The New Humanity – Colossians
The New Humanity
Together Church | Pastor Brandon Werner & Pastor Jerry Wells
May 17, 2026 | Series: Colossians
Brandon
We’re back! (IMPACT Month awesome / Rachael great job on Mother’s Day)
Time to launch into another study through a book of the Bible.
If you have your Bible… open with us to Colossians 1.
While you open, let’s do a little review.
Jerry
If you were with us a couple months ago, you’ll remember our time together in the book of Philippians. During that series, we were constantly remembering that the book of Philippians was originally a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a specific local church with a specific purpose.
Brandon
And I hope you recall that the overarching theme of Philippians… it was that they were devoted partners in the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Jerry
As we prepare to study Colossians, we need to recognize – once again – that this book is an Epistle… a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a specific local church with a specific purpose… this time, to the church at Colossae.
Brandon
I’m excited! Let’s jump into this book… and we’ll start with some insider information about this letter; like why Paul wrote it and a little about this particular local church.
INTRODUCTION
In general, it’s not a great idea for local churches to play the comparison game.
But when we’re studying the Bible, it can be helpful to contrast and compare books of the Bible and the people they were written to so we can get a better grasp on a book’s main idea.
Jerry
With Philippians not too far in our rearview mirror, let’s do a little contrast between the context of the cities where these two local churches were at.
To start, these cities were located in entirely different regions… Colossae in Asia Minor and Philippi in Macedonia.
Brandon
Phillippi was a major city and a center of Roman culture and Roman money… a hub of culture and wealth. You might remember that the first convert to Christianity in Philippi was Lydia – a wealthy businesswoman who immediately used her wealth and influence to support Paul’s ministry.
Jerry
The prosperity of Philippi helps explain why the Philippian church was able to become a major financial gospel partner in Paul’s ministry. To make a comparison that might feel familiar, Philippi shared a demographic more like the area of Crossings Church.
Brandon
Now, contrast that with Colossae.
Colossae was not a major city in Asia Minor like Philippi was in Macedonia. It was a small, declining town off the beaten path in the Lycus Valley – easy to overlook, easy to forget.
Jerry
Colossae’s economy wasn’t even close to the size of Philippi’s, and it was predominantly made up of blue-collar workers with blue-collar incomes. Generally speaking, the people of Colossae had more in common with people in the southside.
Brandon
That makes Colossae relatable to me.
Here’s something else…
The Philippian church was planted by the Apostle Paul, but the church at Colossae was not planted by Paul or by any of the other apostles. God planted a church in this city through Epaphras, one of Paul’s disciples, who was from Colossae.
That means Epaphras was pastoring and ministering to a people that watched him grow up. Again, I can relate. I’m pastoring at the church and in the area of town where I grew up.
Jerry
It’s interesting that we have no record of Paul or any of the other apostles ever visiting this city or this church. Paul states that fact clearly in this letter…
Colossians 2:1
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face
Brandon
Here’s something interesting…
Even though Paul had never met these believers in person, when we read this letter, we discover that he supported this church, loved this church deeply, and was excited about what God was doing through this blue-collar church with their home-grown pastor.
Jerry
Paul had high hopes for them and for their witness to the world. As we are about to see in the opening verses, Paul celebrates the power of the gospel at work in them and the fruit it is bearing through them.
He says their faith in the gospel is not only bearing fruit in their city, but the fruit of the gospel is increasing in the whole world.
Brandon
Again, that feels familiar. It reminds me God’s vision for our church. This is God’s vision for Together Church…
“We will develop people who radically impact the world for Jesus Christ.”
Paul believed God was doing a work in Colossae that was bigger than them… and we believe what God is doing here is bigger than us.
Jerry
Even though Paul never met this church face to face, he was filled with love for them and excitement about what God was doing… so much so that he was compelled to write this letter.
Brandon
We looked at several differences between Philippians and Colossians…
But something these two letters share in common is that Paul wrote them both from prison. Paul specifically wrote this letter to the Colossians in response to cultural challenges he heard the church was facing.
