The Full GospelSample

The Gospel You Heard // The Gospel According to Colossians

Colossians is another letter from the Apostle Paul, and it’s packed with truths that highlight the goodness and beauty of the gospel. In the first chapter, Paul gives us a powerful and simple summary of the gospel:

For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 NIV

Through the work of Jesus, God has rescued us from darkness and brought us into the light of His love. Because of Jesus, our past has been redeemed, our sins have been forgiven, and our purpose has been restored. While that single sentence is more than enough for us to understand the core of what God has done for us, it’s not the full picture. In the next passage, Paul goes on to explore the cosmic scope of the gospel:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1:15 NIV

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus. God became a person so we could see Him, hear Him, and relate to Him on a personal level.

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17 NIV

The very bedrock of the universe, the stitching that holds everything together, is Jesus. He is above and beyond all things. And all things are sustained by Him.

And he is the head of the body, the church … Colossians 1:18 NIV

The church is God’s people, led by Jesus. He is the head, and we are the body. He directs us, and we follow Him.

… he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Colossians 1:18 NIV

His death and resurrection is a preview of what will be true for all of us when Jesus returns to finish what He started.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20 NIV

The fullness of God was made manifest in Jesus. And through His life, death, and resurrection, God has made a way for all things to be reconciled back to Him. And that reconciliation is available to you.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard … Colossians 1:21-23 NIV

This is the gospel. God, as a human being, did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He lived a perfect life, never sinning, always choosing to love God as He deserved, and always choosing to love others as He would want to be loved.

And in the ultimate demonstration of that love, He gave up His life in obedience to His Father as the sacrifice for our sins.

In the second chapter, Paul digs a bit deeper into the specifics of what Jesus was able to achieve through His crucifixion:

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:13-15

On the cross, Jesus cancelled the charges of our legal indebtedness. What does that mean? It means the debt we owed because of the sins we committed was paid for in full. By taking death upon Himself, Jesus purchased life for us.

In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul wrote these words:

None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Corinthians 2:8 NIV

While Jesus was bleeding, the darkness was cheering. But on the third day, Jesus did the impossible. He came back from the dead. He defeated death. He conquered sin. He put the devil in his place. And He secured the victory of everyone who belongs to Him.