1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:05,800 All right, my Bible in 365. Brothers and sisters, we have 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:10,640 arrived at the wonderful letter that Paul writes to the 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,520 Colossians, and this one is a doozy. 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:19,000 I love this letter, and I know you will too. 5 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:22,720 Now let me just simply say this. There is so much to this letter. 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:28,560 It's so incredibly important and I go through this thoroughly. 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,040 If you want more in depth teaching on this letter, you can 8 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,560 go to jamescadis.com. I have multiple generations of 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,360 these studies that have been taught, probably should say 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,720 iterations. Either way, there's many of 11 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:46,120 them, and you can learn so much about what I believe may be one 12 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:51,400 of the most important letters in the subject of spiritual warfare 13 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,880 that you will ever see. Now, let me just start off by 14 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:56,760 doing something that I don't normally do. 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,920 I'm going to start by reading my three favorite verses in this 16 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,680 letter, and then I'm going to talk about what the central 17 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,440 message of Colossians is. And I'm going to go over some of 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,920 the specifics related to some of the words that we just read. 19 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,400 Now we go to Colossians chapter 1. 20 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,560 We'll start at verse 15. We'll read 1516 and 17. 21 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,120 And it says this. Who is in? 22 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:31,120 I said in who is the image of the invisible God, the first 23 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,000 born of every creature? We're talking about Christ. 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,440 By the way, this is sort of where I'm picking off here. 25 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,280 It says I said picking off. I meant picking up. 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,400 I'm not editing this video for by him. 27 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,040 We're all things created that are in heaven and that are in 28 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,040 earth, visible and invisible, whether they be Thrones or 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:50,960 dominions or principalities or powers. 30 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,680 All things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before 31 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,760 all things, and by Him all things consist. 32 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:05,720 OK, this is so rich and there is so much to say about what is 33 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,960 spoken of right here in these 3 verses, but let's just talk 34 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,600 about the central message of the book of Colossians. 35 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,000 Now, let me just simply say we are absolutely dealing with 36 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,720 spiritual warfare here. Everything that happens in the 37 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,880 visible is a result of something that's happening in the visible, 38 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:29,320 which is why Colossians fundamentally is about the 39 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,440 supremacy and the sufficiency. And yes, may I even use the word 40 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:38,360 preeminency of Jesus Christ? Paul is literally writing to a 41 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,440 church that's being exposed to ideas that attempted to add 42 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,960 something to Christ, almost create something in him that 43 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,440 didn't exist. They're adding things like human 44 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,640 philosophy and religious tradition, legalism and 45 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:57,360 mysticism, and they're even talking about angelic beings and 46 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,840 spiritual experiences. And Paul's answer to all of this 47 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,920 is very simple. You don't need something in 48 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:07,720 addition to Christ because everything ultimately exists 49 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,040 under Him. Jesus. 50 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,720 He's not merely one spiritual power among many. 51 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,480 That's what he's saying. He's not competing with the 52 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,120 spiritual realm. He actually created it. 53 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,360 So every throne and dominion and principality and power owes its 54 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,320 existence to Christ. OK, the one who created it. 55 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,360 And notice what it says here. And I read this to you, the 56 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,360 image of the invisible God. I want you to focus on that 57 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,560 phrase because yes, it's Speaking of God being invisible 58 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,480 and Christ making the invisible God known. 59 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,960 Christ is not simply a reflection of God, He is the 60 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,680 perfect revelation of God. He himself is God. 61 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,880 And if you want to know what God is like, look at Christ. 62 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,560 Colossians completely destroys, and when I say destroys, I mean 63 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,920 destroys any concept of Jesus being merely a a prophet or a 64 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,680 teacher or an angelic being or some sort of created spiritual 65 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,680 entity. That is not the case. 66 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:18,040 Christ stands completely above it all because he created it. 67 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,279 And notice what it says. He's the first born of every 68 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,320 creature. By the way, first born does not 69 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,000 mean that Jesus was the first thing that God created. 