Getting Started…
Have you ever had a fight with someone and afterward you felt like never talking to them again? Did you ever restore your relationship with that person? How did you move past what happened and reconcile with them?
Colossians 1:15-20
List every affirmation made of Jesus in verses 15-18.
What is Christ’s relationship to God? To creation? To the church?
Most think that this passage was a hymn the early church sung. Why would this be a fitting hymn? What value would singing a hymn like this have?
Verses 15-18 tell us who Jesus is. Verses 19-20 tell us what Jesus has done. Why is knowing who Jesus is important to understanding what he has done?
Re-read verse 20. Does this verse mean that everyone is reconciled to God (i.e. everyone will be saved)? Why or why not?
Colossians 1:21-23
What was our condition that made reconciliation to God necessary?
How are we reconciled to God? What did God do that we might be reconciled to Him? What is the primary action on our part that makes what Christ has done for us effective?
What benefits does reconciliation to God afford us?
What responsibility do those of us who are reconciled to God have to those who are not? How can we share the gospel in a way that emphasizes our need to be reconciled to God?
Colossians 1:24-2:3
How does the revelation of Jesus fit the description of a mystery reveled?
According to verse 28, what was Paul’s aim for those he came in contact with? What did Paul do in order to fulfill this goal?
How does knowing what Christ endured for us make us willing to endure difficulty for others that they might know Christ? According to verse 27 and 29, how are we empowered to share the gospel?
Paul describes his ministry with words like “suffering, afflictions, labor, struggle, and being a servant”. Could these words describe the extent you are willing to go to see others reconciled to God? Why or why not?
What changes takes place in us when we have “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (v. 27) How is this the ultimate expression of our reconciliation to God?
Pensees 