Episode 12
Colossians - Read the NT in 90 Days
Are you ever tempted to believe that you need something more than Jesus—some special knowledge, mystical experience, or extra set of rules to truly thrive? In this episode of Seek Go Create, Tim Winders explores the powerful message of Colossians, where Paul declares Christ is truly enough, even for a church grappling with uncertainty, false teachings, and shaking ground. Dive deep into the historical context, urgent warnings, and timeless encouragement of this short but power-packed letter. If you’re seeking greater clarity and confidence in your faith journey, you won’t want to miss this episode.
"You don’t need more. You have Christ. In Him, you have everything." - Tim Winders
Access all show and episode resources HERE
Episode Resources:
- NT90 Hub – This is the central website for the 90-day New Testament reading plan, with downloadable, printable plans, background information, and links to all episodes and resources.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 Introduction: Jesus is Enough
00:21 Welcome and Resources
01:25 Overview of Colossians
03:08 Historical Context and Setting
05:41 Paul's Message to the Colossians
08:19 Themes in Colossians
10:26 Reading and Reflection
10:38 Preview of Philemon
11:36 Setting the Scene for Colossians
Transcript
Jesus is enough for a threatened church.
Speaker:False teachers are offering something more special knowledge.
Speaker:Angel worship, harsh regulations.
Speaker:Paul's answer.
Speaker:Christ is supreme.
Speaker:He's enough.
Speaker:This is Seat Go create.
Speaker:Welcome back.
Speaker:You're listening to read the New Testament in 90 days, 27 books in order in context.
Speaker:We're walking through the New Testament, the way it was written
Speaker:so you can hear it the way the first churches did, the first audiences did,
Speaker:and that is a powerful thing to do.
Speaker:I'm walking through reading this also as well as preparing these.
Speaker:It is opening up so many doors for me to just understand the
Speaker:richness and the power of scripture.
Speaker:So I hope you're enjoying this.
Speaker:Before we get started, I wanna remind you, make sure you're getting all
Speaker:the resources we have available.
Speaker:Obviously we have these episodes are on the podcast platforms and on YouTube,
Speaker:but we also have a reading plan.
Speaker:You could download a free reading plan that has a lot of.
Speaker:Extra information added in and it's also available on the hub
Speaker:where we're adding other things and resources, notes and things like that.
Speaker:It's at K two M Foundation slash NT 90 today.
Speaker:Stop one of my favorites, Colossians.
Speaker:Christ is enough, and here's why.
Speaker:That silences every voice that says You need more.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:You know, recently I read through Colossians a few times, and
Speaker:the more I did, I said, wow.
Speaker:I think I've missed some of this.
Speaker:You know, we focus a lot on Romans, which is awesome.
Speaker:And we talked a few episodes ago about something that will be coming
Speaker:up, which is Hebrews, and of course all the gospels in the New Testament.
Speaker:But Colossians, man, it is short, but it is power packed,
Speaker:so we're gonna enjoy this one.
Speaker:Here's some key facts.
Speaker:Paul is the author.
Speaker:We're confident of that.
Speaker:We believe Timothy was with him written.
Speaker:In a D 60.
Speaker:These were some of the prison letters that Paul wrote.
Speaker:The audience is Coloa, C-O-L-O-S-S-A-E.
Speaker:If you wanna pronounce it differently, you can.
Speaker:And also there's a nearby group at Laodicea, which is a
Speaker:small city in the CUS Valley.
Speaker:those are the audiences or the locations.
Speaker:That Paul is directing this to the setting, the years it has been
Speaker:30 years since the resurrection, give or take a year or so.
Speaker:Paul is in prison.
Speaker:Tikis, is the one that's gonna carry this letter and he is going
Speaker:to have someone with him, a ESUs, and we're gonna hear about him.
Speaker:In our next episode when we get to Philemon, so, these two we're gonna see
Speaker:over the next few books that we look at.
Speaker:they're the carriers, they're the ones that are delivering this
Speaker:message, and here's some historical context just to keep us grounded
Speaker:in what was going on around us.
