Time to Grow Up

If you were to walk into your church on Sunday morning, and the person welcoming, you said, please come in and have a seat. You notice 3 chairs of which to choose.  Which chair would you select? As an adult, it would look somewhat absurd for you to have a seat in the toddler chair, and the youth chair may not seem appropriate either.  You would naturally choose the larger "adult" chair. 

Now, what if you were to walk into church, but this time you are directed to  take a seat in the chair which best describes your spiritual maturity? The appropriate choice for a new believer, regardless of their physical age, would be the toddler chair. Nothing wrong with a toddler in Christ to be in that chair. The appropriate choice for someone who has been a believer for many many years should be the adult chair-right?   I’m afraid, however, that’s often not the case. For many of us, although we have been Christians for quite a number of years, the chair which would most accurately accommodate our spiritual maturity would be the toddler chair.  Just as odd as that would look for a 30-year-old woman to physically sit in a toddler chair, it is just as absurd and sad for a believer of 20, 30+ years to take a seat in that toddler chair.   

So my question to you is, which chair are you sitting in? An honest evaluation of our spiritual maturity, may leave us surprised at the answer. If you’ve been a Christian for many years and find that your answer was the toddler or junior chair, then it may be time for you to grow up spiritually.

As we dig into Colossians today we will see that Paul not only understood the importance of their spiritual growth but petitioned the Lord for it through prayer. He knew what mattered and what would propel them into maturity. We should pray for healing for  our brother and sister in Christ that is sick, for reconciliation in a troubled marriage, for the return of the wayward child, etc., but we see in Colossians an example of how Paul prayed for the fellow believers at Colossae.

So lets jump right into our passage today, Colossians 1:9-14.

Here is my legend for this section:

God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit

People

Places

Repeated words  (some of the words may not be repeated in these verses but are in following ones)

Words related to the Gospel

9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We

 are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual

 understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing

 fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with

 all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and

 patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the

 saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and

 transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the 

forgiveness of sins.

When a  verse begins with, "For this reason," or "therefore" we have to look back to our previous reading and determine to what it is referring.  In this case, Paul has heard that the gospel is producing fruit and growing in the lives of the church at Colossae and their love in the Spirit.  This information has prompted Paul to pray fervently and consistently for them, with very specific outcomes. 

So what are the areas that Paul targeted to pray for the church at Colossae?

1. That  they would be filled with knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
2. They would experience a strengthening with all power, according to His glorious might.

What does Paul mean by filled with knowledge?  The knowledge to which he refers is more than information - it is referring to an experiential knowledge of God.  This knowledge doesn't come from knowing facts about the Bible, or the right "church answer" to questions.  In scripture we see this knowledge closely tied to our relationship with Him. Think about it in human terms, you may know who someone is, however not have an intimate knowledge of them. The closer you get to someone, the more time you spend with them, the better you get to know them.  This knowledge of His will  has  ethical implications as well, because it requires us to bring our conduct and thinking in line with His will. 

Paul's prayer for this knowledge of God's will was targeted.  Last week I mentioned that Paul was purposeful in his writings, but He is also purposeful in his prayers for them.  In verse 10 we see the first "so that" statement.  He prayed for them to be filled with the knowledge of God's will so that they would....

• Walk worthy of the Lord and please Him

The prayer of knowledge of God's will was to change how they lived their everyday lives. As they began to know His will better, they would understand how to live their lives in such a way to please Him, resulting in fruit.  One of my favorite passages is from John 15 says, 

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

"This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. " (John 15:8)

The knowledge of God's will would lead the Colossian believers to fruitfulness.  Fruit is often used to describe a person's outward action which is a result of the condition of the heart. Good fruit is produced by the Holy Spirit. In  Gal 5:22-23 we get a description of the fruit that comes from the Spirit residing in our lives; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness and self control.  The more we allow the Holy Spirit to reign free in our lives the more fruit is evident.

Not only is the fruit evident, but our fruit has eternal value. In John 15:16 Jesus describes it as fruit that should remain. When Paul prays this, he is praying in accordance to God's will for the believer.  So as a believer in Jesus Christ, who now has the Spirit living in us, what is our responsibility when it comes to fruit bearing?  We are to stay connected (John 15:4-5).  When we neglect our spiritual life, ignore the Word and prayer and withhold parts of our  lives from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit we become a branch broken at the vine, no longer connected. 

There are some similarities between the fruit in our lives and the analogy that Christ made with a fruit bearing plant.  Just as we can see the fruit on the plant, the fruit we bear should be visible-it should be evident to others.  Secondly, the tree bears fruit that reflects the nature of the tree.(Matt7:15-20).  An apple tree doesn't produce oranges. Just as absurd as it would be to see oranges on an apple tree, it is just as alarming to see believers producing fruit inconsistent with the nature of Christ. Not only is the fruit of our lives visible and consistent with the nature of the tree, but it is also for the benefit of others.  The tree bears fruit so it can be enjoyed by and benefit others- and so it is with the fruit in our lives.  The fruit that is produced in our lives to to benefit others and bring glory to God.

