Supremacy in Redemption

Colossians 1:9–14 ESV

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has 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.

INTRODUCTION

After hearing of the Colossians’ faith, love, and hope, Paul constantly prays that they will fully understand God’s will. A consistent and frequent prayer life prompts Paul’s thanksgiving in verse three. In verses 9-14, Paul elaborates on his time spent in constant prayer for the Colossians.

Paul begins by giving the nature or reason for his blessing. The phrase “Since the day we heard” pinpoints the particular reason Paul has in mind, referring back to verses 3-5, where Paul says, “Because we have heard of your faith and love that is based on your hope.” 

One of the questions I often get as a pastor is, " How do I know God’s will for my life?” 

We are looking for a clear road map from point “A” to point “Z.” However, this is not how God operates. Most of us fall into the trap of trying to circumvent God’s plan, forcing God’s hand by taking matters into our own hands. Here is how this generally works: We move ahead with our agenda and plans, then ask God later to come alongside what we have determined is best, asking Him to bless our efforts. It's a shocker when this never works out. 

REASON FOR PAUL’S PRAYER

That his readers would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

Here, Paul is praying that they be described by knowing God’s “will.” This could refer to his unalterable redemptive plan in history or his preceptive will (i.e., his commands for his people to obey).

God’s Preceptive will:

The preceptive will of God relates to the revealed commandments in God’s law.

This decree does not carry the immediate necessary consequences when God commands us not to steal. So, where the light can't refuse to shine in creation, we can refuse to obey God’s commands.

In a word, we steal. We must be careful not to be lulled into thinking that God's preceptive will is divorced from His decreed will. It is not as if the preceptive will has no effects or consequences. 

We may have the power to disobey a precept. We do not have the power to disobey it with impurity. His law remains intact whether we choose to obey it or disobey it. 

When I was a kid, my friends and I used to love to draw mazes. We started simple, but eventually graduated to using graph paper to draw out elaborate, complex mazes to navigate.  Drawing them was a lot of work, but it was so entertaining to watch our friends attempt to navigate them and repeatedly have to backtrack and start over. Many Christians approach finding God’s will for their lives with a similar perspective. We are each easily convinced that God has designed a plan for us with many dead ends, as though we are mice making our way through some experimental process or maze. Whenever we come to a point where we do not know which way to go, we are forced to reverse our course and pursue a different path. This results in our wandering through life with uncertainty, second-guessing every decision, feeling frustrated at every wrong turn, and hoping that somehow we will reach our destination and finally find God’s will. 

Discerning God’s will for your life was never meant to be like working through a maze. He designed it to be amazing! 

So, how can we possibly know for certain what His will is for us, and what is involved in accomplishing His plan? 

You are not alone if these questions still roam your mind at every waking and sleeping hour. This morning's passage teaches us how to determine God’s will for our lives, both individually and as a church. 

God’s Redemptive plan permeates everything we say and do in the Christian life.

Paul begins our text today by praying for the Colossians to come to know and understand God’s will. We must remember that Paul concludes that the Father alone qualifies the believer to share in the inheritance transferred to us, leading us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. To move a step closer to knowing, understanding, and living out God’s will for our lives...

We Must First Understand that…

The Preeminent Christ Redeemed you to the Will of God.

1. God’s Will is not a Puzzle to be Solved

Much of our time is spent worrying about God’s plan and will for our lives, wringing our hands in worry over not knowing God's will. 

The ability to know and do God's will is not some far-off fairy tale that we have to discover. It is a present reality that is already available to everyone. 

Our ability to know, understand, and act on God's will hinges on our consistent prayer life. How much time do you spend praying that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will and understanding? 

*God’s Will Has Been Disclosed

If God’s will had not already been made available to us, Paul would not have prayed that we would know and understand God's will. Why would Paul pray for something that was not available for us to receive? 

Note: Notice Paul uses the word “all” to identify spiritual wisdom and understanding. The other “all” designation is about power. 

