Colossians 1:9-14 – If You Only Knew
Today we are continuing in our series started last week on the book of Colossians. Over the next few months, we’ll be learning from the words of Paul to the church in Colosse, about how to put Christ first in our lives. Today we are in 1:9-14. Let’s read.
Now, today, I want to share with you some words of encouragement from a wise man, a Canadian icon, a paragon of virtue and truth… Red Green. (show clip) This show, about a group of incompetent men helping others with their problems, featured the many uses of duct tape and the proper and safe handling of wild animals.
The conclusion of the show, similar to this, included the motto: "Quando omni flunkus moritati", which means "When all else fails, play dead". And then, the Man’s Prayer. It’s a fairly simple thought:
I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess.
You know, change is hard. No one really likes change, well, not for themselves anyway. I think of an old “Peanuts” cartoon, where Lucy is seen saying that if she was in charge of the world, she’d change everything. Charlie says, “That wouldn’t be easy. Where would you start?” Lucy looks directly at him, and without hesitation, points her finger at him and says, “I’d start with you!”
But what about us? We are who we are, but we can change… if we have to… we guess. Today, I want to leave you with one main thought: Live your life worthy of what God has done for you. Let’s look at our scripture.
Paul starts by adding to what he had said in the previous verses: how the faith of the Colossians was growing, and God’s message of grace and truth was changing lives. Paul says that he keeps praying for the believers in Colosse. He’s praying that God would give them wisdom and understanding so that they would know what God’s will is.
Now, God’s will is a tricky thing sometimes. Sometimes it’s plain, and sometimes it’s not. Depending on what it is we’re asking, I suppose. Who does God want me to marry? Where does God want me to live? What job does God want me to take? These are big, life-changing decisions, and you won’t find the answers just by opening your Bible and hoping the answer spills out at you.
But some things are extremely clear. 1 Thess.5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” You can know that God wants you to be thankful. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…” That is, set apart for God. You have given to Jesus everything – not just your sins, but your heart as well. It is your desire to follow God 100%. That is God’s will for you. James 1:20 talks about “the righteous life that God desires.” God desires you to be right with Him, to do what is right, and to do good to others. Some things about God’s will are very easy to know.
So why does this matter? Well it matters because of the reason Paul gives that he’s praying it. He wants his readers to live lives worthy of the Lord. God wants you to live your life worthy of what God has done for you.
So what would such a life look like? What would a life pleasing to God look like? Well, Paul begins to spell it out. First, he says that bearing fruit is pleasing to God. What does that mean?
Well, think of it this way. I like having a vegetable garden. This year, being our first year here, we don’t have any soil ready for planning, so we have most everything in pots. I have my lettuce growing well, and my radishes growing well, and my onions growing great. But something I have struggled with is my tomatoes. It’s been such a cold spring that my little red beauties haven’t had much of a chance to survive. Another year I’ll work out some kind of greenhouse or cold frame. But this year, my maters aren’t doing well.
Because when you plant something like tomatoes, you expect them to grow and bear fruit. If they don’t bear fruit, you wonder what’s wrong, why isn’t it working, all that working the dirt and fertilizing and watering… all for nothing. You see, if something is designed to bear fruit, that’s what it’s supposed to do.
You are supposed to bear fruit. In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.” Galatians tells us that the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence that God is working in us, is love, which is seen as joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Ephesians tells us that the fruit of the light is goodness, righteousness, and truth.
This is what you and I are supposed to look like. Lack of love is problem for a Christian; it shows something is wrong. A Christian is supposed to show self-control. A Christian is supposed to be faithful. A Christian is supposed to work for peace. Bearing fruit is part of living a life worthy of what God has done.
Another quality in living a life worthy of the Lord is growth. Progress. Moving on. Becoming better. Improving. It is not God’s will for us to be the same person we were before we came to Him, and it is not God’s will that we should remain the same as we were after we came to Him. God expects growth in us, becoming more like Him, or as Romans 8 tells us, conforming to the image of Jesus. Too many people forget who they were before they came to Jesus, and too many people stay the same as they were, as well.
God wants you to grow. And not just in fits and spurts on Sunday mornings, either. In order to grow, you need to pray during the week. In order to grow, you need to read your Bible through the week, or listen to it on tape or CD. You need to open yourself up to good Christian authors like Max Lucado and Neil Anderson and Chuck Swindoll and Chuck Colson and Beth Moore. I love Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti and C S Lewis and John Eldredge. Folks, you need to grow, and like my tomatoes, you need to provide the right elements to foster that growth.
Another quality in living a life worthy of the Lord is strength. Use whatever word you want from the verse: strength, power, might, endurance, or patience… the truth is the same. The Christian life is a 10km marathon, not a 100m sprint. You need to be in this thing for the long haul. You will face difficulties and disappointments. Christians will let you down, but you need to move on. Believers will fail you, but don’t give up on the Lord for it.
It’s so disappointing to see people stop living the life, just because they’ve been let down by somebody. Or they figured God would do something, and He didn’t. That’s not about God failing us; it’s that our perception of who God is failed us. But keep on keeping on! Don’t give up or back down. Keep living the life worthy of the Lord.
And the last quality mentioned in living a life worthy of the Lord is thankfulness. I already mentioned that gratitude was God’s will for each of us. Someone once said, “Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.” (Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear)
So I keep mentioning that each of us needs to live our lives worthy of what God has done. So, a good question is, what has God done? Paul spells it out clearly for us. #1 – God has qualified us. You see, most of us think we’re pretty important. We think we’re pretty talented or smart or wise or special. But the reality is that we in ourselves are not fantastic. By ourselves, we are a fickle, prideful, sinful, unpleasable, unreasonable, selfish bunch. But God has changed us. Before we were unworthy; God has made us worthy of heaven. Not in ourselves, but we are in Him. Ephesians 2 says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” In Him we are different; in Him we are changed; in Him we are made worthy.
We can also see that God has rescued us – v13. And transferred us – brought us – translated us – changed our citizenship – relocated us – transported us – from one kingdom to another, from where sin rules to where He rules, from where “it’s all about us” to “it’s all about God”. Don’t you see? God has changed us, not just in name, but in behaviour. He’s changed our motivation, He’s changed our thoughts, He’s changed our deeds, He’s changed our words – we have new, clean hearts where the Holy Spirit lives. You are not the same as you were before you let Jesus in.
God has also redeemed us and forgiven us. That is, He’s taken our sins away. Not just covered them with His blood, but removed them by His blood. He has purchased our freedom, and set us free to live for Him, no longer slaves to the traditions of well-meaning (or not-so-much) religious leaders over the years. We don’t have to go through rituals to make us right with Him; we just need to ask.
Redemption is a word picture used to show that we are free from our pasts, free from our sins, free from the enemy, free from religious traditions, free from the opinions of others, free from having to work to make God happy, free from having to go through someone or something to get to God… free indeed.
So if we could understand what Jesus has already done for us (not to mention what’s yet to come), what kind of people would we be? If we could see who we have made into, and what it cost Jesus to make it happen, how would we live our lives? That’s why Paul says, Live your life worthy of what God has done. Be the people God has set you free to be! Be the kinds of people who are so filled with God that nothing else matters.
You can know and do God’s will. You can change and bear fruit. You can grow in your knowledge of God. You can have the strength to keep going. You can give thanks and have a joyful heart. And it’s because of what God has done for you. You has qualified you, He has rescued you, He has relocated you, He has redeemed you, and He has forgiven you. So you can have much more hope than Red Green’s flawed positive thinking: I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess. No! You’re a child of God, and you can change, because of what God has done, so believe it!
