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1:1 Timothy was one of Paul’s closest co-workers. So close was their relationship and so significant Timothy’s ministry that Paul included him as one of the senders of this letter as well as of 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon.
1:12-13 always thanking the Father: Humble gratitude to God for salvation is a powerful antidote to the lure of false teaching (see also 2:7; 3:17; 4:2). • The inheritance is what God has promised his people (e.g., see Deut 3:28; Ps 33:12; Ezek 44:28). In the New Testament, the inheritance consists of salvation and final deliverance (see also Eph 1:11; Titus...
1:12-13 always thanking the Father: Humble gratitude to God for salvation is a powerful antidote to the lure of false teaching (see also 2:7; 3:17; 4:2). • The inheritance is what God has promised his people (e.g., see Deut 3:28; Ps 33:12; Ezek 44:28). In the New Testament, the inheritance consists of salvation and final deliverance (see also Eph 1:11; Titus 3:7; Heb 9:15).
1:15 visible image: In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, eikōn (“image, representation”) is used to refer to human beings having been made in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27) and also to the wisdom figure in Jewish writings (see Wisdom of Solomon 7:25-26). The New Testament writers speak about Christ as God’s wisdom to help explain his significance (...
1:15 visible image: In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, eikōn (“image, representation”) is used to refer to human beings having been made in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27) and also to the wisdom figure in Jewish writings (see Wisdom of Solomon 7:25-26). The New Testament writers speak about Christ as God’s wisdom to help explain his significance (cp. 1 Cor 1:24, 30). • He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation (or He is the firstborn of all creation): This phrase figured prominently in early Christian debates about the nature of Christ. Firstborn does not mean he was created; it is a title, drawn from the Old Testament, indicating supremacy of rank and priority in time (see, e.g., Ps 89:27).
1:15-20 Paul presents Jesus as the supreme creator (1:15-17) and redeemer (1:18-20). The series of short statements, the exalted conceptions of Christ, and the parallelism in language and thought strongly suggest that these verses quote an early Christian hymn about Jesus that Paul applied to the situation of the Colossian Christians.
genesis 1:26-27
deuteronomy 3:28
psalms 33:12
psalms 89:27
ezekiel 44:28
mark 13:19-23
john 14:6-11
acts 19:10
The Secret of the Good News
The Secret of the Good News In Paul’s letters, the word secret (sometimes translated mystery) is applied to the Good News. Sometimes secret is used as an abbreviation for the Good News itself (2:2; 4:3; 1 Cor 2:1; Eph 1:9; 6:19). Frequently, as in Col 1:26, Paul claims that the secret had been hidden in the past but has now been revealed (see also Rom 16:25; 1 Cor 2:7; Eph 3:9). Paul does not mean by this that the Good News is a secret that has to be probed or that it is some kind of Gnostic idea only a few can discover. Rather, he adapts the term from Jewish apocalyptic teaching (the term apocalyptic is from a Greek word that means “uncovering” or “revelation”; the same word supplies the name for the book of Revelation). In the apocalyptic perspective, the plan God has mapped out for all of history already exists in his mind but is hidden from human eyes until God chooses to disclose it. For Paul, the secret plan has now been disclosed in Christ, and it is broadcast throughout the world by his apostles. Through the Old Testament prophets, God foretold many elements of the Good News, but he kept some aspects of it hidden until he revealed them in the New Testament era. These...