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Colossians
Introduction
While Paul was in prison in Rome, awaiting his upcoming trial before Caesar, one of the letters he wrote was to the gathering of believers in the city of Colossae. Paul had never met them, but they knew who he was and respected his leadership. Paul had worked with a man named Epaphras when he was in Ephesus. Epaphras was originally from Colossae, about 170 kilometres to the east. Paul sent him to bring the good news about Jesus to his city and to two other nearby cities, Laodicea and Hierapolis. Epaphras was later arrested and brought to Rome as a prisoner himself. Paul learned from him what was happening in those cities.
The Colossians were mostly Gentiles, but like the Galatians they were being pressured to follow the Jewish law and were adding extra rules and false teachings to the faith. Some of them were priding themselves on having visions and getting secret spiritual knowledge. So Paul wrote them a letter to say, ‘When you’ve got Jesus the Messiah, you’ve got it all!’
Paul emphasizes that all things in heaven and earth were created by the Son and were reconciled to God by the Son’s death on the cross. Christ possesses the fullness of God’s being. Since the Colossians have been brought into the new kingdom of light, they can live their faith to the fullest. They are to put on the new self, awaiting the time the Messiah will appear openly, revealing his glory.
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