70 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,440 OK, Jesus is God. The context immediately 71 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,920 eliminates that interpretation because verse 16 says all things 72 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,680 were created by him. So you can't take that 73 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,880 interpretation. The word first born actually 74 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,200 speaks to position. It speaks to the supremacy of 75 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,920 Christ and even inheritance. And yes, dare I even say rank? 76 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:51,960 OK, Christ possesses first place over all creation. 77 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,680 Everything belongs to him. Everything ultimately answers to 78 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,520 him. That's what he's saying. 79 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:02,720 And again, the emphasis is the fact that there is a visible and 80 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,160 invisible world. It says, for by him we're all 81 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,760 things created that are in heaven and that are in earth. 82 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,120 Notice this visible and invisible. 83 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,560 And we tend to judge reality according to what we can see and 84 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,040 feel and touch and smell. Paul reminds us that reality 85 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,040 extends far beyond what we perceive to be the physical 86 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,240 world. There is a clearly a visible 87 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,200 realm. We play in it every day, but 88 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:30,800 there's an invisible realm. And the Bible constantly, and by 89 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,480 the way, may I even say consistently shows us that 90 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,720 events taking place in the physical world frequently have a 91 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,280 spiritual dimension that sits directly behind it. 92 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:44,600 As a matter of fact, I'm going to say that nothing happens 93 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:46,800 unless it first starts in the spiritual realm. 94 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:51,400 That includes governments rising and falling and kingdoms falling 95 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,520 apart and, and coming up. All these types of things, even 96 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,520 the decisions that people make and the conflicts that developed 97 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,120 and all the temptation and deception that takes place. 98 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,720 All of this, all of this is literally spiritual. 99 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,680 And notice what it says here. Thrones, dominions, 100 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,680 principalities, powers. These are not things that we 101 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,840 that we ignore. Paul deliberately uses language 102 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:18,920 describing authority and power and connects them to the 103 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:23,160 invisible world. I think these terms can describe 104 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,920 ranks or or maybe structures within an unseen realm. 105 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,640 And I think that that's really important. 106 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,880 There is this structure that God is putting behind the realm that 107 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,080 we cannot even see. And the Bible teaches that there 108 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,760 are spiritual beings that do have differing levels of 109 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:41,920 authority. And remember, we watched it 110 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,120 happen as we read about it in the Bible. 111 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,560 Some remain faithful to God, others rebelled against God. 112 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,560 Satan operates within that. Very rebellious, A spiritual 113 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,960 Kingdom and demonic powers are absolutely real, and 114 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:55,360 principalities and powers are real. 115 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,800 We talk about this. Spiritual warfare is very real. 116 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,160 None of them, by the way, none of them are independent of God's 117 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:07,520 authority, Christ specifically. They're not equal forces, sort 118 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,760 of battling against Jesus doesn't work that way. 119 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:13,480 They are created beings and Christ is the one who is the 120 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:14,280 Creator. Why? 121 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,360 How do we know that all things were created by Him? 122 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,400 And notice what it says. And for Him, OK, and He is 123 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,680 before all things. That means Christ came before it 124 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,520 all. He existed before creation. 125 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,960 He existed before, you know, Adam and Abraham and and Isaac 126 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:33,600 and Jacob, before all of these people. 127 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,960 He existed before the angels. He existed before everything. 128 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,440 And by Him what all things consist. 129 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,400 Christ didn't create the universe and walk away from it. 130 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:45,400 That's not what That's not what happens here. 131 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:47,440 He literally is the sustainer of it. 132 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:51,480 For those of you physicists, if you wonder where the term atomic 133 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:56,200 glue comes from, guess what? Christ is the atomic glue, OK? 134 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:00,480 He holds it all together. Every physical law operates 135 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,440 under his actual authority, OK? Every breath that we take, it 136 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,800 looks it. Listen, it happens because God 137 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,400 permits it, OK? Every heartbeat. 