Bible Reading, Col. 1:10-29

Colossians chapter 1, we'll begin to read at verse 9. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, he's talking about hearing of their faith in Christ, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, as referred reading, for by him were all things created. I want you to notice a change in prepositions as I read the next few verses.

This is how verse 16 should read, for in him were all things created that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him or unto him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

For pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If or since you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you've heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven." That's interesting.

Whereof I, Paul, am made a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God, even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect or complete in Christ Jesus. Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily.

And we know that God will bless the reading of his word to our hearts. Nice to see those who are here this morning. I was telling the brethren if I was in control, I would close the door at nine o'clock instead of having people constantly coming in, but we'll do our best in spite of interruptions.

Now scholars tell us that the epistle to the Colossians is the most profound writings that we have from the pen of the Apostle. Colossi, written from prison by Paul, he had been in Ephesus, chapter 20 of the Acts tells us, for a period of about three years, and it's evident from the context of the epistle that Epaphras was saved at that time, and he carried the message of the gospel to the Colossians. And the result is there is an assembly there gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.

We have no evidence that Paul ever visited Colossi, but this is one of his four prison epistles. Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and the Philippians, likely written in that order. Now in Colossi, word was brought to the Apostle by this man that he tells us that carried the message to him, Epaphras, verse 7. He was a faithful minister of Christ, and it's very possible that the message that he was bringing to the Apostle caused him great concern.

In fact, it did. There was false teaching in the area from people that were known as Gnostics, which comes from the word to know, and they had caused all kinds of confusion right across this Lycus Valley. This heresy had spread, and now Paul is writing to contradict their teaching.

They taught that God is unknowable. You can't know God. They denied his deity and his majesty and his glory.

In fact, they believed that spirit was good and matter was evil, and if God was good and he was spirit, then he couldn't have been the Creator because he was good. Everything that they called matter or what consisted was evil. And so this was influencing these believers in Colossi, and we won't take time to point out all of it, but for instance in verse 16, Paul points out that it's God who was the Creator.

Then they taught that Christ was not something that was absolutely unique and distinct, but they taught that he was an emanation. That is, he was in an ascending rank of angelic beings. He was only one of them, and in order to reach God, you had to approach through this ascending order of angelic beings.

He talks about these philosophers and the mystics later on in the epistle. Again, they taught that the Lord Jesus was a phantom, not real, didn't have a body. That's why Paul says in verse 22 that it was in the body of his flesh through death that this man presented them holy and unblameable, and so on.

Again, they said that salvation was for only those who are intellectual. You see, these were intellectual individuals, these false teachers, and Paul says that redemption is for those that hear the gospel, and there's forgiveness of sins available for them. So, having said that, as we go through this epistle, we'll say that the whole teaching of particularly this first chapter is that the Lord Jesus is incomparable.

He's supreme. He's above and beyond everyone and everything else. Christ supreme.

That's the whole theme of the epistle. Now, I don't want to be long. Everybody has their own little outline.

I'll tell you how I would like to look at the chapter, and I'm sure my brother will cooperate this morning. After speaking in the early verses about the power that's in the gospel to reach these individuals, then from verse 9 to 13, I want to look at the prayer of the apostle. He says, I have not ceased to pray for you.

We pray sometimes for people to get saved, and then after they're saved, we forget them. But Paul says he ceased not to continue to pray for them. Then from verse 14 to verse 20, I want to look at the person of the Lord Jesus.

The one that he tells us is the firstborn of all creation. That's a position of honor that our Lord Jesus had in the past. Then further down the chapter, in verse 18, he tells us he's the firstborn from the dead.

That's what he enjoys presently as the head of the church, based on his glorious resurrection that we were reminded of yesterday. He's the head. And I could mention in the epistle to the Romans in chapter 8, he tells us he's the firstborn among many brethren.

That's the position that he will have in a coming day, when he will rule from sea to sea and from the rivers onto the ends of the earth. So we'll look at that about the person of Christ. Then, verses 21 to the end, it has to do with Paul's ministry and the mystery that he refers to.

