The Believer's Inheritance

Colossians 1:1–14 ESV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 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, 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; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Scripture: Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon Title: The Believer’s Inheritance

           As you may have seen in the midweek update and have now heard, we’re beginning a new series today through the book of Colossians. I’m calling this series “Christ and the Believer.” Colossians is a book that you can sit down, and you’ll repeatedly find that name, that title, “Christ.” You’ll read of Jesus as the sole hope God offers the world for redemption again and again. You’ll also likely notice this is a book written to believers for believers. It teaches us the difference that our faith makes in our lives. If you’re not a believer or you’re wondering what a non-believer might get out of reading Colossians, it’s a solid guide about the faith, its benefits, and, with the Holy Spirit’s help, an introduction to the hope that may persuade you to believe and be saved.

That’s the big picture. For some details, again, Colossae was northwest from Jerusalem in what is Turkey today. The gospel had been brought quite a distance to reach these people. We’ll hear in verse 7 the name of the man who likely planted the church—Epaphras. Historians believe Colossae was quite an important city prior to when this letter was written, but was now on the decline. This was a town that you passed through to go to the big city. Based on pictures I’ve seen, there’s little more to see at this site today than a mound of grass covering ruins. While it may seem like I’m painting an underwhelming picture of these Christians, keep in mind that an apostle took the time to write these believers a letter, and that God so spoke for this to be part of his Word.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when Christie and I were in Chicago last week, we relied on a lot of public transportation. Late one afternoon we decided we would head back to our hotel and figure out dinner plans, so we got on a bus to go to the train, only to realize we ended up on the platform for the train going the opposite direction. Due to timing, it really didn’t make sense to convince tired Addy and Brooks that we had to change sides, and haul the stroller back downstairs, go across the street, go up the stairs to the right platform, and so we just got on the train. As I thought about what to do, I realized a restaurant I had looked at was in the same direction, so we kept riding, and then got on a bus, and then walked a few blocks to Pequod’s Pizza.

I hadn’t been there before and didn’t really know what to expect. Upon entering the restaurant and telling them we wanted to dine-in, they asked us if we had made a reservation. No, we didn’t. This had been a spur of the moment decision. There were only 4 of us eating plus Feya in the stroller. It was a weekday. Well, the guy looked at his reservation list and told us we’d be waiting at least two hours, it’d be at least 8:30 before he could squeeze us in. We had already eaten that late once but trying to figure out what to do before the table opened up was not happening. We put in an order for carry-out, had our pizza in 45 minutes, and ate at a nearby park.

As we begin this morning, I want us to have two words, two concepts, in our minds. The first is a reservation. If you can make out the bottom picture, it’s a “Reserved” sign on a table. What would a reservation have done? Putting our name in ahead of time would have gotten us a table. We could have staked our claim that we were going to eat there at a certain time. Instead of being one of several couples or groups turned away at the door, we would’ve gotten the true experience. That’s a reservation and its purpose.

The other word is from our message’s title, an inheritance. An inheritance is what we may be trying to leave behind for our loved ones when we pass away, or for those of you who are younger, you may look at it from the perspective of what you think or expect or hope you might get from the generation or generations above you. Maybe it’s money or things of sentimental value, a family heirloom, jewelry, or as is often the case in rural communities, farmland. If any of these things belong to a person, they may decide before their death that they want to pass them to someone else. That person will then take ownership and decide how they will use or save or carry on that gift. Something is given, something is received, and it’s typically meant to be beneficial.

As we look at what I’m calling the believer’s inheritance—which is part of the core of Paul’s introduction to the Colossians—let’s be clear, I’m not equating what people of faith receive to pizza and a seat at a packed restaurant. I’m not equating it to any sum of money or to an heirloom or jewelry or farmland. But bearing in mind what we understand of a reservation and of an inheritance helps us to think about what we do have and are looking forward to.

With that said, what is the believer’s inheritance? Again, Paul is writing to believers, to people who are in Christ. If we are like them, we can say the same things about ourselves. Or if you’re wondering what benefit there is, what reward, what inheritance, what is reserved for believers, listen again. Paul writes, starting in verse 5, “…The 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.” Picking up later in verse 12, he tells them that he’s “…Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 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.”

The hope that is reserved for believers, that we are promised to have, is one that we are looking forward to. Paul’s message is that believers must remember it is in heaven; it is not on this earth. It is in the life to come; it is not here and now. The inheritance is that we will be brought into the kingdom of Jesus, the Christ, the one who God sent because he loved us, and he has redeemed from our sin. The ultimate benefits of being a Christian, of believing the God who reveals himself in the Bible, trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Savior—the ultimate benefits must be waited for. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any benefits during our lifetimes, but it is important that we keep the appropriate mindset.

If we’re going through life and we see and experience struggles—we say I believe in God, but this drought is killing my livelihood or I’m struggling with this sin or I’m lonely and can’t find a spouse—when we see violence and people being injured and killed, when we see sickness and death, when we see hatred and division and cursing and immorality, don’t think that God has gone missing. If like the people of Colossae, we see declines in what used to be, remember that our greatest inheritance is in another time and place—it is not yet. We must wait for it. Similar to how we wait some minutes or hours for our turn with a reservation, know that the time will come.

