Paul was grateful for the Colossian church for the way they were bearing fruit after hearing and understanding the gospel. They embraced a living hope that was at that time unimaginable to the Greek culture. Their faith, hope and love resonated with spiritual seekers. This living hope changed them and knit them together in community that was attractive to their neighbors.

Paul prays for the Colossians that as they grow in their knowledge of God, they will learn to honor God. As they honor God, they will bear fruit and they will grow even more in their knowledge of God. This cycle of knowing God and bearing fruit leads to experiencing God in deeper ways as we learn to trust in the life-changing power of his love.

This passage summarizes in a nutshell the entire story of the Bible. It encapsulates who Christ is and what he has done as King, Creator and Redeemer. As King, he has enabled fallen man to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son. As Redeemer, he has reconciled us by paying the debt we could never pay. As Creator, he is the source of regeneration from death into life, a new life.

Participating in the suffering of Christ involves counting the cost of the pain of living in interdependent community, knowing the purpose of that pain and receiving the prize of following him, that is, joy. The experience of joy is directly related to the value of the object of joy, the incomparable Christ.

The continuity of grace is a process that God has us on as we walk with Jesus. This process involves us responding to what God has done for us, by receiving from him and being rooted in him, being strengthened by interwoven lives, and having complete confidence through understanding of his mysterious plan in Christ.

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the most central truth of the New Testament. Christ did what for us what only God could do for us. It is through the incarnation of Jesus that we can know God. Christ answers our need to know God, our need to be worthy and our need to matter. In Christ, God made us whole. He became our proxy. What is true of him is true of us. He took our place and paid the price to free us from our sin debt.

Just as nothing can change the details of our past, neither can anything change the fact of our justification if we are in Christ. If we are in Christ, it is a fact that we are raised and seat with Him. Now, our life is completely identified with Christ's life. What is true off Jesus is true of us. And finally, when Jesus is revealed in glory, so will we. Knowing all these things are true, we are to keep our eyes focused on Christ and the things above.

When we become believers in Jesus, God embarks on a renewal process that involves us putting on Christ and setting aside the old self, the old way of life. We can know intellectually that we are a new creation, but we must go deeper and really consider our bodies to be dead to the old immoral ways. As we are clothed in the newness of Christ, all the differences between people falls away. We are one in Christ. This is real hope for a broken world. It cannot be lived out individualistically. It is lived out corporately, united with one another.

As Christians, we have become a new creation in Christ, not just as individuals but also as the corporate body of Christ. We are to put on the newness of Christ not merely as individuals but as a whole community. A renewed community thrives on grace, is united through love, cultivates peace, grows in truth, and reflects Christ to others.

The household instructions of the ancient Greco-Roman world dictated that the male head of the household had absolute rule over the wife, the children and the slaves and servants. The idea of equality was unheard of in this time period. When we cringe at Paul's call for wives to be subject to their husbands as is fitting to the Lord, wives of his day would have heard a radical revision of the household rules. Instead of everyone being under the rule of the husband, now everyone is under the headship of God. Before only the husband had rights and all else had responsibilities, but now all have both rights and responsibilities. Men, women and slaves were relating as equals in Christian fellowship. Over time this caused a radical shift in the culture as the rest of society saw believers caring for others regardless of their status.