Sermon for Pilgrim Church 13/6/21
ESV Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. (Col. 1:1 ESV)
NIV Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. (Col. 1:1 NIV)
This is the first in a series of sermons working through the book of Colossians. Damon and I have a plan that takes us through to the end of 2021. We will be taking turns and working through a few verses each week. There is a lot of theology in this book and we believe it is a good idea to go through this slowly rather than in big chunks.
Today I am starting with the greeting in the first two verses. I am going to try to answer three questions that arise from these two verses. Why pay attention to this letter, written to a church 2000 years ago? What does the greeting say about Christians? What is the significance of the greeting?
Why listen to this letter written 2000 years ago? Colossians was written sometime in the late 50s or early 60s AD. This is nearly 2000 years ago. It was addressed to a church in what is now Turkey. The question, then, is why is this book relevant to us now in Perth in 2021? This question applies not just to Colossians but the entire New Testament (and the Old Testament also). I am just going to answer it in terms of the NT epistles/letters written by Paul. There are a number of reasons why these letters are still relevant to us today.
The first is to do with Paul’s statement about himself in verse 1. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”. Paul does not bother to defend his calling as an apostle in this letter, although he does elsewhere. An apostle of Christ has divine authority because apostles were called by God. In this passage Paul uses “by the will of God”. It is not something a person can choose to become as such, in contrast to becoming a pastor, for example. In Paul’s case, he was called by the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. The call of God on the apostle Paul’s life was what gave him particular authority to make definitive theological statements to the churches in his letters.
What makes a person an apostle rather than just a person who has been called to know Christ? Jesus chose twelve apostles. The account of this is found in Matt 10:1-4 and Luke 6:12-16. Judas was one of these. He betrayed Jesus and then killed himself (Matt 27:3-5; Acts 1:18) so he was replaced early in the book of Acts. There are some criteria for who can be an apostle. This is what Peter said about the replacement for Judas: “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection” (Acts 1:21-22 ESV).
Therefore, being a witness of the resurrection of Jesus is the first and most important criterion for an apostle. There are a limited number of people who have seen the risen Jesus. When Paul discusses the resurrection in 1 Cor 15 he lists the people who saw the resurrected Lord. “and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:5-9 ESV). Notice that he mentions the twelve – the first apostles – and later “all the apostles”, who are not the twelve. Paul includes himself in this list as the “last of all”. If we take this on face value, then Paul was the last person to see the resurrected Jesus.
We know that he saw Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-7). Elsewhere he claims to be an apostle and mentions the fact that he had seen Jesus our Lord (1 Cor. 9:1). Aside from being a witness to the resurrection, Paul also lists what he calls signs of an apostle. “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works” (2 Cor. 12:12 ESV). Paul did extraordinary miracles (Acts 19:11).
Paul claimed that he was given revelation of the gospel through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:1-9 ESV). When his apostleship was questioned, he defended it in several ways:
1) He preached that righteousness could be found in Christ alone (2 Cor 5:19-21; cf. 3:9)
2) The churches he had planted were his living “letter from Christ” (2 Cor 3:2-3; 10:7)
3) He boasted, not of his visions etc., but of his weakness and suffering (2 Cor 4:7-8; 6:3-10; 11:23-12:10).
Because being an apostle is unique and unrepeatable since the first century, the things written by the apostles back then still have authority over us as Christians now. There will not be another Bible because there will not be any more apostles. The chief apostle, Peter, testifies to the significance of Paul’s letters. “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (2 Pet. 3:15-16 ESV). That is, Paul’s letters are part of the Scriptures.
There are a couple of other reasons why we should read and pay attention to this letter. First of all, it was written to people “in Christ”. Although it was written to a particular church at a particular time, “in Christ” in the sentence is more significant and central than “in Colossae”. Since as believers in Jesus we are “in Christ” as much as the church in Colossae was, the things written in this letter are just as significant and important and applicable to us here and now as they were then. Being “in Christ” supersedes any limitations of space or time.
Lastly, the same problems and issues that were present in the church at Colossae are also present in the church today. The warnings and encouragements and teaching about the Lord Jesus are just as important to us as they were back then. Humans have not changed over the last 2000 years; God never changes; and we are not somehow immune to the kinds of problems that people of the past had. We need to pay attention to what happened back then and what Paul said because it is still of consequence. God has given us these letters to instruct us and has included across the whole NT the things we need to know.
There are good reasons for reading and paying attention to Colossians. Now we can consider the second question: What does the greeting say about Christians? There are four statements about the believers in verse 2; they are saints or holy ones, faithful brothers (two things), and in Christ.
