We need to get a general overview of the false teaching in Colossae in order to understand Paul’s message. Note these verses: “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not being moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I Paul became a minister." (Colossians 1:23)

"Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ;" (8)

"Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath," (16)

"Let no one defraud you by judging you unworthy of your prize, in self-chosen lowliness and the worship of the angels, dwelling on the things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by his mind set on the flesh, And not holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God." (18-19)

(Colossians 2:8-19)

The Riches of Christ in Colossians (His resume’)

He is:

Chapter 1

Our inheritance, allotment

Our light

The king, He has a kingdom.

Redeemer

Forgiver

God, His very image

Firstborn of creation

Creator of all things (16-17)

Source of all things

Object of all things

He Existed eternally

Center of all things

Head of the Body /church (18)

Firstborn of the dead

Has First place in all things (18, see 2:19)

The Full expression of God. (19)

Reconciler

Peacemaker

Redeemer

Incarnated one

Death conqueror

Sanctifier

Hope of the gospel

The mystery revealer

The container of all Gods riches

The Life in me (27)

Our hope of glory

Our source of maturity

The operation of divine power in me

Chapter2

The mystery of God

The treasure house of all knowledge and wisdom

Solid basis of our faith

He is who we receive and walk in

Fullness of God

Our fullness (9-10)

Head of all other heads

Circumciser of my heart

Resurrection

Life giver

Forgiver of all offenses

Divine eraser of my failures

Divine blocker of all that condemns me

Divine killer of all that would kill me

The Victor over all my enemies

The reality of all things that speak of Him

The practical Head of the body (19, see 1:18)

The life that flows through the body and holds it together

Chapter 3

Worthy one on the throne

My relationship with the father

My hiding place in God (3)

He Is OUR LIFE (4)

Appearing or coming one

New man (10

Unifying man

He is all (11)

He is in all

He is All my relationships

He is the oneness the peace, the love the bond of perfection and the ruler of all our hearts in the church (15)

He is the indwelling word in our spirit

The Name above all we speak or do. (17)

He is the cause of our thankfulness

He is the submission to my husband, the love to my wife, the obedience to my parents and my integrity towards my master

He is a goal of why I do everything

My reward and my rewarder

Chapter 4

He is the reason for the bond with all the brothers and all the sisters

The Grace that is with us. "And I fell before his feet to worship him. And he said to me, Do not do this. I am your fellow slave and a fellow slave of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy." (Revelation 19:10)

Colossians gives us a Grand Canyon view of the objective truth about the person and work of Christ. This is truth we must believe, but Paul’s thematic verse in Colossians 3 urges the church to live beyond objective truth! "When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory." (Colossians 3:3-4) Paul’s declaration is that the Christ majesticly presented in this book, is to become our life! Our living! Paul says in verses 1-3 that we died with Him, and since we died with Him then we should surely live with Him. Our mind can now be constantly set upon His life because He is our Life! Then one day His life will be manifested in full glory before the universe. Do you see the progression? He died, so we died with Him. He lives, so we too can live His life. Then His life will be manifested in glory, so we will appear in glory with Him manifesting His glory! Saints, we are not just hoping to be there, declaring “Whew, I made it!” no! But our hope is to be with Him revealing His full dimensions as described in Ephesians 3 where we first see the objective truth which is "That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith,” and then we see the subjective expression is “that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are and to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ,” and lastly we see that this will be the glorious eternal expression, “that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17). His life, available in His church today as our subjective enjoyment is what will be manifested with Him in glory. He became our life on earth, and in glory His rich life that we enjoyed will be on eternal public display. We are His masterpiece, not only because we believed in objective truth, but because His Life flooded our daily living. This is what will appear with Him in glory, all else will fall away. Paul’s burden is for us to set our mind on such a living today (Colossians 3:1-2).

"When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory." (Colossians 3:4) There are really only two choices for you to make every single day as a believer. You will either enjoy Christ as your life which is God’s intention or you will live out of yourself. Handling everything, planning everything, responding according to your own thought and feeling, Seeking amusement and satisfaction through what this world has to offer, and filling up the moments of your life with something other than Christ. It is not even a matter of something that is right or wrong, but it is being led along by something other than just a Christ, This is the natural life. Then, there is the Christ life. This life is so rich and unfathomable. Yet God has made it possible that we can enjoy his life through Christ. Colossians tells us all about the riches of Christ. About his person and his work and how that this life is to be the norm for believers. Do not settle for the natural life, but seek that which is above where Christ is seated on the right hand of the father. Set your mind on the reality of who you are in Christ. Read this book of Colossians over and over. Mark every word that describes who Christ is and highlight every verse that describes your relationship with this Person. Enjoy this book together with me and see Paul’s clear presentation of Christ and the church. This is truly our simple need in these last days.

