A PASTORAL PRAYER

Colossians 1:1-14

 

This epistle is penned within thirty years of the time that Jesus stood on a mountain in the area of Caesarea Philippi and prophesied, “I will build my church.”  He had done exactly that.  The church had extended throughout the known world.  It had come to the major cities and it had also come to a little suburb known as Colossae.

 

But this did not take place in a vacuum.  There were other teachings and ideas and philosophies that were already entrenched in Colossae.  We don’t know that much about this city as it has not yet been excavated, but we do know where it was located and that it would have been influenced Greek culture.  At the same time, there are hints in Paul’s epistle to the Colossians that they had also been exposed to certain Jewish legal elements and the idea that they were mandated to observances involving food, drink, rituals, or Sabbath observances (Colossians 2:16).

 

 

PAUL’S SALUTATION

 

            Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. (Colossians 1:1_2).

 

The epistle to the Colossians is one of the “prison epistles.”  It was written during the time when Paul had been imprisoned by the Roman authorities.  Part of that imprisonment took place in Caesarea by the sea and is recorded in Acts 24-26 while part of it took place in Roman as seen in Acts 28.  We are not specifically told at which part this particular epistle was penned, but it seems more likely that it was from Rome.

 

 

PAUL’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

 

As the epistle opens, Paul has learned about a small, fledgling church that has sprouted in the town of Colossae.  Conversions have been taking place, evidenced by a report of faith and love and hope on the part of believers.  One of the things that I like about the New American Standard Version is that it preserves for us, not only the flow of Paul’s thought, but the fact that he expressed that flow in one continuous sentence.

 


1.         Thanksgiving for the Character of the Colossians:  We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel (Colossians 1:3_5).

 

There are three things for which Paul gave thanks on behalf of the Colossians.  They were three things that marked a supernatural change within their character and that showed they had come into contact with the gospel of God.

 

     Faith

     Love

     Hope

 

What is the interrelation between these three qualities?  We could note the very obvious point that these reflect a past, present, and future aspects to the Christian life.  Faith looks back to what Christ accomplished for us on the cross, though it also looks to the present and to the future.  Love is our present reaction to that gracious gift.  Specifically, we are told that this love is for all the saints.  This does not mean we do not also love the world, but the love that is specifically in view here is the love we have for those who are in Christ.

 

If faith is directed primarily upon what Christ has done in the past and love is focused on my attitude toward other believers in the present, then the realm of hope is directed toward the future.  We have a hope that is laid up for us in heaven.  It is that one day we will see the risen Christ and that we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2).  At the same time, we should note that the qualities of faith and of love are themselves said to be predicated upon the hope laid up in heaven.  We could chart the flow of thought like this:

 

We give thanks to God, praying for you as we heard of your....

º

Faith

º

...because of the hope laid up for you in heaven

 

 

 

º

Love

º

 

2.         Thanksgiving for the Fruitfulness Gospel: ...because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel  6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth (Colossians 1:5_6).

 

How does gospel fruitfulness take place?  It is an organic process, but that does not mean it is not also a process that can be described.

 

     First, it involves hearing the gospel.  Paul says that they had previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel (1:5).  The word “gospel” means “good news” or “good message.”  The very term presupposes that the message has been delivered and heard.  Paul was a minister of that gospel and there is a sense in which all Christians share in that ministry.

 

     Secondly, it means that the gospel has been understood.  Paul speaks in verse 6 how the Colossians had both heard and understood the grace of God in truth.  It is possible for one to hear the gospel without understanding taking place.  When I was a young boy, I was taken to church on a regular basis, but I quickly learned to tune out the message being preached.  It was not until the Lord did a work in my heart that I heard and understood that message that it came to bear fruit in my life.

 

     Finally, the gospel must bear fruit.  Believing the gospel and “getting saved” is not an end in itself.  Life comes in order to produce more life.  Jesus said that the Spirit was given so that we might become a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:14).

 

3.         Thanksgiving for the Faithfulness of Epaphras: ... just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,  8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:7_8).

 

Epaphras was a Christian worker who had taught the Colossians the gospel.  He is described as both a fellow bond servant as well as a faithful servant, literally, a “deacon” of Christ.  Did Epaphras hold the office of a deacon of the church?  Perhaps.  We will read in Colossians 4:12 that Epaphras is numbered among the Colossians (he is further described in Philemon 1:23 as Paul’s fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus).  He may have served as a deacon in the church of Colossae.  But the point here is not of a church office, but of a church ministry.  Epaphras had shared the good news of the gospel with the people of Colossae and, more recently, he had shared the good news of the growth of the Colossian church with Paul.

 

 

PAUL’S PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

 

            For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.  13 For He rescued 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. (Colossians 1:9_14).

 

In verses 3-8, Paul tells how he had heard of the ministry of Epaphras in bringing these Colossians to know the Lord.  He rejoices over this news.  After all, it is a wonderful thing when someone comes to know the Lord.  But Paul does not stop here.  The fact that they have come to know the Lord now means that there is work to be done.

 

Imagine being in the delivery room when a baby is being born.  There are the nurses and the doctor and the expectant father.  Just outside are the grandparents, waiting for the expected arrival.  And then it takes place.  The baby is born.  Pandemonium breaks loose.  Everyone is celebrating and happy and excited until the nurse walks in and exclaims, “What is that newborn baby doing all alone on the floor of the hospital?”  You see, the birth of a baby might mark the end of the labor pains, but in a very real sense, it is only the beginning of the real labor.  The work has only just begun as that newborn baby requires constant care and attention.