What does the word “All” refer to? It directs us to all those things that God has already revealed to us in scripture. 

Most people take a discovery approach when determining God’s will for their lives. Like a tourist on a beach looking for lost treasures, they approach it with a spiritual metal detector, sweeping the detector around as they wander through life, hoping they stumble onto it. Yet when they uncover what they have found, they are often disappointed to see the equivalent of empty cans, tarnished objects, or worthless trinkets. This is like encountering a dead end in my maze, so they start the discovery cycle again and hope the following beep will be it.

God did not design his will to be found this way, he would not design a plan for our lives and then hide it away where we could not find it. God’s will is more like a treasure map to follow than a metal detector.

THE REALM OF KNOWLEDGE

We must consider what the gnosis or knowledge of God is. 

From such small beginnings grew the developed Gnosticism of the second century, which caused the churches many problems. 

Gnostics offered an exceptional understanding of spiritual reality, immune from dissent or discussion, shared only by those similarly ‘in the secret’. But Paul will have none of it. In Christ, his friends at Colossae had already received full knowledge (Gk epignōsis). Bruce quotes Bultmann’s definition of epignōsis as ‘almost a technical term for the decisive knowledge of God which is involved in conversion to the Christian faith’.

What do we know about God’s Fully Revealed Will?

It is God’s Will for us to be Saved.

1 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We know that God’s will for us is salvation, and as Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:9, he also desires that none should perish. What are we doing to help others know the saving grace of God? 

It is God’s will for us to be Sanctified

1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

Scripture explicitly contends that God’s will for us is for us to be sanctified, that is, set apart as holy before God. 

Ephesians 1:4 ESV

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

It is God’s will for us to be Spirit-Filled

Ephesians 1:13 ESV

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,.

Our moment-by-moment surrender to his abiding presence in our lives is essential to God’s will for every believer.

It is God’s will for us to stand

Living in opposition to a hostile world toward God is firmly rooted in your faith. Christians are called to stand against the world by not conforming to its values and lifestyle, instead living a life that reflects God's will and encourages others to glorify God. They are to engage in spiritual warfare, equipping themselves with God's armor and relying on his strength to resist temptation and evil. (Romans 12:2) “Do not be conformed to the world but be transformed.”

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

It is God’s will for us to Walk in Obedience

The statement "It is God's will for us to walk in obedience" highlights the biblical concept that following God's commands and teachings is essential for a fulfilling life and relationship with Him. Obedience is seen as an expression of love, a path to wisdom, and a means of experiencing God's blessings.

Obeying God will Make you Wise

Deuteronomy 4:5–6 ESV

5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

It is God’s will for us to Suffer

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

We also read in Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,”

We also read in Philippians 1:29, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,”  God’s will has been revealed to us in His living book, the Bible. So, when Paul concludes that all spiritual wisdom and understanding have been given to us, he is speaking of those things we know are God’s will for our lives. The problem is that we spend so much of our lives trying to figure out God’s will for our personal lives that we miss and neglect the explicit things that we know God has planned for us to do here at ground zero. 

*God’s Will Must Be Discerned

Do you have a spiritually discerning Spirit and how do you get a spiritually discerning Spirit?

While certain aspects of God’s will have been clearly revealed, more personal and particular elements must be discerned.

What is discernement? We see it used in Psalm 119:66

Psalm 119:66 ESV

Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.

Jesus encourages us to be discerning and discriminating lest we cast our pearls before swine. (Matt.7).

A remarkable example is on display in John2:24-25

John 2:24–25 ESV

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jesus knows what is in man’s heart and will not reveal himself to those who are not spiritually discerning.

“Discernment is learning to think God‘s thoughts after Him, practically and spiritually; it means having a sense of how things look in God‘s eyes and seeing them in some measure “uncovered and laid bare.”

