As I said in the last post, there are a variety of ways to study the Bible. We could do a inductive study as I mentioned or we could focus on a verse, a bible character or a topical study. I want to give you an example of a study of a particular verse and share with you how I would go about studying it.
As an example, I will pick Colossians 1:15 which says, "And He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation." This has a number of interesting words in it that we could look at further. For example, what does it mean to be in the image of the invisible God? What does it mean to be the "first born"? We could use several tools to help us identify these words, a concordance would help us look up how the words are used in other parts of the Bible. Also, an interlinear study Bible will break the verse down into its original language, which in this case was Greek. If we look this word up in an interlinear study bible it looks like this:
ov estin (5748) eikwn tou qeou tou aoratou, prwtotokov pashv ktisewv,
If I go further and look up the definition of the word "image" I get this defintion:
an image of the things (the heavenly things);
used of the moral likeness of renewed men to God;
the image of the Son of God, into which true Christians are transformed, is likeness not only to the heavenly body, but also to the most holy and blessed state of mind, which Christ possesses
So, now I want to know more about this word "image" and go to my concordance. I would use something like a Thompson Chain Reference concordance and look up the word image. In doing so, I would get some other references which might help me explore this word further. In this case I would get these references:
The Ultimate Aim of the Christian Life: Christlikeness
Romans 8:29
1 Corinthians 15:49
2 Corinthians 3:18
Philippians 3:21
Colossians 3:10
2 Peter 1:4
1 John 3:2
SEE New; Man
This would help me to explore this word in its proper context and place it in relationship to the rest of the Bible. Other tools that I might use in my search are Bible handbooks and commentaries. Sometimes commentaries are helpful to understand the history behind the verse. It is helpful to know sometimes where the author was when he was writing or who he was writing to. Also, it is helpful to consider if the writer and reader would have known each other. In the case of Colossians, we know that Paul most likely had never been there, but was relying upon word from a man mentioned in Colossians 1:7 named Epaphras, a church leader in Colossae.
Upon some more study, we might look up the word "first born" since it is the christian view that Christ has always existed and is God in the flesh, we need to understand this idea of first born. It does not intend to mean that Christ was born and therefore is not God. It has a totally different meaning than that. It helps to know in this case the way a first century Jew would use this phrase, which is what Paul was. In looking at Adam Clark's commentary, he comments:
"As the Jews term Jehovah becoro shel olam, the first-born of all the world, or of all the creation, to signify his having created or produced all things; (see Wolfius in loc.) so Christ is here termed, and the words which follow in the 16th and 17th Colossians 1:16,17verses are the proof of this"
So, we see that what Paul was talking about here is what he also clearly says in verses 16-17 that Jesus is the one through whom "all things have been created by Him and for Him, And he is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Paul is talking about the preeminence of Christ over all things. A major theme of this book to combat problems that Epaphras has told Paul about. He is telling the Colossians not to add to the gospel or to place other things alongside, in importance, the person and work of Christ.
