October 11th, 2026
There’s a question that we learn to ask pretty intuitively, early on in life? In fact, many of us have been driven half-crazy from children incessantly asking, ‘why?’ Why, indeed. We don’t outgrow this question, in our constant search for hope and meaning, why place our lives in allegiance to Jesus? Paul writes a striking poem meant to encourage our faith and secure our confidence in the true identity of this man he is calling ‘Christ’. Jesus is actually God himself, ruler of the cosmos and all creation. All of reality, including our lives, is sustained by him. Creation would cease to exist without him. Further, Jesus entered into his creation to declare to us that he is the ruler of new creation, and has established the church through his sacrifice on the cross for our salvation from sin. We are strangers, but Jesus has made a way to restore us back into the presence of God, he has made a way for us to experience peace with him!
Read Colossians 1:15-23 a few times with your group, perhaps using a few different translations for another perspective.
You could also consider reading Psalm 2, Psalm 8, and Proverbs 8 for some Old Testament context.
In view of the false teaching at Colossae that Paul understood to dangerously downplay Christ (see chapter 2), why do you think Paul introduces this poem/hymn here in this letter?
How might you explain to someone new to faith that Jesus the ‘image of the invisible God’, and what that means for us who are also ‘made in his image’?
You could also consult John 1:1-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6 and Hebrews 1:1-3.
Not only does Jesus create all things, but Paul says that he sustains all things. In light of global uncertainties (both ancient and current), how might such knowledge encourage us?
Paul says that the ‘fullness of God was pleased to dwell’ in Jesus. This is actually Old Testament language. Read through Exodus 40:34-35, 1 Kings 8:10-11, and Psalm 68:16, and discuss how this language helps us understand the person of Christ.
We were once all strangers to God through sin, and many know the experience of feeling ‘othered’ or the feeling of being an outsider. Who can you be praying for tonight that they may experience the peace of Jesus by being brought into saving faith? How can you help participate in what God wants to reconcile in their life?