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COLOSSIANS - Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Studies in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians
Part 1 - The Foundations of Christian Faith (Colossians 1:1-29)
2. The prayer of thanksgiving of Paul and his co-workers for the church in Colosse (Colossians 1:3-8)
Living Hope
One of the reasons for the active love and firm faith of the Colossians was their hope, a hope that stamped both their life and thinking. Paul and his circle of praying saints thanked God, the Father of Jesus Christ, for the unique hope of the churches, which empowered their spiritual activities like a strong motor.
The hopelessness of our world continues to grow. Sickness, hereditary defects, overpopulation, environmental pollution, weapons of mass destruction, wars and a coming death of multitudes is written on the wall of the universe like the “MENE, MENE, TEKEL” of the book of Daniel. Christ, however, has risen from the dead. He lives! His body did not decay in the grave like Buddha, Mohammed or other religious founders. His glorious resurrection proves His holiness, gives evidence to His victory over death and Satan, and assures us that God accepted His sacrifice of atonement for every sinner. Christ is the only hope for our world. His vital power radiates in His glory, the glory that Paul encountered before the gates of Damascus.
The apostle had previously written to the church in Rome: “…and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. …And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:17, 18, 28, 29).
With this confession Paul testified that the visible and palpable spiritual body of Christ, following His resurrection from the dead, will also be the model for our own resurrection. We have been promised that we will be like the Son of God, and that we will reflect the picture of His glory. His humility and holiness, His power and glory will, likewise, creep into His followers and fulfil His great revelation: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). The church in Corinth had written to the Apostle Paul: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44). We read of these revealed mysteries also in the letter to the Colossians.
Laid up for you in Heaven
In the book of Romans we read an abbreviated summary of God´s plan of salvation: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). This verse tells us that eternal life only comes to us by and through Christ. He Himself is this life, just as His Father is the source of life (John 5:26). Several times Jesus testified: “I am the life” (John 11:25; 14:6 etc.). Therefore, Paul bravely wrote to the Philippians: “For me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). By receiving the Holy Spirit from the risen Christ, those that believe in Him receive eternal life in this world already. This hidden life is the vitality of God dwelling in the followers of Christ. Paul described this gift of God as the down payment for our future inheritance and for the completion of our redemption. Even though Christians have come to share in the life of God through faith in their resurrected Redeemer, it is still only a portion, a down-payment deposited in them of the life to come. The full riches of His glory will only break through at the return of Christ. The abundance of His gifts for us lies in Him, even though still concealed in heaven. The promise, however, has been received, and the down-payment has already been made.
The Hope Foretold
The church in Colosse had repeatedly heard from Epaphras and other witnesses of how Jesus Christ gives His eternal life to the world. Perhaps they had already heard the mini-gospel: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). This central word of the New Testament assures us that eternal life is not just given to us after death, but that we have received it already - through our faith-connection to Jesus Christ! The Lord assured His disciples that their names are written in the Book of Life (Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3). He described Himself as the “Good Shepherd” and His followers as “His sheep”. He knows His sheep and gives to them eternal life, so that they will never perish (John 10:28). He gives to them His own words of life, words that make them alive and grant them power (John 6:63, 68; Phil. 2:16). In His High Priestly prayer, Jesus said to His Father: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Whoever recognizes the one and only true God understands that He is our Father. Whoever understands and knows Jesus thanks Him for His sacrifice of atonement, through which we have been justified throughout all eternity. Because of our faith in the Father and in the Lamb of God, we receive the Holy Spirit, of whom Paul, as a Jewish legal expert, spoke: “…but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10). Because Christ died we receive His eternal life as a free gift of faith. Thereby, we should not forget that this, His life, is eternal, and cannot be destroyed by death and the devil. Who is it that offers Jesus thanks for His eternal life – eternal life He has already bestowed upon us?
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we worship You, for You have given to us Your eternal life through Jesus Christ. Who are we mortals that You should take us into Your eternal life. We marvel that Your glory has already been appropriated in us through the down-payment of the Holy Spirit. Help us to love You as You love us. Amen.
Question 14: What constitutes the certain hope of Christians?