Pause and consider the fruit being produced in your life.  Is it evidence of a healthy spiritual life or an unhealthy one? 

In Paul's second "so that" statement. he prays they would be "strengthened with power according to His glorious might" which was to result in ...

• endurance  

Why is endurance important?

1. It helps us to persevere in faith.  (Hebrews 12:1-2) Endurance helps Christians remain steadfast in their faith despite challenges, doubts, or persecution that we may face.
2. It helps us withstand trials and tribulations and hardships by trussing in God's strength and promises to see us through difficult times. (James 1:12)
3. It fosters spiritual growth and maturity, as it requires persevering in prayer, studying the Word and living lives of obedience.(Romans 5:3-4)
4. It helps us to continue to share the gospel and hope of Christ with others, even when we may face opposition or rejection (2 Tim 2:3)
5. It prepares us for our eternity with God because it reminds us to take our eyes off of the temporary challenges of this life and put the focus on what is eternal.

Endurance was as essential  for the church at Colossae as it is for us today.  We need it so that we can navigate the complexities of life and grow in our relationship with God and remain faithful to the calling Christ has placed on our lives. 

His prayers were designed to have the result of them walking worthy of Christ and to have endurance.  These were crucial to their situation to help them understand the sufficiency of Christ- salvation came from Christ alone!  They needed endurance, so as to not be duped by those who were claiming otherwise. The same is true for us in 2024.  We must hold on to the truth of the gospel, we must accept the divine simplicity of it and not add or subtract from it.  Christ alone is sufficient to save.  He alone has allowed us to share "in the saints' inheritance in the light (v12).  He has given us the blessings and rewards simply because of our relationship with Him.  We are heirs of God's kingdom.

Paul knew what mattered most and prayed for them so that they would develop into believers who were mature, produced fruit and stood unwaveringly in the sufficiency of Christ.  How do we pray for our fellow believers and those who God has entrusted to us?   Are our prayers only about the temporal things or are our prayers specific to that which is eternal and promotes spiritual maturity and growth?  Certainly we need to pray for the everyday concerns of others, but that should not be all that we pray. Paul's prayer for the believers at Colossae is a good example for us.

In the last two verses of our reading this week, Paul begins to reveal the supremacy of Christ. He states that God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and He has transferred us to the kingdom of Christ.  This isn't a future transfer.  It has occurred at the time of salvation, when God rescued us out of the dominion of darkness -He relocated us to the kingdom of Christ. In Ephesians 2:6  tells us that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places.  We are told that Christ is seated in heavenly places (Eph 1:20-21) and now we are told that God has relocated or transferred us there in Christ.  Believers are participants with Christ in this spiritual reality.  We are linked with Him-have union with Him. It is through this that we have all the spiritual privileges and every spiritual blessing.  We should never take the greatness of this for granted.  He is our redemption.  Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but Christ's redemption has freed us.  The word redeem actually means  "to buy out," and is used specifically in reference to the purchase of a slave's freedom.  As believers who are redeemed this means that our prior condition was one of slavery.  God has purchased our freedom so we are no longer slaves to the law.  Christ paid the price for our release from sin and from punishment (1Tim 2:6).  His death was an exchange for our life and that redemption was through the blood of Christ.

I am in awe of the lengths that God went to because of His great love.

So how do you apply this teaching to your life.  Take a minute and reflect on what God is saying to you  before moving forward.  

It may be,

• I need to pray for my fellow believers spiritual development.  I spend alot of time praying in temporal areas, but I need to pray for their maturity.
• God is calling me to have greater concern for my own spiritual maturity.
• I haven't been abiding in Christ as I should, and the fruit in my life is not evident or even consistent with Christ's nature.
• I've had a "Christ and" mentality instead of "Christ alone" mentality.

What is it for you?  I'd love to sit and talk with you and see what God is teaching you.   Next lesson we will focus on verses 15-23.  Here is your homework:

1. Read slowly and intentionally Colossians 1 several times.
2. Begin your observation, using your colored pens.  Remember that you are looking for repeated words, phrases or concepts throughout the entire passage 
3. Color code v 15-23
4. Get out your notebook and answer the following questions

• In v 13-20 and list everything that it says about Christ
• What does  "reconcile to himself all things" mean in v 20
• How and why were we reconciled by Christ?
• Does holy and blameless and above reproach mean that we do not sin? Explain your answer.
• What does it mean to "continue in the faith?"
• What is the hope of the gospel?

I am so thankful for God's Word and the opportunity to spend time in it with you.  This week I hope that you will focus time in prayer for the growth of your fellow believers.

"May the God who gives endurance and  encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had." Rom 15:5