Proclaimer Blog
Notes on Colossians part 6
The Word of Exposition (Colossians 1.15-23) = "This is the Gospel"
Never ending speculation as the provenance of this section can divert us to the recognition that,
- This exposition tells us what Paul means by preaching Christ
- This exposition, in all its parts, has special reference to the Elitists.
Thus, a complete understanding of Christ (2:2,3) leaves Elitism with nothing of spiritual reality to offer (2:4-17).
1. Church and Cosmos (15-18)
The identity of the God of Israel with the Creator of the Universe was axiomatic in O.T. So in N.T, concerning the Lord Jesus.
2. Supremacy and Sufficiency (19-22)
Sufficiency (completed achievement) is attainable only because of Supremacy (crowning authority). Paul speaks of the final reconciliation of cosmos (All Things) and his elect people. Additional mediators are unthinkable.
3. Christ and Him Crucified (15-22)
The flow of the ‘argument’ that leads from Christ’s universal Lordship to the brutal physicality of his death, in blood and nails, is definitive of the gospel, and challenges the churches as to their Message and Ministry.
4. Steadfastness or Submission (23)
The call to stand by the apostolic and catholic Gospel, thus rejecting the fraudulent daydreams of the Elitist is the ‘Heart of the Matter’ (O’Brien).