As is noted in this letter to the church at Colosse, the apostles’ epistles (letters) to specific churches scattered throughout the Roman Empire were routinely circulated among the churches so that each church eventually received each of the letters. As will be noted by a careful study of those letters, all churches had problems of one type or another. Therefore, regardless of the focus of each letter, the message would apply to various people in the various congregations. With this in mind, let us begin our obedience to God as we follow His command to “… study to show thyself approved by God” (2 Tim. 2:15).

Verses one and two: The Apostle Paul makes certain that the people in the church are aware of the stature of the man writing to them and Who gave him that stature–he is “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God”–not his own will, grandma’s will or Pastor Bob’s will. Only a minutely few ordained ministers have been called by God to minister to His sheep. The rest are false prophets whose identity is revealed by their fruits–obedience to God’s Word in speech and deed. This ministry is dedicated to revealing this truth to the Institutional Church (Catholicism/Protestantism).

Note in verse 2 that Paul equates sainthood with faithfulness. Faith means to believe God’s Word (Rom. 10:17). As is proved in the Book of James, faith without obedience to that Word is dead faith. As stated in verse 2, both grace and peace come from the Godhead. Note that both are dependent upon our taking God as our Father–exalted potentate, and Jesus as our Lord–master, both of whom must be obeyed.    All–sainthood, grace and peace–are dependent upon our belief in and obedience to God’s Word, which He calls Truth (Jn. 17:17).

Verse three: In verse 3 Paul makes a statement that probably not more than 1% of the church throughout history has understood. In this verse notice that God is called the GOD OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE PRESENT TENSE. So what? you might ask. Here’s what. A GOD DOES NOT HAVE A GOD. MEN HAVE A GOD. As a god before coming to earth as Jesus of Nazareth (Jn. 1:1-4,14) the Word was equal with God (Phil. 2:6). Upon being born of a woman, the Word–now Jesus of Nazareth–was 100% man (see Jesus Christ: God, Man or God-man?). He is now, following His rebirth, a spirit, the same as He was before coming to earth–a God. But there is a difference between the spirit God He was then and the spirit God He is now. He is now a spirit THAT ONCE WAS A MAN. JESUS IS NOW A MAN WHO IS ALSO A SPIRIT AND ALSO A GOD–EXACTLY AS HIS SAINTS WILL BE UPON BEING BORN AGAIN AT THE TIME OF HIS RETURN. Jesus, we are told, is the “FIRST BORN (AGAIN) AMONG MANY BRETHREN.” AS HE WAS THEN, SO ARE HIS SAINTS NOW; AS HE IS NOW, SO WILL HIS SAINTS BE IN THE FUTURE. JESUS IS A GOD-MAN NOW. HIS SAINTS WILL BECOME GOD-PEOPLE WHEN WE JOIN HIM IN THE AIR WHERE “WE WILL BE LIKE HIM” (1 Jn. 3:2). Saints in the Kingdom of God will be exactly like their elder Brother, able to do what He does, and even “greater things” (Jn. 14:12). Can you grasp that vision? Can you see what lies ahead for those who cast aside the things of the world and embrace Jesus Christ totally, completely and permanently? Can anything else possibly matter? If so, what? The things of the world are meaningless relative to what lies ahead for the true God seeker. Meager man cannot possibly comprehend what God has in store for the few who make the cut (Mat. 7:13,14). Paul states it this way: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that LOVE Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). This is the same God Who said: “If you LOVE Me, keep my commandments” (including #4) (Jn. 14:15). John would later state: “For this is the LOVE of God (expressed through us), that we keep His commandments” (1 Jn. 5:3). In John 10:34,35 Jesus was addressing some Jews who were ready to stone Him because He called Himself the Son of God, thereby making Himself equal with God. He said to them: “… I said, ‘Ye are gods” (small “g”). He called them “gods” to whom the Word of God came–first, Israel, then “whosoever will.” All saints are gods (small “g”) in the making. They are gods in embryo in the same way that an embryo in a woman’s womb is an adult in the making. Lastly, I will leave you with proof that the God in heaven who serves as Mediator between God and man is in fact a MAN at this very moment. “For there IS (present tense) one God and one mediator between God and man–THE MAN JESUS CHRIST” (1 Tim. 2:5). Here the word “man” is “Anthropos”–the same word used to describe Adam. Get this picture: THERE IS A MAN IN HEAVEN WHO IS ALSO A GOD. His saints (former humans) will, like Him, be gods in His Father’s kingdom where they will rule and reign with Him over the whole earth. Again, saints are in this life gods (small “g”) in the making. We read in Revelation 17:14 that in the kingdom Jesus will be “Lords of lords and King of kings.” Who will be the lords and kings (small “l” and “k”) who will serve under Him? HIS SAINTS WILL BE LORDS AND KINGS UNDER HIM if we “walk as He walked” (1 Jn. 6:2), “purify ourselves even as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3) and “… overcomes even as I (Jesus) overcame (Satan)” (Rev. 3:21). L.J.