Human beings know what is right and what is wrong. Stealing is
not right but wrong, even babies know. Lying is not right but wrong, even
children know. Hurting others is not right but wrong, even youngsters know. Adultery
is not right but wrong, man knows. Any parent teaches their children not to
steal, not to lie, not to hurt others, but not the other way around. Nor does
any teacher their students. What we are told to do over and over again is to do
good, helping the needy and being kind to others. All is focused on what to do.
But the question is how to do all that. In Christ, we have been given urges and
desires to serve God just as he commands us to do. God’s grace and mercy is so
enormously and convincingly being poured out upon the ones whom God has
delivered through the blood of the Son Jesus Christ. We’ve been united with
him, so now in Christ we always want to do good and do not want to do evil. Our
will is strongly wanting but our body is weak. Jesus told three disciples in
the mount of Gethsemane when they were sleeping while he was praying. “Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38) Apostle Paul reveals the truth on what we
really need to do what we are told to do. The truth is that we’ve been given
all power to obey God and his commandments.
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have
not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the
knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit
gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every
way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may
have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who
has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom
of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us
into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-14)
This is the Apostle Paul’s mighty prayer for the saints in Colossae
where he had never visited. The man named Epaphras planted a church there and brought
the news and told the apostle who was chained in the hired house guarded day
and night in Rome. Paul is saying that he has not stopped prayer for them,
asking God to fill them with the knowledge of his will through all wisdom and
understanding that the Spirit gives. In Christ, we’ve been made alive and died
to sin, so now we live to God. We no longer live by the flesh and its desires,
but by the Spirit. “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in
the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”
(Romans 8:9) The Spirit of truth knows the mind of God in his all wisdom and
understanding and teaches and inspires us to be filled with the knowledge of
his will. So that we may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every
way. That’s what we’ve been called and justified and glorified even before the
creation of the universe. “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live
a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and
gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep
the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3) That’s the
will of God for the elect.
Apostle Paul continues to pray for the saints in Christ that
they may bear fruit in every good work, grow in the knowledge of God, be
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we may have
great endurance and patience, and give joyful thanks to the Father, who has
qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of
light. That’s a life worthy of the Lord. Being fruitful in bearing the Spirit’s
fruits—love, joy, and peace. This is the one of the most significant measuring
lines that helps every Christian to examine themselves on whether to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. Bearing the fruits of the Spirit is the mark of obedience by
giving our body as the living sacrifice to God who opens the door of
opportunity for us to exercise our faith. I believe God opens the door of
opportunity through the sufferings and challenges of lives. That’s why the
Scriptures repeatedly say to rejoice in the sufferings of lives, not to grumble
or murmur. It is really the time of challenges and troubles for all of us to
live in this sex-saturated society and material-driven and competitive world. But
the sufferings and troubles are not random and unfortunate to humanity but full
of meaning and purpose in them though they are not pleasant at all. “Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)
Next, growing in the knowledge of God is our prayerful life.
This is related to bearing the fruits of the Spirit because God gradually
reveals himself who he is and what he is to those who obey him by faith as
Abraham went to a country although he did not know where he was going (Hebrews
11:8). Jesus teaches his disciples the importance of knowing and understanding
the truth through obedience. “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the
kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be
given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what
they have will be taken from them.” (Matthew 13:11-12) When we obey a God’s
open door and take it by faith, submitting ourselves to Christ, we are given
and revealed the knowledge of him and he will open another and another. This way,
God is molding and shaping up his children to grow in knowing the Eternal
Person.
Apostle Paul’s prayer for the saints, the most significant
one, is to be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so
that we may have good endurance and patience. This is the secret how to do what
we are told to do. Since we’ve been rescued from the dominion of darkness into
the kingdom of light, we have come to have desires and urges to obey God and
his commandments. The desire to serve him is coming from heaven above, not from
the earth. It’s his graceful gift for his children in the kingdom of light.
