Sunday, July 21, 2019

Theology Lesson From Prison

In this Sunday's reading from Colossians 1:15-28 St. Paul, writing from his imprisonment in Rome around 62 AD, lays out an encouraging, concise theology lesson to the church at Colossae which was in trouble due to false teachers. 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 
And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. 
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
"Warning and teaching", if you are not getting that from your church, you are getting a watered down Christianity. If that is the case, I would advise you to hit the Book, the Bible, and find out what you have been missing. 

2 comments:

  1. The first paragraph is a Christology. It reminds me of the prologue to John's Gospel.

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    1. Later theologians would write volumes about that which St. Paul put into one paragraph.

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