Now, that's all I'm going to say. I want our brethren to feel free to participate. It's a little bit awkward.

You can get the need of a good chiropractor turning around up here back and forth, but we'll do our best. And we trust our brethren in the audience as well will have some comments to make. Now, in your opening remarks, you said something very interesting, that you believe that in Colossae, the epistle is one of the most, if not the important epistle of all Pauline writing.

Could we get some information as to why this is? It's about a hundred miles east of Ephesus in Asia Minor, very close to Laodicea and Europolis. These cities were all linked together, all involved in a trade route that went through the area where there was much traffic, and so there was lots of opportunity for those who heard the gospel in Ephesus to bring this message to Colossae. Is that what you had in mind, Fred? Yes, when Paul wrote the Ephesians, it's Christ in relation to the church.

Exactly. But in the Colossian letter, it's Christ in relation to creation, and the whole universe. And in this respect, next to Hebrews, it is a very important letter.

I would take the teaching of the Colossian epistle has more to do with the one who is head, head over all things, to the church which is his body, and in the Ephesian epistle, the emphasis is on the body. Marie? Yeah, that's very good. I thought that what you have here in verse 9, that he's really going to develop, is the truth of being filled, and that's verse 9. Verse 10, he says that you might be fruitful.

Verse 11, that you might be fortified, that you might be strengthened. That really is the content of his prayer. My question is, Brother McCullough, is the knowledge of his will in verse number 9, and then of course the knowledge of God at the end of verse number 10.

What would you see is the difference between those two expressions? The knowledge of his will, what what Paul is saying here, that if these believers were filled, now this is outside of themselves, by the knowledge of his will, and he uses a word that has to do with not just knowing, but it's beyond that. It's intelligent understanding of the will of God. Our brother Perkins reminded us of that in his ministry at the Stout Conference.

The will of God is most important in your life and in my life, and what he's saying here is that if I know the will of God, based on this infilling, based on this wisdom which is from God, and this understanding which is our intelligence, it all comes from God, and that the outcome is that we might walk worthy with all power or all strength. Maybe with just a slight change to that, would you agree, Brother Eric? Well, there is tremendous value to the knowledge of his will, but the first is the knowledge of God. Paul says that I might know him.

Peter said, I don't know him. Paul says that I might know him. It's interesting in that storm, he doesn't jump on the deck of that ship and say, you know, I know meteorology, and I know something about handling this vessel, but he doesn't.

He says, I know God, and the result of knowing God is that we are going to know his will. So one, knowing God really is something that's personal. Knowing his will is something that's practical.

Then, not only knowing his will, but it's walking it. That's right. So there's obedience to what is revealed, and that leads to a deeper knowledge of God himself.

His parents was a servant that brought the gospel to these people. He wasn't an apostle. And it seems that some thought, because he wasn't an apostle, there was some deficiency in his teaching.

But he's showing that this understanding and spiritual wisdom and so on, they have kind of a deeper understanding than these Gnostics. The Gnostics thought they knew everything. But he said, no, they don't, because they're not giving the Lord his place.

And that's the whole point, just to give the Lord his place. We can't improve on a divine knowledge. So God's will will go far deeper than the knowledge of that.

Very good. I would say that this is the antidote to the teaching, the false teaching of these Gnostics, knowing God. You remember, Paul, when he writes to the Philippians, he says that I may know him.

Didn't Paul know God? Sure he did. But he wanted to know him better. And as Brother Murray mentioned, each of us need to get to know him better.

We can never have more than enough. There's always more that's available for us. That I may know him.

And that was Paul's desire for these believers. And the result was that their life would be right. Right living.

That's what he's emphasizing. They're walking worthy, pleasing God, bearing fruit, growing spiritually. And as we grow in God's things, we bear fruit.

