Praying for Gospel Growth (Colossians 1:1-14)

There are many things that pull for our attention. Friends, spouses, kids, jobs, our homes, our cars, our lawns. They all are grasping for our attention saying, “Look here! Look here! Look here!” None of these things are bad. They are part of life.

On another level, there are many things that pull for our spiritual attention. We all look to something to fulfill our deepest needs and desires. What or who do we look to for happiness? What or who do we look to for approval? What or who do we look to for satisfaction or comfort or security? We were created to find all those things in God: happiness, approval, satisfaction, comfort, security.  The problem is, there are so many other things that cry out to us, “Look here! Look here! Look here! Find your rest here! Find your satisfaction here! Find your happiness here!”

The apostle Paul's life was changed when the resurrected Jesus appeared to him on one of his travels.  Paul changed from one who was pursuing and killing followers of Christ to a great evangelist of the gospel - the good news about Jesus.

Paul never visited Colossae, but he wrote a letter to the church in that city in around 60 AD.  He had heard from Epaphras, the founder of that church, that there was some teaching going about that was diverting people's attention from Jesus.  In its essence, that teaching was telling them that they needed more than Jesus to experience spiritual fullness.  "Look to following special rules!  Look to disciplining and treating your body harshly!  Look to interactions with the spiritual world through angels and visions!  If you devote yourself to these things, you will be full and complete spiritually and you will be close to God."  Paul's response to that is: "Look nowhere else!  Christ is everything."

The temptation to look to something besides Jesus isn't unique to the 1st century.  Today, there are many different spiritual paths and religions in the world that say to us: you need this in your life if you want to be close to God and experience spiritual fullness and satisfaction.  We can even add things that we don't think of as religious or spiritual in nature.  We can look to our houses, our kids, our wife or husband, or our jobs to be satisfied with life.  We can look to money, free time, acceptance and approval, and control or organization as the thing that will finally make us feel full and complete.  Think about your "if onlys."  If only my kids would behave.  If only I had more money.  If only I had a different job.  If only I had a bigger house.  If only I had more time to relax.  If only I had less responsibilities.  If only my kids were older.  We follow those up with a "then": "if only [blank], then all would be right in my life.  I would be happy, joyful, thankful, free of worry, satisfied with my life, and content."

The bible says that none of those things will bring us true and lasting satisfaction.  The deepest needs and longings of our heart are designed to be fulfilled in God.  As Augustine, a Christian from the 4th century, said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

In Colossians 1:1-14, Paul begins his letter to the Christians in Colossae with a prayer.  His prayer is that they would be filled with the knowledge of what will truly bring spiritual satisfaction, fullness, and rest in their lives: the gospel.  The big question this passage answers is: how should we respond to gospel growth in our lives?  There are two parts to the answer.

Constantly Thank God for Gospel Growth in Our Lives (1:3-8)

In this first section, Paul is thanking God for the faith in Jesus Christ and the love for one another that the Colossians have.  This has come as a result of hearing the gospel, the good news, about the hope laid up for them in heaven.  This hope refers to all the future blessings awaiting the Christian.  Because Christ is in us, we have the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).  Put simply, one day Jesus will return to save us from the presence of sin.  Jesus has saved us from the penalty of sin and he is saving us from the power of sin, but in the future he will save us from the presence of sin.  We look forward to a world that is filled with God's presence and free from sin, suffering, evil, and death.  That is the hope laid up for us in heaven - our inheritance.

Paul says that they heard about this hope in the gospel and from it grew faith in Jesus and love for one another.  This is the gospel growth Paul thanks God for in their lives.  Jesus is Lord of the universe and so the future he promises to those who follow him is a future that will for sure be delivered.  We can bank on it and rest in it.  That leads his followers to cling to him (faith and trust) now for everything they need.  And because we have everything we need, we can selflessly love others.

Paul says this message is both true (1:5, 6) and powerful (1:6). And it is universally true and powerful - all over the place it is bearing fruit and growing. This gospel growth isn't an isolated incident in Colossae. All over the place it is having this same effect. If that was true in Paul's day, how much more can we say that today? For 2,000 years and all over the world, the gospel message has changed people's lives when they have heard and understood the grace of God.

So if you are not clinging to Jesus for everything and you aren't seeing love in your life, perhaps it is because you don't really have a good grasp of the hope laid up for you in heaven.  Why is this?  Perhaps it is one of these two reasons.  First, you don't think sin is that bad.  If you don't think sin is that bad, then you won't think you are that bad or this world is that bad.  And if you don't think sin or this world are that bad, why would you long for a world free from sin?  Second, you don't think suffering will ever end.  You take suffering as a sign that God isn't good or he doesn't care about you or hear your prayers.  You just believe it will never end.  But our suffering is supposed to ultimately produce hope and hope in God will not put us to shame because the Holy Spirit has been given to us (Romans 5:3-5).  Suffering from sin reminds us that the world is not as it should be.  It reminds us what evil and injustice and death our rebellion against God unleashed into creation.  Then it is supposed to turn our eyes to God and his promises to make all things new one day and to free us from the presence of sin, evil, and suffering.