Speaker:Nero is still on the throne in Rome.
Speaker:And as we build up here, we're in the sixties of the first century.
Speaker:We're gonna hear more from Nero, so kinda get ready for that now.
Speaker:Things seem fairly calm.
Speaker:Paul is under house arrest, not because of something Nero did, but because of some
Speaker:things we discussed in the last episode.
Speaker:You can circle back and get that context.
Speaker:Meanwhile in Jerusalem, the temple is still standing.
Speaker:Daily sacrifices are occurring, and what we know now and looking back is that
Speaker:10 years from now it will be destroyed.
Speaker:And so we've got about 10 years on the temple there.
Speaker:The region, the like US Valley, sits on unstable ground.
Speaker:This is kind of an important contextual item here.
Speaker:Earthquakes are going to shake this region for the next four
Speaker:years, from 60 to 64, it's going to wreak havoc, collapsing building.
Speaker:It's gonna take a lot of lives.
Speaker:It is gonna be devastating in many areas.
Speaker:This is historical.
Speaker:This is not mentioned biblically as much, but it's a historical fact.
Speaker:We know this occurred.
Speaker:The signs that Jesus warned about.
Speaker:In Matthew 24 are unfolding, he warned about earthquakes and we are
Speaker:seeing those 30 years later in this region that believers are gathering.
Speaker:The city Colossae is a smaller city, not one of the bigger ones in the empire.
Speaker:It's overshadowed by nearby od Dia.
Speaker:And higher opolis not really the center of anything that's, that's colossae.
Speaker:So, we need to keep that in mind.
Speaker:It's an easy target for teachers, false teachers that
Speaker:are coming along and offering.
Speaker:More.
Speaker:We're putting that in quotes here more, and it is really Jesus
Speaker:plus a bunch of other stuff.
Speaker:That's what's going on here.
Speaker:And while we are reading this in context, we know that we see a lot of that
Speaker:going on now, 2000 plus years later.
Speaker:So valuable for us to get the context of this message.
Speaker:The church founded by Ariss, and he was a native of colos and he
Speaker:heard Paul preach in Ephesus and he brought the gospel back home.
Speaker:Paul has never visited.
Speaker:This church, the tension that's going on, false teachers are offering more
Speaker:special knowledge, mystical visions.
Speaker:Angel worship, strict regulations about food and festivals.
Speaker:Harsh treatment of the body to achieve spiritual enlightenment.
Speaker:A lot of do not handle, do not taste, do not touch a lot of do
Speaker:nots that have just been piled on.
Speaker:To these believers and, and it's causing some issues, and so
Speaker:Paul wants to try to address it.
Speaker:Why now?
Speaker:Why is this being addressed now?
Speaker:Apris traveled to Paul in prison, deeply concerned.
Speaker:Paul writes to anchor them in Christ's supremacy.
Speaker:Here's the urgency.
Speaker:Paul warns The wrath of God is coming.
Speaker:In chapter three verse six, he speaks of when Christ appears in
Speaker:chapter three, verse four, and the Colossians know what that means.
Speaker:30 years have passed since the resurrection.
Speaker:Jesus said all these things would happen in a generation and a
Speaker:generation has typically been 40 years.
Speaker:In biblical terms, the signs are unfolding.
Speaker:We mentioned earlier they've, they're having earthquakes 10 years from
Speaker:now, we know the temple will be gone.
Speaker:The wrath Paul warned about will be fulfilled.
Speaker:This is a Critical letter, giving them preparation for that time that is coming.
Speaker:The hope is that wrath isn't the whole story through Christ, and
Speaker:this is the message I love from Colossians Through Christ, God is
Speaker:reconciling all things to himself.
Speaker:In chapter one, verse 20, judgment is coming and so.
Speaker:Is Restoration.
Speaker:Christ holds it all together.
Speaker:That's why he's enough.
