Colossians 1:3-9 – The impact of the Gospel

Paul gave thanks to God the Father for the impact the Gospel had made in the lives of the Colossians. Not only that, but he also prayed for them continuously. And He did it out of a deep concern for them. In his prayer, Paul addressed God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He did this to establish that the Deity of Christ, something that the heretics in Colossae denied.

Bear in mind that Paul was not the founder of the church in Colossae, and had to correct the wrong beliefs that they had allowed and had now embraced. Not being the founder made it a bit more difficult to be direct. So his most important attempt was to first connect with them. So he began by paying tributes to them. He mentioned the three positives things about the Colossians. They are: their faith in Christ Jesus; their love for all the saints and the hope that was laid up for them in heaven since they had embraced the Gospel, the word of truth.

Paul maintained that wherever this same Gospel went in all the world, it would constantly bear fruit unremittingly in the people who participated in this life giving message. This was true to the Colossians since the day they heard and understood the grace of God in sincerity.

In verse 7, Paul revealed the source of his information. He dearly mentioned Epaphras as our brother. He was Paul’s co-worker. He was a beloved fellow bond-servant. This title suggested that their yielding of themselves to Christ their master was not only total, but also willingly offered. Besides, Epaphras, who shared the Gospel with them, was a faithful servant of Christ. He did it on Paul’s behalf only because the apostle couldn’t be there personally, something which he would have personally loved to do. Paul revealed that whatever he had heard about the Colossians’ love in the Spirit, he received it from Epaphras.    

The Gospel, when embraced, will bear fruit. The three aspects, that would happen often, are: our faith in Christ, our love for fellow believers and our hope of life eternal in heaven. Like Paul, we need to rejoice and be active participants in the community of faith and be fruit bearing disciples of Christ.