That's the evidence of growth. So the bottom line would be Christ-likeness, reproducing Christ in the life. And Paul's prayer here lines up with that.

The knowledge and the wisdom and the understanding, spiritual understanding, verse 9, would link with the head. I'm thinking of the burnt offering now, the head. And then that you might walk worthy of the Lord.

I would link with the legs. And then verse 11, strengthened with all might and so on. The inwards, the inward energy.

And then finally, verse 12 would link with the fat, perhaps. I'd like to point out that Paul makes a play on words here in verse 11. And we're moving because that clock has no mercy.

I'd like to get to that central section and spend a bit of time there. He says in verse 11, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power. What he's saying is, we're empowered with power that comes from God.

And it's according to the supply. He calls it the glory of his might. And the result is that there'll be patience and long-suffering.

Now, there is a difference. Maybe our brethren can come in and help us here. Haven't heard anything from you, Brother Jim or Scott? I was thinking, Brother, that it's very interesting.

The word that's used in verse 9 is helping them to combat the error. The word fulfilled means to be persuaded by. And the full knowledge that is here is leading them towards the person of the Lord Jesus.

In that all spiritual wisdom and understanding is in Him. So if you just study Him, he says, you're going to be persuaded by a knowledge that is in fullness. You can't get more knowledge of God than you have in the person of the Lord Jesus.

And that is what is going to regulate your walk and your strength to combat the evil. That's good, Jim. I think what he's saying, as you've emphasized, is right conduct in our life is based on right thinking.

If I'm occupied with Him and growing and understanding more of God, and this is why we encourage young men who will be future leaders in the assemblies, to study the Word of God. Not as Jim told us the other day at Stout to just tear off a sheet on the calendar. That's my reading for the day.

But to apply ourselves. And it takes time. You can't be out kicking a ball around and study the Word of God the same.

Point in case was Mr. A.M.S. Gooding that I highly esteemed. He said when he was a young man, he liked soccer. But he made up his mind he was going to spend six hours a day in the study of the Word of God.

And as he was in his room studying, he'd look out the window and see some of his chums out playing ball, and he'd be tempted to go. And then he would think of the commitment that he made. So this is all based on commitment.

And young brethren, quite a few of us here will be gone within a 10-year period. I would guarantee. And where are those that are filling in the ranks? Not necessarily in full-time work, but to take the weight and bear the burdens in local testimony.

Brother, would you say that, and we will let the ball go down to that end of the court. Just one more little thing here. That he is strengthened by God, he says here in verse 11.

It's interesting when you get to Ephesians 3, he said that he had been strengthened by a spirit. And then when you get to Philippians chapter 4, he says I've been strengthened by Christ. That's good.

So the Trinity's involved. There's only one mention of the spirit in Colossians. There are 12 mentions probably of the spirit in Ephesians.

So the thought is here to get them occupied with the Lord himself. And we have to keep going, as you say. You have the difference here, you're talking about patience.

And you think of Job. My brother was telling us about the patience of Job. He's not going to give up, no matter what the difficulties would be.

And then you have the long-suffering. I thought of Stephen. And here he is, so bravely standing up and not giving back any truth.

And then you have Paul and Silas. Joyfulness in prison. Not giving in.

I looked into this the other day a bit. And my understanding is that patience is something that bears contradiction, ill will, whatever it might be. Whereas long-suffering is more like being patient with individuals using self-restraint, not retaliating.

So there's a little difference in patience and long-suffering. Let's move on to verse 12. Do you have something to say with it? Patience would be linked perhaps with hope.

And that it's patiently waiting for something with that constant expectation. And long-suffering would be linked with mercy. Yeah, that's good.

In spite of provocation. But here, both of them are linked with joy. You can have patience without being persecuted.

Just waiting for something. But long-suffering is opposition. I think, brethren, the emphasis for us, for our help is the more that I get to know God, these features, these virtues that we're thinking of are automatically become a part of our life.

