Colossians 1:26-29

The main theme in Colossians is Christ n you, the HOPE of glory, which leads to increasingly being made more and more spiritually mature.

We have considered the first two steps involved in this process: a change in orientation and having a mindset of a servant. Today we consider the third step.

Growing in our understanding of the mystery.

In Colossians 1:26-29, we read, "26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me."

Christ not only died for the forgiveness of our sins, He also died that He might live in, to and through us. It is His life within us that is the means by which we are transformed and enabled to relate with God and others.

"Christ in you" is the mystery and is surely the most astounding revelation in the Bible. The Lord Jesus is the secret behind any success in the life of the believer.

This mystery "has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people." The Apostle Paul used the word mystery twenty-one times in all of his Epistles. There are hints in the Old Testament of this mystery, but nowhere in the Old Testament do we find a single verse that describes this mystery.

When we understand that the Lord Jesus lives in us, we discover that we have access to a new hope, a new source of power. And, if we are honest, we can not do what is required of us to have the life that the Lord Jesus died to give us. He must do it, thus He indwells us through the promised Holy Spirit.

In addition, we also have a new motive to obey, to read, to study, to learn, to grow in this newfound relationship. God did it this way in order to present us "mature in Christ." (see v.28)

The goal of our new birth is to make us spiritually mature. This transformation occurs only by coming to understand and practice the mystery of Christ within us. We must incorporate relational skills with Christ Himself in order for us to experience that which Christ has died to give us.

Philip Yancey once said, “Hope cannot exist in a vacuum where facts are ignored.”  And the fact is, we will never get life completely right. This is why we need the indwelling Lord. As is evidence in many biblical characters, “God shows us our inability, so that we will depend upon Him.” Dependency upon God is the womb of true spiritual maturity.

Colossians 1:24-25

24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness. (Colossians 1:24-25)

In context, the Apostle Paul is teaching the Christian about spiritual maturity. Yesterday, we considered the first step involved in this process: the first step is a change in orientation..

Whereas, we were separated from God, through Christ we have been reunited to God. Today, we will consider the next step involved in this process.

The second step involved in this pathway toward spiritual maturity is having a mindset of a servant. The mentality of a servant is fostered in the context of finding it a delight and a joy to be included by God in His work in this world.

Most American Christians think God works for them. Thus, their greatest desire is not what they can do for God, but what God will do for them. This is why the Apostle writes in v.24, "I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church."

Notice that phrase in v.24 "...what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions." The word "afflictions" is never used in the scriptures to describe the death of Jesus, therefore Paul is not speaking here of Jesus' work on the cross. There is nothing lacking in what he did on the cross.

Given that the believer has an ongoing civil war within between the Spirit of God and the flesh (the sinful desires with us), in order to move closer to spiritual maturity, we must choose to feed the Spirit. And, when we do so, we will embrace the posture of a servant.

The question is: what does the Spirit of God feed on? You will remember that in John 4, Jesus' disciples ask Him to eat. Jesus response was quite instructive: He said, “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” The Spirit of God feeds on doing God's will. And, the will of God is clearly spelled out in His word.

Finally, you probably are wondering what the link is between the first and second steps involved in becoming more spiritually mature. As we see what God has done on our behalf in reconciling us to Himself, we increasingly are going to be defined by Him. As a result, we will increasingly embrace His value system. Thus, we will not be dependent upon others' acceptance. It is at this point that we will embrace being the servant of God who is defined more and more by his master.

"God uses those who are weak and feeble enough to depend upon Him."

Colossians 1:21-23

Colossians 1:21-29 describes the process of change in a human heart which produces, to a certain degree, spiritual maturity in the believer. This is a three step process.

Today, we will just consider the first step.

Colossians 1:21-23 reads, "21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."

The first step is a change in orientation. Whereas, we were separated from God, through faith in Christ's work on the cross, we have been reunited to God.

