The Apostle Paul said, "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ" (Col. 2:8). What would be worse than losing your country is losing Christ! See that no one takes you captive and leads you away from Christ!
In our previous lesson, Col. 1:20 asserted that Christ would "reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven." As we move further into chapter 1, the next three verses start to expand on the idea of reconciliation. Paul tells the story of Christ, you and reconciliation through four movements in time that take us to the past, present, future and back to the present!
Sometimes nothing speaks to our hearts like a song. The beautiful words of Colossians 1:15-20 are thought to be an ancient song about Christ that Paul included in his message to the Colossians. With the Holy Spirit's stamp of approval, what we find in these verses is an eternal reminder for believers that Christ is first, most important and everything! Christ is all to us!
This lesson begins a new series focused on the book of Colossians. While written to a local church, the focus of Paul seems to be on the Christ of the church. If you take Christ out of the church you are no longer the church! In this lesson, we examine Paul's greeting which reads like a prayer of thanksgiving for them (1:3-12). But in these words, Paul really documents how Christ changed them.
