Colossians 1:9-14

We have a lot of questions we would love answered for what God wants in our lives. Should I take this job? Where should I go to college? Should I marry this person? Should my family move? Where should my kids go to school? Our questions often boil down to a big question: God, what is your will for my life? Did you know Scripture puts forth an answer to that question? The Lord does not want us to walk around confused, He wants us, as His children, to know what our lives should look like. We are currently in a series… and today we come to Colossians 1:9-14 where Paul will write to the church of Colossae that he is praying that they would know God’s will so that they can live in a way that is pleasing to God! He then will tell them the makers of that life and how, when we are in Christ, this should not cause us to feel guilt and shame but freedom and joy. Let’s pray and we will dive in. 

This morning we have 4 points so let’s dive in so we can give each the time they need. The first thing we will talk about is a pleasing life. What does it mean to live a life that is pleasing to God? Well Paul wants this church to know how to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, he wants them to know God and what He requires of them. That’s why he beings with verse 9… This begins with “and so” and some translations use “for this reason…” So Paul just commended their faith, he said in verses 3 and 4 that he thanks God for their faith that he has heard about, that they have this particular love for one another, and that they have true hope laid up for them in heaven. It is because of their faith in Jesus that he is about to say this next part, launching us into the rest of the letter. Because of their faith, he is praying for them and has not stopped praying for them. Now, this might be obvious but I want to point out that he was not praying 24/7 for them. But we do learn a lesson here. When do we think we need prayer? Typically when things are not going well. I have been in many circles where someone, typically the Bible study leader, will say, “does anybody need any prayer” and whenever a request is made it is something like, “I have an interview coming up” or “my family member has a health concern” or even “pray for this person who has walked away from faith” or something like that. But why is Paul saying is the reason he prays for this church? Because of their faith. His prayers do not center around the fact that he is concerned but because he wants their faith to be protected. It is ok to ask for prayer like this, “my wife and I are doing really well right now, I would love prayers that we continue to be close” or to pray for people like, “Lord thank you for their faith and how they are growing, would you please keep that fire burning?” Ceaseless prayer means in any circumstance. 

So what is Paul’s prayer? That they be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. During that time there was a belief that started to go around that ended up in a system that is known as gnosticism. Gnosticism’s root word is gnosis which is the Greek word for knowledge. Basically the teaching was that you needed this special and secret knowledge of God that you could not get on your own, that you had to go to the teachers of this, or find the divine connection within you, in order to find this saving knowledge. And to combat that Paul is making the point that they do not need that special knowledge, that God is already giving them everything they need. They do not need some secret knowledge. God’s will for our lives is not hidden. By praying that they would have knowledge of his will He is making a statement: it is possible to know his will for your life. 

And when we know His will, this passage instructs that we should walk in His will, and that will be pleasing to the Lord, and that will allow us to bear fruit, spreading His Kingdom and increase in our knowledge of God and His will. So the big question: what is His will for our life? If you do a search in the New Testament for the will of God for believers we find 5 things, which were pointed out to me R. Scott Pace and Daniel Akin. 

First, our salvation. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 tells us that His will, or His desire, is that all people to be saved. Second, 1 Thessalonians 4:3 tells us that His will for us is our sanctification (explain, here specifically about sexual purity and self control). Third, Ephesians 5:17-18 tells us that we should understand the will of God to be to be filled with the Spirit. Now this happens at the moment of salvation but this is referring to yielding control to the Spirit, surrendering our lives to Him deliberately in every moment. Fourth, 1 Peter 2:15 tells us to stand against those who stand against the Lord. This means we stand firm in the Truth, that we stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves, and we stand against the attacks of the enemy like Ephesians 6 tells us in the armor of God. And fifth, 1 Peter 4:19 tells us it is in God’s will that we will suffer. Well that took a turn. But James 1 tells us that trials, that suffering, actually leads to us growing in endurance which leads to our faith being perfect and complete. 

So this is not every little personal detail about God’s will, but when we know these large components of His will and walk in them, we see that we will please our Lord and then bear fruit in our good work and increase in our knowledge of Him. Then we will be able to discern those specific parts of what God wants for us. 

Which leads to the second aspect is how living this way will lead to a persevering life. Let’s read verse 11… so notice something here. A true faith is an enduring faith. Jesus says that the person who endures in their faith until the end will be saved in Matthew 24:13. Does this mean we white knuckle it with all the effort we can muster up in order to make it to the end? Well let’s look at the verb and do some grammar. So we have that this kind of life is a life that is being strengthened. Passive or active? Present past or future? Now present just now or present continuous? This means we are continually being strengthened with all power. He is making it possible. It reminds me of Philippians 1:6 where Paul writes that God will bring to completion the work He began in us. 