"But you, go your way until the end, and you will rest and rise again in your lot at the end of the days." (Daniel 12:13) who is telling Daniel to go his way? The man in Linen, above the river of Waters, Christ! To “go thy way” literally could mean, Daniel it is your time to leave this earth, die, but there is a great spiritual supply here. Just go back and read Daniel 1 through 12. It begins with him being uprooted from his home and taken away from his family as a young man, thrown into captivity, standing often before and against kings who could end his life, fiery furnaces, lions dens, and it ends with him as an old man engaging with angels of God, witnessing the darkness that opposes God, seeing Israels fateful future and even seeing Christ Himself. But Daniel once again begs to see more (12:8) he wants to understand what will happen and what the end of these things be! And the Lord says Daniel “go thy way, rest” Daniel had actually spent his entire life learning to rest in God‘s purpose and plan. This word rest means to settle down, relax, no matter the environment that’s turning you upside down. Can you relate? He goes on to say Daniel rest and rise. Not only am I your rest Daniel, I am your resurrection and I am your life. I saints, Christ is certainly our rest and our Resurrection /Life in these last days. I trust you are living in this reality.

Water, especially a river of water, is of a great significance in the Bible. The river of water indicates the supply God desires for us: his purpose, his building, and his eternal plans for us…this River of water in general supplies His life to mankind. Actually, the whole book of Daniel is not simply a book of history, but it is an unveiling of how God is carrying out and will pour out his economy over the people of Israel. God is going to do it, it is unalterable, so God tells Daniel twice in chapter 12 to seal it up and rest in what God has revealed. Standing at the source of this river of water Daniel sees the man in Linen… this is the same Christ that he saw in Daniel chapter 10, when he was standing beside the river. Saints, Christ is our high priest thus the linen garment. He is able to mediate between God and man. He is also able to supply mankind with God’s river.God is the Source and Jesus is the Course. This means He is the way that we receive Gods life and understand what God is doing. The whole book of Daniel is a big river flowing from the heavens revealing what God wants to do on earth towards mankind specifically Israel. Babylonian captivity, Nebuchadnezzar, the fiery furnace, Medo/Persian empire , the lions den, king Cyrus, the Greek empire, the Roman empire, the last seven years on earth with the antichrist…all of it is the flow of God’s River!Hallelujah today this river is not outside of us, but according to revelation in John, chapter 4, John chapter 7, and the book of revelation we see that this river is flowing from the throne of God, through the Lamb of God, and into our inner most being, and can be our daily supply of life. Do you know this man above the river? Are you living by His supply? I trust you are!

"And those who have insight will shine like the shining of the heavenly expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever." (Daniel 12:3) "Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand." (Daniel 12:10) "If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth." (Colossians 3:1-2) Daniel was certainly one who set his mind on the things above rather than things of the Earth . I think for most of us to set our mind on things above as opposed to things below brings us into the realm of asceticism. The realm of good versus evil. Focus on spiritual practices rather than the cares of this life. No! Paul was instructing the saints in chapter 2 of Colossians against asceticism. Get your eyes off of yourself and what you can do or are failing to do. Get your eyes rather on the throne! Where Christ is! Just look-He has made us alive with Him, we share His life!This connects us directly, boldly to the throne of God where our Divine Connector is seated at his right hand. Praise the Lord Daniel had visions that God gave him in the old testament economy to guide the saints in that day. Praise the Lord we have this simple vision of Christ, who has brought us into himself and we can daily enjoy whatever is coming from the throne . Purpose and building comes from theThrone, God’s intentions from eternity past come from the throne, immeasurable love for us comes from the throne, and life is constantly being poured out through Christ to us from the throne. Hallelujah! So what do we do? We set our minds there. What are you looking at today? Tomorrow? What’s troubling you ? What in this world has drawn you away from Him? Just pivot. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Stop the religious, earthly , down below view. Look instead to the things that are true about you. Those are the things above. Nothing, and I repeat nothing can keep you from life that flows from the throne. There He is on the throne… just like that. Now stay there, live there constantly supplied by him for every moment of your living. This is , beloved, genuine insight.

"And those who have insight will shine like the shining of the heavenly expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end; many will go here and there, and knowledge will be increased." (Daniel 12:3-4) “ Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 13:43). Daniel was certainly a shining one! This was because he desired insight from The Lord: he longed to know His plans. We also are to be the shining ones. John 1:4 says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." To let our light so shine before men is to let the inner life of Christ as our light come out of us. It is not to hold a little candle out for men to see. It is to let the shining from our inner enjoyment of Christ beam out of us ! The church should simply express Christ, having God's glory shining through it (2 Cor. 4:6-7). When people touch the church, they should be able to touch Christ in all the members.

