Colossians: The Mystery of God Revealed

What would happen if I went through every verse in a book of the Bible and recorded what it says about Jesus Christ? What would I find?

According to the book of Colossians, Jesus is:

  • The Son of God (1:3)
  • Lord (1:3; 2:6; 3:17)
  • The Christ (1:1, 3 - and many of the verses that follow.)
  • Image of the Invisible God (1:15)
  • Firstborn of All Creation (1:15)
  • Firstborn From the Dead (1:18)
  • Before Everything / The Beginning (1:17, 18)
  • Head of the Body--the Church (1:18)
  • Head of Every Ruler and Authority (2:10)
  • The Hope of Glory (1:27)
  • God's Mystery (1:27; 2:2)
  • Risen (3:1)
  • In Us (1:2)
  • Proclaimed by the Apostles (a.k.a the Embodiment of the Good News/Gospel) (1:28)
  • Seated Above (3:1)
  • Seated at the Right Hand of God (3:1)

But, this is not it! There is so much more. We also learn from Paul and Timothy in the letter to the believers in Colossae, that:

Jesus appointed followers to spread His word:
  • Jesus had apostles. (1:1)
  • There are ministers of Christ. (1:7)
  • Jesus powerfully inspires energy in the apostle Paul. (1:29)
  • We are servants of Jesus Christ. (4)
We are brothers and sisters in Christ. (1:2)

It is all about faith in Jesus Christ!
  • Life is all about faith in the Messiah Jesus. (1:3)
  • We are to have faith in Christ. (2:5)
  • The Christian faith is all about Jesus! (2:7)
The Kingdom belongs to the Son, Jesus Christ. (1:13)

Jesus is the way through which we are reconciled to God:
  • In Christ, we have redemption, which is the forgiveness of sins. (1:14)
  • Through Jesus all things were reconciled to God. (1:20)
  • Jesus reconciled us, the sinful, through his bodily death. (1:21)
  • Jesus made peace through the shedding of his own blood on the cross. (1:20)
  • The record of our faults and the legal consequences of them were nailed to the cross. (2:14)
  • The Lord has forgiven us, so we should forgive each other. (3:13)
There is a peace of Christ. (3:15)

Jesus died in order to present us as holy and blameless (and irreproachable). (1:21)

All things were created through Christ:
  • All things were created in, through, and for Jesus Christ - both earthly and heavenly, as well as the physical and spiritual, and all ideas/concepts. (1:16)
  • All things hold together through Him. (1:17)
It is important that Jesus has first place in everything. (1:18)

God dwells in Christ:
  • The fullness of God dwells in Jesus. (1:19)
  • In Christ, the whole fullness of Deity dwells physically. (2:8)
Jesus is the head of the Church:
  • The Body (a.k.a. The Church) belongs to Christ. (1:24)
  • Christ was afflicted for the sake of the body/Church. (1:24)
  • We are to hold fast to Jesus Christ, the head of the body. (2:19)
There was something lacking in Christ's suffering that is fulfilled in his follower's suffering? (1:24)

Jesus is the mystery of God revealed!
  • The mystery of God is Christ in us. (1:27)
  • God's mystery is Jesus Christ. (2:2)
  • We can receive Jesus Christ. (2:6)
  • We are to live our lives in Christ. (2:7)
  • The word of Christ dwells in the believer. (3:16)
  • Paul was in prison for declaring the mystery of Christ. (4:3)
Christians mature through Jesus Christ:
  • There exists a maturity in the believer that is found in Christ. (1:28)
  • Christians are rooted and built up in Christ. (2:7)
  • We come to fullness in Christ. (2:10)
  • We grow through Christ. (2:19)
True wisdom comes through Jesus Christ:
  • In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (2:3)
  • Wisdom and knowledge come through Christ. (2.8)
  • We Christians are being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of our creator. (3:10)

In Christ we are circumcised spiritually (put off body of flesh). (2:11)

Christ died and we died with Him:
  • In baptism, we are buried with Christ. (2:12)
  • Christ died to the elemental spirits of the universe. (2:20)
  • We died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the universe. (They no longer have control.) (2:20)
Christ rose to life and in Christ we now have life!
  • We were raised to life with Christ through faith. (2:12)
  • Jesus was raised from the dead by God. (2:12)
  • We have been raised with Christ. (3:1)
  • We are dead, but Christ is our life! (3:4)
Jesus trusted the power of God. (2:12)

Jesus is in the future:
  • The substance of what is to come belongs to Jesus. (2:15)
  • Christ will once again be revealed. (3:4)
  • When Christ is again revealed, we too will be revealed with Him in glory. (3:4)
  • In the renewal through Christ, Christ is all and in all (no matter our social status). (3:10)
Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. (3:3)

Our response to Jesus:
  • We are to do everything in the name of Jesus. (3:17)
  • We give thanks to God through Jesus Christ. (3:17)

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