It isn't something that we have to work up ourselves. It's get to know your God, the person of the Lord Jesus, and these virtues will be seen in our experience. In relation to a former statement made seven minutes ago, the problem in Colossae, we must recognize that every false system, not in Colossae but today, every false system has a certain particle of truth in it or else it wouldn't exist.

It wouldn't exist. So, therefore, now here with the fullness of knowledge, if a person is grounded in the truth of God, these false doctrines will have no way to get in. I'm glad you mentioned that, Fred, because this is characteristic in our day, all around us.

We don't necessarily talk about Gnostics, but we've got the SDAs, we've got JWs, Mormons, Satan's witnesses, and all the rest of them. They're against God, just as these people were. And we need to be aware.

Now, we'll move on to verse 12, if you'll allow me, giving thanks unto God the Father who has made us meet. He's saying that I've been qualified by God because of the gospel, and I'm brought into an inheritance, not necessarily in the future, although that's true, but I'm to be a partaker of this inheritance of the saints now, in light. That's where we are.

We're in light. We've been called out of darkness, he tells us, in the next verse, into the kingdom of his dear Son. The emphasis, he made us meet or fit at conversion.

That's right. So we don't need to have any extra thing added to it. It was all true at conversion, and these false teachers were telling they need something else.

Hath, you notice that, hath. And the next verse again, hath, twice over. It's something, the tense of the word, the point tense, it's something that took place in the past, and it's continuing now.

Would you agree, brother, that in verse 12, just simply 12, 13, and 14. 12 is Canaan, okay, the partakers of the inheritance, and verse 13, the deliverance from darkness is a picture of Egypt, and then the redemption through his blood is the Passover, verse 14. Very good.

I think we should move on. Brother Eric, in verse number 13. Right.

Who, who, who is the who? Who hath delivered us, who is that? God, of course. Would you take it to be the Father? Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Okay, the only reason I make that distinction is if you were to contrast chapter 2, Colossians 2, started with verse 13, by the operation of God, there seems to be an emphasis on God, God, God. But when you come into chapter 1 here, he, of course, tells us that we're translating into the kingdom of his dear Son, giving thanks unto the Father, not unto God. Yeah.

There seems to be this whole relationship of what the Father is now doing, and I think it's going to build up to what the Father is doing through the Son, which is the key of the will of God. Well, what he's saying is God has done this because we're brought into the kingdom of the Son of his love. There's Christ.

That's right. And the idea is they've been transported, brought from one place of residence to another. Paul may have had in mind some believers that this had happened to.

Just as in the land of Egypt, the Israelites were taken out. They were transported to Canaan eventually. So it was a change.

The word translated is used by the Lord Jesus when he talks about faith. The grain of a mustard seed would move mountains. That's the same word.

Yeah, transported. So you think of the tremendous power involved in that. Exactly.

Very good. Now, Brethren, Murray, anyone else? Larry, we haven't heard anything from you before we get into this next area. I think it is important, Brother, that as our brother just mentioned to us concerning the Father, one of the things that is going to help us to counteract evil teaching is a knowledge of the Trinity.

And that's what's in this passage. Each member of the Trinity is equally operating in the fullness that we have in our redemption and in our Redeemer. So the Father and the Holy Spirit and the person of the Lord Jesus are working together in fullness.

I think if I can emphasize that particularly for the younger ones, there's nothing lacking in the salvation and the revelation of God that we have in our salvation. Ours is just to get to know it, to get to know the knowledge of God. But we have that fullness.

It is not something you receive incrementally. Isn't that the whole object, the mission, if you will, of the Lord Jesus Himself? Yeah. Is to reveal the Father.

That's what He's saying here. He's brought us out of darkness, delivered us. In verse 14, it's through redemption.

The price was paid. We've been taken out of the slave market of sin, never to go back again. And an interesting thought with redemption as well is that the price paid was for Himself.

That's why He redeemed you and redeemed me. For His own enjoyment. And then never, never to go back again into that sinful living.

