Earlier this week, as I started my prayer and study time, I intended to pick up in Jeremiah, where I had left off but, I felt compelled to read one of my devotionals first. It is one I receive by email and some days I read it while others I may not. The verse referenced in the devotional, was Colossians 1:24.
Colossians 1:24 (ESV Strong’s)
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
The author of the devotional was using this verse to bring attention to a person’s calling, but after reading it I was drawn back to just this verse and wanted to better understand what Paul was saying to the Colossians. So, I went back to the book of Colossians and just started reading sections of the first chapter and on down through the second chapter.
Opening
I started at the beginning of Colossians and read the opening of Paul’s letter. It was kind and thoughtful, and his opening prayer was filled with reminders that Colossae had stayed true to the Gospel that they had been taught.
Colossians 1:3-8 (ESV Strong’s)
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
What a wonderful declaration. Paul was pleased that the leaders had stayed true to that Gospel that they had been taught. There was no hint of disappointment only a sense of thankfulness. Paul continues to pray that the Colossians might grow in knowledge.
Knowledge
Paul’s prayer continues with a cry to God that the people of Colossae may continue to grow in the knowledge of God’s will and spiritual wisdom. Verses 9-14 are very powerful where he makes this request.
Colossians 1:9-14 (ESV Strong’s)
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
What a wonderful prayer. What a big ask. Paul did not ask for wealth or good health or any worldly things at all; he specifically asked for heavenly things. He asks for spiritual knowledge. In that prayer he also gave thanks for their deliverance from the domain of darkness.
His desire was that the people of Colossae might grow so that they might grow to better Know the will of God. “so that they make walk in a way worthy of God.”
As I sit and ponder those three simple words, “worthy of God”, I cannot help but get chill bumps.
Reflections
I must pause here and take a moment to reflect on my walk. I needed to take inventory. Am I faithfully trusting in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Am I walking “in a way worthy of God?”
As I ponder these things, I am taken back to John 1. That point where John tells the world in four verses that Jesus is God made flesh.
John 1:14-18 (ESV Strong’s)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
I know this to be true. I do not doubt it. But in the same breath I know that I stumble and battle sin and temptation daily. I look to Romans and I can see that I am not alone in this. Paul mentions his own challenges in chapter 7.
Romans 7:15 (ESV Strong’s)
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
This does not give me license to sin. It simply shows me that I am not alone. The adversary would prefer we believe that we are always alone in our sin. But that is not the case. Besides we have an advocate in Christ Jesus.
Forgiveness
Jesus paid our debt. We have this advocate that we can turn to when we sin and fall short. I love how John puts it.
1 John 1:8 – 2:2 (ESV Strong’s)
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Christ Our Advocate
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
I give thanks that Jesus Christ gave me the gift of repentance and forgiveness by Jesus’s death burial and resurrection. And Paul continued to remind me of this gift as I continued reading.
The Creator and Redeemer
Paul reminded me of how powerful Christ is. He paints this image in words that are bigger than life. This image of Jesus. I am awestruck as I read this passage.
Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV Strong’s)
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Our God is an awesome God. It seems I should write that in ALL caps and some giant font simply because normal text does not do Him justice. This God who spoke the universe into existence loved us enough to give His life for mine… for ours, and He did so without any need for works on our behalf.
Dead in Our Sins
God did not issue an edict saying get your life in order and maybe I will bless you with eternal life with him. He did not demand perfection of us. He knew we could not meet any demand of that nature, so he paid our debt.
Colossians 1:21-23 (ESV Strong’s)
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
He only asks that we believe and that we stay true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel taught by Paul. The one that speaks of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as payment for our sins and one more gift.
Our Hope and Salvation
It is so easy to get lost in the scriptures. Every word written had an original audience, but it was not locked in that time, nor was it intended for just that one audience. The Word of God is living and breathing. It is as alive today as it was the day the last pen stroke was completed.
I am so thankful for every word. It is hard to stop reading. After Colossians 1:21-23 I had to continue, and I was forced to pause and reflect on a passage in chapter 2
First
Colossians 2:6-7 (ESV Strong’s)
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Then
Colossians 2:11-15 (ESV Strong’s)
11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
We are forgiven by grace through faith. Christ Jesus paid our debts and penalties.
Closing Thoughts
There is little that I can say other that Praise God. To me, these passages in chapter three of Colossians say it better than I could ever… and maybe one more from the old testament.
First
Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV Strong’s)
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Then
Colossians 3:5-11 (ESV Strong’s)
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
And…
Colossians 3:12-17 (ESV Strong’s)
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
What more can one say? Paul walks us through the Gospel of Christ Jesus and God’s desires for us. What words could I add? I am filled with thanksgiving and humble gratitude.
Prayer
Father, all that I can say today is thank you for all that you have done for me. When I was at my lowest you reached out and lifted me up, forgave my sins and washed them away. Help me keep my eyes always on you Lord and the things above, rather than the things of this world. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen
