Colossians 1:3-14

Colossians 1:3-14

sunday morning 5/15/11

V3 There was a group of heresies that had become quite influential on the church. It caused doubt in the hearts of the young believers. To combat these things, Paul introduced himself as giving thanksgiving to God for them. It was a way to assure someone that he or she is on track. He was building their confidence, assuring them that they were in God’s hands.

Paul was thankful for the Colossians:

1)      Identity: V4 “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints - the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven… ”

a)      Faith is only as good as the object as it is placed in. A person may have a lot of faith in the bank, but it is only as good as the reliability of the bank. Faith itself will not guarantee the safety of their money unless that bank is well managed. For our faith to be valid and secure, it must be placed upon Jesus Christ. Jesus never fails, he never falls, and he never goes bankrupt. When we place our faith in him, we will not be shaken.

Many people say they believe in Jesus but there is never any change in them. If we believe that our faith is good in Jesus Christ, if we believe that Jesus is living, then our faith should be as living as He is. Faith without works is dead. If our faith doesn’t change our lives, it is as good as dead.

b)      Love is the identity of every true and genuine believer. Jesus said that people will know him through our love for one another. John says that he whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, and neither is he who hates his brother. If anyone says he is of God and hates his brother, he is a liar. John Macarthur says that a true child of God will love fellow believers.

Paul thanks God for the love of the saints in Colossians. It was not secretive, and it was not selective. Love does not mean that we have an emotional attachment toward them. It doesn’t mean that we feel good when they do something mean to us. It means that we continue to serve them in sacrifice and selflessness.

John 13:1 “(Jesus) having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”

 When Peter pleaded with Jesus not to go to the cross during the last supper, Jesus rebuked him calling him Satan. Of course peter wasn’t Satan because Jesus was speaking spiritually. If peter hadn’t known anything about love, he would have thought that Jesus really hated him a lot.

Loving someone doesn’t mean that we will never be mad at them or upset with them. Before Jesus was captured, his disciples fell asleep on him. At this point he probably wasn’t so happy with them but he still loved them.

c)       Hope in Jesus shouldn’t be empty as many people claim. If you believe that Jesus is real, that he died a real death, rose from a real grave, and ascended to a real heaven, your hope will not be empty. If our hope is as real as our faith, one result is that we will be willing to sacrifice the present things on the alter for the future. We need to invest ourselves into heaven. If you sow to the flesh you reap things of the flesh. If you sow to the spirit you will reap spiritual things.

2)      Availability :

In many ways, availability is a word that speaks of openness and availability. During the week we find that we don’t even have time to do ministry work. We like to, but we find ourselves in such time restrictions. We should make ourselves available to prayer, to giving, to support for others.