Category: Colossians
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In the Beginning
In the beginning, God created… This word beginning (Heb. reshiyth) is interesting. It can mean first in time and also in position or prominence, as in head or chief. It is also frequently rendered as firstfruits. The article, the in English, isn’t present in the Hebrew. It just reads b’reshiyth, In beginning… This is common […]
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Father to Son
It is significant that the book of Proverbs is addressed from father to son. Teaching should take place within an existing relationship of trust and love, and that relationship must be cultivated if teaching is going to be effective. An estranged son will not be receptive to the wisdom his father offers. But this is […]
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Triumph of the King
Paul contends that through the cross, Christ disarmed and overcame all rulers and authorities, the principalities and powers of the world. This isn’t limited to demonic or evil human forces. He triumphed over the state, the family, the tribe and clan and nation so that he can say “all authority in heaven and on earth […]
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Shadow of Things to Come
Deuteronomy 16 covers the three yearly feast times which were required attendance for all Jewish males of fighting age. The Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread was specifically a memorial of the deliverance from Egypt. The day after the Sabbath after Passover was the Feast of Firstfruits, from which the 50 days were counted to […]
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Death of the Old Man
Romans 6 is a major amplification on the theme of putting off the old man and putting on the new. The flesh of the old creation is put to death in baptism, buried in Christ’s death, and raised to life in the new creation in Christ. If we have died to sin, we can no […]
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In all things preeminent
In Colossians 1, Paul overflows in his description of the power and position of Christ. He is the image of the invisible God He is the firstborn of all creation By Him all things were created He is before all things In Him, all things hold together He is the head of the body He […]
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Firstborn
Jesus is the greater Jacob who receives the inheritance and blessing of the firstborn son when the “elder” brother Adam rejects it, exchanging it for a handful of food.
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Body of flesh
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death Colossians 1:21-22 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Christ took on the flesh […]
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Creation and redemption
Ben Merkle points out that in Psalm 33, “David looks at God’s power in creation and concludes that ‘all his work is done in truth’ and that ‘the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.’ The triune God is our maker, creating and upholding all things by the power of his Word and […]
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Servant-kings
Moses didn’t just stand up on the mountain to give the law. He sat with the people and took on the burden of hearing and judging their individual cases. When God was angry with the sin of the people, Moses prayed that God would blot him out of His book rather than destroy the people. The blessing […]