Colossians 1:2
"To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. "
The first verse introduces us to the author and his companion Timothy, and the second verse introduces us to the congregation to which the letter was written. Paul calls them saints and faithful brethren. These brothers were at Colossae but this letter did not stop at addressing them but its truths are reserved for the Saints and Faithful brethren in this hour. The book of Colossians is very much like the book of Ephesians and the opening statements are very identical. Like the truths in Ephesians were meat, so are many of the truths in Colossians. The most predominant topic in this book is the supremacy of Christ, not just having Christ but having Him supreme in our life. All brothers have Christ but if we want to be "faithful" brothers Christ must be supreme. So many are satisfied with just being a brother and never advance to being "faithful brethren." Judging by the content matter of this book these people's faithfulness had proven that they were saints and faithful brethren and therefore mature enough to be spoken to as spiritual and not as carnal. Their issues were doctrinal and still internal and Paul's letter is more of a warning than a rebuke and a reminder to keep our evaluation of Christ right. By that I mean, that Christ is supreme and our thoughts and beliefs about him don't make him any less supreme, but this epistle wipes away all misconceptions about a weak Christ and reveals just how supreme He is, and if supreme in creation and salvation and sanctification and all areas then he should be supreme in the arena of our life. The question is not is he supreme, He is. The question is, is that your evaluation of Him?
Paul then wishes them grace and peace from God the Father and Jesus. It is almost as if he has spoken to God and is telling them God and his Son Jesus, have thoughts of grace and peace toward you, and the Holy Spirit as well, being that he is the one inspiring Paul to write this letter. So we have here every member in the Trinity whose common goal is grace and peace toward these people. The content of this letter reveals the grace of God toward us in giving himself to us in his Son. In receiving Christ we received him who is "The fullness of the God-Head bodily." There is no higher grace given, Christ is the greatest gift of all and the highest measure of grace that God could give, if he gave us the world, it would be a smaller grace, if he gave us our souls, which are of greater value than the world, it would be a smaller grace, but He gave us His Son Jesus Christ and He is worth more than a million world's, a billion souls and He has been given to us. Read this epistle and you will realize that we did not fully understand the measure of grace given to us, and neither can we ever, until that day that death is swallowed up in life and we stand before him, then and only then can we fully understand the grace spoken of in this verse of Scripture. We can not fully know now, but we can know more, we can advance in our knowledge of him now, and we should study the graces laid out in his epistle and you will "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ."
Such clear views of God's grace bring with it peace. When we see the abundant grace bestowed upon us through the gift of His Son it comforts our hearts and reminds us that He is in control. Peace is readily available to the Christian and we know that it is the will of God for us to have peace, "Peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." If you are a brother then you have peace with God. Like our misconceptions cannot affect who Christ is, neither can our misconceptions affect the truth of the peace that Christ has granted to us. We have peace with God, that is not the question. The question is are you enjoying that Peace or have you fallen into the snare of the devil who would torment you with false teaching and doubts concerning the truth of peace with God through His Son Jesus Christ? The truths revealed in this book are an echo of this inspired statement; "Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
The Epistles are grace and peace toward us from God. Do you need to "grow in grace?" Do you lack peace? Rest assured God's grace is there and is coupled with his peace, these Epistles reveal it to us and wipe away the misconceptions that have shrouded our view of it, and how wonderfully clear it becomes to the "Saints and faithful brethren at Colossae" and us in this letter.
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