1/11/25 The Divine Order
Last wk set the foundation for the letter to Colossae from Paul who speaks as an Apostle. Discovered 3 criteria for being apostle They had 3 core traits (1) to have been a witness of the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1), (2) to have been explicitly chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15), and (3) to have the ability to perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12).
The second V tells us how Paul addresses a church that is having troubles not yet mentioned is that they are God’s Holy people. This week the body of the letter begins in V3.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, PRAY
notice Paul starts by thanking God and has a heart of gratitude. We are called to enter into his courts with Thanksgiving and praise! (Psalm 100:4)
He addresses three forms of divinity here 1st is Elohim. Elohim is representative of the godhead the Trinity 3 in 1. There is further revelation here of the thinking of God specifically the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because obviously he is aware of the facts of John 3:16. This gratitude this is done in prayer. This should teach us that our relationships are no mistake. Some are seasonal, some are brief, some are long term, some are just in passing. But praying for another with gratitude implies the deep importance of relationships in our lives.
4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—
Here’s the reason why Paul is thanking in prayer God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s ask the question what is the common bond of these relationships? Faith and love. Some of us in this day and age are asking what is that? What does that even look like? This common bond is the same foundation you build your life upon- Christ Jesus and faith in him.
The second thing is love for all of God’s people. I’ll catch this is specific this is now love your neighbor. This is news there should be refreshing to us today. This news is why they give thanks with a grateful heart. It begins with faith and is shown in love exhibited to God’s people. Is that bias? Is there a controversy or a contradiction because Jesus said love your neighbor and here’s Paul saying love for all of God’s people? Not at all, Paul is merely referring to why they give thanks to God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ it is because there is no division among God’s people and the Church of Colossae.
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.
The apostle Paul continues here by addressing the faith and love but let’s address faith first. This hope derives from the heavenly source that’s faith and it’s not by earthly means. The faith is essential because the love emerges from hope. Hope is different than faith-Faith is a complete trust or confidence in something. Biblical hope is built on faith. Hope is the earnest anticipation that comes with believing something good. Hope is a confident expectation that naturally stems from faith.
it is a byproduct of faith yet, hope is not reckless ambition. This hope emerges from faith and that faith derives from truth that truth emerges from the gospel.
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.
And verse 6 Paul uses the analogy that many people in church use but it isn’t properly taught it seems or even addressed any more it’s just used and it’s up to you to try to figure it out on your own. When bearing fruit is spoke of from the pulpit that’s the outcome right? I mean nobody ever preaches casting seed to soil. Nobody teaches the principles of the process of bearing fruit let alone nourishment of the soil in order to have the outcome which is desired of bearing fruit. You can’t just spontaneously bear fruit it doesn’t happen. The process requires a seed. That seed requires a foundation. So you have to ask how does one just bear fruit if the foundation or the soil and the means to acquire fruit aren’t explained. Some of us look to gardening or farming of some sort for the example on how to properly do this. When Christ is the soil he is the foundation in which we are called to build our lives upon. Everywhere you tread you carry that with you through means of Holy Spirit. If you’re going to have fruit you need to have a seed. The seed that the foundation gives you to plant in the lives of others is the gospel of Jesus. Don’t be fooled and believing the gospel is merely Jesus story as told in Matthew mark Luke and John. Ohh no there’s so much more than that you have to look to the old testament and the story of the coming of the Messiah. Remember the messiah’s chief purpose was not to rescue us no it’s just a byproduct of what his chief purpose was. His chief purpose was to destroy the works of evil—1 John 3:8
so you plant that seed and faith is the emergence of life from that seed. The gospel is only activated in our lives when we apply faith to it a full belief that Jesus is who he says he is did what he said he did and will be what the word of God declares him to be. And the gospel bears fruit it emerges in people’s lives through faith spreading further outward even out of the region. The fruit of the gospel is born through carrying it outside your home, outside your circle, outside your community, outside your region, even outside your country. This full process that isn’t normally explained is seed- time- harvest. Is the process of everything in life the gospel based on the soi that is Jesus Christ is the foundation. But what is the fuel, what is the inspiration that we have to spread the seed that is the gospel that is activated by faith that leads to fruit? It’s an understanding of God’s grace. The spreading of the seed should not be impeded by the sickness of legalism.
7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
We need to ask the question regarding this verse where their understanding come from. Understanding is different than faith. It had to be taught because it’s a godly trait. This comes from a sound teacher, EPAPHRAS. Let’s chat about him so that we can come to a greater understanding as to who he is so that we can have a greater understanding as to whether or not he knew what he was talking about. This man was a colleague of Paul he’s mentioned three times in scripture he was a member of the Church of Colossae and as mentioned in the letter to the Phi Lehman when he was with Paul in prison. But he’s more than just a member of the Church of Colossae he’s the originator. In modern terms he’d be known as a church planner. By the way he was Turkish because that’s where Colossae is. So how was he described? Because if he’s a colleague of Paul we can believe that given Paul’s temperament for bad theology that an endorsement or lack thereof would indicate whether or not he knew what he was talking about. Paul describes him as faithful. Can we just hang on that word for a moment because it’s a term that really is losing its significance in today’s culture. How many of our friends our faithful? How many of us have a long trail of relationships to where we’ve been stabbed in the back because people were not faithful. How many of us have been faithful to people? Like I said it’s a godly trait It is a trait of love. Faithful means that he’s going to be there through thick and thin. Faithfulness also means that when Word of mouth is negative regarding your character, conduct, efforts and intents that public opinion won’t sway them. The other word used to describe is servant as in caretaker the spiritual needs of this congregation and the Church of Colossae. A servant is not a slave and sadly a lot of congregations believe that they’re underpaid pastors are actually slaves. Sadly, some denominational masters treat pastors like slaves. Here Paul speaks reverently because if this man is being labeled by Paul as such this means that this man knows how to pray and give and love like Christ who is spreading the seed of the gospel as he goes About members of his congregation.
8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
We round up with this for this week’s teaching Epaphras informed of love and the spirit- romans 15:30. To many this is an odd phrasing of love in the spirit. If it is of the Holy Spirit it is divine, holy, it’s not based on natural affection and it starts in the heart. True godly love is the first fruit of the spirit. This value is the result of hearing accepting having faith and having hope in the gospel that Jesus Christ is who he is did what he did and will be what he says he will be. It is not the world’s offerings it is not the government it is not a man anywhere who has an anointing it is only by Jesus alone and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit can we love in the spirit.
