THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL
Colossians 1:1-14
Key Verse 1:9
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
Happy New Year! According to the way the Chinese understand the universe, the year 2004 is the Year of the Monkey. Monkeys always remind me of Mr. Zacchaeus in the Bible because monkeys are good at climbing trees just like Mr. Zacchaeus. You may ask, “What’s the big deal about climbing a tree?” Well, first, Zacchaeus did so in order to generate leverage, and thereby defeat the competition. Plus, by climbing a tree he experienced the wonder of wonders! He met Jesus Christ! So Happy New Year in the Year of the Monkey! This year, it is my prayer that all of us would struggle hard to climb the spiritual trees the Lord God might have already put in our way, so that we gain leverage over life’s obstacles and thereby see Jesus better!
Each time the New Year comes around, people try to come up with some resolutions. But most people do not have any sort of spiritual guidelines and end up making resolutions on matters that exist on a superficial level. In today’s passage, however, we can find spiritual guidelines and therefore set up resolutions that properly fit the will of God.
Part I. Thanks Topics (1-3)
When we try to make New Year resolutions, it is easy to think about all our failures in the past, and then quickly become overwhelmed with a sense of failure; thus the desire to make any resolutions disappears. One way to overcome this problem, however, is to dig up thanks topics we have in the Lord.
Let us read vs. 1-8 responsively. “1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-- 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” Here Paul shares with them four powerful thanks topics, which are likewise applicable to us in this day and age.
First, we have heard of your faith (4a)
The first thanks topic is for our faith in the Lord. Look at vs. 3 and 4 again. ” 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints…“ Here Paul gives thanks to God first for their faith. When you think about it, it sounds pretty strange to realize that Paul, a senior citizen, is lying in a prison cell thanking God for the faith of people whom he had never even met in person. Yet, because the Bible says that it is by faith in the Lord alone that one can be saved, when Paul heard about their faith, he became very thankful to God for their faith
A sister who was recently married understood the importance of this thanks topic. After her marriage, she came to have parents-in-law. Since she was added to a new family with new parents, she began praying for them. In particular, it hit her hard that her parents-in-law did not believe in the Lord. So in talking to me and asking for my prayer support that they would believe in the Lord, she shed tears. What a spiritual woman we have in the Lord!
Indeed, nothing is more valuable and important than faith in the Lord. In fact, because it is this faith in the Lord that saves man from the power of sin and Satan, and therefore from eternal condemnation, when Paul heard of their faith, he gave thanks to God, praising his name.
This already teaches us one important prayer topic: that is, we must be wary of anyone trying to hinder someone else from believing in Jesus, or anyone trying to destroy the faith of a relatively new believer. Instead, we must always remain prayerful to build up the faith of others. And when we see anyone believing in the Lord, we must give thanks to God, and pray that the Lord would help that person to grow strong in faith.
Second, the love you have for all the saints (4b)
Here is Paul’s second thanks topic for them. “We always thank God…because we have heard of…the love you have for the saints.” Let us notice the expression “for the saints.” Here “saints” refers to believers in the Lord like the Apostle Paul, their shepherd Epaphras, and shepherds and shepherdesses in the church of Colossee. And Paul gave thanks to God for their love for the saints.
As we know the world is cold. In this world, we do not find the kind of love the Lord God has for others. At best, this world is ruled by “give and take.” In attempting to give, the world gives you something only to take something else out of you. There is no such thing as a free lunch in the world’s eyes.
More fundamentally, though, people of this world are not as forgiving as our Heavenly Father is: it is the love of God alone that forgives men for their sins, thus creating an environment in which we all can “get along” with one another and encourage one another to grow into the greatness of God! This love for all the saints is like a spiritual oasis in a desert land.
We see this love growing among many brothers and sisters in the Lord here in our own ministry – among the common life brothers and sisters, among the young missionaries of this ministry, among the members of the Downey UBF soccer club, among the sisters’ study groups, among the Friday young leaders regular attendees, etc. In this new year, let us pray to be more fluent and active in sharing our thanks toward for one another for the love the Lord put in our hearts through his Spirit (Romans 5:5).
Third, the hope that is stored up for you in heaven (5)
How then did the holy and faithful saints at the church of Colosse come to have faith and love for other saints? Look at v. 5. “[T]he faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel…” In view of other Bible passages such as 1 Corinthians 15, by “the hope” Paul means particularly the hope of the resurrection. Speaking of this hope, the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:10-11, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
A couple days ago, when lunch time came, I felt hungry and thus waited for Rebekah to come and fix lunch for me. But 1 a.m. past, and no Rebekah. Then 2 p.m. and still no Rebekah. So I opened up the refrigerator. But there was nothing. So I toyed with the idea of going out to Yoshinoya. But the problem was the lack of cash in my wallet. If you order a large combo with a medium coke, the bill easily runs up to $7. Then I remembered the old saying, “A penny saved, a penny earned.” However, a rebellious thought hit me: “Why save? Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die!” Then I quickly remembered the passage that says, “Faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven.” Oh, yeah. Because of this hope of the resurrection, I can face tomorrow. Hence saving makes sense. And with my savings, I can do something for the Lord and for others. So in this hope, I decided not to go to Yoshinoya. So what did I eat for lunch? I fixed a cup of ramen and it was tasty.
“Faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven!” Indeed it is this hope that helps us keep believing in the Lord. It is this faith that continually motivates us to love others as willingly and as sacrificially as we have been encouraged to do.
Again we cannot overemphasize the importance of this hope, for it is when we have this hope that we can endure hardships and trials, and continue to serve the Lord. There is a Jewish proverb that says, “If velvet and silk hang in your closet, you can step out in rags.” There is another proverb that says, “With money in your pocket, you are handsome and you are wise, and you sing well too.” These lines have one common message: when you have something valuable, it makes all the difference in who you are and what you do. But when you think about it, it is not money or velvet or silk that makes you really wealthy and therefore really generous to others. What makes a man truly rich and generous to others is this hope we have in the Lord. The Apostle Paul knew that this hope is for real. So even though he was in a prison cell, perhaps dressed in nothing more than rags, he was still joyful. Even though his living environment was not exactly like a Beverly Hills mansion, he was still able to remain constantly joyful. He talked cool and behaved cool. He became a real saint of saints, all because of this hope that is stored up in heaven for him!
Fourth, this gospel is bearing fruit and is growing (5-8)
How did they come to have this hope? Look at vs. 5-8. “[T]he faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” Here Paul talks about the spreading of the good news (our spiritual gold mine), spreading from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Originally it began when Jesus came from heaven to this world. He raised up disciples who in turn spread the gospel from Jerusalem to the Gentile world. Eparphras was one of them. In obedience to Jesus’ world mission command, Epaphras went to Colosse. There he met some Bible students. He taught the Bible, such as Genesis, the Gospel of John, etc. He systematically explained the gospel. Through the work of the Holy Spirit they understood the grace of God, especially the grace of the forgiveness of their sins through the blood of Jesus. Then they came to understand the hope stored up for them in heaven. For this reason, we learn another deep thanks topic, that is, the gospel which is still bearing fruit and growing all over the world.
Nowadays a lot of people, Christian evangelists included, share dark thoughts about the present condition of Christianity. Perhaps it was no different in Paul’s days. But we must remember the life-giving power of the gospel. Through people like Epaphras, this gospel is still bearing fruit and growing among all the nations. Next Thursday at 10:30 a.m., Brother Joseph Yasuke is leaving LAX for Sendai, Japan. Missionary Seong-jin Cho is pioneering colleges and universities in Sendai, the Academic Center of Japan. From a spiritual standpoint, Japan is a very important nation. It has a great potential for the Lord’s world mission purpose. The Japanese are a diligent people. They have a strong sense of responsibility. They are law-abiding citizens. Plus they have received several hundred years’ worth of self-discipline through the Samurai movement. And they have proved this by conquering the world with Japanese made cars like Toyota and Honda. I pray that, each fellowship might prepare some gifts and words of encouragements and send them to Sendai UBF. I also would encourage our coworkers to subscribe to the UBF newsletter as this newsletter shows how the gospel is bearing fruit and growing all over the world.
Part II. Prayer Topics (9-13)
In the previous passage Paul describes the brothers and sisters at the church of Colosse as “holy and faithful.” Not all Christians who claim that they believe in Jesus are holy. The Christians in the church of Corinth are a good example. Although they diligently attended church service, they suffered from all kinds of sin problems like law-suits among believers, gossip, incest, etc. and so forth. So in writing to them, Paul says from the outset of the 1 Corinthians, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those … called to be holy...” They were called to be holy, but they were not yet holy. So Paul says, “To you who are called to be holy.” But to the brothers and sisters at Colosse, Paul says, “To the holy and faithful brothers…”
But this does not mean that they were all set. Rather, they too had a lot of areas in which they needed to make further improvements. Thus Paul is sharing his prayer topics for them. What were they? Let us read vs. 9-12 responsively. “9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
First, let us think about Paul’s prayer that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. Look at v. 9 again. “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.“ This prayer topic is applicable to all Christians on all different levels of their growth. The prayer topic to know the will of God for each person is the universal prayer topic for all Christians. A lot can be said of the knowledge of his will. But for our own purposes two things require special attention: first, why is it important, and second, how can we secure it?
