Where in the world is Colosse?
If I put a map of the United States in front of you, you could quickly identify great cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas. If you lived in the first century, you could quickly identify cities like Ephesus, Corinth, or Rome. But if you were asked to point out the city of Colosse, you would have been stumped. "Colosse? Where’s that?" Colosse was a rural farming community of diminishing importance. How many of you grew up in a rural place like Colosse? How many of you grew up?
I grew up in Herscher. The main industry in Herscher is the grain elevator. If you grew up in a farming town you know the routine. "So where are you from?" "Chicago." It’s just easier to lie than to spendtwenty minutes giving directions! That was Colosse.
For centuries no oneeven knew where the city of Colosse was located. Archaeologists eventually found a hump of dirt somewhere. The only reason we are talking about Colosse today is because God did something extraordinary there. Colosse became ground zero for the mighty working of God’s hand. What God did in Colosse was so extraordinary that it made the six o’clock news in Rome! The only way Herscher would ever make the six o’clock news in Chicago is if something really terrible happened. And nothing ever did. Once in a while a grain wagon would spill over.
What happened in Colosse?
Here’s what happened in Colosse. Jesus Christ, who claimed to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world, was executed on a cross in Jerusalem. Jesus’ body was laid in a tomb, sealed with a heavy stone, and put under Roman guard. It was hoped that Christ’s execution would restore order to the rioting masses in Jerusalem, who wanted a political messiah.
But three days later, Jesus’ body was nowhere to be found. Only the blood-stained linens in which Jesus was buried remained in the tomb. All evidence, including the testimony of eye witnesses, pointed to a conspiracy of unfathomable size. It could not be disproved by the investigating authorities whether Jesus had been raised from the grave. His body was just gone.
Within days, eyewitness accounts began to surface that stated that the crucified Christ, now raised, was appearing to his closest followers throughout Jerusalem. First he appeared to some women, then to Jesus’ twelve disciples, then to a group of five hundred believers.
Thousands of people, even priests, werebeing baptized into the name of Jesus Christ. They wanted forgiveness. They wanted to be reconciled to God once and for all. They believed that God’s Holy Spirit could free them from the power of sin. They believed that God could rescue them from death just as God rescued Jesus from deathbythe resurrection of Jesus' body from the grave.
But one man,Saul, would hear nothing of it. Saul was a Roman citizen, but he was also a Jew, zealous for the law of God. He believed in God, but despised Christ, and he began persecuting these Christians claiming to have seen a resurrected Christ. In Acts 6 Saul stood approvingly as a man named Stephen was stoned to deathbecause ofhis belief in the resurrection of Christ.
Saul hated everything that Christ represented. He was a man of the law. "You do this, and if you don’t,you're under God’s curse, you're cut off, and you're condemned. If you’re not a Jew, not a descendant of Abraham, or if you’ve not been circumcised,you cannot be saved. You're going to sheol."
So here comes Jesus, claiming to be the Savior of the whole world and not just for the Jew. Because of his death on the cross, Jesus’ followers believed that he had paid the penalty for their sins. They believedthat on the cross, Jesus had borne in his flesh the curse of God on behalf of sinful man. They believed that in Jesus' dying,in becoming a curse for sinful man,all men could be forgiven of their sins and could experience the fullness of life in God. So here is Saul preaching condemnation. And there are the Christians preaching forgiveness and grace.
Saul angrily sought to destroy grace. There was no way he was going tolerate any notion of God pardoning men of their sins. In Saul’s mind, every follower of Christ needed to be destroyed, lest he lead people away from the law.
But then Jesus appeared to Saul and said,"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" That became Saul’s defining moment. After that, Saul was no longer Saul. He became the apostle Paul! He became a ferocious advocate for the good news of grace. One day he was a murderer, andthe next day he was a missionary. One day he was persecuting Christians, and the next day he was suffering for Christ and preaching the forgiveness of sin to all nations.
Read the book of Acts sometime. Paul went all over the Roman empire preaching the story of Christ. Paul was preaching forgiveness. Paul was preaching the resurrection of Jesus. Paul was preaching hope. He went back to Jerusalem. He went to Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Phillipi, and Rome. But there is one place thatPaulnever went to— Colosse.
Paul meets Epaphras.
While in Ephesus, Paul meets a man named Epaphras. Guess where Epaphras was from? Chicago, otherwise known as Collose. Paul tells Epaphras about God’s grace and God's offer of peacethrough Jesus Christ. Epaphras leaves Ephesus and goes back to Colosse to tell his family about Jesus Christ. And he goes to the cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis too, and tells the people there about God’s grace.
