The Basics of Life Colossians 1:9-11

Introduction

A. So many today are looking for a new experience with God.

B. The church at Colossae was similar as the gnostics and theologians were teaching them to go forward in knowledge.

C. we don’t need a new experience with God we need to grow in the experience that we already have.

I. You Must live in the pursuit of God’s plan.

A. The priority of Knowing God’s will.

i) Acts 22:14 “And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.”

ii). Ephesians 5:17 “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

B. The process of knowing God’s will.

i) The word filled in the New Testament means to be controlled by, so then we are to be controlled by the will of God.

ii) Colossians 1:9 “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”

This means that we can only understand the will of God through the Word of God.

C. The promise of knowing God’s will.

i) 1 Corinthians 2:11 “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”

ii) The general will of God is clear in the scriptures.

iii) The more we know of God’s general will the more we are able to see His specific will for daily life.

II. You Must live in the pursuit of God’s purpose.

Know this that God is not interested in making you happy, He is interested in making you Holy.

A. God wants us to know Him.

B. God wants us to love Him.

i) God did not create us primarily to serve Him, He created us to Love Him.

C. God wants us to please Him.

i) Unto all pleasing means in every respect pleasing God.

III. You Must live in the pursuit of God’s production.

A. As God works in you He will work through you.

B.His works are not a product of your devotion but proof of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

IV. You Must live in the pursuit of God’s power.

A.