HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1447
Colossians
“ D O N ’ T L O S E Y O U R H E A D ! ” It’s an old saying, sometimes used
with a touch of humor. Of course we could not live without our heads.
But suppose we could? What then? No eyes to see where to go, no ears
to hear important messages or beautiful songs, no nose to smell a myriad of scents, no tongue to taste, no voice to be heard, no brain to guide
you through the maze we call life. And no face, the key to your identity.
As a faceless person, you cease to be recognizable as you.
What you will be
If the head is the center of physical life, think
reading about
how much more vital is the head of the body of
Christian believers (the church). The key message
1:1-14
Greetings from Paul
of Colossians is that Christ and Christ alone is the
head of the church. He is first in everything (1:18).
1:15- 23
The person and work
As Christians and members of the church, Christ
of Christ
is our head: our spiritual source of life, our guide,
1:24 – 2:23
counselor, even our spiritual identity.
The Good News about Christ
The Christians at Colosse had begun to debate
this truth. They had acknowledged Christ as
3:1– 4:6
Living the new life in Christ
Savior, but they began to sample other things, as
many do today. Some began to worship angels,
4:7-18
Paul’s final instructions and
others focused on rituals, and still others blended
greetings
Jewish, Greek, and Eastern religions. Other beliefs
began to mix with Christianity, watering the gospel
down and confusing new converts. Drifting away from Christ the head, the Colossians lost their identity with him. They could have easily fit into today’s society.
But Christ is not merely an important part of our new life, he is our new life,
the reason for all we do (3:11). When Christ is truly our head, others recognize
us as Christians.
If you have received Christ, Paul told the Colossians, then walk with him and
be rooted in him by knowing his Word and obeying it (2:6-7). This is accomplished by letting God’s Word constantly live in you (3:16). To become a Christian is to take on a new life in Christ, dropping the old life. If the old sinful way
of life dies, then your desire to sin should die, too.
Christians are endangered today, not from without as much as from within.
Having acknowledged Christ and then given in to materialism, self-centeredness, or a preoccupation with other things, we lose spiritual sensitivity to our
head, Jesus Christ. To be truly Christian, we must let the Word of God dwell
richly in us, allowing Christ to be most important in our lives.
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