Colossians

so its been awhile since i wrote on here
i'm starting to go through colossians now
but i'm going to do it a bit differently than ephesians and philippians
i'm not sure what that means yet but i will hopefully be posting more about all that I am learning and share what God has been teaching me through the book
so far the background to colossians has been quite surprising to me
i'm sure i have heard it before but seeing it again was really interesting and gave me new insights into what I am reading
Paul wrote this letter to the colossians without ever having been there before
Epaphras who is mentioned in ch.1 vs 7 responded to Paul's message, most likely in Ephesus, and returned to Colossae to preach to them and establish the church there
The colossians would have been a much smaller group than Philipi or Ephesus but they still struggled with some of the same things
The main point of Paul's letter was dealing with the false teachers who were claiming to have come in the name of Christ but were preaching fasle doctrine and confusing the colossians
In vs. 5 of the first chapter Paul says "...of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel"
Paul is calling them to remember exactly who Jesus is and for them to remember what they had originally been taught about the gospel.
Basically it's like this "Guys you've heard it before, you know the truth, Epaphras taught you everything about Jesus and His supremacy, so stop listening to these false teachers and remember what you have been taught.
That is the basis for the rest of the Letter. Paul proclaims Christ, who He is, what He has done and is doing, and finally how the Colossians should act in response to this
I found that as I read the verse with the background in mind I could understand better the intention of the letter and apply it much better to my life. If I do not have a firm established belief in Christ set up than it will be easy to fall into what some of the false teachers are saying. I am so thankful that I have been taught in Christ from a young age and that I have many people in my life who continually teach me and remind me of what an awesome hope I have in Jesus