Those challenges were two-fold:
Jerry
- On the one hand, the people in this church had been saved from Polytheism.
Polytheism is the worship of a plurality of gods. Roman polytheism included these gods mentioned in the New Testament: Zeus, Hermes, Artemis, and even Ceaser. But there were many more.
- Temples were built to these gods and priests of these gods ran those temples.
- Graven images of wood and stone were worshipped in those temples.
- Holy days were set apart on the Roman calendar for the worship of these gods.
- Shrines and graven images devoted to these gods were present in their homes.
Brandon
The worship of these Roman deities was a cultural phenomenon. It was also big business. The religious culture was much like what you might experience if you traveled to a Muslim country today. The cultural pressure you’d feel to participate would be enormous… and the disciples of Jesus at Colossae were constantly facing those external pressures. But they weren’t just facing pressure from the outside, they also faced pressures from within…
Jerry
- In addition to the external pressure of Polytheism, this church also faced internal pressure from Judaizers.
A Judaizers is a false teacher who puts pressure on believers to follow Jesus but also adopt all the laws of Moses.
Brandon
It is always divisive when believers begin to teach that Jesus is not enough.
Jerry
The church in Colossae was under pressure: external pressure from Polytheism and internal pressure from Judaizers.
Paul responds to these two challenges by writing a letter that is a literary masterpiece under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Brandon
With this background in mind, we’re ready to clearly state Paul’s main idea for his letter we call Colossians…
Paul wrote Colossians to show the church that God is creating a new humanity through faith in Jesus… and they belong to it.
Jerry
God’s “new humanity” is the new family (or people) of God being created by faith in Jesus Christ.
Brandon
We’re talking about people who think different, love different, serve different, share different, witness different, and live different because of their faith in Jesus and what God has done to transform their lives.
We’re talking about people transformed by Jesus… like we saw with the picture frame illustration two weeks ago.
Jerry
When we study the Bible, there’s a temptation to grab verses out of context instead of interpreting each passage as part of the whole.
Brandon
Our challenge in studying this letter is to always keep Paul’s main purpose in view… even as we dive deeper into the text.
Jerry
Just a few hours ago, we were planning to jump into Colossians 1 right here. We were going to show you how the first eight verses should be interpreted in light of this main idea.
Brandon
That would be a great message, and it may be the message the Holy Spirit has for us next week.
Jerry
But, this morning, God changed our direction…
I was out walking with the Lord. Through prayer and discussion, we both concluded we can’t move past Paul’s main idea so quickly.
Brandon
We believe there’s something the Holy Spirit wants to accomplish in this room this morning… and we want to give Him the space to do it.
What is it?
Consider this…
We’ve seen this morning that Together Church shares some commonalities with the Colossian church.
Paul wrote this letter to show the church God was creating a new humanity through faith in Jesus… and that they were part of it.
If that’s why the Holy Spirit led Paul to write this letter, why is the Holy Spirit leading us to study this letter?
God wants to show you that He is creating a new humanity through faith in Jesus Christ… and He wants you to believe that you are part of it.
Jerry
Stop listening to us. Start listening to the Holy Spirit.
He wants you to see that He is creating a new humanity through faith in Jesus Christ… and He wants you to believe that you are part of that new humanity.
(NOTE FOR US: LET’S PAUSE A WHILE HERE.)
Notes for Brandon (while we podcast talk)
- God’s vision for TC…
- People who radically impact the world for Jesus are people who see they are part of the new humanity God is creating and who live like it
- Grieves our hearts and grieves the Lord when we watch well-intended Christians struggle in their own power to live transformed
- Judaizers and Polytheist
- We know you have challenges and obstacles
- Changes your perspective in every capacity…
- Spouse
- Parenting
- Disciple-maker
- Giver
- Gospel partner
- Servant
- Leader
- Citizen
Slides available:
- Are you living like you’re part of the new humanity?
- Are you part of the new humanity?