Week 43, October 20–26: Colossians, 1–2 Thessalonians, Titus, Philemon, Lamentations

• Sun      10/20   Col 1–2
• Mon     10/21   Col 3–4
• Tue      10/22   1 Thess 1–3
• Wed     10/23   1 Thess 4–5
• Thu      10/24   2 Thess 1–3
• Fri        10/25   Titus 1–3, Philem
• Sat       10/26   Lam 1–5

After finishing Jeremiah last week, we move back into the NT this week and cover a few of Paul’s shorter letters to churches and individuals, then we return to the OT to read the short book of Lamentations before diving into Ezekiel.

The letters to the Colossian and Thessalonian churches are generally positive in tone. In contrast to books like 1 Corinthians and Galatians, Paul’s focus to the Christians in Colossae and Thessalonica is on thanking God and commending them for the evidence of the gospel’s good work in their lives and in their churches. The differences of emphasis in Paul’s letters can be attributed to the particular situations of those churches, the challenges they were facing and the ways they were responding to those challenges. In addition to that, this variety contributes to the ongoing relevance of the Bible, speaking to God’s people across the centuries in ways that fit all sorts of occasions experienced by Christians and churches throughout history. While Paul and the other NT writers were writing to particular churches in the first century world, it appears they also expected the letters to have value for a broader readership than the immediate recipients. We can be confident that God, through his providential work of inspiration, worked through the biblical authors to communicate timeless teaching for Christians from the first to the twenty-first century.

Colossians is another letter Paul wrote from prison. In this letter, Paul refers to the Christians in Colossae as the “saints and faithful brothers in Christ” (Col. 1:2). He commends the Christians there for their faithfulness, but really, as is typical for Paul, he is relentlessly God- and Christ-centered in everything he says. So, as we also see in 1–2 Thessalonians, his positive message to the Christians is more about thanking and praising God for his faithful, powerful work than it is about praising those he is writing to. “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he says to open Colossians, “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.” (Col. 1:3–4) He goes on to encourage them and exhort them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord by keeping their eyes fixed on Christ Jesus, the preeminent Son of God. Colossians contains some of the richest language in the Bible praising Jesus and proclaiming his divine character and saving work.

The two letters to the Thessalonians were written by Paul to a church he had visited in his travels as a missionary. We read of his time in Thessalonica in Acts 17. Paul had stopped there and engaged in discussions with the Jewish leaders in the synagogue. He had demonstrated from their Scriptures (our OT) that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah the Scriptures anticipated, and his death and resurrection were all part of God’s plan (Acts 17:1–3). Some of the Jews, and also some non-Jews, responded to Paul’s gospel message by believing, but some were jealous and stirred up a mob and attacked the Christians there (verses 4–9). The letters of 1 and 2 Thessalonians were written sometime later to encourage the church to continue in their faith and grow still more, even in the face of opposition and persecution.

One key theme running through Colossians and 1–2 Thessalonians is the focus on a mind set on heavenly and future realities. The gospel is good news of what God has done in Christ, and it is wonderful news of promised future realities we are to wait for with eager expectation and hope. As we look back on Christ’s death and resurrection and forward to his second coming, we can live life now with joy and peace knowing that his promises are sure; he is accomplishing his purposes in us and in the world.

Colossians encourages us to look to the risen Christ and see our own resurrection as an already-not-yet reality too. We are to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Col. 3:1–4)

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes to instill hope in his readers for Jesus’ second coming. Though we don’t know the time or season of his return, we do know he is coming. We are to remain steadfast in our faith and hope, with the “breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who dies for us so that whether we are awake [still alive at the time of his second coming] or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:1–11)

Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonian church continues this same theme of setting our minds and hope on heavenly realities and future promises. There will be judgement at the time of Christ’s return, but that judgement will be for the vindication of those who are in Christ. In the day of Jesus’ coming, he will be glorified in those who are his, and they will marvel at him. In light of this, Paul prays that God would make them (us) worthy of their (our) calling. As we await our Savior’s promised return, let us also pray that the Lord would “fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in us, and us in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 1:5–12).