There was a time when we were "alienated from God." During this time, we had no time or regard for God. We started and ended each day without a thought of him. We cut him out of our thinking, and , as Paul describes in v.21, we were "enemies in our minds," toward God.

I'm sure that you remember how that felt, I sure do. We avoided God.

The phrase in v.21 ”because of your evil behavior," is a poor translation. It sounds as though evil behavior is the cause of our alienation and hostility toward God. In reality, it is inner alienation from God and hostility toward Him, that causes evil behavior.

"But now," Paul writes in v.22, "we are reconciled to God."

When we cried out to God for help, and, when we saw that the death of Jesus was for us, the scripture makes it clear, He made us alive to Himself. As a result, our thinking began to change, being made more consistent with God's way of thinking. It is at this point that we no longer see God as an enemy, but as a friend.

From our newfound personal relationship with God, we grow in our understanding that the gospel of Jesus Christ has rendered us holy, whole and  complete in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Notice the first phrase is v.23 ”if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." This sounds that the believer has to perform to maintain his position in Christ. Not so!

The Apostle Paul is simply saying that God has reconciled (justified) us through Christ. But the subject in context is spiritual maturity. People who are spiritually mature do not live out of a spiritually immature posture of trying to earn and/or maintain God's favor. The spiritually immature posture is a product of the flesh, the product of worry.

Justification is accomplished the moment the believer believes in the finished work of the Lord Jesus, yet the outworking of this is the ongoing development of spiritual maturity. Colossians 1:23 does not mean that we earn and/or maintain God’s favor. No we have His favor because of what Jesus did on that cross.

Moreover, in the Greek, this phrase (“if you continue”) is a first-class conditional sentence, meaning, "if you continue and you will." The Lord Jesus is not only the author of the believer's justification, He is also the author of our sanctification. Our role is to be willing and submitted to Him.

The first stage in the process toward spiritual maturity is having the firm foundation of understanding that God has rendered you HOLY through your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Tomorrow, we will consider the second step toward spiritual maturity.

Colossians 1:18-20

18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:18-20)

Whereas Colossians 1:15-17 speaks of Jesus as the Lord over creation, Colossians 1:18-20 speaks of Jesus as Lord of the new creation. The new creation is the believer in the Lord Jesus.

These ordinary people, these believers in Jesus make up the church. Each believer has a relationship with the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Himself.

The Colossian church was a group of eager religious people who ran after every new doctrine that came along. They pursued teachings which were not from Jesus. They had, for all practical purposes, lost their Head.

In the Church, each individual is directly related to the Head of the church, Jesus Himself. As we relate directly to the Head, expecting Him to relate to us, He then opens doors to us for pointing others to Him. We are positioned to interact with people for His sake.

As individuals we must remember that our part is to respond to personal direction from the Head: to do as He says and obey His word. All the while, recognizing the application of His word to our lives is unique to each of us. There is one truth, but many applications.

Paul tells us in Colossians 1:18 why Jesus Christ is the Head of the body. First, "He is the beginning of the church! He is the One from whom the church gets its life.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we read, "If anyone be in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, all things have become new." We are part of a new humanity that God is positioning to do His bidding in this world.

Second, Paul says, Jesus is "the firstborn from among the dead." Here "firstborn" means the owner, the possessor, of the creation. He alone possesses resurrection life, and, He is giving to His followers His resurrected life. But we do not always live as if we have this life.

In Colossians 1:19 Paul turns from Jesus' position as Head of the body to His work as the reconciler of all things. If Jesus is not God there is no bridge that can span the chasm between God and man. This is why Christianity is often offensive to people of other faiths. Jesus is only One who claims that he is both God and man.

The word "reconcile" means to bring into fellowship those who believe. The amazing thing about this is that it flows out of the death of Jesus on the cross. This is why the cross has been the central symbol of the Christian faith since the very beginning. And out of that death has flowed life to all who would believe.

Colossians 1:16-17

In Colossians 1:16-17, we read, "16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Notice the words, "through Him" and "for Him." Jesus Christ is the God of Genesis 1:1. He was the agent of creation and the purpose of it as well. The whole of the cosmos was made for Him! Both the visible and the invisible.

