COLOSSIANS LESSON 2


     We will begin this lesson in Colossians 1:13 "Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the
kingdom of his dear Son:"

     In the last lesson, we began by speaking of how we are to walk in
the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Light does away with
darkness. Darkness is the absence of Light. Darkness does not need a
generator, Light demands a generator. The source of all power of Light
is Jesus Christ who is the Light. Darkness has no power over Light.
Light destroys darkness. Before we come to Jesus, we are living in
darkness.  Paul was very familiar with this, because it was the Light
of Jesus that stopped him in his tracks and turned him around.  This
power of darkness is the dominion of Satan.  Satan can not survive
when the Light of the world is applied.  Darkness is, and always has
been, opposed to the Light.  Acts 26:18 "To open their eyes, [and] to
turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto
God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." When we become a
Christian, we are snatched away from Satan and become, immedietely,
sons of God.

     Colossians 1:14 "In whom we have redemption through his blood,
[even] the forgiveness of sins:"

     It was the precious shed blood of Jesus that abolished our sins.
The blood of an animal in the sacrifices, in the Old Testament, for
sin could not do away with sin, or clear the conscience of the sinner.
The blood of an animal covered the sin. The precious blood of Jesus
Christ, the Lamb of God, abolished sin for those who will believe.
Revelation 1:5 "And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness,
[and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of
the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood,"  We will see in the following Scripture that Jesus paid
the price for our sin, when He shed His blood on the cross to remove
our sin. Matthew 26:28 "For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins." This next Scripture
says it all. I John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

     Colossians 1:15 "Who is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every creature:"

     We are now looking at the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the image of the Father. John 14:9 "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been
so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us
the Father?" This one Scripture lets us know that Jesus is the image
of His Father. Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father. You and I
are sons of God through adoption. Jesus is Creator God. We are His
creation.  Psalms 89:27 "Also I will make him [my] firstborn, higher
than the kings of the earth."  The Spirit of God hovered over Mary and
she conceived of the Spirit of God. Jesus was the firstborn Son of
God. Christians are the sons of God being purchased for the Father
with the precious shed blood of Jesus. God is a Spirit. He is, also,
the presence of the greatest Light there is. Jesus is the reflection
of the Father, not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense.
It is impossible to see a form of God, because the Light that
surrounds Him and is really Him is impossible to separate. He is, in
fact, the brightness of the glory of the Eternal God.

     Colossians 1:16 "For by him were all things created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they
be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by him, and for him:"

     As we said before, the One we call Jesus, who was the Word of God
in heaven, is Creator God. John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  John 1:2 "The same
was in the beginning with God." John 1:3 "All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made." The universe,
and everything in it, was created by the Lord. We see in the next
verse why He created them. Revelation 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord,
to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all
things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."  God is
Spirit, so we can see that it would not be just the things we can see
with our physical eyes that He created. Actually, man is a spirit. We
are made in the image of God, and if God is Spirit, then we are
spirit. We live in a house of flesh, but the real person within that
flesh is spirit. We could get into a deep study here on the fact that
all things that exist, are actually existing in His power. He gave all
things, whether visible or invisible, the power to be. It is the Lord
who really decides who will be president or king. This is one reason
we must respect the office. Sometimes we cannot respect the
officeholder, but we must respect the office. It is a creation of the
Word of God. All existence was in Him from the beginning. The purposes
of God are sometimes carried through by those He has given power and
authority on the earth.

     Colossians 1:17 "And he is before all things, and by him all
things consist."

     We read in Genesis, In the beginning God. This word used for God
is covered in the following Scripture. I John 5:7 "For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:
and these three are one."  They are all the Spirit of God. Each is
separate, but are all in total agreement in the Spirit. Notice, in the
few words from Genesis, it says "in", not at. We are speaking of the
great I Am. I Am, means, the Eternal One who exists.  I Am is the
present tense, but that present tense is for all of eternity. God is
God of those who live. We live, and move, and have our being in Jesus
Christ our Lord. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End.

