on earth and do nothing to correct or improve their conditions. That is the accusation of the Communists. They say we are putting people to sleep, turning them away from changes they should make if only they got stirred up about the problems and injustices of society. That charge is not without some merit if this is all the gospel offers.

But though it is a wonderful truth that there is hope of life after death, this translation obscures what is really being said. The singular word “heaven” is what misleads us. What the Greek text actually says is, “hope is available to you in the heavens”—plural. This term “the heavens” (or, as it appears in the letter to the Ephesians, “the heavenlies”), is a reference not to heaven after death, but to the invisible spiritual kingdom that surrounds us on all sides right now. Thus, what this is saying here is that the gospel reveals there is hope for us immediately coming from that invisible spiritual kingdom which surrounds us right at this very moment.

What is that hope? It is patent all through the New Testament. Jesus himself said, “Let not your hearts be troubled for I am with you.” That is the hope that is awakened by the gospel. It is the good news that right now, whatever you are facing, in your moment of weakness peril, or hopelessness, Jesus is available to you. His strength can be imparted to you, his wisdom granted to you to steady you, strengthen you and make you to stand. That is the hope of the gospel. That is what awakens faith.

Faith means to act upon that hope. Faith means you believe that Jesus is there. At once you feel your spirit steadied and strengthened and you are able to go on and take whatever is coming. We have all known what it means to have some dear friend come along in a time of trouble to stand by and steady and encourage us. If that friend is the Lord of Glory himself, what tremendous hope there is in that fact. That is what this means here: the hope that is in the gospel. Hebrews 11 says of Moses that “he endured because he saw him who was invisible.” That is what Paul writes to the Colossians about: an invisible reality that is available right now in Jesus. He is there, ready to help and encourage.

Paul also calls this gospel “the word of truth.” That is what marks its realism.

The great thing about the gospel is that it is true. It really works. It does deliver people. When you lack hope, feel defeated, cast down, or betrayed, Jesus stands there, available to you. That is the word of the gospel. He offers to go with you to face the drug pusher. He offers his love and his acceptance when loneliness or horniness tempt you to wrongful sexual activity. He offers to steady you in times of pressure and stress. And he offers forgiveness and restoration if there is any failure. That is what the apostle now affirms, saying to the Colossians in verse 6:

“All over the world this gospel is producing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” (Colossians 1:6)

Wherever Paul went, he preached the Good News—to Gentile audiences, to hostile Jewish leaders, and even to his Roman guards. Whenever people believed in the message that Paul spoke, they were changed.  It still happens today.  People hear, believe and are changed by Jesus.

God’s Word is not just for our information, it is for our transformation! Becoming a Christian means beginning a whole new relationship with God, not just turning over a new leaf or determining to do right. New believers have a changed purpose, direction, attitude, and behavior. They are no longer seeking to serve themselves, but they are bearing fruit for God. How is the Good News reaching others through our lives?

“You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” (Colossians 1:7-8)

Epaphras had founded the church at Colosse while Paul was living in Ephesus (Acts 19:10). Epaphras may have been converted in Ephesus, and then he returned to Colosse, his hometown. For some reason, he visited Rome and, while there, told Paul about the problem of the Colossian heresy. This prompted Paul to write this letter. Epaphras is also mentioned in Philemon 1:23 (the Colossian church met in Philemon’s house).

Epaphras was the man who started it all. We do not know much about him,  he had probably been part of the group that Paul himself taught when he was resident in Ephesus for three years.

As Acts records, Paul rented a hall (the school of Tyrannus), and for five hours a day, six days a week for three solid years he taught the Scriptures.  Many who were present went out through all the provinces spreading the truth, and among them was Epaphras. He  probably started a home Bible class. He had friends also in Laodicea and started another class there and another one over in Hierapolis.

Epaphras simply told the people who came the truth about Jesus: the meaning of his death, the glory of his resurrection, his accessibility to them by means of the Spirit who came on the day of Pentecost. That began to excite them and awaken them in their hopeless condition. They found hope again, and faith and love came along with it. A healed community of beautiful people came into being and caught the attention of many in those pagan cities. That is God’s favorite way of evangelism.

As we hear the Scriptures expounded by pastors or teachers, we may wish that we knew  the Bible like one of these pastors, then we could be of use to God. But don’t you see that you already are the important people, the true evangelists? You are out there, rubbing shoulders with people who have no hope, hearing their sad stories, meeting them in the streets and in the stores, having coffee with them. You are the ones who can spread the word of hope. That is how the gospel spread throughout the Roman province of Asia, and hundreds of churches came into being. The gospel has power to change, power to awaken, power to give hope, and out of hope springs faith and love. What a remarkable thing it is!

We too can see these very things happening here. What excitement will come into our lives when we reach out with the good news, the only source of hope in the world!

www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/leander-campus/watch-now-message-videos

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

Facebook: Upwards Church

Read Along Daily Bible Reading: You Version

Sources: Life Application Bible Notes (Tyndale, 2007), 2028.

https://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/colossians

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You’re Invited! – Christ Alone – Colossians

Posted on September 4, 2026 by dkoop

You’re invited to our new message series in the New Testament book of Colossians, “Christ Alone!”

