God in Christ

The Christians in Colossae had had their beliefs about the world turned upside down when they recieved the Gospel; they had been force-fed propaganda about Caesar being a god and blessing the people with peace and prosperity for years, and then they learned about the true God and the true blessings of his kingdom.  Then, to complicate matters, Jewish converts to Christianity came to Colosse, teaching that they had to follow the laws of Moses in order to follow Jesus. The Colossians found themselves stretched between conflicting claims on their lives and their loyalties.

Paul wrote his letter to help the Colossians deal with these tensions.  However, he started his letter not with advice or instructions, but with a hymn--likely one of the earliest Christian hymns.  Paul was reminding them, in the midst of their tensions and struggles, to look to Jesus, who was the one who reconciled them to God.

Jesus is reconciling us to God, as well; let us look to him in the midst of our tensions and struggles.

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