Epistle to the Colossians

In the beginning, God.

That Colossians chapter one says that Jesus is before all things.

That God did not begin with the beginning or start with the start.

He started to start and began the beginning.

When Jesus is arrested, beaten and nailed to a Roman cross, it looks like the triumph of this beastly power again.

And yet, Paul says in Colossians 2.15 that through the cross, Jesus has disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them and triumphing over them.

And what looks like the greatest victory of the beasts and the powers and the demonic forces, in fact, was their ultimate defeat.

That's what John shows us in Revelation 12.

This is who Jesus is.

Now what did he do? Colossians 2, 9.

I like how this verse went through who Jesus is to what he did.

Colossians chapter 2 from verse 9.

It says, for in Christ lives all the fullness of God in human body.

So why they didn't believe in Jesus is because they didn't see this backdrop.

Now Jesus what he did.

Colossians chapter 2 verse 9.

For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in human form.

No wonder the Bible says God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.

He's named, and there he's named along Paul's fellow workers.

So he's named in kind of a good way in Philemon, right? In Colossians 4.14, I believe it's Colossians.

Luke, the beloved physician and Demas greet you.

So in Philemon and in Colossians, he's mentioned in a positive way.

Like he's part of that people who helped, right? But here, whoo.

Something has changed, all right? The language changes dramatically because look what he says in 2 Timothy 4, verse 10.

And let's say that he has abandoned Christianity and walked away.

He's apostatized, right? He's become an apostate.

And this is the title that Jesus Christ holds, one of them.

And we can see this understanding and how it correlates to what's captured in the Book of Colossians, in chapter one, verses 15 through 18.

The Word of God reads, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

And I think God was bringing these challenges back to me until I had learned what he was trying to teach me.

And I realize now looking through all of that, you know, the Bible tells us, 1 Corinthians and Colossians, it says, you know, run heartily, you know, finish the race or with whatever you do, make sure you do it with everything you've got.

And so I was taking those Bible promises to heart, but I realized later after all of these setbacks and finally surrendering to God that I was striving for me.

I And when I finally realized that, the doors flew open and miracles have happened in my career, honestly.

All the ammunition they ever had against you tossed into the lake of fire.

Go to Colossians 2.

I have tabs on my Bible.

My wife calls them my training wheels.