Electricity was invented by Jesus (not as a man, but as the Eternal Son) before the creation of the world. Including radiation, magnetism, and the dance of electrons from one level of energy to another within the atom that makes light.

It all was the design of the Eternal Son. He not only created forces, but concepts, like grace, mercy, truth, love, and life itself. Jesus Christ is the originator of all life.

Due to the presence of false teachers, the Colossians began to believe that the universe consisted of a "hierarchy of angels." From this idea has come the eastern concept of reincarnation and horoscopes and astrology---the idea that stars influence and define our lives.

Transcendental Meditation which is the means of getting in touch with invisible beings is another example of the false teaching that had crept in to the church in Colossae.

In response, the Apostle Paul was telling the Colossians, "Jesus is above all angels. You are freed from bondage to these lesser beings when you see the true authority and power of your risen Lord." This is the supremacy of the Lord Jesus in His own world!

Nothing can make us more confident and enable us to speak more boldly of our faith than the great truth that Jesus is Lord. Nothing can happen in our lives without His permission. Creation was created through Jesus Christ.

But creation is not only by Him, it is also for Him. It all operates for His purposes. Colossians 1:17 declares, in two great phrases, just how Jesus controls the events of history.

"He is before all things," means He is outside His own creation; He was there when the beginning began. This describes his eternity as the Son of God.

When Paul uses the phrase, "all things by him hold together," he is speaking of Jesus' power to sustain all things. He has the power to sustain, because he is the Eternal Son.

We live among a generation which has lost touch with the One who brings purpose into our lives. We have thrown out all the absolutes, and found ourselves adrift on the unpredictable ocean of life.

What all mankind desperately needs is an Anchor to cling to. Jesus Christ is that anchor. "He is the image of the invisible God...the Creator of all things, who is before all things and holds all things in his hand and power."

Colossians 1:15

Colossians 1:15 reads, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

In Colossians 1:15-17, we learn that Jesus Christ is Lord over creation. In Colossians 1:18-20, He is lord over His recreation. Today, we will only consider Colossians 1:15.

The Apostle Paul is teaching the Colossian believers on the subject of spiritual maturity. Most think spiritual maturity is measured by how moral we are, NOT! Spiritual maturity brings a certain measure of comfort with the discomforts that God allows in our lives. The discomforts in our lives drive us to cry out to the Lord and He is the one who brings about wisdom and spiritual understanding as we have seen previously in this chapter.

The problem the Apostle Paul was addressing in this epistle was the attacks that were being levied on the person of Jesus. The believers in Colossae were in danger of losing a sense of the profound power and ongoing presence of Jesus Christ in their lives. They were losing sight of the fact that Jesus is in control of all things in our lives, even the discomforts!

C.S. Lewis wrote, "A man can't be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it." This was the case for the church at Colossae.

In today's text the Apostle tells us Jesus is the image of the invisible God. The Greek word "eikon" is used for the English word "image". Someone once said, "Jesus is God with a face."

Paul likely had in mind Psalm 89:27: "I will make Him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth." Jesus is not a created being. He is the Creator who reigns over all creation!

I love the story of the little girl who when put to bed asked to her mommy, "mommy, I want you to stay with me." Her mommy responded with, "honey, Jesus is with you." The little girl then said, "I know that mommy, but I want someone with skin on."

Some say that "firstborn over all creation" means that Jesus is the first one to be created. Even though, it is true that the Greek word translated here "firstborn" is used of Jesus in the Bethlehem story. Here in Colossians 1:15 it is used in the sense of the heir, the owner, the possessor of creation. The context bares this out.

Jesus could not be part of God's creation, for all created things were created by Him.

Ancient Colossae was located in the Lycus Valley, about one hundred miles inland from Ephesus. This was an area that was the center of earthquakes. We know that a major, devastating earthquake hit this area in A.D. 60. Much of the city was destroyed and numerous lives were lost. Since the Apostle Paul was imprisoned in Rome during A.D. 60. he wrote this letter to a group of believers who had been seriously shaken!