The big question this passage answers is: how should we respond to gospel growth in our lives?  The first answer that we find in verses 3 through 8 is: constantly thank God for it.  Paul not only constantly thanks God for past gospel growth.  He also asks for more gospel growth.  We get the second answer to our big question in verses 9 through 14.

Constantly Ask God for More Gospel Growth in Our Lives (1:9-14)

The primary prayer in this section is: God, fill them with the knowledge of your will.  What is "God's will" in this passage?  Often we think of God's will in terms of God's personal plan for our lives.  Do you want me to make this decision or that decision?  This college or that college?  This house or that house?  Should I marry this girl or not?  While it is good to seek God's guidance in our decisions, this is not primarily how Scripture speaks of God's will.  There are two primary ways Scripture speaks of God's will: God's commands and God's plans.

First, God's commands are what he has said we should do.  God has already revealed his will by telling us what kind of people we should be and how we ought to act.  Now we just need to do it.  Second, God's plans are what he has said he will do.  In this case, God's will means his plans and purposes.  Before Christ, his plan of redemption and salvation was not fully revealed.  But now his will has been revealed and Paul has been sent as a messenger to make God's will fully known to the non-Jewish world.  He sums up the message like this: Christ in you, the hope of glory (1:25-27).  A one word summary would be this: the gospel.  In this sense, God's will means the gospel - the good news about who he is and what he is doing in Christ.  It is what God has done, is doing, and will do in Christ.  In the context of Colossians, this second meaning makes the most sense.

So Paul's prayer is: "God, fill them with the knowledge of the gospel - of your plan of redemption in Christ.  Fill them with the knowledge of what you have done, are doing, and will do through Jesus."  Why?  "So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him" (1:10).  If you want to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord Jesus, ask God to fill you with a deeper knowledge of the gospel - of his will in Christ.  What does walking worthy of the Lord look like?  Paul gives four fruits.

First, it means bearing fruit in all sorts of good works.  We will bless and serve others.  We will be generous toward others.  We will do good.  Second, it means increasing in our knowledge of God.  We will be getting to know God more and more.  All over the world, the gospel is "bearing fruit and increasing" (1:6).  It is transforming people's lives by producing the fruit of good works and knowledge of God.  Third, it means being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might.  When we are filled with the knowledge of the gospel, we are strengthened with power.  Elsehwere, this same phrase refers to the same power of the Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20).  Gospel knowledge leads to empowerment by the Holy Spirit.  For what purpose are we strengthened?  For a full measure of endurance and patience (1:11).  Endurance is strength to deal with difficult circumstances.  Patience is strength to deal with difficult people.  The gospel produces both fruits in our lives.  Fourth and lastly, walking worthy of the Lord means giving thanks with joy to the Father.  We thank God as the one who has done this work in our lives.  The gospel is good news about him and so being filled with it naturally leads to joyful thankfulness.

Paul concludes in verses 12 through 14 by listing out what the Father has done - what his will in Christ is.  First, he has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (1:12).  We do not qualify ourselves for an inheritance from God.  We do not make ourselves worthy to receive the hope laid up for us in heaven.  We do not prove ourselves worthy of inheriting a new creation from the presence of sin.  God qualifies us.  Second, the Father has delivered us from the domain of darkness.  We are free from the reign of evil, darkness, death, and sin.  Third, the Father has transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.  We are brought into the blessed reign of Jesus our Lord.

In Jesus, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  Just as God delivered Israel from slavery under physical oppressors in Egypt and transferred them into the Promised Land, so now God has worked through Christ to deliver us from slavery to our spiritual oppressors and has transferred us into the kingdom of heaven.  We are redeemed - delivered from slavery at the cost of Jesus' death on the cross.  We are freed (forgiven) from our sins.  Surely, these truths - God has qualified, delivered, and transferred us - are what Paul means by God's will.

Good works.  Knowing God more deeply and intimately.  Strengthened with the Spirit's power.  Endurance and patience.  Thanksgiving and joy.  Are these not fruits we want to see in our lives?  Don't we all want those to describe our life?  If so, the key to seeing it happen, Paul says, is to constantly ask God to fill you with the knowledge of God's will in Christ - his plans and purposes he has accomplished, is accomplishing, and will accomplish through Jesus.

Consider these questions:

1. What gospel growth can you thank God for and how can you make this a constant in your life? How did you first hear the gospel? How has God changed you? How has he made you new?
2. What gospel growth do you want to see and how can you make praying for it a constant in your life? Where do you still need God’s transformation?  Where do you still need to be made new?