In this course, Dr. Joshua Jipp takes you through each passage of Colossians, identifying important themes such as Christ’s work in creation and redemption, our union with Christ, and sanctification. You’ll learn from Paul how to pray God-centered prayers of thanksgiving and intercession. You’ll better understand the role that Christology plays in Paul’s argumentation and how that Christology can shape our identity each and every day. Dr. Jipp also provides background information on the church in Colossae and describes the challenges the Colossians may have been facing. He examines the genre as well—you’ll learn what an epistle is, why someone like Paul would write one, and what you should be looking for as you read.
“There is a correlation, in other words, between Christian confession of who Jesus Christ is as Messiah and Lord and then life, or ethics. In other words, all of life—in terms of the Christian life—is simply an unfolding of Jesus’ lordship and His messiahship.” (source)
“‘If you have received this—that Jesus is Messiah and Jesus is Lord—if you have confessed this, then all that you need to continue is to simply walk in that reality.’” (source)
“Well, if this is where God is fully located, if God has made Himself fully known, and all of His presence is now located in the person of the Messiah, then the obvious goal for all of humanity is connection with the Messiah.” (source)
“But in Colossians, we see that that eschatology is more realized so that Paul, now, is primarily using the language of, ‘You have been raised’ and ‘You have experienced these eschatological realities.’ And so, it was primarily this reason—for stylistic differences—that scholars started to question whether or not Paul actually wrote Colossians.” (source)
“The fullness of God dwells in Messiah Jesus in bodily form. By virtue of Him being God as well as sharing in human existence, we then are able to be filled with that fullness of God.” (source)