 

The same is true with a new believer.  He has just experienced a new birth.  He is a new life in Christ.  But that is only the first step in what will eventually be a life-long walk in Christ.  Like that newborn baby, he needs care and attention.  It is for this reason that Paul writes to the Colossians.  He writes to them to tell them that he is praying for them.

 

Paul’s Prayer

1:3-8

1:9-14

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Prayer of Intercession

Paul thanks God for their conversion

Paul prays for their sanctification

 

1.         An Unceasing Prayer:  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you (1:9).

 

Paul was an apostle of prayer.  He emphasizes this throughout all of his epistles, but this emphasis is especially strong within the prison epistles.  Why is this?  Perhaps it is because it was during this period of imprisonment that Paul found more time to pray.  I have often found this to be the case in the lives of older Christians who are not quite as able to get around as they once were.  They may not be physically mobile, but they can have a great impact upon the world as they pray.

 

2.         A Necessary Knowledge:  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (1:9).

 

When the Scriptures speak of the “will of God,” there are two different ideas that can be underscored.  The first is what we could term as God’s eternal will.  God is in control of history and therefore what takes place in history is that for which God has planned.  It is for this reason that Paul can speak of how God works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11).  On the other hand, Jesus could speak of those who do the will of God in contrast to those who do not do the will of God (Mark 3:35).  Used in such a way, the will of God refers to those who obey the commandments of God.  In summary, we can see where the will of God refers to:

 

The Will of God

All things for which God has planned throughout eternity

Those things which God has commanded

 

Of which is Paul describing here in Colossians 1:9-10 as he speaks of believers being filled with the knowledge of the will of God?  It is a reference to those things God has commanded.

 

3.         A Worthy Walk:   We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (1:9-10).

 

Now we are able to understand Paul’s point.  Before you can obey the commands and teachings and instructions of the Lord, you must know what they are.

 

Verse 9

Verse 10

You have to know God’s will...

...before you can please God

 

Paul is going to give a number of instructions for how we ought to live.  But first, he is going to lay a foundation as to why we ought to live that way.  A part of knowing God’s will is in knowing God Himself and in seeing the reasons He has given for these commands.

 

When our daughter was younger, there were times when she was given an instruction and she would ask, “Why must I do this?” or “Why can’t I do that?”  I am forced to admit that there were times when we said, “Because I am your parent.”  But more often than not, I am happy to report that we regularly told her at least a reason behind the command.  God has often done the same for us.  To be sure, He sometimes gives us only a part of the reason, but it is enough.

 

The Lord wants us to walk in such a way that we bear fruit.  To what fruit does this refer?  It is the fruit of the Spirit.  The Spirit provides the fruit.  Indeed, we could say that the fruit is the manifestation of the presence of the Spirit in us.

 

Paul says that this presence pleases the Lord in all respects.  The desire of every father is to see those positive qualities he has to be emulated within his children.  God has the same desire.  He wants to see His own holy character emulated within us.

 

4.         A Steadfast Strengthening:  Strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience (1:11).

 

As Christians, we are heirs to a wonderful power.  It is a supernatural power because it is according to His glorious might.  It is one thing to be strengthened by the all-powerful God, it is another thing entirely to be strengthened according to His power.  His was the power that created heaven and earth; it is the same power that holds the universe together.

 

Yet the stated purpose of that power is not to do something immediate, but to accomplish that which endures over the long haul.  It is that we might attain all steadfastness and patience.

 

5.         An Enlightened Deliverance:   Joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 For He 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 (1:12-14).

 

We have an inheritance.  The concept of an inheritance was important, especially to the Jewish mind.  Abraham had been given the Promised Land as an inheritance, but the inheritance went far beyond the mere physical.  The tribe of Levi did not receive any of the land, yet they still had an inheritance.  We read in Joshua 13:33 that their inheritance was God.  They were a nation of priests.  That is not all; David also saw the Lord as his inheritance.

 

 

The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You support my lot. (Psalm 16:5).

 

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25_26).

 

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I have hope in Him.” (Lamentations 3:24).

 

What is our inheritance?  It is Christ.  We will see this when we come to Colossians 1:27 and Paul speaks of the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 

This inheritance in a kingdom inheritance.  We have undergone a kingdom transfer.  We have been transferred out of one kingdom and brought into the domain of another kingdom.

 

Kingdom of Darkness

º

Kingdom of His Son

 

We are no longer citizens of the old kingdom.  It was a domain of darkness.  What happens in darkness?  You are blind.  You cannot see in darkness.  It is only when light comes that you are able to see.  We have been delivered from the domain of darkness to a place where we are able to see.

 

How did this transfer take place?  We are given a hint in verse 14 when we are told that it is through Jesus Christ that we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  The Greek term here (avpolutrosin) carries the idea of one who has been set free from a previous bondage.  We have been set free from a bondage.  That which previously found us is sin.

 

When Paul speaks of how we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, he is not describing two different things.  They are the same.  Redemption is the forgiveness of sins.  It speaks to the fact that we have been freed from the penalty and the guilt of sin.  This is striking because the Lord says in the Old Testament that he is the one who forgives sin.

 

I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake;

And I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25).

 

You remember the incident of the man paralytic who was brought to Jesus.  The man was helpless and his friends brought him to Jesus, lowering him through the roof into the presence of the Savior.  Jesus caused some considerable stir among the Pharisees when he pronounced that the man’s sins were forgiven.  They complained that only God can forgive sins.  Their complaint was a valid one.  Only God can forgive sins.  Yet Jesus demonstrated that He had the power to forgive sins.

 

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