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation", was significant to the believers in Colossae, because their world had been shaken and they needed an anchor. And, when we come to know Jesus for who He is, we discover that He is what we need.

"Jesus will never be all that we need until He is all that we have."

Colossians 1:11-14

11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:11-14)

As we learned yesterday, after we "walk worthy of the Lord" and "please Him in every way" and , "bear fruit in every good work", two results will follow. 

The first is given at the end of v.10: "growing in the knowledge of God." The more we walk with Him the more we will think, choose and feel like He thinks, chooses and feels. This is our sanctification, growing in His worldview on this life.

Seeking to walk worthy of God, pleasing Him by faith will result in knowing God more intimately. God is experiential. He is filled with fresh ideas, concepts, and possibilities. This is what Jesus meant when He said to the woman at the well, "I will put in you a well of water, springing up unto eternal life." (John 4)

The second result is found in v.11-12: Patience, with joy! Paul says: "being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might." When we are faced with irritating circumstances, or difficult people, it takes power to remain patient.

Our natural tendency is to get upset, to scream in impatience, or to become resentful and angry. It takes power to resist these when we feel them rising within us. He is the power, and when we yield to Him, we experience His life. This is "zoe", eternal life. 

Colossians 1:11-12 describes, to some extent, the life that Jesus died to give us. It is life with the touch of eternity on it. 

We experience "joyful patience." Those who have this quality don't quit, despite the pressures. Patience is a word that relates primarily to circumstances.

We experience  "longsuffering." This has to do with willingness to forgive and refusing to take revenge.

We experience "joyful gratitude", a cheerful spirit that doesn't get discouraged (v.12). Can you imagine? Of course, it is impossible for us to experience this one hundred percent of the time. Yet, the more we walk with the Lord, the more we will resist the flesh (the sinful desires in us like revenge) and the more we will experience His life in and through us.

Colossians 1:10

… that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)

In Colossians 1, the topic is knowing God. As a result, we, according to v.10 will experience three blessings that we have a choice in, and these three are the evidence of our personal relationship with Him.

The first: we will "walk worthy of the Lord." (v.10). This does not mean we earn God's favor, rather, it means to live out of the favor that Jesus earned on our behalf. Having believed in Jesus' finished work on the cross, we are imputed His righteousness and we are freed to live the life He died to give us.

God's way to spirituality is having us raise our sails rather than rowing our boats.

The word that Paul uses for worthy is "axios." We get our word "axis" it, and the greatest axis ever know to man is the cross of Jesus Christ. No greater price tag has ever been placed on us than through the cross of Jesus Christ. This is greatest of all motivations, producing confidence in the believer to live a life of faith and risk. When we are not worrying about earning or maintaining God's acceptance we are freed to be who He has called us tho be.

The second: we will walk in faith in Him and thus "please Him in every way."  Hebrews 11:6 reads, "Without faith it is impossible to please God!" Faith is the only human thing that pleases God. Every time Jesus approved or commended people in the gospels, it was because of their faith.

The third: we will be "bearing fruit in every good work." This "fruit" is the fruit of the Spirit: producing actions like goodness, compassion, encouragement, and help in a time of distress. It really isn't our fruit. We merely yield to His expressions of fruit.

This is eternal life, Jesus said in John 17:3, "that they might know you, the only true God."

In his book, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby wrote, “Many want God to call them to a big assignment. However, they try to bypass the love relationship...the love relationship is why God created you. That is far more important to Him than what you do. So anticipate that God will start working with you and drawing you to an intimate love relationship that is real and personal. When the love relationship is right, God will be free to begin giving you assignments at His initiative. Whenever you do not seem to be receiving assignments from God, focus on the love relationship and stay there until the assignment comes.” 