Why are we to secure the knowledge of his will? We can find the answer to this question from what Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Paul could have stopped at, “I want you to know what God’s will is.” But he added something more: “his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” So he qualified God’s will with three words: “good,” “pleasing,” and “perfect.” Let us stop and think about it. No single human being’s will is good, pleasing, and perfect (and particularly not all the time, for all peoples on earth); it is only God’s will which is “good, pleasing, and perfect” (and it is good, pleasing, and perfect all the time and for all peoples on earth). Notice the word “and.” Three qualifications must meet all at the same time: good, pleasing, and perfect. For example, let us think about Jesus’ prayer before taking up the cross. Before taking up the cross, as he was staying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to the Lord saying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). God’s will for Jesus was for him to die on the cross. God’s will for Jesus was for him to remain entirely silent when his enemies were accusing him, even though he had done nothing to deserve such accusations. To Jesus, it was a terrible will. But ultimately it turned out that God’s will for Jesus proved to be good, pleasing, and perfect, not only for all peoples on earth but for Jesus himself. The same is true of the Apostle Paul. At the particular moment when the Apostle Paul was praying for the saints at Colosse, praying that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, Paul himself was suffering in a prison cell. To Paul, God’s will for him was to remain incarcerated in a prison cell, even though Paul did nothing to deserve this kind of ill-treatment. Yet it was God’s will. It was not pleasant to Paul from a human point of view. But it turned out that ultimately this will of God for Paul turned out to be good, pleasing, and perfect for all, and especially for Paul. After all, isn’t it because of Paul (in his chains) that we each receive lots of grace (via his epistles)? And isn’t because of Paul willingly and joyfully participating in the sufferings of Jesus that he has come to be recognized as one of the greatest apostle of all?
How then can we know God’s will for us? We find the answer to this question in the little phrase, “through all wisdom and understanding.” Let us put emphasis on the word “all” and say, “through all wisdom and understanding.” This will of God is so hard to understand, much less to accept, that we need to ask God for special help, which comes only through “all” wisdom and understanding, the wisdom and understanding that comes through the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of understanding. How then can we secure this wisdom and understanding? And not partially but fully. It can come only from God the Father. Thus, we can understand why the Apostle Paul prays so hard for them, for it is only through humble, sincere, and earnest prayer that we can gain all wisdom and understanding. Then, we can know God’s will, especially when things do not seem to be going in our own favor? When we know this will of God, then we can continue to remain faithful to the Lord even in times of hardships and ordeals. Then and only then the Lord God can work in us, leading us to an exalted state, using even hard circumstances as stepping stones to the next level of God’s blessedness. And this is the key to living a fruitful life in this year and beyond.
In vs. 10-12, then Paul shares specific prayer topics for them; namely Paul prays the following prayer topics:
that you may live a life worthy of the Lord
and may please him in every way
bearing fruit in every good work
growing in the knowledge of God
being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might
so that you may have great endurance and patience
and joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
Each of the prayer topics is loaded up with powerful treasures to unearth. For example, the first prayer topic says, “that you may live a life worthy of the Lord.” The first thing that comes to mind is Jesus’ four titles: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.” Are you living worthy of Jesus being the Wonderful Counselor for you? In other words are you living a life which is as wonderful as it should be? If it is not as wonderful, isn’t it because you do not ask Jesus for his wonderful advice? The list of questions then goes on and on.
Now let us consider what it is to please him in every way. How can we please the Lord in every way? Then we are reminded of Heb. 11:6. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Combine this verse with the phrase “in every way [of our life]” – in the way of thinking, seeing, and speaking. For example, in order to please Jesus we must see ourselves and others with faith in the Lord. In studying for a PhD or in seeking a job or in fishing or teaching the Bible, we must do it by absolute faith in the Lord. Faith in the Lord is the way of doing everything. To have a prosperous year we must show a faithful response to every challenging situation! Amen!
Then think about the topic to bear fruit in every good work. Here “every” is important. What does “every” mean? Every means every – in prayer, in giving, in attending a spiritual meeting, in cooking, in cleaning the Bible center, in singing a special song, in leading singspiration, in every good work we are called to do.
Then there is the joy of growing up spiritually. And we can grow spiritually by reading good books like A Basic History of America by Clarence B. Carson or The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. And of course the Bible, which is the book God wrote for us to read, goes without saying.
Then there is the need for us to grow strong. Let us note that the process of aging is not necessarily the same as the process of maturity; in other words, being old is not necessarily the same as being mature (either physically or spiritually). Aging is simply aging. It is just becoming physically old. In order for a man to grow strong, he must feed himself with spiritual power meals. Speaking of power meals, Paul says, “[I pray that you would be] strengthened with all power according to his glorious might.” Here “all power” or “his glorious might” indicates that, in eating the Bible, we must remember that it contains all the ingredients (or spiritual minerals if you will) we need to become all powerful, helping us to put on God’s glorious might!
Then we can have great endurance and patience and can be empowered to serve the Lord, “joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
These powerful prayer topics can be manifested in our lives for the Lord God has prepared an environment in which we can avail ourselves of all his powerful resources. For this reason Paul says in vs. 13-14. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” This statement tells us that these prayer topics are not wishful thinking, but can become a reality, all thanks to Jesus’ perfected work of salvation.
One word: the knowledge of his will.
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