That’s our confidence and motivation in the Lord who paid and bought us with a
price. But we need power to exercise the desire and will of wanting good in the
eyes of God. Wanting good is one thing and doing good is quite another. So, the
apostle prays for the saints to be strengthened with all power according to his
glorious might. This power is the power of our Lord’s resurrection from the
dead. The power of resurrection has been gloriously and faithfully demonstrated
in the cold tomb of death. This power has no rivals in heaven and on earth and
under the earth because it surpasses all power and rule and authority. Humanity
is utterly powerless before death and no matter what they try to overcome death
it is no avail. The resurrection power not only breaks down even the death
barrier but also makes it available to those who are in Christ.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in
order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his
glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for
us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when
he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name
that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
(Ephesians 1:18-21)
This is the gospel of God that the saints in Christ have
access to the throne of grace and be filled with all power according to his
glorious might, so that we may have great endurance and patience. Why do we
need of great endurance and patience? What we’ve been given as the greatest gift
is the hope stored up for us in heaven (Colossians 1:5). The works of faith and
the labors of love spring from that hope. The hope stored up in heaven is
described as the inheritance which never perish, spoil or fade by Apostle
Peter. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great
mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish,
spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith
are shielded by Godʼs power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to
be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5) The hope in heaven is the assurance
and reward of our faith. The Lord’s second coming is at hand and we’re eagarly awaiting
for the victorious day appearing. But no one knows the time and the seasons,
but we do know it could be tonight, tomorrow, or anytime. We don’t want to be found
ashamed when he appears all of sudden. “And now, dear children, continue in
him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at
his coming.” (1 John 2:28) With the sure hope stored up for us in heaven, we
wait in great endurance and patience in the midst. What’s the hindrance and
obstacle not to be patient and enduring? Sufferings and difficulties in our daily
lives are. Where do they come from? Life itself is full of troubles and
challenges, one after another till the last breath of life like waking up in
the morning, having breakfast, going to work, driving back home from work,
fixing dinner, doing some chores, and going to bed. A long years of schooling,
getting a job, maintaining the relationships at work, church, and community,
getting married, raising kids, vacation travels are all challenges and
struggles in our lives. This is the fate of all man even to the redeemed just
as God has pronounced to the man Adam.
“To Adam he
said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about
which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,”
‘Cursed is
the ground because of you;
through
painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days
of your life.
It will
produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will
eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat
of your brow
you will eat
your food
until you
return to the ground,
since from
it you were taken;
for dust you
are
and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)
Well, some might say there is a strong human will they can
endure patiently. But this is not true and easily can be proven by simply putting
to the test yourself that you try to love someone who bothers you. The will to
do good will soon be drained and instead be filled with hatred and anger and
bitterness and the like. To be enduring and patient in our daily living, we
need all power according to his glorious might, the resurrection power. With
all power in Christ, we endure and be patient to the end until the Lord appears
in glory and honor and power. We need all power whatever we do from waking up
in the morning, going to work, working all day, coming home, watching TV, to
going to bed. We need all power in helping others and studying and
understanding the Scriptures. We need all power in doing the chores like washing
dishes and cleaning the house. We need all power in loving our neighbors as our
Lord Jesus loved us first. That’s what we’re made to live even before the time
began. God never intended man to live by himself without him. We don’t have
what it takes in the flesh because the desire of the flesh is hostile to the
desire of the Spirit (Romans 8:7). No matter how strong the will is in the
flesh, it doesn’t work ever. But we have what it takes in the Spirit. That’s
the reason all power is given through the faith in Christ and available at
every moment of situation and circumstance in our midst.
And the prayer of Paul is obviously to give thanks to the
Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people in
the kingdom of light. Giving thanks to the Father is what we ought to do in all
circumstance. Because he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and
brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). The redemption, the forgiveness
of sins has come not cheaply but with a price, the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans the powerful statement, saying “He
who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) While we were
still sinners Christ died in our place. While we were still powerless, Christ
died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-8). This is how God has demonstrated his
unfailing love for us. How much will he not give us graciously all things? It indicates
the Holy Spirit, the promised gift of God for Abraham and his descendants in
the faith. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might
come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive
the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:14)
So, we now live a life worthy of the Lord and forever
because all power is always available wherever and whenever in all
circumstance, being completely humble and gentle; being patient, bearing with
one another in love, and making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace. The most important command of the Lord is to love
one another as he first loved us. “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his
commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God
overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our
faith.” (1 John 5:3-4)
December 25, 2016
© 2015-2016 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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