One Verse at a Time

This episode looks at Colossians 1:29, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” We work hard, but we do so out of the strength and power God works within us. Why is it like this? So that God gets all the glory!

This episode looks at Colossians 1:28, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” We need wisdom from God to proclaim Christ well as we warn against false beliefs and teach true beliefs. We do this with the hope of taking part in God bringing others into complete maturity in Christ.

This episode looks at Colossians 1:27, “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.” Christ dwells in us, which is our hope for future glory. Our hope is grounded in being made new according to the image of the Son and sharing in his god-ness, not becoming gods ourselves but sharing in the joy-filled attributes that make him God.

This episode looks at Colossians 1:26, “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.” Some mysteries lay hidden in the Old Testament but are now revealed in the New. One of these is the indwelling of Christ in us by his Spirit. We praise God for revealing mysteries to us and for dwelling in us!

This episode looks at Colossians 1:25, “of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known.” We thank God for gifting us and bringing us to a specific body of people in order to take part in his global mission.

This episode looks at Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church”. What could possibly be lacking in Christ’s afflictions? Nothing, in the sense that his afflictions accomplished redemption. However, they are lacking an in-person presentation to the nations, and so Paul rejoices to both preach this good news and to show it through his own suffering. May our suffering and preaching do the same for lost people in our lives.

This episode looks at Colossians 1:23, “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” By God’s grace alone we continue in the faith. This verse does not contradict the Perseverance of the Saints because as long as we remain in the faith we evidence God’s saving work in our lives. We pray for grace to remain in Christ and not turn to other false hopes.

This episode looks at Colossians 1:22, “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”. In his earthly life and death on the cross, Christ brought alienated people back into right relationship with God. Now we have holiness, blamelessness, and irreproachability through our union with him.

This episode looks at Colossians 1:21, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,”. We once stood far off from God, and this was seen in our hostile thoughts toward him and our evil deeds against him. We can pray now that God would keep our minds from getting caught up in narratives of the world that are against him.

This episode looks at Colossians 1:20, “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Praise God for the fullness of deity dwelling in the God-man, Jesus Christ, and for putting the chaos of a broken world into order on the cross.