First of all, Christians are holy people, holy ones or “saints”. There are two aspects to holiness: being and doing. In this greeting it is being. Let me explain. First and most importantly, God is holy by nature. Holiness is at the core of his being. Isaiah saw into heaven and saw the seraphim before the throne of God. “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’” (Isa. 6:3 ESV). The same picture is found in Revelation. “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (Rev. 4:8 ESV).
Humans are not holy by nature but become holy in relationship with God. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was called holy by God because they were separated or set apart from the other nations for the LORD God because God made a covenant with them (Exod 19:5-6). Something similar can be said about the church in the NT. The church is called holy (1 Cor 3:17). God has made a new covenant with us through the sacrifice of Christ (Luke 22:20). He calls us to be his holy people (Rom 1:7; 1 Pet 1:15-16). When Paul calls the Christians in Colossae holy ones or saints, he is describing what they actually are. The did nothing to achieve this status. It is simply a consequence of responding to the gospel. It is true that there is an expectation that Christians will live holy lives in the sense of obeying moral commands. We must not forget that. However, it is not obedience to commands that comes first. First, we are set apart by God and then we live moral lives. Being precedes doing.
The second description of the church in Col 1:2 is that they are called “faithful brothers”. Let’s consider each word separately. Although Paul frequently calls Christians holy, he does not usually use the word “faithful”. Calling the Christians at Colossae faithful reminds them of the fact that they had been faithful under pressure up to that point. It also served to exhort them to continue to be faithful to the gospel.
They are not merely faithful but faithful brothers. Jews understood themselves to be brothers because they shared the same ancestor, Abraham (Acts 2:29, 37; 3:17; 7:2, 26; 13:15; Rom. 9:3). It was radical for a Jew to call a Gentile “brother” and that is what Paul does here. Effectively, the gospel transforms relationships between people so that those who have faith in Christ become family. We are brothers because we have a common Father in heaven.
Lastly, Paul uses the designation “in Christ”. What does it mean to be “in Christ”? There are several dimensions to this. Much of this will be expanded upon as we work through the letter. The first is that as Christians we are incorporated into Christ. He is our life, our identity. His death is our death, his resurrection is our resurrection, his life is our life. Being in Christ is more important than any other marker of identity. The fact that we are in Christ determines our relationship with God and how God sees us.
Secondly, to be in Christ means to be his exclusively. If we are in Christ, we cannot simultaneously be joined to another god.
Thirdly, being in Christ determines our behaviour. If we are in him we will want to please him in what we do.
Fourthly, when we are in Christ, nothing can separate us from him. This is the upshot of Rom 8:38-39.
Fifthly, if we are joined to Christ, we have become part of a new family which is greater than blood ties. “Being in Christ gives Christians their true identity beyond their race, nationality, or clan.”
Now can come to my final question: What is the significance of the greeting?
Generally, letters in the ancient world began with chairein, meaning “greetings”, but Paul changed this to charis, meaning “grace”, and added peace. Grace is a key theological theme for Paul. It is characteristic of God’s new covenant people and depends on God’s unmerited work on their behalf.
There is no way in which we can function as Christian people without God’s grace towards us. We might translate grace as favour, or more specifically God’s unmerited favour towards us. This is the very foundation of our salvation. Rom 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” All spiritual blessings come to us by grace (Eph 1:6). God’s grace is immeasurable (Eph 2:7). Whatever we may do in service to God is enabled by grace (Rom 1:5; Eph 2:7). Grace is the measure of how we are to relate to one another (Eph 4:29; Col 4:6). By God’s grace we glorify Jesus and are glorified by him (2 Thess 1:12). God’s grace gives us hope (2 Thess 2:16). And grace enables us to come before God’s throne whenever we have need (Heb 4:16). Grace is integral to every part of our Christian life.
What about peace? In what would peace consist? Firstly, and most importantly we have peace with God (Rom 5:1). Formerly, before we were saints, we were God’s enemies (Col 1:21) but he has brought us into his family and made peace with us. Secondly, we can have peace with fellow believers (Eph 2:16) regardless of race, gender, or denomination. We can also have peaceful lives which are ordered because God is a God of peace not disorder (1 Cor 14:33). But we cannot expect real peace with unbelievers because Jesus said that the gospel divides believers and unbelievers (Matt 10:34-37). We need to pray for governments and authorities so that peace will be present in our nation (1 Tim 2:1-2). So peace is important in many, indeed, all areas of life: with God, with people, in our daily activities, and in our nation.
The last part of the greeting is “from God our Father”. We cannot get grace and peace from anywhere else. He alone is the source of these things that we so desperately need and desire. Therefore, it is important to seek for grace and peace in the right place, instead of trying to find them in worldly things, in pleasure and security and wealth. Those are temporary, while relationship with God is eternal.