We’ve got to back up, though, because we skipped over something. What we skipped over is the question: how do we get this inheritance? I’ve kept the two passages from point one on the screen and added a third. In verses 5 and 6, Paul is clear, you must have faith. Where does faith originate? The truth of the gospel. It’d be easy to stop right there, wouldn’t it? How do you get the inheritance? Have faith. How do you get faith? Just read the Bible, learn about Jesus, put that in your mind, use his name when asked about faith, and you’ll be in heaven. You’ll inherit the kingdom of God.

That’s not the end of the answer, though. Faith is not solely intellect. It’s not just having the right answers. This is what the other verses testify to. Paul could speak from his own experience, from how God miraculously intervened and changed his life and his head and his heart. Throughout his ministry, he tells this church, his regular prayer has been “…Asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” In verse 12, Paul writes, it’s “…The Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints…For he has rescued us from [darkness] and brought us into [his Son’s kingdom.”

This is why believers must be very careful about what we understand of the language we use today. When people talk about choosing Christ or accepting him, can anyone really do that on their own? The Reformed tradition has carried on the doctrine of irresistible grace or effectual grace. That testifies to our need for God to take us captive, for him to fill us with the knowledge, hope, faith, and love of him. We can speak of our experience, yes, on some given day, we professed Jesus, we realized we couldn’t neglect or avoid him anymore, we said, “I do believe, I want him and his benefits.” But going back to those concepts of an inheritance and a reservation, if he hasn’t put you in the will first, you don’t inherit the benefit. If God isn’t offering you a reserved seat that you will one day sit on and enjoy the banquet feast of his kingdom, you can’t stake a claim all by yourself. We must look to God, to the Holy Spirit, to instill faith and love in the hearts of men and women to draw them to him. It’s a blessing that he gives this guidance and aid.

We come to our third question then. Knowing what the inheritance is and how we get it, if we have it, what do we do with it? If you have a reservation at a restaurant, most of the time you can be pretty confident that your name is on their list. Maybe you have to wait a few minutes longer than the set time, but it shouldn’t be too long. Your reservation allows you to arrive a bit later, to not wait impatiently and hungrily in the restaurant. When it comes to an inheritance from a loved one, maybe you’ve been told you won’t inherit anything and it’s not a big deal—it doesn’t change things. But maybe you have been told what you can likely expect, and it has a significant impact. Some people change how they spend money or take out loans—when so-and-so dies, I’ll just pay it off. Farmers might plan their whole livelihood based on land they expect to get.

In a similar way, the hope we have from our inheritance in Christ—what he offers through the gift of faith because of what he did on the cross—should have a whole life change. That’s what Paul started to talk about in verse 6 but treats more fully in verses 10 through 12. “…We pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way…” What does that look like, “a life worthy of the Lord”? In Philippians 1:27, he writes “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” What is that? Here in Colossians 1, it has four parts: “…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 [the inheritance giver].”

The sign outside of church got changed on Friday, but before that, it read something to the extent, “Christ died for your sins. What have you done for him?” That question isn’t asking, how have we earned our salvation? Have you done enough for it? Have you satisfied Jesus? No, it’s recognizing that if you’ve been redeemed, how does that change things for you, for us? Bear fruit in good works, grow in knowing God, be strengthened by his might to endure and be patient, and give thanks joyfully. This is what Christians are called to do, because God has called us to himself, because Jesus died for us, because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are changed.

To be sure, there is maturing that happens—some need milk, some can eat meat; some don’t understand, some know much. There are different callings that God puts on each of our lives—not all are to be pastors and teachers, or elders or deacons, but God does call particular people to those things. If he calls and that’s recognized, then he will gift and equip for those tasks or others. In different places and different times in our lives, our way of life, our abilities, our usefulness can change. Yet all of us, as Christ’s disciples, as children of the king, as the redeemed of the Lord, are called to the life actively lived for the Lord.

All of us can do good, even when it’s hard, even if we always used to do something else but have since realized it’s sinful. We’re called to a life of holy obedience, of righteousness. We are to treat the Lord and others with love. All of us can grow in our understanding of the Bible by reading or listening, by looking to faithful teachers and commentaries, by asking a godly man or woman to help disciple and form us, to deepen our understanding. If you sense in yourself an inadequacy in some area, that shouldn’t cause us to stop and isolate, but it may God drawing our attention to an area where he’s encouraging growth. Again, going through this life, we see trouble, we can become anxious, we wonder when God will put an end to evil—we need to depend on the Father to give us patience and endurance. We’ll hear more details on this as we continue in the book of Colossians. Finally, be joyful in giving thanks for your inheritance and the one who’s given it. Don’t be afraid to thank God over and over again for what he’s done and will still do.

Brothers and sisters, as summer, a season of rest for many of us, is nearing its end and the education year starts again—what is God stirring up in your life regarding your inheritance? Are there some areas where you’ve concentrated living worthy of the Lord, but that he might be guiding you to grow in others? Have you relaxed or even ignored bearing fruit, growing in knowledge, seeking out patience and endurance, or giving joyful thanks? As we see journey through this letter in the weeks ahead, may the Lord reveal more and more of himself and grow our trust and gratitude for what he is willing and able to do. Let us grow in love for him. Amen.