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Colossians 1:9

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." (Colossians 1:9)

The Colossians were struggling with their understanding of what it means to be a Christian, to have a personal relationship with Jesus. The apostle Paul has highlighted faith, hope and love. This hope is the main theme in the book and it comes from the gospel.

The Gospel declares that Jesus Himself is available to each believer personally in the positives and negatives of life. From this hope comes faith. And, out of faith, then, comes love.

The Colossians were being threatened by a mountain of false teaching, threatening to destroy their faith, their heart's ability to see God.

In v.9, the Apostle shares a prayer for the Colossians. Everything else in this epistle flows out of this prayer. This prayer underscores the most important thing that you and I can do: to communicate with God.

The main idea in this prayer is that the Colossians might come to know God's will which is to know Him. If the believer begins to personally know God, everything that is needful will follow.

Most think the will of God is an itinerary we must discover, including where God wants us to go, and what God wants us to do. The will of God for us is that we come into a deep, intimate and personal relationship with Him. Everything else that is needed in our lives will flow out of knowing Him, including His calling on our lives.

The amazing truth of the good news is that Jesus Christ has made us alive to God. The primary curriculum of the Spirit is to mature us in our newfound relationship with Him. The more we understand who we are, holy in Christ, and what God has done to make us holy, the more our minds will change and we will embrace His wisdom. That is why Paul puts the knowledge of God's will first.

In v.9 we discover two things that enable us to discover the will of God. The first thing needed is "spiritual wisdom". This wisdom comes from the Spirit, not from us. This divine insight enables us to understand ourselves and how life functions. Truth is God's definition of all things. As God teaches us these things, we grow in our knowledge of Him which is His ultimate will for our lives. At this point we are being discipled by God.

The second thing we need is "understanding" which is the application of God's wisdom. The key is that we must discover how God sees our problems and what He says about them, in His word. Then there will come, as we pray and seek Him, a clear vision of what needs to be done emerges.

So when you open the Bible, pray that God will help you to understand what it says. As a result, you will begin to gain spiritual wisdom and understanding. In so doing, you will personally start to get to know God.

Colossians 1:6-8

"The gospel has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. Three words that are crucial there: faith, hope, and love." (Col 1:6-8)

Paul picks up here in v.6 with the most powerful concept ever presented to man: the Gospel which is both good news and bad news. The bad news prepares us for the good news. And, of course, the good news is Jesus Christ has demonstrated His love for us by solving our sin and death problem on His cross. The result of knowing this love is we are gradually transformed from the inside out.

There are times, when facing difficulty, we are tempted to give up on following the Lord Jesus.  At this point, He is always faithful to reveal the fact that He is more involved in our lives than we knew. This is the power of the gospel. Almost without exception, God has, during these times taught us the value of faith in Him. As Philip Yancey writes in his book, Disappointment with God, “Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.”

Although God has often provided help to us through friends and family, He has been known to sometimes deliberately deny us human help. He does this so that we will recognize that no matter where the help comes from, He is the one providing the help.

The Apostle Paul identifies what is happening in these contexts: the Gospel is producing fruit in and through us. The type of fruit that he is talking about is faith, hope and love.

Notice when the effectiveness of the Gospel began to come alive in our lives, "...since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth." (v.6)

Do you remember the first day you began to hear and know God's grace? Like me, it probably took you a while to get it, but when you did, you began to recognize that He was the power behind your change. There is nothing more life changing than to know that God likes us and is for us one hundred percent.

This presents a major theme in the book of Colossians. You see, the Colossians had lost sight of this core doctrine: Jesus is the active answer in every possible way during each day of our lives. Learning to relate with Him is the key to all of life. When we do this, we begin experiencing "eternal life".

At this point, hope is unlocked in our lives. And, this hope is effective because it is about that which awaits us each day as we anticipate what God is going to do in our lives on that day. Those who don’t understand hope are always freaking out when things go wrong. This posture of worry is needless and stunting to our spiritual growth. Even the negative is a positive in the kingdom of God.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said it well when he said, "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."