So He says we were slaves. We've been transported into a new habitation. And this One who is the Son of God, the Son of His love, He reveals the Father.

That's what God's desire is. So are they showing us then, just to sum up, His dear Son or the Son of His love is a preferred reading. It's showing what God thinks of His Son.

Yes. He's the Son of His love. He's unique.

And He's also the price that was paid in His blood. So even though He was a person, you were talking about how they thought the body was evil, you know. But here, it had to be through His blood.

So He had to be a man, but He's still the Son of His love. This is what I think of Him now. This is what you should give Him that place.

Isn't it most interesting how Paul, again and again, is rebuking these false teachers. That's the point. It's all about Christ.

The one that you say didn't exist, He had a body. He had a body of flesh. He was eternal.

We'll see that. Now, let's come to the image, verse 15, when he starts out by saying, Who is the image of the invisible God? My thinking on this is that He made the invisible visible. Yes.

Is that all right? That's good. Absolutely, yeah. The word in the Greek is icon.

That's right. You know what an icon is on your computer. So He perfectly expresses in a visible way what was essentially and absolutely God.

Is that the idea? God manifests in flesh. It's the exact representation of God. John 1, In the beginning was the Word.

The Word was with God. The Word was God. So this is something that's eternal or something that's linked with incarnation? It was eternal.

He is. That tells me, in fact, that's emphatic, the words there. He's saying not only was He eternal, there is no other.

He is. So then, Brother Eric, in verse 15, once again, it's very important to understand who the Who is. The Who is the Son.

That's right. Because if you go to Christ, you're thinking incarnation. But even before there was an earth, even before there were angelic hosts, the Son is the image of the invisible God.

And it's important to see, even though the context is Father and Son, He doesn't say that He is the image of the Father. He switched an image of God, the invisible God. Because if it was the Father, you wouldn't have the distinct persons of the Godhead.

So it's very important to see the context and how the Spirit changes it. That's good, Scott. Who is, He's not saying He was.

We know He was. Before the beginning began, He was. But He is.

He was eternal and He will be eternal. So it's just a practical question that comes out of that because an awful lot of young people will ask the question, Well, when we get to heaven, will we see the Spirit? Will we see the Father? I mean, what are we going to see? We'll see the Son. We'll see God in Christ.

There's only one man in heaven in a glorified body. God or Spirit, but we'll see God in Christ. Jim, you were going to say something.

No, I was just going to say, that's really the point in the idea of the word image. And you mentioned that He's making the invisible visible. The point is that in the person of our Lord, from all eternity, unto all eternity, He is the one to display God.

Amen. That is the point that's being made as we study His person, we are getting a knowledge of the fullness of God. Now, we've got to move quickly, brethren.

The firstborn, the end of verse 15, the firstborn of all creation. He wasn't the first to be born. But what He's saying is, He was above all others in rank.

Brother Kraus reminded us yesterday, Adam was formed or created, but Eve was formed. But there's two other ways to come into this world. There's by procreation, procreation that you and I have come in by.

And then there's incarnation, that was the Lord Jesus. But here, He's telling us that this one was eternal. The firstborn in rank, above and beyond all others.

In the New Testament, you get a secundus, means a second. You get a tertus, which is a third. You get a quartus, which is the fourth.

But you never get a primus. That's good. That's Christ.

That's good. First in rank. So you would have, Brother Eric, that in verse number, as you've been considering here, what we have is the firstborn of creation, the first creation, verse 15.

But when you get down to verse 18, it's the firstborn of the new creation, the church. But I think it is good, as you've emphasized, that when it comes to image, it is important that we understand that it is real, essential embodiment. That's why likeness is involved in the word image.

But image is never involved in the word likeness. That's why you never read in your Bible of Christ in the likeness of God, but in the image of God. That's good.

There's a lovely verse in Psalm 89 I was noticing. The Lord says, I will make him, my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. And that's what he's saying here.

It's a reference to David. That's right. But it's certainly Christ.