Things we must understand about discerning God’s will

a). Passive knowledge of God

The "passive knowledge of God" refers to the idea that our understanding of God is not something we actively create or discover, but rather a gift from God himself through revelation. It's a receiving rather than a searching process.

b.) Active Knowledge of God

The "active knowledge of God" refers to a deep, personal, and experiential understanding of God that goes beyond mere intellectual comprehension. It involves a relationship with God, where one actively seeks to know, love, and serve Him, applying that knowledge to daily life and responding to His presence in the world. 

The Active and Passive Will of God refer to two ways God is believed to act in the world. The Active Will is the will of God that is actively carried out, causing something to happen. The Passive Will is God's permission for something to happen, without directly causing it Therefore, we must carefully discern God’s will through prayer and the guidance of His Spirit. 

We must confirm his will under his Word. We can evaluate its validity for our lives by the fruit it produces. Because God has graciously disclosed his will and provided everything we need to discern it, through Paul’s prayer in this passage, we can affirm the possibility of finding God’s will for our lives.

2. God’s Will is Motivated by His Ambition

a.) We Must Long to Please Christ

In our culture today, we often desire to know and follow God’s plan, but not for the right reasons. Many times, we want to know God’s will and plan for our own selfishly motivated desires. 

The overarching desire is to bring us satisfaction or glory. The thing that motivates God’s ambition to reveal His will to us is to please Him, all for His glory and fame alone.

We are called to walk in a way worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him. 

Many people expect the Lord to give them what they desire, and some may even quote Psalm 37:4 to justify their expectations: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

But this misunderstanding portrays God as some cosmic genie who is obligated to grant us our wishes as long as we ask “in Jesus’s name.” What this verse actually means is that God will infuse our hearts with his desires when we learn to delight ourselves in what pleases him.

b.) We Must Live to Please Christ

Verse 10 highlights the idea that we are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

Pursuing God’s will for our lives must be defined as comprehensively living in submission and surrender rather than living in comfort and convenience.

It means our lives must be entirely and exclusively devoted to honoring him. We can’t live the selfish way we want to and hide behind sanctified excuses like, “Well, God knows my heart.” Our true desires will be revealed through our actual behavior as we embrace the ultimate purpose of following God’s will: pleasing Christ!

3. God’s Will Has a Process for it’s Purpose

In verses 10-12 Paul gives us the practical aspects of living a life that pleases God. It is impossible to please God apart from doing His will for our lives.

The process of fulfilling God’s will: “bearing fruit” (v. 10), “growing” (v. 10), “being strengthened” (v. 11), and “giving thanks” (v. 12).

The verbs of ongoing action provide us with practical steps in the process of fulfilling God’s will for our lives.

*We are called to do Good Works

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

While some have argued that Paul is at odds with James. Some have said that Paul is the faith person and James is the work is the works person. I would say that this is untrue. The point both make explicitly is “show me a person’s works, and I will show you their faith or show me a persons faith, and I will show you their works.” James say’s in James 2:26 “Faith without works is dead.”

Fruit overflows into the works in a believers life. You cannot assume that you are in God’s will if you are not actively working for the Kingdom of God. This is a 24/7 job for all believers.

*We are Called to Grow Strong in the Lord!

Ultimately, if we pursue paths that can be accomplished in our own strength and ability, then we have achieved something less than God’s will.

*We are Called to Give Thanks

Thankfulness will always bring us back to the one who inures the purposeful will of the Father in our lives.

Our inheritance in Christ is imperishable. Matthew 6:19 “don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…”

Our inheritance in Christ is unspoiled

Our inheritance in Christ is reserved.

*We are Called to the Kingdom of Light

We must relish in the Freedom that We have in God’s Will! The final 2 verses of this section expound on the Fathers word of Salvation to qualify his people for his service. Paul specifies the nature of Christ’s saving work, the means by which it will be accomplished shifting from the use of the second person pronoun “you” in v. 12 to the first person “us” in v. 13.

This shift to the fist person would appear to be referencing his own personal testimony being blinded on the Damascus road and having what appeared as scales fall from his eyes when God used Ananias a high priest of Jerusalem to restored Saul’s sight.