138 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,880 I mean, we could get down to every single little thing and 139 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:16,800 point it out and go, Yep, that's under his authority. 140 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,480 Yes, that's under his authority. And I think if we believe those 141 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,640 things or we recognize those things, then this changes how we 142 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:31,640 understand spiritual warfare. Let me say this, especially in 143 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,960 light of the crazy year that we've had, spiritual warfare 144 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,720 should never cause the Christian to become fascinated with Satan 145 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:41,880 or demons or any of those things. 146 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,280 The focus here of Colossians is not the greatness of the enemy. 147 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,960 The focus is the greatness of the God that created it all for 148 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:52,960 granted. Don't get me wrong, Satan has a 149 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,040 ton of power and so do demonic forces. 150 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,880 Massive power that I can't face on my own. 151 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,160 Neither can you. Principalities and powers, they 152 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,080 exist. However, their power is limited. 153 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,840 It's actually created by God and undoubtedly subordinate. 154 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,040 So Christ's authority is what is unlimited. 155 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:19,960 Spiritual warfare is not Jesus struggling to defeat Satan if 156 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:24,240 you really think about it. It's created rebels, people who 157 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:30,000 rebelled against the Lord, operating very temporarily under 158 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,600 limitations that were established by the Creator, 159 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,000 Almighty God. And by the way, I wasn't even 160 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,160 planning on doing this, but I will just simply say this 161 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,000 current Colossians in chapter 2 takes this a lot further. 162 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:45,360 OK, Look what it says in verse 15. 163 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,200 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he 164 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:53,200 made a show of them openly. What triumphing over them in it. 165 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,560 But it's a heavy, heavy statement. 166 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,000 So if you think about it it, it really becomes something that is 167 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,720 tangible to us as believers. Because as believers, what we're 168 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,560 doing is we're learning so much more about the way that we live. 169 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,920 And then look, it all comes to a practical result if you then be 170 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,400 risen with Christ. This is what it says in chapter 171 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:20,280 3 verse one. Seek those things which are 172 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:25,480 above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 173 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,680 That's what it says. And guys, I'm not getting that 174 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:28,960 wrong in my memory. I'm not. 175 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,160 Set your affection on things above, not on things of the 176 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,360 earth. That's verbatim what's actually 177 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:37,960 said. Why? 178 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:43,920 Because Christ rules above everything, our attention should 179 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,880 be directed toward him. Everything else falls into 180 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:52,000 place. The message of Colossians, in 181 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:56,840 one simple way of phrasing it, is that there is a visible and 182 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,520 invisible world. There are Thrones and dominions 183 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:05,200 and principalities and powers. There is real and genuine 184 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,360 spiritual warfare, and Christians who refuse to engage 185 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,240 in it become the first casualties of it. 186 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,600 There are forces that are operating that human eyes cannot 187 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:21,240 see, but above every single one of them is Christ Jesus. 188 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,920 He created them, He existed before them, He sustains what He 189 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:31,320 created, and He defeated the rebellious powers that existed 190 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,720 because of what He did on the cross and Him resurrecting from 191 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,680 the dead. Everything was created by Him, 192 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:44,080 everything was created for Him, and everything answers to Him. 193 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,960 That's Colossians. Christ is not simply part of the 194 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,200 spiritual reality behind this world, He's pre eminent over all 195 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:57,800 of it, which is why we should seek Him at every bend. 196 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:02,880 It's what gives us the power to do what I tell you to do every 197 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,040 single day, and that's fight the good fight. 198 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:08,080 I'm proud of you. Keep reading the word. 199 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:12,040 So excited about what God is doing in your life as you're 200 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,280 dedicating yourself to Him. Have I told you how much I love 201 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:20,320 you and how blessed I am to be able to give you with my whole 202 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,240 heart all these things that God has shown me? 203 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,960 Once again I love you guys. Remember Christ is over all. 204 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:27,440 Keep fighting the good fight.