God is not in the realm of “tit for tat.” The enemy does this and God responds and does this, no! God has an eternal purpose that he is carrying out upon the Earth in every age, and he knows the beginning from the end. Chapter 12 of Daniel primarily deals with the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. We see in verse 1 that MICHAEL has already been assigned almost 2500 years in advance to come to the aid of Israel. You can read about this in Revelation chapter 12. This is amazing! God is doing what he’s going to do and mapped it out from eternity past. Satan is constantly reacting to everything that God is doing to seek to thwart to stop and diminish what God is doing. He uses the sword or war, famine or economic hardship, and he uses pestilence or death. His aim is to kill and destroy and stop gods eternal plan from being fulfilled. Satan, that’s impossible! For example, God has already prepared MICHAEL to defeat you at the midway point of the tribulation. This is absolutely thrilling to see. In the whole book of Daniel, we see in the first six chapters deal with the earthly plane where evil is opposing good. That’s the Earthly view, but in the last six chapters, the heavens are revealed. God’s angels are fighting against the princes of Satan. Satan is responding to what God is doing on the Earth, and God is always there and it’s always reigning. In Revelation chapter 4 and 5, we see the throne of God with the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders surrounding the throne sitting on smaller thrones with crowns. These are the elders or leading angels that are carrying out, gods eternal purpose. They are administrators to that end. Gabriel is there and Michael is there. Lucifer used to sit on one of these thrones. In chapter 4 and 5, in anticipation of the coming messiah Prince, Jesus, they cast their crowns before the Throne of God. Do you know why? The administration is now handed over to the son of God, who became the son of man and Conquered it all. Now, God can still use a Angels and Will use them in whatever capacity he sees fit, but do you not realize that the one who is greater than angels has come to live in your spirit? His name is Jesus Christ. You don’t need a guardian angel, and I’m not seeking to deny that or debate that, but you have Christ in you!. And now the administrator Christ is administrating victory over the enemy through the church, through the Saints, over Satan. Oh how the church needs this revelation. God is looking for you to wear the crown for you to administrate with Christ over the church, and eventually ride with him in white on those horses in the battle of Armageddon, leading the way, not the angels, wearing those crowns and wedding garments into victory over the host of Satan. What revelation this is for us to see!

"Then there will arise in his place a despicable person, to whom the honor of a kingdom will not be given; but he will come in a time of security and will seize the kingdom by smooth and cunning words and actions." (Daniel 11:21). Daniel chapter 11 unveils the constant depression that Israel is going to experience in future days. Specifically with the Greek empire trampling across Israel. Antiochus Epiphanies will rise up and exponentially oppress Gods people and the land. Daniel 11 describes him as that despicable one who speaks smooth and alluring words and commits degrading acts in their temple. Struggle is not new to Israel. We know that Jeremiah prophesied about the 70 years occurring with Israel’s captivity in Babylon, but did you know that his message was greatly rejected? They tried to kill him, imprisoned him, beat him and shut him up! The king of Judah, Zedekiah, listened to false prophets saying “no, it won’t be that bad it’ll just be a couple years…what Jeremiah says is not true”. Well, they were in captivity for 70 years. He tried to help and prepare them, but they would not listen, do you know what else what we find in the book of Jeremiah? Jeremiah told them at least 15 times Your judgment is going to be “by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence”. 15 times! The three words, sword, famine and pestilence, appear in a group in 26 different Bible verses. That's not an accident. I think Israel, as well as all of God’s people throughout the centuries have experienced these three elements. This is actually the eventual behavior of all human governments throughout the ages. Babylonian, Medo/Persian, Grecian, Roman, and the world empire underneath the leader ship of the antichrist during last days. The reason for this is because Satan is the prince and the power of the air and he and his princess have a strong reaction to the purpose of God. There is a Satanic desire to stop, destroy, and even kill in order to thwart the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 24, Jesus described such a reaction as birth pains. In revelation, chapter 6 Christ Ascended into heaven, and as a result of his accomplished work and release of the gospel the sword, famine, and pestilence, (or death) ensued, and this trio has done so throughout the ages. Satan has always sought to stop God’s purpose from going forward upon the Earth, whether it involves Israel or his church. I believe this is important for Christians to see. This is a hard revelation, but without it believers are asleep in last days. This is a serious matter and it is not just to consider another view, but it is a wake up call in last days to be vigilant watchful and alert, rather than anticipating an escape from these things. Much like Jeremiah‘s Prophecy we may not like such a message, but if this is what the Lord is doing, we need to take heed, watch, and be ready, because we do not know the hour of our Lord’s coming. Consider these things amen.