In verse 13 notice that Paul uses two complementary verbs to establish a stark contrast that reinforces the present reality of their sacred standing as God’s people. In the New American Standard we read that “He has rescued us,” where the ESV uses the word “delivered,” this speaks of the peril of our condition prior to Christ. The word used hear is usually attributed to Israel’s Exodus from Egypt.

The parallel term, “transferred,” describes the sequential or simultaneous act of the Father in salvation reinforcing the vast insurmountable gulf that exists between the two conditions.

Light and Darkness Cannot Coexist

In the Bible darkness is commonly used to refer to the condition of a depraved world apart from God, both by the physical and spiritual metaphorical blindness used to characterize the lost.

Jesus describes himself as “the light of the world,” (John 8:12), and he invaded the darkness of sinful humanity and could not be overcome by it (John 1:4-5). Christ rules and reigns over the kingdom of light. The transfer is from being citizen’s of this world with all that is controlled and ruled by Satan to being citizens of heaven with the other saints and members of the household of God.

WE HAVE BEEN REDEEMED FOR A PURPOSE

As God’s people we have a new position, a new purpose, a new perspective.

Our eyes have been opened and we now can recognize the hopeless state of the world from which we have now been rescued. We are free from our slavery to sin and are now free to fulfill the greater purpose of God.

We now have a heightened awareness of our responsibility to live as children of the light. Above all we must be faithful to proclaim the “light of the gospel” of King Jesus that penetrates the darkest dark, and even the greatest blinded hearts around us so that they too may be rescued. We have been redeemed for this purpose.

You are now a part of the greatest rescue team the world has ever known. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5 that we are ministers of reconciliation to the world, we are ambassadors for Christ to those who are wandering and groping in this dark world of sin for answers.

CONCLUSION

Do you know what God is doing in your life right now? 

Are you seeking the Lord and asking Him to reveal His will to you right now? 

In all my years of serving the Lord, I have found that God does not desire to keep you in the dark. Yes, there are times I must walk by faith and not by sight, but even in those seasons of walking by faith, I can know the “ways of God.”

God’s will for our lives was never intended to be a mystery for us to solve. Instead, he has provided everything needed to accomplish his plan faithfully. He has redeemed us from the world of darkness and given us the ability to discern and actively pursue His divine will accurately.  

Psalm 103:7 ESV

7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.

How do we grow in our knowledge of God’s will?

Paul say’s it comes through “All spiritual wisdom and understanding.” This means that the “knowledge” of God’s will is not just knowing a few simple facts.

Spiritual wisdom and understanding are the ability to apply Biblical principles to one's life. This gift is exclusively reserved for believers. If you halfheartedly follow Jesus, you will never have the great privilege of obtaining it. What Paul is talking about is a deep, thorough knowledge of God’s will for our lives. 

This is only obtained through the study of God’s word. As we carefully and diligently learn more about God’s word, we learn more about God’s will for our lives.

As God’s word becomes more dominant in our thinking and feelings, the will of God will come with it.  The redemption of the Lamb of God must become central in our daily thinking and feeling.

A boy made a toy yacht, put a sail on it, and painted it red. He took it out and sailed it in a nearby stream, but for whatever reason, he lost the boat in the current of the stream. 

He was brokenhearted at its loss. One day, the boy was passing a second-hand store in his village. He looked in the window, and his boat was for sale for 50 cents. He looked at it and said, " That's my boat, " so he approached the man behind the counter and said, " I want my boat back. I made that boat, put the sail on it, and painted it red.

The man said someone brought the ship to me, and I bought it. If you want it back, you must pay the 50-cent sale price. So he gave the man the 50 cents and walked out of the shop with his boat. 

As he cradled the boat in his arms, he said, “Little boat, you are twice mine.” I made you, I lost you, and Bought you back again.

If you are a Christian here this morning, God says to you, “You are Twice Mine, I made you, I lost you in sin, and in Christ I qualified you, I rescued you, I redeemed you, and I have bought you back.