The Lord will continuously give us strength, with all power, which He has ample of, according to His what? Glorious might! My goodness. That’s incredible. Remember when Jesus said in the great commission that He will never leave nor forsake you. Paul actually tells us in Ephesians 1:19-20 that the same power that rose Christ from the dead lives in us! Lives in you, Christian! There are not enough superlatives to describe this power that is within each of us. But here is the key, it is not your power. So in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 when Paul says that when he is weak then he is strong is accurate. Not because of his strength but because of God’s. Lauren Daigle said this in a song once example. That line is not comforting because if God told me that I am strong then I would be able to point to many times where I was not. But instead we read here in Colossians that it is His strength, according to His glorious might. 

And when we have that then we will be able to persevere. Will all endurance and patience. So these two words cover a number of things. Endurance typically is in reference to circumstances and patience is in reference to how we deal with people. Many of us are going through one, if not both, in a variety of situations. Scripture does not lie or sugar coat it and act like we do not. It does not say that this will allow us to be given power so we can just have it easy. Nope, we need that glorious might and awesome power of the Spirit because we need endurance and patience. And when we are walking in step with the Spirit, we will have endurance and patience with joy. Normally patience comes with a little bit of groaning, or boredom, but here we can have patience and endure with joy. Again, not because of any power we muster up but the power that is continually strengthening us that comes only from Him!

And when we are in the thick of it, enduring and showing patience with joy because of His power, we also have a proved life. We have been talking about living a life that is worthy of the Lord, a life that is pleasing to Him. Now we almost would expect that if we obey enough, or find a way to truly live a life that is worthy of the Lord, then we will prove ourselves to Him. We will prove we deserve being born again. So much of our lives is us trying to prove ourselves. School, sports, plays, dating, jobs, etc. It makes sense logically that after being told knowing God and knowing His will is possible, so go forward and walk in a manner that is worthy, fully pleasing to the Lord, that we would read something like, “and when you do that, you will prove yourself to God.”

But the text does not say that at all. In fact it says something quite different. Let’s read verse 12… so we have this small phrase “giving thanks to the Father.” We have been talking about how it is through the strength of God, through His power, that we persevere in faith and endure until the end. So Paul tells us that because of God doing that, we must give Him thanks. Part of walking in a manner worthy of the Lord is expressing gratitude. We can express gratitude in many different ways. We can pray prayers of thanksgiving, sing, being faithful and obedient. 

But Paul follows up this thought that we should continually be thankful by giving the ultimate reasons to be thankful. The first is right here in verse 12, He has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. What does that mean? He has qualified us. Well this is what makes everything we just read not an impossible a guilt driven burden but a joyful pursuit. Without this Truth, we could not live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, we would not be able to walk in a manner that is worthy, we would quite literally be sunk. But we do not earn the status of qualification. 

One of my personal favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (Present Gospel). So the righteousness of Christ has been imputed onto us. (Describe what that means). So we do not have to prove ourselves, we do not qualify ourselves, we have been qualified. Our qualification is the righteousness of Christ and His blood which covers our sin. 

That means we are qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints, or holy ones (recap) in light. Let’s briefly discuss this inheritance that we are qualified for. 1 Peter 1:3-4 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” our inheritance is eternal life or never ending joy and peace, in the new heavens and new earth after the Lord has set all things right, making all things new. This inheritance is all things light, or good, pure and holy. The grace of this is astounding and this should lead to us giving thanks!

But the other reason we should be thankful is what we will end with, a postmarked life. So when something is postmarked the idea I am going for is that the object that is postmarked is sent from one place to another. Everything that has been postmarked includes proof that it was received and delivered to the correct location when it was supposed to be. So we have verse 13… alright, ready for more grammar? He has delivered, is that verb past, present, or future? And is it a past event that has no bearing on us now or is it a past event that continues to impact us? This means all of us were, at one time, a part of the domain of darkness. Now many people, in my opinion, focus too much on this once they are Christians. I want to focus not on what we were saved from but what we were saved to! 

1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Let’s take a brief look at each of these (explain). This is the Kingdom we are now a part of, we are in the incredible Kingdom of His beloved Son. And for good measure, Paul reminds us in verse 14 the amazing Truth about our standing in this Kingdom. Because we have been delivered (past tense) we now have (present tense) redemption. We are completely, fully, and forever forgiven of our sin. This is part of the reason we do a prayer of confession, to remind us of the fact we are forgiven, and to continue to war against our sin but practicing confession as a community. 

So to any non-Christian here, here is your invitation. And to any Christian, this passage is an incredible reminder. Let’s pray.