And you know what? It started to happen. A tiny seed of grace was planted, and it produced such a gigantic harvest that all the grain wagons in Colosse couldn’t hold it. God’s grace produced such an enormous harvest that word of it began spilling over in the streets of Colosse, and then into its neighboring communities, and then it spread to larger cities like Ephesus, and then it made the six o’clock news in Rome, and here we are still talking about it thousands of years later!
Paul’s first impulsewas to grab a pen and celebrate the news of whatwas happening in Colosse. Paul wrote these words in Colossians 1:3-8 (NIV)."Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospelthat has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit."
The people of Colosse needed encouragement.
You know, sometimes we get discouraged. There we are, in obscurity, in some rural community, just plodding along, sowing the seeds of God’s grace, and nothing seems to be happening. "Colosse, where’s that? Epaphras who? What kind of mother gives a name like that to her child? Did she love you?"
The Christians at Colosse were long overdue for some encouragement. Paul’s message to them was to encourage them. "Listen up church! You don’t lack anything! You have received the full and complete gospel! The gospel is working just as powerfully and effectively in Colosse as it is anywhere else in the world! That seed is growing, bearing fruit among you just as it is all over the world.
Paul was thankful for their faith in Jesus Christ.
But how could they know? Paul mentions a number of evidences of God’s work in their lives. First, he was thankful for their faith in Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:2 (NIV) they are described as, "faithful brothers" In Colossians 1:4 (NIV) he says, "We have heard of your faith." Any time a person repents of sin and sincerely seeks forgiveness, it’s a miracle. We humans are proud. We are stubborn. We are arrogant. We are blind. We love the darkness. We don’t like God’s word judging our thoughts, our attitudes, our behavior, or our decisions. So we avoid God. We know better than God. We don’t need God. We trust in ourselves. We humans don’t trust. Instead, we try to control.We don’t ask to be saved. Instead,we try to save ourselves.
But faith in Christ runs contrary to our sinful nature. Faith causes us to reach beyond ourselves and to seek new life in God. Every time a person turns to God for new life, it’s a miracle.And we should give God thanks.
Paul was thankful for their love.
Second, Paul was thankful for their love. In Colossians 1:4 (NIV) he mentions the love they have, "for all the saints".In Colossians 1:8 (NIV) he mentions their, "love in the spirit". Can you name one thing that causes people to begin loving others? A couple is fighting andthey want a divorce. A teenager is rebelling against her parents. An investor is defrauding clients of billions. Politicians are grabbing after power. Nobody cares about you. Nobody cares about his neighbor— not genuinely. It’s every man, woman, and child for himself. No free rides. Earn it.
But up springs the community of God— a community filled with love and mutual concern. A community where people pay attention, and pray, and give generously. A community where marriages are restored, families are healed, and relationships are reconciled. A community where people, prompted by God’s Spirit, spontaneously love one another in creative and sacrificial ways. Such love doesn’t come from within. It's a miracle. Love is one of the greatest evidences of God’s work.
Paul was thankful for their hope.
Third, Paul was thankful for their hope. Politicians promise hope, but end up spreading panic andfear. I cannot think of a time when people have been filled with more anxiety than now. We have stopped believing in a better future because everything we’ve put our trust in is failing us (government, capitalism, and investments). We have stopped giving because we’re not sure there’s going to be enough left for ourselves.
But not the Colossians. Their faith and love was rooted inthe resurrection of Christ. Thatjust as he died, was buried, was raised to new life, and ascended to the Father, so in death, they too would be raised up to life. Our hope isn’t in men. We can’t save ourselves from death. Government programs aren’t going to save us. Politicians aren’t going to save us. Education, healthcare, banks— none of it saves. Only the hand of God saves. He is our hope.
Paul was thankful that they understood grace.
Last, Paul was thankful that they understood grace. Grace is the undeserved favor of God. God could have abandoned us. God could have said, "Go ahead, trust in yourselves." He could have abandoned us to our selfish and destructive ways. He could have said, "Go ahead, save yourselves." But instead, God gives us hope, pardons our sin, and promises us a new future.
We’ve decided to call this new series "Exposed: The Secret Revealed" because everything we need for life has been fully shown to us in Christ. The Colossians understood this and embraced faith, hope, love, and grace. And in the process, the Colossians made history. If God can do it in Colosse, he can do it in Springfield.