Jesus Rocks: Destination Amazing

Today we begin our journey in the book of Colossians. A bit of historical background is in order as we begin our study.

The town of Colosse was located about eighty miles inland from the city of Ephesus, in the Lycus River Valley, in what is today the western part of Turkey. At one time it was one of the prominent towns of the valley, but by the New Testament era it was a small town well in the shadow of its nearby neighbors, Laocdicea and Hierapolis. Biblical scholarship believes that the Colossian church came into being during Paul's two-year ministry in Ephesus, because Acts 19:10 says that during that time "all...who lived in the province of Asia (which included Colosse) heard the word of the Lord."

The Scriptures reveal that as Paul was preaching in Ephesus, two visitors from Colosse came to believe - namely, Epaphras (4:12) and Philemon (Philemon 19). Philemon later hosted the Colossian church in his home (Philemon 1,2), and Epaphras served as Paul's lietenant in evangelizing the Lycus Valley. Therefore, a new thriving church sprouted in Colosse though Paul had never been there himself. Paul, of course, had a deep interest in the church and prayerfully advised Epaphras and Philemon as necessary. So  it was quite natural that when a major problem arose in colosse, Epaphras came to him for help.

The Problem came from false teachers who were propagating a combination of false Greek philosophy and Judaistic legalism and ceremonialism. All that is to say the Colossian heresy contained many diverse elements, at its core was a denial of the sufficiency of Christ from where we draw the title for this series: Jesus Rocks!

On the Victory Side,

Dave