Speaker:That's why my favorite verse, he's all in all, Christ is all in all, that's the
Speaker:message that I get from Colossians, but.
Speaker:Don't let me sway you.
Speaker:You read it in the context of the audience and you see what
Speaker:you get out of Colossians.
Speaker:Here's what you'll encounter in Colossians.
Speaker:It's exalted in direct.
Speaker:Christ is supreme.
Speaker:Full stop.
Speaker:Period.
Speaker:You'll hear about the Christ Hymn.
Speaker:I did not know much about this.
Speaker:I had to do some research in Chapter one, verse 15 through 20.
Speaker:It's an early Christian hymn about Christ's supremacy.
Speaker:He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation by him.
Speaker:All things were created, and through him to reconcile all things to himself.
Speaker:Fullness is a word you'll hear in him.
Speaker:The whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him.
Speaker:We also look at hollow philosophy.
Speaker:Don't be taken captive by human tradition or elemental spirits.
Speaker:Paul also addresses shadow versus substance.
Speaker:Food laws and festivals were shadows.
Speaker:The substance belongs to Christ.
Speaker:Don't get the shadow before the substance.
Speaker:The substance is the foundation.
Speaker:I also love to talk about old self off and the new self on put to death.
Speaker:What is earthly put on?
Speaker:Compassion, kindness, humility.
Speaker:There's also kind of a household code.
Speaker:Remember now most of these gatherings were in households.
Speaker:And the household code that came out of this is, whatever
Speaker:you do, do it for the Lord.
Speaker:You don't need more.
Speaker:You have Christ in him.
Speaker:You have.
Speaker:Everything.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:You're gonna enjoy Colossians.
Speaker:If you've never read it, get ready, strap on.
Speaker:If you have read it in the context of the first century audience, I think
Speaker:you will get a tremendous amount.
Speaker:Out of it.
Speaker:Read it in one session.
Speaker:If you need to split it up, you can, but I think we've designed it
Speaker:to read it in one, and let me give you a glimpse of what's happening
Speaker:sort of related in the next episode.
Speaker:I mentioned it earlier.
Speaker:We are going to look at Philemon.
Speaker:Philemon, I guess is the act, actual pronunciation.
Speaker:I joke about Philemon.
Speaker:It's kinda like how it would be pronounced if that name were in Lord of the Rings.
Speaker:So anyway, sorry to bring in Biblical and, Lord of the Ring's humor.
Speaker:But, Philemon is a reconciliation on a doorstep.
Speaker:It's powerful.
Speaker:The gospel meets social.
Speaker:Hierarchy Tikas, who we were introduced to in Colossians and onus.
Speaker:one of you is returning to Philemon with a letter of his own.
Speaker:So that's how it sort of relates to what we're looking at here in Colossians.
Speaker:Reminder, just to follow along with all that we're doing
Speaker:at K two M Foundation slash.
Speaker:In T 90, you've got a lot of resources you can get there.
Speaker:Now, before we read Colossians, let's immerse ourselves.
Speaker:let's picture this.
Speaker:Let's set the scene for Colossians.
Speaker:It's a D 60.
Speaker:You're crowded into a home in Colossae.
Speaker:The ground has been shaking.
Speaker:Tremors keep coming.
Speaker:The signs feel close.
Speaker:A messenger named Tikas has arrived from Paul.
Speaker:You've never met Paul, but Ris brought his teaching home from
Speaker:Ephesus and it changed everything.
Speaker:Lately though other teachers have come through.
Speaker:They're offering something more.
Speaker:Visions, angel encounters, strict rules.
Speaker:It sounds spiritual.
Speaker:It sounds good.
Speaker:It sounds deep.
Speaker:Then tikis breaks the seal and reads, and Paul's answer is clear.
Speaker:You don't need more.
Speaker:You have Christ.
Speaker:He holds all things together, even when the ground shakes judgment
Speaker:is coming, but so is restoration.
Speaker:That's why Christ is enough.
Speaker:That's why He's all in all.
Speaker:Now, let's read.
