Jesus is enough for a threatened church.
Speaker:False teachers are offering something more special knowledge.
Speaker:Angel worship, harsh regulations.
Speaker:Paul's answer.
Speaker:Christ is supreme.
Speaker:He's enough.
Speaker:This is Seat Go create.
Speaker:Welcome back.
Speaker:You're listening to read the New Testament in 90 days, 27 books in order in context.
Speaker:We're walking through the New Testament, the way it was written
Speaker:so you can hear it the way the first churches did, the first audiences did,
Speaker:and that is a powerful thing to do.
Speaker:I'm walking through reading this also as well as preparing these.
Speaker:It is opening up so many doors for me to just understand the
Speaker:richness and the power of scripture.
Speaker:So I hope you're enjoying this.
Speaker:Before we get started, I wanna remind you, make sure you're getting all
Speaker:the resources we have available.
Speaker:Obviously we have these episodes are on the podcast platforms and on YouTube,
Speaker:but we also have a reading plan.
Speaker:You could download a free reading plan that has a lot of.
Speaker:Extra information added in and it's also available on the hub
Speaker:where we're adding other things and resources, notes and things like that.
Speaker:It's at K two M Foundation slash NT 90 today.
Speaker:Stop one of my favorites, Colossians.
Speaker:Christ is enough, and here's why.
Speaker:That silences every voice that says You need more.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:You know, recently I read through Colossians a few times, and
Speaker:the more I did, I said, wow.
Speaker:I think I've missed some of this.
Speaker:You know, we focus a lot on Romans, which is awesome.
Speaker:And we talked a few episodes ago about something that will be coming
Speaker:up, which is Hebrews, and of course all the gospels in the New Testament.
Speaker:But Colossians, man, it is short, but it is power packed,
Speaker:so we're gonna enjoy this one.
Speaker:Here's some key facts.
Speaker:Paul is the author.
Speaker:We're confident of that.
Speaker:We believe Timothy was with him written.
Speaker:In a D 60.
Speaker:These were some of the prison letters that Paul wrote.
Speaker:The audience is Coloa, C-O-L-O-S-S-A-E.
Speaker:If you wanna pronounce it differently, you can.
Speaker:And also there's a nearby group at Laodicea, which is a
Speaker:small city in the CUS Valley.
Speaker:those are the audiences or the locations.
Speaker:That Paul is directing this to the setting, the years it has been
Speaker:30 years since the resurrection, give or take a year or so.
Speaker:Paul is in prison.
Speaker:Tikis, is the one that's gonna carry this letter and he is going
Speaker:to have someone with him, a ESUs, and we're gonna hear about him.
Speaker:In our next episode when we get to Philemon, so, these two we're gonna see
Speaker:over the next few books that we look at.
Speaker:they're the carriers, they're the ones that are delivering this
Speaker:message, and here's some historical context just to keep us grounded
Speaker:in what was going on around us.
Speaker:Nero is still on the throne in Rome.
Speaker:And as we build up here, we're in the sixties of the first century.
Speaker:We're gonna hear more from Nero, so kinda get ready for that now.
Speaker:Things seem fairly calm.
Speaker:Paul is under house arrest, not because of something Nero did, but because of some
Speaker:things we discussed in the last episode.
Speaker:You can circle back and get that context.
Speaker:Meanwhile in Jerusalem, the temple is still standing.
Speaker:Daily sacrifices are occurring, and what we know now and looking back is that
Speaker:10 years from now it will be destroyed.
Speaker:And so we've got about 10 years on the temple there.
Speaker:The region, the like US Valley, sits on unstable ground.
Speaker:This is kind of an important contextual item here.
Speaker:Earthquakes are going to shake this region for the next four
Speaker:years, from 60 to 64, it's going to wreak havoc, collapsing building.
Speaker:It's gonna take a lot of lives.
Speaker:It is gonna be devastating in many areas.
Speaker:This is historical.
Speaker:This is not mentioned biblically as much, but it's a historical fact.
Speaker:We know this occurred.
Speaker:The signs that Jesus warned about.
Speaker:In Matthew 24 are unfolding, he warned about earthquakes and we are
Speaker:seeing those 30 years later in this region that believers are gathering.
Speaker:The city Colossae is a smaller city, not one of the bigger ones in the empire.
Speaker:It's overshadowed by nearby od Dia.
Speaker:And higher opolis not really the center of anything that's, that's colossae.
Speaker:So, we need to keep that in mind.
Speaker:It's an easy target for teachers, false teachers that
Speaker:are coming along and offering.
Speaker:More.
Speaker:We're putting that in quotes here more, and it is really Jesus
Speaker:plus a bunch of other stuff.
Speaker:That's what's going on here.
Speaker:And while we are reading this in context, we know that we see a lot of that
Speaker:going on now, 2000 plus years later.
Speaker:So valuable for us to get the context of this message.
Speaker:The church founded by Ariss, and he was a native of colos and he
Speaker:heard Paul preach in Ephesus and he brought the gospel back home.
Speaker:Paul has never visited.
Speaker:This church, the tension that's going on, false teachers are offering more
Speaker:special knowledge, mystical visions.
Speaker:Angel worship, strict regulations about food and festivals.
Speaker:Harsh treatment of the body to achieve spiritual enlightenment.
Speaker:A lot of do not handle, do not taste, do not touch a lot of do
Speaker:nots that have just been piled on.
