Because of the Hope Stored Up for Us in Heaven (Colossians 1:3–8)

 

Because of the Hope Stored Up for Us in Heaven (Colossians 1:3–8)

The apostle Paul greeted the believers in Colossae and prayed that grace and peace from heaven would be with them. Paul, sent as an apostle by the will of God, proclaimed the gospel of Christ throughout the world in the first century. Timothy served alongside Paul as his coworker in the gospel.

By God’s grace, we believe in Christ Jesus, receive eternal life, and inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is filled with love, joy, and peace, and those who receive this inheritance also have love, joy, and peace. Amen!

In Colossians 1:3–8, Paul said that he had heard of the Colossians’ faith, love, and hope, which came from hearing and understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving to God

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 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 (Colossians 1:3–5).

Pray Without Ceasing

Paul had never visited Colossae or met the believers there, but he heard about them through Epaphras and prayed for them. His prayers were for God’s grace and protection and that they would entrust themselves to the Lord. He prayed that they would stand firm on the truth of the gospel, discern what is not the gospel, and continue to grow and be transformed in Christ’s love and grace. The details of Paul’s prayer are explained in verses 9 and following, and they are also our daily prayer.

Prayer is communion with God and an expression of dependence on Him. Therefore, we cannot live without prayer. Paul urged believers to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and to present everything to the Lord.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6–7).

Jesus also prayed. He rose early in the morning while it was still dark and prayed in a solitary place. After feeding the five thousand, He went up on a mountainside to pray. In Gethsemane, He prayed earnestly that the Father’s will be done, not His own. Jesus always prayed. He lived in constant communion with the Father, offering His body as a living sacrifice so that the Father’s will might be accomplished.

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19).

Living by Faith Alone

Paul always thanked God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he prayed for the believers. This was because he heard of their faith in Christ and their love for all God’s people. Their faith and love came from the hope stored up for them in heaven. Faith, hope, and love endure beyond death and into eternity.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

What is faith? Faith is believing in God and His promises. Blessing comes through faith because the object of faith is God Himself. However, trusting in the world or in money leads to destruction, for money has no power to save. True faith is believing in the unseen God and His kingdom. We come from God and return to Him. Only God and His kingdom are our true hope.

Abraham is the father of faith. He was declared righteous because he believed God’s promise of an inheritance in a place he had not yet seen (Genesis 15:6). A promise is not yet fulfilled, and what is already seen is no longer hope.

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? (Romans 8:24).

Everyone desires something better and longs for what is truly good. People search for true satisfaction, yet nothing in this world can provide it. Everything here fades, spoils, or disappears. But the kingdom of God is eternal, imperishable, and undefiled. Humanity’s longing for true fulfillment is evidence that we were created in the image of God. Abraham believed and saw the mystery of the heavenly hope by faith.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13–16).

What we believe is precious and valuable. Who would put their trust in something worthless? The kingdom of heaven, our future hope, is of greatest value, beyond comparison with anything in this world. The mystery of the kingdom is hidden in God’s Word. That is why we devote our time and hearts to reading, meditating on, and studying the truth of Scripture—so that we may understand and obey the mystery of God’s kingdom, our true hope, and bear fruit for His kingdom.

Love each other as I have loved you

Paul also gave thanks because of their love. Love, too, comes from hope. Love is giving. Love is sacrifice. The model of love is Jesus Christ, who gave His own body as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Giving up His life is the love of God. It is by this love of God that we have come to salvation. By God’s sacrificial love we have received forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

But God did not love us because we were worthy. When we were lost in sin, in ignorance and darkness—when we were enemies of God—He did not spare His Son, Jesus Christ, but gave Him up for us (Romans 5:8). This is the grace of God that comes down from heaven. Grace is given where there is no merit. Yet the only way to enter into the grace of God is through faith. Believing that God loved us to the point of sacrificing His Son is to step into the embrace of the grace of salvation.

And once we are His children, God’s grace remains forever, unchanging. After we are born again in Christ, we are always under the shelter of God’s abundant grace. The love of God’s grace does not change and shows no partiality. Whoever turns their heart, repents, and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will receive grace that flows like an unending waterfall.

So what was the love of the Colossian believers like? It was sacrificial and self-giving love, loving one another as Christ loved them. It was bearing shame and humiliation in place of others, just as Jesus did. It was dying to self. It was laying down pride and enduring pain. It was suffering loss for the sake of others. It was yielding willingly when conflicts arose. To lay down pride is to deny the very thing we hate more than death itself.

How is this possible? The answer is found in the example of Jesus. He endured the cross because He believed that through His blood and death the grace of salvation would come. He also believed that God the Father would raise Him from the dead. This was the Father’s will and plan established before the beginning of time. Jesus was with God the Father from eternity.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Therefore, love is based on hope that comes from the promises of God’s Word. Since that hope is beyond comparison to present suffering or pain, love endures loss, shame, and humiliation willingly. Abraham reasoned by faith, and so he did not return to his homeland of Ur, but stayed as a stranger in the promised land of Canaan, building tents and altars.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures” (Psalm 90:10). Life passes quickly like an arrow. Human life is like the morning dew, like the flowers of the field that are here today and gone tomorrow (Isaiah 40:6–8). Our bodies die, decay, and return to dust, for we came from the dust. Even now, those who once worked hard, raised children, traveled, and enjoyed life are old, unable to move their bodies, and living in nursing homes. This is life!

But this is not all. Even though the body perishes, decays, and disappears, we will be clothed with a new body made by God (2 Corinthians 5:1). Our spirit will live forever with God’s Son, Christ, in this new body. While on earth we imagine the length, breadth, height, and depth of the glory to come, but we believe by faith that we will surely reach that day.

Hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and understand God’s grace

“…about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. 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. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:5b–8).

Where do faith, love, and hope of the believers come from? They come from hearing and understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh. Hearing includes practicing obedience. To only hear without doing obedience is like building a house on sand. When trials and persecution come, it cannot stand but collapses.

Hearing carries expectation. One listens with longing to hear the gospel of God’s Son, Christ, and to understand. Sometimes at a beautiful concert one is moved to tears. In a greater way, the gospel of Christ brings life, encouragement, comfort, and hope. Hearing means dwelling in Christ. Hearing means coming willingly and joyfully before the Lord with a longing for His Word of truth. Hearing is listening for God’s whispering voice through the difficulties and pains of life.

“You are my Son; today I have become your Father” (Psalm 2:7; Mark 1:11).

And from the day they heard the Word and understood God’s grace, their faith, love, and hope spread throughout the whole world. Paul heard all of this through Epaphras. The grace of God does not stop within us but is revealed to the world. For Christians bear the marks of Christ (Galatians 6:17). These marks of Christ are the suffering and pain of the cross and His self-giving love. When we believe God’s promises and His goodness and obey His Word by loving our neighbors, that love spreads outward.

August 24, 2025

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Scripture quotes are from the NIV.