And beyond that, he's showing that he's above the angelic beings that they made so much of. So it's not just that he's greater than men, which is true, but he's greater than all created beings. That's good.

And they were thinking that they were worshiping angels and so on. Brother Eric, just a practical question for the younger folks. Always notice context.

I mean, you take this word image. You go to 1 Corinthians 11. The same word is used in relation to Adam.

Adam was made in the image of God. Context. We come here.

Christ the Son was never made. So you've got to see it in the context and the way the whole thing is flowing. Because some people fall into error where they say, well, the word means this over here.

Well, therefore, it means this over here. But context will shape that word and put a little different spin on it. Now, my question is this to you, brother.

I'm sure there's a lot of young people that have been countered by the JWs and the Mormons. How do we prove from Scripture that Christ is not the first one created? As they tell us, this is what this says. How do we prove that? We don't explain simple verses from the difficult.

No, that's right. But I know what you're going to say. I'm sorry.

I should have interrupted. You're going to tell us that in John chapter 1. That's right. He created all things.

He didn't create Himself. That's right. So it couldn't mean... That's a simple statement that couldn't mean, of course, as we all know, that He was the firstborn in that sense of created being.

Well, John chapter 1. I'm glad you brought this up. John talks about the Savior. In the beginning was the Word.

Eternal personality. That's right. Then he says the Word was with God.

Distinct personality. And then he speaks about the Word was with God. Equal existence.

So he can prove the eternal sonship from the Old Testament. From Hebrews. I think the fact, too, of eternal Father requires eternal Son.

Amen. And vice versa. Eternal Son requires eternal Father.

Let me just point out something, brother, in regard to firstborn and firstbegotten. When we think of a child being born and begotten, we think of it more or less the same. But the point being made is very different.

The word first, as you brought before us, we need to remember is it's a singular position of rank. None can ever be compared to Him. He is first.

So He's incomparable in His position in singular glory. But the idea of being born is one who's brought forth. So it has to do with the linking with the image that He is the manifestation.

He's singular because of who He is, and He is only one who could be brought forth to show the image of God. And when we come to the word begotten, firstbegotten, the idea is He's set forth by God. God's setting Him forth.

See? Here's the firstbegotten. His likeness to the Father in the sense of father and son. Firstbegotten.

So it's rank in singular glory. Let's look at verse 16 down through 20. The prepositions I tried to emphasize in the reading, by or in Him were all things created.

Verse 16. In Him. That is, He was the originator.

The energy that caused creation was in Him. All things that are not only in heaven, but on earth, and visible and invisible. That is, angelic beings that we know nothing about.

They were created through Him. The end of verse 16 says. And unto Him.

In other words, not some other power that these Gnostics were saying. It was Christ that did this. Created all things.

And then it goes from that, talking about His link with God. Then He talks about His link with the church. He's before all things.

By Him or in Him. All things consist. Now we know that.

For instance, think of the solar system. How do our scientists know when they send a rocket out into the universe? Just when it will circulate around Mars. How do they know that? Because everything is orderly in the creation.

Never changes. By Him, all things are held together. The very cells in our bodies.

The DNA, they tell me, if it was stretched out. The DNA from one cell would reach eight miles, if possible. That's our God.

Tremendous. So then it's important to see that, as you had rightly said in the context of the letter. Where you had these people beginning to teach that God is good.

Matter is evil. And in order for God to produce matter. All these different created spirits that were coming out from God.

And as they were coming out from God, being created. They're getting less and less and less and less divine. And finally you're at the end.

This one created. But what does He do here? All the focus is on the sun. And then He uses these different prepositions in verse 16.

For by Him. Then you come down to the end of the verse. Created by Him.

For Him. Verse 17. By Him.

What does He do? Number one. He's the architect of creation. He's the agent of creation.

He's the aim of creation. He's the administrator of creation. So isn't it amazing how in one foul swoop.

He just does away with all of this integrated. He goes right to the source. God.