     Colossians 1:18 "And he is the head of the body, the church: who
is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he
might have the preeminence."

     The body of Christ is His church. Every believer in Christ is
part of that body. Jesus is the first of the firstfruits. Because He
arose, We shall rise, also. We are the inheritance of Jesus Christ. He
has quickened our spirit to everlasting life in Him. Flesh and blood
does not inherit the kingdom. John 3:6 "That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. It is the
spiritual body which make up the body of Christ. We must bear in mind
that He is the head, we make up the body.

     Colossians 1:19 "For it pleased [the Father] that in him should
all fulness dwell;"

     We will see in the next chapter of this book the following.
Colossians 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily."  Actually the Spirit of the Father, Word, and Holy Ghost were
all caught up in the working of the Spirit within the body of Jesus.
They all agreed on the plan of salvation, even at the beginning. Just
as all 3 were present at the baptism of Jesus. Jesus, being baptized,
the Voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son {Father}, and the
Dove of the Holy Spirit which lit upon Jesus. Their plans were being
carried out in Jesus. They were all pleased with their plan in Him.

     Colossians 1:20 "And, having made peace through the blood of his
cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say],
whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven."

     Jesus is the One who reconciles and He is the reconciliation, as
well. The blood of Jesus Christ puts all who will believe in
reconciliation with God. It is very difficult to separate Jesus from
the Father here. Jesus opened the entrance to the Father when the veil
was torn from top to bottom in the temple when He was crucified.  His
blood makes it possible for all who believe to stand in front of Jesus
{the Judge of the world} justified. In that sense, He reconciled us to
himself and with the Father with His shed blood at Calvary. We know,
also, that Jesus is the King of Peace. To know that you are just as if
you had never sinned {justified} would bring you perfect peace.
Jesus {the Word} is Creator God. It is understandable that He would be
the One to justify His creation. Since He created all things, He also
justified all things.

     Colossians 1:21 "And you, that were sometime alienated and
enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled"

     To be "alienated" is to be away from God. The mind is an enemy of
God, before it is changed to the mind of Christ. Romans 8:7 "Because
the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be."  The carnal mind is enemy of God,
because it is of the flesh.  All of mankind had a fleshly nature,
before they came to God. The mind of man is really not what the Lord
Jesus wants He wants your heart. When our heart is stayed upon God,
then the mind will follow.

     Colossians 1:22 "In the body of his flesh through death, to
present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:"

     It was the body of the Lord Jesus Christ that suffered death for
our sins. It is very important for them to realize that Jesus had a
physical body. He suffered on the cross in His body of flesh, as you
or I would suffer. We are without blemish, without blame, in fact
justified by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus made us
acceptable before the Father, when He washed us in His precious blood.
It is Jesus who made us acceptable to stand before Himself as Judge of
the world. He, also, opened the way to the Father for us.

     Colossians 1:23 "If ye continue in the faith grounded and
settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye
have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;"

     Paul is expressing the fact that they must continue in the faith
they have received. The only way to be "grounded and settled", is to
study the Bible, and have faith in it. Paul says, that the Word of God
had been preached to every human. Probably, this means the known world
at that time. It could even mean the world around Israel. Paul is
saying, he has done all he could to spread the Word to all of
humanity.

     Colossians 1:24 "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and
fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh
for his body's sake, which is the church:"

     Paul counted it a pleasure to suffer for Christ. He was willing
to suffer so that these Colossians could know the truth. The body, in
the verse above, is the body of Christ, the church.

     Colossians 1:25 "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word
of God;"

     "Dispensation", in the verse above, means administration. Paul
had been chosen of God for this particular job. Paul was a chosen
vessel to bring the good news of the gospel to the Gentiles, and when
convenient to others. The main people he was to preach to was the
Gentiles, of which this church was one.

