I participate in a small group Bible study with our pastor that he has with a group before the sermon as part of his sermon preparation. It is deeply important to me. We studied Colossians 1:15-23. Colossians 1 has many parallels with Ephesians 1. These were sister churches, Gentile mostly, that did not have any outstanding moral problems. Scholars believe there was an early version of Gnosticism in Colosse (which I have seen from a distance standing in the streets of Laodicea). which explains the emphasis on Christology. As one participant said last night, it's like Paul was talking about the Colossians and just set it aside to say how awesome Jesus is. The pastor said it might be an old hymn or parts of it. It is so poetic that that seems reasonable. I need this passage today due to a family issue yesterday. I have taken out the verse markers. This is the English Standard Version translation. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creatio...
, , , r emember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12, ESV). Yes, remember what and who and how and where you were. Having no hope and without God in the world. I have recently read The Stranger by Camus, again, and this time I got it. I was really shallow before and now I'm only a normal amount of shallow. It is definitely about a man who is a stranger to the covenants of promise and who has no hope in the world and is without God. The problem is, he is okay with "the benign indifference of the universe," as the famous line goes. He accepts it, and that's the point. I don't think most people do, and they search for something to give them meaning. I fear our version of Christianity is too thin to give anyone meaning, but thankfully, God is bigger than my opinion. Many past atheists are comi...