Colossians 1-2
Pleasing God
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TMS Isaiah 41:10 Where is Your God?
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 Behold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
Observations
Those who have chosen to follow God will frequently have more than the normal share of difficulties, because they are swimming upstream against the flow of their world. They will also have added adversaries in the spiritual realm. But God gives promises to His servants (note context) so that there is no need to fear nor be dismayed. The word for dismay is to look anxiously about, seeking a way of escape or a source of deliverance. The servant of God need not look any further than the all-sufficient God who is next to them, within them, over, under, around, in front of, and behind them. God promises to be with them. (See "The God of Peace" in Philippians 4). He has revealed Himself to be our Helper, to uphold us when we slip or stumble, and pick us up when we fall. His objective is not to harm us, but to bless us. He upholds us with His righteous right hand, attached to His mighty arm. With that kind of help next to us, what is there to fear?
Application
When tempted to fear or flee, remember who your God is and where He is; express your dependence upon Him and look to do His will.
Prayer
“I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise...” Amen.
Colossians 1-2 Pleasing God
In his letter to the Church at Colosse, which parallels much of the content of Ephesians, Paul emphasizes what forgiven, faith-exercising believers need to do to please Christ. Only those will reap the reward/inheritance promised in the hope held out in the gospel (which is not forgiveness of sins – that's a done deal). He warns Christians of following Jewish ritual (which will disqualify them from their inheritance) rather than following Christ by faith (which ensures their temporal and eternal victory). In their union with Christ, believers have all they need to receive the grace and peace God offers. See link under Digging Deeper for a sermon on Living the Christian Life After the Cross.
Colossians 1 Pleasing God
Greetings from Paul and Timothy
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:Grace to you and peace 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 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 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, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 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.The Supremacy of the Son
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.Paul’s Suffering for the Church
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.Application
How many of the things that please God are you currently doing on a regular basis? Is God pleased with you?
Prayer
God, thanks that You have forgiven me and have plans to bless me; may I be careful to do what is pleasing in Your sight and reap the hope You have stored up for me. Amen.
Colossians 2 Victory in Jesus
Absent in Body, Present in Spirit
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.Alive with Christ
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.Application
Those who are united with Christ by steadfast faith in all His revelation (which in the gospels was largely about living to be blessed in the Kingdom) will experience victory in this life and the spoils of that victory in the next.
Prayer
God, thanks that You have not only qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of light, but in Christ give all that is necessary for me to live in victory and sure expectation of reward. Amen.
Digging Deeper
God in a nutshell: God offers forgiveness to those who exercise faith, as well grace, peace, victory and reward to those who please Him.
Build-a-Jesus: In Christ are all the treasures that result from wisdom and knowledge. In union with Him, believers have all they need to reap their reward.
Us in a nutshell: Believers motivated by the hope of reward held out in the gospel will live by faith, in union with Christ and other believers, and thus please God.
Where to go for more
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