     Colossians 1:26  "[Even] the mystery which hath been hid from
ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:"

     The mystery is the simpleness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The
fact that Christians are saved by the shed blood of Jesus at the
crucifixion, is a mystery to all but the believers in Christ. The
truth is hid from those who do not believe. It is through the Holy
Spirit teaching and guiding us, that we understand the mystery. Jesus
is not only what is revealed, but is the Revealer, as well.
I Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;  To those who do not
accept Jesus as their Saviour, it is foolishness.

     Colossians 1:27 "To whom God would make known what [is] the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory:"

     It is the will of God for those who believe in Jesus Christ to
receive the knowledge of the mystery, which is, Christ in you, and is
your hope of Glory. We have discussed before that what really happens
when a Christian is baptized is, he is buried in a watery grave and
rises to new life in Jesus. The life that this Christian lives after
he, or she has received Jesus, is actually Jesus living in them. The
Christian is dead to the lust of the world through the desires of the
flesh. They are now quickened in their spirit to everlasting life in
Jesus Christ. The hope is in the resurrection.

     Colossians 1:28 "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching
every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus:"

     This is what I call making Jesus Christ Lord of your life. We are
not perfect in the flesh, but in the spirit. The Christ in us is
perfect. We have put on Christ, as well as having Him inside of us.
Not only that, but He has clothed us in a white linen garment {free
from sin} washed in His blood. We have put on His righteousness.

     Colossians 1:29 "Whereunto I also labour, striving according to
his working, which worketh in me mightily."

     This is simply saying, Paul desires them to have the same
relationship with the Lord Jesus that he has. He worked hard to win
them all to Christ. His striving was not for his own benefit, but for
the benefit of the people he preached to. Paul knows that even the
desire to help them, is Christ in him wanting to help them.


















                        Colossians 2 Questions


1.  Quote Colossians chapter 1 verse 13.
2.  _________ does away with darkness.
3.  Darkness is the absence of ________.
4.  Darkness does not need a __________, but Light demands a ________.
5.  What caused Paul's life to change?
6.  This power of darkness is the dominion of ______.
7.  Quote Acts chapter 26 verse 18.
8.  What do Christians become when they are snatched away from Satan?
9.  We have redemption through His ______.
10. Tell what the difference is between the blood of the animal given
    for sin and the blood of Jesus?
11. Who did Jesus abolish sin for?
12. Quote Revelation chapter 1 verse 5.
13. Quote Matthew chapter 26 verse 28.
14. Quote 1 John chapter 1 verse 7.
15. What is Jesus called in verse 15?
16. Quote John chapter 14 verse 9.
17. Jesus is the only ____________ Son of the Father.
18. All Christians are sons of God by _____________.
19. Who did Mary conceive of?
20. What was the price paid for the Christians to be adopted sons?
21. Jesus is the reflection of the Father, not in the __________
    sense, but in the _______________.
22. He is, in fact, the brightness of the glory of the _________ ___.
23. For by Him were all things ___________.
24. Is this creation just in the earth?
25. What was the name of Jesus in heaven, before He was named Jesus?
26. Quote John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3.
27. Why was all of creation created?
28. Describe what we are?
29. Why must we respect the office of president or king?
30. Quote 1 John chapter 5 verse 7.
31. Who is the great I AM?
32. What names of Jesus show His eternity?
33. If Jesus is the head, who is the body?
34. In this instance, what is the body?
35. Quote John chapter 3 verse 6.
36. In whom does all the fulness of the Godhead dwell, bodily?
37. How were the Father, Word, and Holy Ghost represented at the
    baptism of Jesus?
38. How did He reconcile all things unto Himself?
39. When did Jesus open the way to the Father for the believers?
40. Who is Creator God?
41. What does "alienated" mean?
42. The ______ of the Lord Jesus suffered and died for our sins.
43. How did Jesus make us acceptable unto the Father?
44. What does "grounded and settled", in verse 23, mean?
45. What is the mystery hidden from the world?
46. Christ in you, the _______ of glory.
47. How can we be perfect?