The sun. There's creation. All from Him.

So it's true, isn't it? That in all things. He does have preeminence. There's none like Him.

That's the firstborn. Firstborn of creation. He has a relationship with God as the image.

It's not the firstborn. It's not that He was born. He's the son of God.

But firstborn is his link with creation. That's right. And then head is his link to the church.

So it's all summed up that in everything. He must have the preeminence. So there is a parallel, isn't there? Between what has gone before in creation.

And the new creation. I think Murray has hinted at this already. So you have the image of the invisible God.

His relationship to God. You have Him as the head of the body of the church. His relationship to the church.

And then there's that thought. The firstborn of all creation links with the firstborn. Out from the dead.

And so on. Trace that parallel through. Brother McCullough, I have a question.

When it comes to subjection in verse 16. The order is heaven and earth. But when it comes to reconciliation in verse 20.

It is reversed to that. And it is earth and things in the heaven. Well, it was earth that needed reconciliation.

God didn't need to be reconciled to us. We needed to be reconciled to Him. That's a good point.

You have some other thought on that? Well, as we know that when it comes to things in heaven. And things under the earth. It means when it comes to heaven first.

Subjection had to be a force in heaven. Before it could become a fact on earth. But when it comes to reconciliation.

Nothing under the earth is going to be reconciled. But it will be subject. So nothing under the earth.

The infernal will not be reconciled. But Philippians chapter 2 tells us. That every knee shall bow.

Things in heaven. Things under the earth. They will be subjection.

They will submit. Good. Let's look at that now.

Excuse me Bill, I want to move quick here. If you don't mind. Verse 21.

When he talks about reconciliation. Verse 20. Reconciled all things unto Himself.

Yet you, he says, now hath He reconciled. And in other words, what he's saying is. The reconciliation produces holy living.

In the life of the believer. He says they're holy. That you might be holy.

That you might be unblameable. That is nothing that people can point a finger at. And then unreprovable.

There's no accusation can be brought against the believer that's living. In the good of this. He says this is all accomplished by.

The body of His flesh. Through death. Not a phantom.

It was the death of Christ that made this possible. Now brethren. Let's go down.

Just for about eight minutes. To the last section. He talks about being made a minister.

What's he mean by rejoicing. I'm going to ask the question. And then.

I know our brethren will help us. About the sufferings. Filling up.

The sufferings. Of Christ. What's he mean? Well.

Only Christ atoned. Now Christ is in heaven. They can't get at Him.

He's beyond all reproach and oppression. But in Paul's case. He suffered.

For the cost of Christ. He's in prison now. I think that's where I look at it.

I'll tell you how I look at it. It is a very confusing verse. I've read numbers of commentaries about it.

And they don't help you very much. Sometimes the more you read. The more you find out you don't know.

And they don't know. He says. I rejoice.

Now. Paul was saying that. What I've passed through in my experience.

Does not add to. The sacrificial work of Christ upon the cross. This word suffering.

Is never. Never used. Regarding the atoning work of Christ.

The word afflictions. The word affliction. It's.

Sufferings for you. He's filling up. What he's saying is.

It's my turn. Others have passed this way before. And now.

Through circumstances in life. Through opposition. That's what the Lord had.

Lots of persecution. Lots of opposition. He's saying it's the suffering.

For righteousness sake. Has nothing to do with putting away sin. And Paul says.

It's my turn. Just to add. To these sufferings.

That the Lord knew. Not sufferings upon the cross. The persecutions of his life.

Now you brethren agree with that? Well brother Eric. Wouldn't you say that. God has given Paul a quota.

To suffer. And it's after Christ. And he doesn't mind doing it because.

He wants to be like his. His master Christ. Yeah.

These people were part of the. Part of the church. And he emphasizes.

The work of Christ on the cross. And redemption. For and it's.

Why that's larger than the church. But that's the point here. It's for the church.

Now Paul. What is he doing? He's the one that was given the mystery. Concerning Christ in the church.

