Colossians 1:15-20 

The following is a Bible study originally posted on our Bible Study Group.

Good morning, everyone! I'm looking forward to studying the next passage of
Colossians. Let me put it here so you can read through it:

Colossians 1:15-20 (NKJV)
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on
earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

This is a "meaty" passage. I struggled with what questions to ask and what
points to make. I'm going to throw out some questions, and everyone should
feel free to add their own observations, okay?

First of all, there are some tough phrases in this passage. Out of these
verses come many parts of what we believe. I feel it's very important for
us to understand "doctrine", or "what we believe." Not only do we need to
be ready to give an answer to anyone who questions us, but for our own
sakes, we need to be firm in our doctrine. Otherwise, Satan would love to
send someone along who can gently sway you away from Christ -- and many
times this can happen without our realizing it!

For that reason, I marked some "hard to understand" phrases from these
verses. Why don't you choose one, and then start studying what it means?
By "study" I mean that you could go to http://bible.gospelcom.net/ and use
some study tools to (1) find other passages of Scripture that use these
words, (2) find out what these words mean in the original Greek language,
(3) find out what the historical background is, etc. Even looking up the
definitions of these words in a dictionary would be great! Then share your
findings with us!

Let's do some study on the following phrases:

* "He is the image of the invisible God" (v. 15)
* "the firstborn over all creation" (v. 15)
* "thrones or dominions or principalities or powers" (v. 16)
* "He is before all things, and in Him all things consist" (v. 17)
* "the firstborn from the dead" (v. 18)
* "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell" (v.
19)
* "by Him to reconcile all things to Himself" (v. 20)

You know, when I was in elementary school and studying grammar, I learned
that a preposition is anything an angel can do to a cloud. For instance, an
angel can go "over" a cloud, "under" a cloud, "above" a cloud, etc. That's
a silly way to remember it, but when reading through this passage, it came
back to my mind. I quickly counted (and circled) 21 prepositions!!! Wow!
Just circling them made me see these verses in a new way. You might want to
try it!

Well, before I go, I want to point out two special things from these verses.
First, our key verse for the week is Colossians 1:18. "And He is the head
of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He may have the preeminence." I think Paul went to great
lengths here to show us the "preeminence" of Christ. The question I have to
ask myself is, "Does He have as much preeminence in MY life as He does in
creation?" Is He OVER me, THROUGH me, FOR me, BEFORE me, and in all ways,
number one in my life? This is a key verse to understanding the rest of the
book of Colossians!

Secondly, verse 19 says that what Christ did "pleased the Father." I think
this is also a key verse to understanding Colossians. You see, Christ is
our example. What WE do should please the Father also. Every motive,
action, and thought should please the Father. If we look at our entire life
through this lens, then when Colossians later tells us to submit to our
husbands, we won't find it so difficult. The same goes for all of the very
practical things we'll be studying later.

You see, doctrine IS very practical! With correct doctrine, every
"practical" area of our lives will fall into place. I know that's what I
want for MY life -- don't you?


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