Colossians 1:19-23
1. What is the most memorable “fight” you ever saw on T.V.? Prehaps it was in the days of the “Roller Derby,” or a famous boxing fight between major contenders or some “ultimate boxing.” What made that fight so memorable?
2. Read Colossians 1:19-23 in the version you normally read, and then read it again in The Message:
19 So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. 20 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe - people and things, animals and atoms - get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross. 21 You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. 22 But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. 23 You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message - just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.
Some people think boxing is the purest of sports - just one guy punching it out against another. Some abhor boxing and consider it barbaric. Whatever one’s opinion, boxing gives us a mental image of being at war with another person.
Describe an image or picture of what it is like to be at war with God.
2. Bible commentator Warren Wiersbe explains, “When the first man and woman sinned, they declared war on God; but God did not delcare war on them. Instead, God sought Adam and Eve; and He provided a covering for their sins.”
Have you ever been in a situation where someone was angry with you and you were innocent? What does your experience lend to your concept of “reconciliation”?
3. Bible scholar Richard R. Melick, Jr. tells us “First Corinthians describes Christ as the one who subdues hostile and opposing parties.”
Have you ever had to be a peacemaker? How does your experience add to the appreciation of what Christ did for us when He gave us peace with God? Describe the intervention that took place when Jesus bridged the gap between God and ourselves by taking responsibility for our sins.
4. Foundationally, reconciliation relates to the restoring of a broken relationship. What must happen in order for two estranged people to be reconciled?
5. In most instances there are two ingredients in a reconcilation. There needs to be a willingness on the part of both individuals to reconcile and there is typically an occasion to bring them together.
Were you ever reconciled to someone? What occasion brought you together?
6. Read Romans 5:6-11. Think back on the time you received Christ as your Savior, thus ending your “peronal war with God.” What was the occasion that brought you together with God? At what time was God willing to be reconciled to us? What did it cost God to be reconciled to us (verse 8)?
7. The One (Jesus) who died (and rose again) to reconcile us to God did all the work in making peace with God available to us. After considering the magnitude of such a sacrifice how does or how has this knowledge affect(ed) your life?
8. What has “Peace with God” meant in your own life, and how would you explain what you have experienced to someone who does not know Christ personally?
Colossians 1:19-23 (New American Standard); (The Message)
Melisck, Richard R. Jr., The New American Commentary - Philippians, Colossians, Philemon 224-228
Romans 5:6-11 (New American Standard)
Wiersbe, Warren The Bible Exposition Commentary 118-121