So he's suffering for the church. Not so. Not regarding redemption.

No. Not regarding redemption. So it's for the formation of the church.

That Christ died for. He's suffering now. To.

Bring in. So. Paul is not looking upon afflictions.

Then as an intrusion. In his service. But rather it's an integral part of a service.

Well would we have the epistles to Ephesians and Colossians. Had it not been for Paul's incarceration. That's good.

Yeah. Now then. Just for the last few minutes.

He talks about the mystery. He was made a minister. We've touched that.

And he's suffering. Just as Christ did. He suffered and so Paul says it's my turn.

Others will follow. Now it's me. Imagine.

One who. Said he was. The less than the least of all saints.

He says I'm rejoicing. And what I'm going through for Christ. He's in prison remember.

But then when he comes to verse 26. He talks about this. Mystery.

Now that's something. That had been hidden from. Ages from generations before.

And. These. Gnostics.

They use the same word in their teachings. But Paul says it's not what they teach. This is.

The bringing together of Jew and Gentile. He develops that in the epistles of the Ephesians. No longer Jew or Gentile but.

Church of God. They're one. The middle wall.

Is broken down. So he's dealing with that mystery now. Fred.

You're going to say something here. No go ahead. We get the word mystery three times.

If we dip into chapter two. We have it in verse 26. The mystery hid.

Verse 27. The mystery among the Gentiles. Yeah.

And in. Chapter two. Verse.

Two. The mystery of God. Would you say that.

Difference. Or emphasis. Maybe in each one.

First of all. In verse 26. It's the mystery of Christ.

Hidden in history. Yeah. And then.

Verse 27. It is Christ. In the heart.

And the hope. And then. In.

Chapter two. Verse two. It's the mystery of Christ.

Himself. That's a very. That's good.

William. That's a very interesting expression at the end of. Verse 27.

When he talks about the riches. Of the glory. That's a favorite expression of Paul's.

Remember. In the Ephesians. He talks about.

The riches of his glory. And again. In the Philippians.

The riches of his inheritance. Now he talks about. Not so much.

The riches. But how rich is the glory. This is the glory he's looking forward to.

He mentions. Back in 23. That we.

Skipped over. He talks about the hope of the gospel. Which we have heard.

I take that to be the rapture. He's looking forward to that day. When because of.

The work of Christ. And the putting away of sin. Being redeemed.

Taken out of darkness. He looks forward to this hope. And now he says.

Christ is. Not only for you. But he's.

In you. That's more than I can understand. Christ in you.

The hope of glory. Which we preach. Teaching every man.

And all wisdom. The idea here is that. Christ.

Works in us. He gives us the power. The energy.

When he writes to the Ephesians. As God that gives the power. I think Mary mentioned that.

In the Philippians that Christ. That gives the power. And here he says.

This power is. Working. In us.

And Paul says. I'm striving. Just like an athlete.

That's another one of Paul's words. To agonize. He mentions that again in chapter.

Two in verse one. He talks about. The conflict.

Or the great. Agony. That I have.

For you believers. In Colossae. So Paul's desire was.

That this power. That was available. That worked.

In him. He says it's working in me. Mightily.

In other words. I want this same power. To be in you.

Now brethren. The time is gone. I appreciate your help.

And. There's no end to the teaching of this epistle. Maybe it will put a little impetus.

In. Somebody's life. To examine it.

A little closer. Thanks for your help. Just one more thing please.

Go ahead. He says. In verse.

Twenty. Eight. Whom we preach.

Warning. Every man. Because they taught.

That only a select few. Would enter these mysteries. Paul says.

That's nonsense. Yeah. Would you say Fred.

That. That's not true. Here's the evangelist preaching.

Yeah. And there's the counselor. Warning.

And then there's the teacher. Teaching every man. That's the order.

Absolutely. So the Lord. Help us.

To seek to. Emulate some of this in our lives. Thank you brethren.