Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Lesson One
OVERVIEW OF COLOSSIANS
A biblical epistle is at once two seemingly contradictory things. It is a letter from a man to a group of people in a particular time and place, and it is a message from the Spirit of God to all Christians in every generation. Just as Christ was fully human and fully divine, so is the letter to the Colossians. In the first part of this overview and in other lessons, we will look at the book mainly from its human side in order to make observations and interpretations. When we get to application, we will focus on the letter's divineness. But before you begin to study, acknowledge the book's supernatural origin by asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you personally and transform you as you study.
This overview will probably take you more time than any other lesson of the study. If necessary, allow one week to read the "How to Use This Study" section, the historical background, and the whole letter to the Colossians. Then take a second week to answer the overview questions.
First impressions
Even though Paul had never been to the church at Colosse, some of its members had been converted through his evangelistic ministry. Among them was Epaphras, who led the church, and Philemon — the owner of the slave Onesimus — in whose house the church may have met. So it was not to total strangers that Paul wrote, but brothers and sisters whose salvation had been shaped by men and women he knew and trusted. People like Epaphras and Philemon were devoted to Paul and must have conveyed their attitudes to the rest of the church. Now there was confusion among the believers, and in Paul's letter they received authoritative instruction on the issues about which they had questions. They probably read through the letter quickly at first, just to discover Paul's attitude and tone, then went back later to dig out the details.
In the same way, read through the entire letter to the Colossians at one sitting. You may want to read it aloud, as it was read to the Colossians, imagining a cluster of listeners around you. Gather a general impression of Paul's themes and tone.
1. How would you describe the tone Paul conveys in this letter? What is his approach to the church at Colosse, their lifestyles, and problems? ________________________________________ ________________________________________
2. Paul did not hesitate to repeat himself when he wanted to stress a point. What words and ideas are repeated in each of the following sets of verses?
1:15-18; 3:10___________________________ ________________________________________
1:18-19; 2:9-10,19; 3:11 _______________ ________________________________________
1:9-10,26-28; 2:2-3; 3:10,16; 4:3_______ ________________________________________
2:11; 3:5,10,12,14______________________ ________________________________________
other___________________________________ ________________________________________
Broad outline
If you are still vague about Paul's intentions after one reading, a broad outline of Colossians may help sharpen your perceptions.
3. Reread Colossians, preferably in a different translation without subheads. You may discover a turn of phrase or word that makes a confusing passage clearer.
This time, think of a short phrase or sentence that can serve as a title for each paragraph. You may want to include key words from the paragraph. Write your titles below.
(Be creative. There is no one right answer; the first title is given as an example. Your Bible's paragraph divisions may differ, so feel free to alter those given here.)
1:1-2 Greetings to the Faithful _____
1:3-8___________________________________ ________________________________________
1:9-14__________________________________ ________________________________________
1:15-23_________________________________ ________________________________________
1:24–2:5__________________________ ________________________________________
2:6-15__________________________________ ________________________________________
2:16-23_________________________________ ________________________________________
3:1-4___________________________________ ________________________________________
3:5-11__________________________________ ________________________________________
3:12-17_________________________________ ________________________________________
3:18–4:1__________________________ ________________________________________
4:2-6___________________________________ ________________________________________
4:7-18__________________________________ ________________________________________
Theme and purpose
We cannot completely reconstruct the reasons for Paul's letter to the Colossians, but the better we recreate the context, the better we will understand his message. Certainly, like other letter writers, he was responding to what he knew of his readers and their situation. He also wrote from his personal experiences, the track record he had established through his years in the faith and in ministry.
Our own purposes for studying Colossians are separated from those of the original readers by centuries of change, but how we understand and apply his words should be influenced by how the Holy Spirit intended them in the context of the first century.
4. From your first readings of Colossians, what seem to be Paul's main reasons for writing this letter? ________________________________________ ________________________________________
5. If you have not yet done so, read the historical background.
6. Have you come across questions you'd like answered as you go deeper into this study? While your thoughts are still fresh, you may want to record your questions here to serve as personal goals for your investigation of the letter. ________________________________________ ________________________________________
7. The letter to the Colossians was written to a specific church at a specific point in history, but it is also God's Word to us today. As you read through Colossians, did you find areas that might apply to you? If so, what are some of those areas?
_______________________________________ ________________________________________
8. Summarize what is to you the most significant first impression from your study so far. ________________________________________ ________________________________________
For the group
This "For the group" section and the ones in later lessons are intended to suggest ways of structuring your discussions. Feel free to select and adapt what suits your group. The main goals of this lesson are to get to know Colossians as a whole and the people with whom you are going to study it.
Worship. Colossians is an excellent setting for focusing on worship together. Some passages sound like hymns the Colossians might have sung in their own worship (see 1:15-20; 2:9-15), and Paul urges the Colossians to sing "psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts" (3:16). Because the false teachers denigrated Christ, this letter encourages believers to glorify Him. Take some time to focus on Christ by singing a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song together. Even reading a psalm together, such as Psalms 24, 92, 96, 97, 98, 99, or 100, will help you center your hearts on God.