Description:  

Would you like to know more about Jesus? Or how to live a Christ centered life? Paul’s letter to the Colossians reveals that Christ is God, Creator, Savior and Sustainer. Knowing Christ will enable us to live the life that He has created us for.

The book of Colossians reveals the simple but profound truth that Christ Alone is sufficient for Christian living.

 Dates             Titles              Scripture                              Events

 Sep. 6 –   Christ Alone (Col 1: 1-14)                                Baptism
Sep. 13 – Christ the Creator (Col 1:15-21)
Sep. 20 – Christ is our Hope (Col 1: 25- 2:7)

Sep 27 – Christ is our Freedom (Col 2: 8-21)                 Communion

Oct. 4 – Christ Centered Living (Col 3: 1-17)

Oct. 11 – Christlike Relationships (Col 3:14 – 4:1)

Background

Writing from prison in Rome, Paul combatted false teachings, which had infiltrated the Colossian church. The problem was “syncretism,” combining ideas from other philosophies and religions (such as paganism, strains of Judaism, and Greek thought) with Christian truth. The resulting heresy later became known as “Gnosticism,” emphasizing special knowledge (gnosis in Greek) and denying Christ as God and Savior. To combat this devious error, Paul stressed Christ’s deity—his connection with the Father—and his sacrificial death on the cross for sin. Only by being connected with Christ through faith can anyone have eternal life, and only through a continuing connection with him can anyone have power for living. Christ is God incarnate and the only way to forgiveness and peace with God the Father. Paul also emphasized believers’ connections with each other as Christ’s body on earth.

Colossians is a book for an embattled church in the first century, but it is also has timeless truths for us today! We will gain a fresh appreciation for Christ as the fullness of God and the only source for living the Christian life. Know that He is your leader, head, and power source.

Vital Statistics

Purpose:  To combat errors in the church and to show that believers have everything they need in Christ

Author: Paul

Original Audience: The church at Colosse, a city in Asia Minor

Date Written: Approximately A.D. 60, during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome

Setting: Paul had never visited Colossae. Evidently the church had been founded by Epaphras and other converts from Paul’s missionary travels. The church, however, had been infiltrated by religious relativism, with some believers attempting to combine elements of paganism and secular philosophy with Christian doctrine. Paul confronts these false teachings and affirms the sufficiency of Christ.

Key Verses: “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority” (2:9, 10).

Key People: Paul, Timothy, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Epaphras

Key Places: Colossae, Laodicea (4:15, 16)

Special Features: Christ is presented as having absolute supremacy and sole sufficiency. Colossians has similarities to Ephesians, probably because it was written at about the same time, but it has a different emphasis.

The Blueprint

  1. What Christ has done (1:1-2:23)
  2. What Christians should do (3:1-4:18)

In this letter Paul clearly teaches that Christ has paid for sin, that Christ has reconciled us to God, and that Christ gives us the pattern and the power to grow spiritually. Because in Christ lives all the fullness of God, when we learn what he is like, we see what we need to become. Since Christ is Lord over all creation, we should crown him Lord over our lives. Since Christ is the head of the body, his church, we should nurture our vital connection to him.

MEGATHEMES
THEME EXPLANATION IMPORTANCE
Christ Is God Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, Lord of all creation, and Lord of the new creation. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is eternal, preexistent, omnipotent, equal with the Father. He is supreme and complete. Because Christ is supreme, our lives must be Christ-centered. To recognize him as God means to regard our relationship with him as most vital and to make his interests our top priority.
Christ Is Head of the Church Because Christ is God, he is the head of the church, his true believers. Christ is the founder, the leader, and the highest authority on earth. He requires first place in all our thoughts and activities. To acknowledge Christ as our head, we must welcome his leadership in all we do or think. No person, group, or church can regard any loyalty as more critical than that of loyalty to Christ.
Union with Christ Because our sin has been forgiven and we have been reconciled to God, we have a union with Christ that can never be broken. In our faith connection with him, we identify with his death, burial, and resurrection. We should live in constant contact and communication with God. When we do, we all will be unified with Christ and with one another.
Heresy False teachers were promoting a heresy that stressed self-made rules (legalism). They also sought spiritual growth by discipline of the body (asceticism) and visions (mysticism). This search created pride in their self-centered efforts. We must not cling to our own ideas and try to blend them into Christianity. Nor should we let our hunger for a more fulfilling Christian experience cause us to trust in a teacher, a group, or a system of thought more than in Christ himself. Christ is our hope and our true source of wisdom.

www.Upwards.Church

Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/leander-campus/watch-now-message-videos

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

Facebook: Upwards Church

Read Along Daily Bible Reading: You Version

Source: Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 2025-2024.

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