The Strand Study Bible

Written From Rome During Paul’s First Roman Imprisonment

1992

COLOSSIANS

youngest of Jesse’s sons. The term “ firstborn ” denotes preeminence and speaks of the fact that CHRIST alone is the only one who has the right to rule over all of creation. In other words, Jesus is not merely one among many sources of Deity, but Sovereign over all. The term “ firstborn ” is yet another title, used for CHRIST , to describe His person (Heb 1:6, Rom 8:29 and Rev 1:5 & 3:14). 1:17 When God formed the world, He generated creative energy using words ( and by HIM [the WORD ; JESUS ] all things consist - Gen 1:3 and Heb 11:3). Lambert Dolphin, in an Internet Article entitled What Holds The Universe Together ?, stated:

The Holy Spirit, in giving us this inspired passage of Scripture, now explains that all things (both visible and invisible) in the entire universe were created through this same Jesus, the Eternal Word…Truth from science must in the long run agree with Biblical revelation, if the Bible is true. If the Bible “says what it means and means what it says” (to quote Chuck Missler) then it is Jesus who holds the universe in his hands. Our moment-by-moment existence depends on His gracious sustenance of every electron, every atom, every molecule and every spiritual entity as well…As we have already seen, Colossians and Hebrews credit Jesus with holding all things together and with sustaining the entire universe “with His mighty word of power.” 1

NOTE – Recent scientific studies 2 have documented the fact that energy (the basic elements of all matter) is bound together by sound waves. Researchers at institutions no less than UCLA and the University of Chicago have verified the production of light from bubbles when sound is passed through a liquid, called sonoluminescence. Interestingly enough, Moses already recorded that fact for us thirty-five hundred years ago when he said in Genesis 1:3: And God said ( sound waves ), Let there be light: and there was light. 1:18a Whereas the emphasis of the letter to the Ephesians is all about the “body” of Christ (the Church), the emphasis of the letter to the Colossians is all about the head of that body (Colo 2:9-10). Common sense informs us that the head controls the body, not vice versa. 1:18b Jesus is to be given preeminence (total supremacy). All too often, however, believers give Jesus eminence (importance), but not preeminence” (the last say - Lk 6:46). THE ADAGE IS TRUE: You don’t have to deny CHRIST to dethrone Him 1:23 Paul was speaking here to the unsaved within the Colossian church ( and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel ). No matter what church Paul addressed, he always had to consider the fact that there would be “tares” amongst the “wheat,” unsaved people among the saved within local churches (Mt 13:24-33, Gal 5:4 and Rev 2:7 & 3:5 c ). 1:25 A dispensation may be defined as a “ stewardship , administration , oversight , or management of another’s property .” This, of course, involves responsibility, accountability, and faithfulness on the part of the steward. Therefore a dispensation from God’s viewpoint is an economy, but from man’s viewpoint a responsibility. Dispensationalism views the world as a household run by God. In His household-world God is dispensing or administering its affairs according to His own will and in various stages of revelation in the passage of time. These various stages mark off the distinguishably different economies in the outworking of His total purpose, and these different economies constitute the dispensations. Dispensationalism began around 1831 in Plymouth, England and was promoted by John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), the leader of the Plymouth Brethren. Darby’s teachings greatly influenced such men as C.I. Scofield ( The Scofield Reference Bible ) and L.S. Chafer (the first president of Dallas Theological Seminary). C.I. Scofield, in his life’s work called The Scofield Reference Bible , defined dispensationalism as a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. According to Scofield, seven dispensations are distinguished in Scripture: 1. The Dispensation of Innocence (or, Freedom) (Gen 1:28 - from Adam to the Fall) 2. The Dispensation of Conscience (or, Moral Responsibility) (Gen 3:7 - from the Fall to the Flood) 7. The Dispensation of the Kingdom (or, Millennium) (Rev 20:4 - from the Second Coming of Christ through the Millennium) 3 The doctrine of dispensationalism claims to be an aid in supplying the answer to the need for biblical distinctions, in offering a satisfying philosophy of history, and in employing a consistently normal principle of interpretation. Dispensationalists view the Bible not as a textbook on theology but as the continually unfolding revelation of God given by various means throughout the successive ages. Dispensationalism is premillennial in its views. 2. Dispensational theologians (those who believe that the purpose of God is broader than that; namely, the glory of God) The whole argument, therefore, between covenant theologians and dispensational theologians is whether the glory of God is the number one purpose of God above and beyond His saving purpose. The dispensational theologians believe that God has various ways to manifest His glory (saving souls being but one of them). Dr. Ryrie in Dispensationalism notes: We who are dispensationalists would do well to remember this. Dispensational truth is not necessarily the most NOTE – Dr. Charles Ryrie in Dispensationalism discusses two kinds of Christian theologians: 1. Covenant theologians (those who believe that the purpose of God is the saving of souls) 3. The Dispensation of Human Government (Gen 8:15 - from the Flood to Abraham) 4. The Dispensation of Promise (or, Patriarchal Rule) (Gen 12:1 - from Abraham to the Law) 5. The Dispensation of the Mosaic Law (Exo 19:1 - from the Law to Pentecost) 6. The Dispensation of the Church (Acts 2:1 - from Pentecost to the Second Coming of Christ)