What gives life meaning? What makes it all matter? The opening chapter of Colossians answers that question directly. Written by the Apostle Paul while under house arrest in Rome, this letter to the church at Colosse is packed with some of the most powerful theological truths in all of Scripture. At the center of it all is one clear idea: all things find their meaning and purpose in Jesus.
What Is the Book of Colossians About?
Paul wrote Colossians to a church he did not personally found. A man named Epaphras had planted the church and later visited Paul to report on what was happening there. Paul responded by writing this letter, both to encourage the believers and to correct some doctrinal issues that had crept in.
The central theme running through all four chapters is the supremacy and glory of Jesus over all things. He is the preeminent one. Everything else flows from that truth.
What Does It Mean to Live as a Kingdom Citizen?
Endurance, Patience, and Joy in Hard Times
In Colossians 1:10-11, Paul prays that believers would “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.”
Endurance and patience make sense together. When life is hard, when things are pressing in, you need both. But then Paul adds a third word: joy. That one feels out of place.
Most of us assume joy comes after the trial. We endure, we stay patient, and then once we get through it, joy is waiting on the other side. But Paul is saying something different. He is saying that joy belongs in the middle of the hard season, not just after it.
How Is It Possible to Have Joy in the Middle of Suffering?
Paul answers that question immediately. In verses 12 through 14, he writes: “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
The key to joy in the middle of a trial is a thankful heart. When everything feels like it is collapsing, it is easy to feel like there is nothing to be grateful for. But Paul points to something that cannot be taken away. We have been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son. That transfer is permanent. That is the foundation of joy, not circumstances, but identity and belonging.
Who Is Jesus, Really?
Jesus Is the Image of the Invisible God
Colossians 1:15-20 is one of the most theologically rich passages in the entire New Testament. It reads: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
God can feel abstract. Spirit, transcendent, invisible. But Jesus changes that. He is God in flesh. Fully God, fully man. If you want to know what it looks like to have a relationship with God, you look at Jesus. He is not a concept. He is a person.
Jesus Created Everything and Holds It All Together
Notice how many times the phrase “all things” appears in that passage. It is not accidental. Paul is making a point. Jesus is Lord over everything. He created it all, it was made for Him, and He is the one holding it all together right now.
That includes your life. Your family, your job, your finances, your health. All of it exists within His creation and under His authority.
What Does It Mean That Everything Belongs to God?
We Are Stewards, Not Owners
If Jesus created all things and all things were made for Him, then nothing we have is truly ours. That is a challenging thought. But it is also a freeing one.
When we stop thinking of our kids as ours to manage for our own reputation, we can raise them for the glory of God. When we stop thinking of our money as ours to protect, we can give freely and trust that God will provide. When we stop thinking of our homes as ours to keep pristine, we can open them up for community and relationship.
At the end of life, people do not wish they had worked more or accumulated more. They want to know their life had meaning. They want the people they love around them. The things God has given us are tools for building what actually matters.
Letting God Be God Brings Rest
A lot of stress in life comes from trying to hold everything together ourselves. But this passage says that in Him, all things hold together. He is already doing that. When we stop trying to take over that role, we can actually rest. We can trust. We can live with open hands instead of clenched fists.
What Has Jesus Done for Us Through the Cross?
Reconciliation for Those Who Were Far Off
Colossians 1:21-22 says: “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”
Before Christ, we were not just slightly off track. We were hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, fully in rebellion against God. And yet this king, who is supreme over all things, willingly went to a cross so that we could be reconciled to Him. He made peace by the blood of His cross.
Your New Identity in Christ
Here is what the cross produces in those who believe: a completely new identity. Holy. Blameless. Above reproach. Before Him.
That is how God sees you. Not as a screw-up. Not as someone barely holding it together. When He looks at you, He sees His child, reconciled through the blood of Jesus.
Most of us would never put those three words on a list to describe ourselves. We feel unworthy, not good enough, like a fraud. But what we believe about ourselves shapes how we live. If we believe we are failures, we spend our lives trying to prove otherwise. If we believe the truth of who God says we are, we can live from a place of freedom and security.
Disagreeing with how God sees you is not humility. It is believing a lie. The enemy is called the accuser for a reason. When those accusations come, the only thing that counters them is the truth of God’s Word. And the truth is this: you are holy, blameless, and above reproach before Him.
Life Application
This week, start each day by asking Jesus one simple question: “What is one truth You want to remind me about myself today?” Pay attention to what comes to mind. Let the truth of how God sees you be louder than the lies you have been believing about yourself. Then, look at one area of your life, whether it is your money, your time, your home, or your relationships, and ask God what it would look like to steward that thing for His glory rather than your own.
Ask yourself these questions as you go through the week:
– Am I living from the truth of who God says I am, or from how I feel about myself?
– Where am I trying to hold things together on my own instead of trusting that Jesus holds all things?
– What would it look like to use what God has given me, my time, money, home, or gifts, for His glory this week?
– When trials come, am I looking for reasons to be thankful, or am I only focused on what is hard?
Jesus is supreme over all things. He created everything, He sustains everything, and He gave Himself so that you could belong to Him. That is the foundation of joy, identity, and purpose. Everything else flows from there.
