Title: God and Men / Colossians 4: 7-18
The only remedy for correcting the doctrine, church life, or Christian error is to preach Jesus Christ. Paul used this recipe throughout this epistle. He gave the best place to Jesus Christ from beginning to end and insisted that he was the only answer to all the problems faced by the early church.
Paul showed us what Jesus was like. Jesus is the perfect image of God. Because Jesus is God. He is the goal and master of the universe. He is the head of the church and the only mediator between God and men. Jesus is the source, inspiration, and model of the true Christian life.
'You also are filled in him' (2:10) Jesus is the source and subject of all things. This is Paul's main theme throughout this epistle.
But at the end of this letter, we abruptly depart from this high-level homily and are confronted with a seemingly insignificant greeting, such as a personal newsletter. What do we have to do with greetings or instructions to Paul's friends of whom we do not know anything? Should a book containing the Word of God end this way?
Why didn't it end nicely like the famous sermons of the masters? Paul's main epistle concludes with very practical things that we are all too familiar with, so as to be considered unworthy of God. Are these Paul's conclusions still part of the divine revelation? of course. They still teach us something.
God's Word and Human History
The book of Colossians is God's word borrowed in the form of a letter. This letter, written by a man in special circumstances, ends with a personal message, as in the others. The Word of God does not always appear systematically like the Law of Moses, the Sermon on the Mount, or the great controversy in Romans. God's revelation is usually revealed through the field of life, blending into human life, shaping and exploiting human emotions. God's revelation is also communicated through human relationships and is expressed in simple textual words as here.
This last part of this letter is not a ps. The greetings in this text are the words of God that are as spiritual as the great truths that contain practical aspects that we have looked at so far. This fact reminds us that divine revelation is not a mythical or heavenly document (like some sutras of various man-made religions) but is woven into the history of this world in a geographical context.
It is easy for us to forget the nature of this revelation of God as we understand his message and apply it to our own day. The nature of God's revelation is, of course, eternal and universal. However, revelation does occur at a specific time and place. This is more evident at the end of the epistles than in the doctrinal texts. However, even the farewells of the epistles are largely influenced by the social and religious contexts of the time. All parts of the Bible deal with certain specific circumstances in the world at that time before meeting the human needs of each age. was written for
So, at the end of the book of Colossians, the word of God appears in the form of a simple text. This is a sign of an unadorned voluntary relationship between the members and the church. This relationship was established between the various church members such as Paul, Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, Justus, Numba, and Archippus, and between the churches of Ephesus, Rome, Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. There is no doctrinal intellectualism here. However, the network of church members who reveal God's love in human life is spreading and we can clearly see that the gospel is true.
How wonderful is the Word of God! How different from human theological treatises and ethics books! The revelation of God is actually in the blood and flesh of man in all areas of man's destiny and human existence. This revelation involved human intellect and heart, soul and body, and included events in history, both large and small. Because the gospel is a new life that penetrates into our whole being. This new name allows us to lead a normal life, but in a very different dimension. Perhaps that's why God preserved this epistle among many other writings for us and especially left the last text.
Church of God - Gathering of Humans
In this unit, we can hear valuable teachings about the Church of God. Here, the real human situation is presented as it is.
The church is a gathering of people who would or would never have met if it had not been for God to work. The church was in such a condition that the background, language, race, social class, or temperament of its members were so different that it was impossible to unite as one body. Even with the facts revealed in this letter, the individual circumstances of the church members were very different. First of all, there were ethnic Jews. Aristarchus was probably a Thessalonian, Mark was Barnabas' nephew, and nothing is known about Jesus called Justus. There were also Helicians. Epaphras was a Colossian, Luke was a physician (probably born in Troas?), and Demas was a Thessalonian. And there were highly educated people like Luke, free people like Epaphras, and slaves like Onesimus. In this way, people of different races, occupations, backgrounds, and life experiences were united as one brother and formed a living being, sharing warm friendship with each other through travel, correspondence, and prayer.
What a joy it is that Mark is mentioned among many names. Mark was at one time timid and cowardly. He was responsible for causing a rift between these two ministers by leaving Paul and Barnabas in Asia (Acts 15:37-39).
Mark, whom Paul decided never to accompany him again, remained faithful and firm by his side until his death. Paul has no regrets about Mark in the text. Because you have forgiven your past mistakes. Rather, in order to restore Mark's name, Paul sent letters of recommendation to each church, asking them to welcome him warmly. Mistakes or mistakes are never irreversible. Love always has hope! So we see the enemies of the past reconciling with each other and working together in the church. This is the work of love.
On the other hand, Demas, who was about to leave Paul (2 Tim. 4:10), is mentioned as a co-worker with Mark, who had abandoned Paul in the past. This is the reality of the church. In the church, strengths and weaknesses coexist, joy and sorrow coexist, and encouragement and disappointment intersect. The Church of God is a gathering place for ordinary people!
We also remember Onesimus White Rain. He was a fugitive slave and thief who was saved by God's grace and returned to his master (Phm. 1:10-18). The gospel changed the old relationship of their masters and slaves. When Onesimus returned home with a precious letter to Philemon, they would meet as two brothers at Colossae.
The church is not an isolated group like any group or circle or association. In the church, tax collectors and Pharisees, masters and slaves, intellectuals and illiterate people, cultural and non-cultural people coexist. It is not a place where the middle class, the working class, the upper class, or the intellectual class are separate, so it is not a separate gathering place. The Church of God is a living organism. The church is a place where men and women from all kinds of backgrounds are saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ and are united with one another to grow a new life abundantly.
Servants of God and Servants of Men
We have one thing to note in this text. It is the fact that all these people who served God were also people who served humans wholeheartedly.
From the long list of ministers in this unit, we can clearly see that Paul's great ministry consisted of a whole team of capable workers united by the Holy Spirit and dedicated to the kingdom of God. Paul did not suffer from isolation, as was the case with other great figures. He had the help, comfort, and cooperation of good and worthy people. Paul did not create a vacuum with no one around him. His co-workers always gathered around him. Because Paul's life had greatness such as irresistible magnetism.
All of these people were faithful to God and at the same time served people with all their might. The fact of working for God was never at odds with serving people. To be close to God is to be close to people. This homogeneity is true and real. Service to God corresponds to a sincere response to human needs. It is not a simple 'good deed', but an altruistic act that springs up like a fountain from the heart of love. So, a 'vertical' relationship with God intersects with a 'horizontal' relationship with humans.
This double calling to God and people, and the whole service of the minister to this calling, is clearly highlighted in the following testimony of Paul:
'Epaphras from you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, who always prays for you and prays for you that you may stand in all the will of God. I testify of toil' (4:12,13).
Epabra was well aware of the problems of these churches, and she prayed with pain that came from love.
God's Revelation and Human Unity
In the last chapter of Colossians we learn one more thing. God can reveal Himself directly to humans without going through any intermediaries. But God sometimes reveals Himself through Christian brothers.
?쏛fter you have read this letter from you, raise it up in the church of the Laodiceans, and also raise up the letter that comes from Laodicea??(4:16).
So Paul wrote two letters, one to the church in Colossae and the other to the church in Laodicea. These two letters were complementary to each other. So, the Colossians needed to know what God was saying to the Laodiceans, and conversely, the Laodiceans needed to know what God's message was to the Colossians.
The knowledge of God cannot be isolated from the human body, that is, from the community of churches and members. It is by virtue of this divine principle that we can ward off pride and recall our duty to unity. This is the same principle that applies not only to your own church, but to other churches as well.