Warm-up. The beginning of a new study is a good time to lay a foundation for honest sharing of ideas, to get comfortable with each other, and to encourage a sense of common purpose. Talk about what each member hopes to get out of your group — out of your study of Colossians and out of any prayer, singing, sharing, outreach, or anything else you might do together. Why do you want to study the Bible? If you have someone write down each member's hopes and expectations, then you can look back at these goals later to see if they are being met. Allow about ten minutes for this discussion.
How to use this study. If the group has never used a LifeChange study guide before, you might take a whole meeting to get acquainted, discuss your backgrounds and goals for the study, and go over the "How to Use This Study" section. Then you can take a second meeting to discuss the background and the overview questions. This will give you more time to read Colossians and prepare lesson 1 for discussion.
It is a good idea to clear up any confusion about how to do the study as soon as possible, so at the beginning of your second meeting, ask the group if anyone was confused about how to do lesson 1.
Reading. It is often helpful to refresh everyone's memory by reading the passage aloud before beginning to discuss your lesson. Reading the whole letter may take time, but the effort will be rewarded. Have a different person read each chapter, using the tone of voice he or she thinks Paul was trying to convey so that the letter sounds like the work of a living person. It should take perhaps fifteen minutes to read all of Colossians.
First impressions. Ask the group to share first impressions of Colossians — its style, mood, content, or whatever strikes the group. If members don't understand the question, you might ask them how Paul's letter is like and unlike letters they receive, or like and unlike a sermon, a graduation speech, or advice from a parent. The point of question 1 is to help the group see Colossians as a letter from a real person to real people for a specific occasion. Don't spend more than a few minutes on this question.
The setting of the letter is an important part of its context. The background may help you to understand the setting. Ask several group members to tell who Paul was, what is important to know about the Colossians, and what was going on in Paul's and the Colossians' lives when he wrote. By piecing together everyone's recollections of the background, you can probably recall the main points. Then, using the background and clues from the letter, see how much you can conclude about why Paul was writing and what was going on at the time.
To help the group get to know Paul as a real person, ask them to share what kind of person they think he was (based on the background and the letter). Application will require you to put yourselves in Paul's shoes, and it will be easier to identify with him if he seems real to you.
Looking for repeated words and ideas (question 2) should help the group see themes and main ideas in the letter. You might ask the group to name as many repeated phrases and ideas as possible, then move to question 4 on the letter's themes. You could share your titles (question 3) after that. Remember, there is no one right way to title a passage.
Questions. Give everyone a chance to share questions about the letter or the way you are studying it. It is good to clear up confusion about the book, the group, or the study guide as early as possible. You may want to leave some questions about the book until later in your study; they may answer themselves. You may point out the list of references or encourage members to seek answers from their pastors or other knowledgeable Christians they respect.
Application. Question 7 ties in with the expectations and objectives you discussed at the beginning of your meeting. If some group members are unfamiliar with how to apply God's Word to their lives in specific ways, this is a chance to think of some sample applications together. (You could do this next week if you are running out of time.) Application is often the most difficult part of the study because many people have never been taught how to apply Scripture consciously, yet it is essential to the Christian life.
Wrap-up. The group leader should have read through lesson 2 and its "For the group" section. At this point, he or she might give a short summary of what members can expect in that lesson and in the coming meeting. This is a chance to whet everyone's appetite, assign any optional questions, omit any numbered questions, or forewarn members of any possible difficulties.
You might also encourage any members who found the overview especially hard. Some people are better at seeing the big picture or the whole of a book than others. Some are best at analyzing a particular verse or paragraph, while others are strongest at seeing how a passage applies to our lives. Urge members to give thanks for their own and others' strengths, and to give and request help when needed. The group is a place to learn from each other. Later lessons will draw on the gifts of close analyzers as well as overviewers and appliers, practical as well as theoretical thinkers.
Worship. Many groups like to end with singing and/or prayer. This can include songs and prayers that respond to what you've learned in Colossians or prayers for specific needs of group members. Many people are shy about sharing personal needs or praying aloud in groups, especially before they know the other people well. If this is true of your group, then a song and/or some silent prayer, and a short closing prayer spoken by the leader might be an appropriate end. You could share requests and pray in pairs, instead, if you prefer.
Study Skill — Overview
For a panoramic view of a book of the Bible, use a wide-angle lens. What does it look like as a whole? Is there one main theme that you see? Where is the major turning point? When the book was written, what was happening socially? Religiously? Politically? Then switch to a close-up lens for the details. Finally, put the wide-angle back on and see the broad, sweeping view, this time with a better perspective on the details.
Study Skill — Application
James 1:22 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 remind us of the primary reason we study God's Word — to let it affect our lives so that we will become fully the people God desires. Therefore, the last step of Bible study should always be to ask yourself, "What is God saying to me? What difference should this passage make to my life? How should it make me want to think or act?" Application will require time, thought, prayer, and perhaps even discussion with another person.
At times you may find it most productive to concentrate on one specific application giving it careful thought and prayer. At other times you may want to list many implications a passage of Scripture has for your life, meditating on them all for several days before you choose one for concentrated prayer and action. Use whatever method helps you to take to heart and act on what the passage says.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Colossians and Philemon"
by .
Copyright © 2013 The Navigators.
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