Speaker:To these believers and, and it's causing some issues, and so
Speaker:Paul wants to try to address it.
Speaker:Why now?
Speaker:Why is this being addressed now?
Speaker:Apris traveled to Paul in prison, deeply concerned.
Speaker:Paul writes to anchor them in Christ's supremacy.
Speaker:Here's the urgency.
Speaker:Paul warns The wrath of God is coming.
Speaker:In chapter three verse six, he speaks of when Christ appears in
Speaker:chapter three, verse four, and the Colossians know what that means.
Speaker:30 years have passed since the resurrection.
Speaker:Jesus said all these things would happen in a generation and a
Speaker:generation has typically been 40 years.
Speaker:In biblical terms, the signs are unfolding.
Speaker:We mentioned earlier they've, they're having earthquakes 10 years from
Speaker:now, we know the temple will be gone.
Speaker:The wrath Paul warned about will be fulfilled.
Speaker:This is a Critical letter, giving them preparation for that time that is coming.
Speaker:The hope is that wrath isn't the whole story through Christ, and
Speaker:this is the message I love from Colossians Through Christ, God is
Speaker:reconciling all things to himself.
Speaker:In chapter one, verse 20, judgment is coming and so.
Speaker:Is Restoration.
Speaker:Christ holds it all together.
Speaker:That's why he's enough.
Speaker:That's why my favorite verse, he's all in all, Christ is all in all, that's the
Speaker:message that I get from Colossians, but.
Speaker:Don't let me sway you.
Speaker:You read it in the context of the audience and you see what
Speaker:you get out of Colossians.
Speaker:Here's what you'll encounter in Colossians.
Speaker:It's exalted in direct.
Speaker:Christ is supreme.
Speaker:Full stop.
Speaker:Period.
Speaker:You'll hear about the Christ Hymn.
Speaker:I did not know much about this.
Speaker:I had to do some research in Chapter one, verse 15 through 20.
Speaker:It's an early Christian hymn about Christ's supremacy.
Speaker:He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation by him.
Speaker:All things were created, and through him to reconcile all things to himself.
Speaker:Fullness is a word you'll hear in him.
Speaker:The whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him.
Speaker:We also look at hollow philosophy.
Speaker:Don't be taken captive by human tradition or elemental spirits.
Speaker:Paul also addresses shadow versus substance.
Speaker:Food laws and festivals were shadows.
Speaker:The substance belongs to Christ.
Speaker:Don't get the shadow before the substance.
Speaker:The substance is the foundation.
Speaker:I also love to talk about old self off and the new self on put to death.
Speaker:What is earthly put on?
Speaker:Compassion, kindness, humility.
Speaker:There's also kind of a household code.
Speaker:Remember now most of these gatherings were in households.
Speaker:And the household code that came out of this is, whatever
Speaker:you do, do it for the Lord.
Speaker:You don't need more.
Speaker:You have Christ in him.
Speaker:You have.
Speaker:Everything.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:You're gonna enjoy Colossians.
Speaker:If you've never read it, get ready, strap on.
Speaker:If you have read it in the context of the first century audience, I think
Speaker:you will get a tremendous amount.
Speaker:Out of it.
Speaker:Read it in one session.
Speaker:If you need to split it up, you can, but I think we've designed it
Speaker:to read it in one, and let me give you a glimpse of what's happening
Speaker:sort of related in the next episode.
Speaker:I mentioned it earlier.
Speaker:We are going to look at Philemon.
Speaker:Philemon, I guess is the act, actual pronunciation.
Speaker:I joke about Philemon.
Speaker:It's kinda like how it would be pronounced if that name were in Lord of the Rings.
Speaker:So anyway, sorry to bring in Biblical and, Lord of the Ring's humor.
Speaker:But, Philemon is a reconciliation on a doorstep.
Speaker:It's powerful.
Speaker:The gospel meets social.
Speaker:Hierarchy Tikas, who we were introduced to in Colossians and onus.
Speaker:one of you is returning to Philemon with a letter of his own.
Speaker:So that's how it sort of relates to what we're looking at here in Colossians.
Speaker:Reminder, just to follow along with all that we're doing
Speaker:at K two M Foundation slash.
Speaker:In T 90, you've got a lot of resources you can get there.
Speaker:Now, before we read Colossians, let's immerse ourselves.
Speaker:let's picture this.
Speaker:Let's set the scene for Colossians.
Speaker:It's a D 60.
Speaker:You're crowded into a home in Colossae.
Speaker:The ground has been shaking.
Speaker:Tremors keep coming.
Speaker:The signs feel close.
Speaker:A messenger named Tikas has arrived from Paul.
Speaker:You've never met Paul, but Ris brought his teaching home from
Speaker:Ephesus and it changed everything.
Speaker:Lately though other teachers have come through.
Speaker:They're offering something more.
Speaker:Visions, angel encounters, strict rules.
Speaker:It sounds spiritual.
Speaker:It sounds good.
Speaker:It sounds deep.
Speaker:Then tikis breaks the seal and reads, and Paul's answer is clear.
Speaker:You don't need more.
Speaker:You have Christ.
Speaker:He holds all things together, even when the ground shakes judgment
Speaker:is coming, but so is restoration.
Speaker:That's why Christ is enough.
Speaker:That's why He's all in all.
Speaker:Now, let's read.