Sunday, September 9, 2012
Colossians 1:1-14
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d]behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
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On reading this passage, one verse usually sticks out to me and causes a lot of tension... v. 5 that faith and love spring from the hope stored up in heaven... and my tension lies in that it seems to me to follow a logic that says we are Christians or are faithful and loving because of the eternity we receive... it at least strikes at the discontent in doing only because of what I'm getting. What do you all think?
ReplyDeleteI can see what you mean. For me it seems that the knowledge of what awaits us in heavens is so great that it overflows into love for others and wanting to share with them. I don't share the Gospel with anyone because I think it will "add" to how much "treasure" I get when I get to heaven because for me access into those gates is enough, whatever lays beyond I'll find out when I get there. I think we share because we want to share that same possibility with others and allow them the opportunity to have access into those gates as well, not for any personal gain. - I hope that makes sense to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteBoth of you make sense... and offer great perspectives.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of it depends on what "in heaven" could mean. Often times Jesus and Paul write or say "in the heavenlies" and its translated in heaven. So its SOMETIMES this idea of treasure and hope stored up in the realm of the heavens. Which if we believe the kingdom of heaven is truly at hand, then this hope and treasure are available in the present realm with the presently overflowing "heavenlies." Just a thought. And I'm not really sure which one Paul is attempting to describe.
And oh man, isn't the life we want described in verses 9-12?! I mean "being strengthened by all power in accordance to his glorious might..." beautiful. I'm thinking while laying here about all the times we feel desperate for this power to stand firm or speak out or use wisdom or refrain or embrace the kingdom... and here Paul says God gives this to us so that we may in turn please him in good ways. So even the ability to please him is a gift from him. I like it.
Great thoughts guys. Talk with ya tomorrow.
austin