AT THE END OF EVERY YEAR THE INEVITABLE TIME COMES WHEN WE HEAR COUNTLESS STORIES OF ALL THE MAJOR EVENTS THAT HAVE MADE THE GREATEST IMPACT IN OUR LIVES AND IN OUR HISTORY.
OVER AND OVER AGAIN I NOTICE THAT THE THINGS THAT SEEM TO GRAB THE HEADLINES AS THE "GREATEST STORIES" ARE THE ONES THAT INVOLVE TRAGEDY.
AIRLINE DISASTERS, FIRES THAT CONSUME IN MASS QUANTITIES OF LAND AND MATERIAL AND EVEN COWARDLY ACTS OF TERRORISM AGAINST OUR COUNTRY SUCH AS THE NAVY AND HER SHIP THE U.S.S. COLE.
THESE EVENTS ARE FOREVER SKETCHED INTO OUR MINDS AS THEY ARE PLAYED OVER AND OVER AGAIN BY THE VARIOUS NEWS MEDIAS AS IF TO SAY "DON’T EVER FORGET."
THE SAME IS TRUE AT THE END OF EACH YEAR FOR THE CHRISTIAN. CHRISTIANS SHOULD NEVER FORGET AT THE END OF EACH YEAR TO REFLECT BACK ON ALL THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THEIR LIVES. WE SHOULD TAKE ACCOUNT OF WHERE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HAS GONE SINCE DECEMBER 31ST OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
IN OUR SCRIPTURE PASSAGE IT ALMOST SEEMS AS IF PAUL IS WRITING THIS LETTER ON NEW YEAR’S EVE IN RESPONSE TO THE GOOD NEWS HE HEARS OF THE PROGRESS THE CHURCH AT COLOSSE MADE OVER THE PAST YEAR.
WHEN PAUL PRAYED FOR THE BELIEVERS IN COLOSSE, HE WAS ASKING GOD TO FILL THEM WITH "THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL." HE ASKED THAT THEY WOULD KNOW HIS WILL IN EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIFE EXPERIENCES —WHAT THEY THOUGHT AND WHAT THEY DID—SO THAT THEY WOULD LIVE A LIFE WORTHY OF THE LORD AND PLEASE HIM IN EVERY WAY.
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST MUST AFFECT ALL AREAS OF OUR LIFE IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE ARE TO PROGRESS NOT REGRESS IN OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD.
PAUL IS TELLING US HERE THAT THERE IS NO WAY THAT WE CAN LIVE A LIFE THAT IS PLEASING TO GOD IF WE KEEP OUR FAITH LIMITED TO JUST BASIC SURFACE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR FAITH.
BEING A CHRISTIAN IS TO BE AN ENDLESS EXPERIENCE OF GROWING CLOSER TO GOD AND GROWING DEEPER IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HIM.
THIS WAS PAUL’S PRAYER FOR THE CHRISTIANS AT COLOSSE AND IT SHOULD BE OURS STILL TODAY. THE PRAYER WAS TWOFOLD: THAT GOD WILL FILL US WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL THROUGH ALL SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING AND THAT WE WILL LIVE A LIVE WORTHY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
FIRST, GOD WILL FILL US WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL THROUGH ALL SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. THE WORD KNOWLEDGE PAUL USES HERE REFERS ONLY TO MORAL AND RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.
IT IS A TYPE OF KNOWLEDGE THAT IS A THOROUGH, DEEP, AND ACCURATE COMPREHENSION. PAUL DOESN’T WANT US TO BE GULLIBLE TO WILD SPECULATIONS FUELED BY IGNORANCE OF GOD’S WORD. LIVING OUR LIVES WITH NOT REALLY KNOWING "FOR SURE" THE DEEP ISSUES OF OUR FAITH.
IT HAS BEEN SAID, "UNDERSTANDING FUELS HOLINESS; HOLINESS DEEPENS UNDERSTANDING." CHRISTIANS SHOULD NEVER BECOME SATISFIED WITH KNOWING "JUST ENOUGH" ABOUT GOD AND WHAT HIS WORD SAYS.
OUR KNOWLEDGE SHOULD RESULT IN MORE THAN JUST KNOWING GOOD FROM EVIL. OUR KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE GREATER THAN BEING ABLE TO SUMMARIZE THE BASIC STORIES OF NOAH’S ARK, DANIEL AND THE LIONS-DEN, DAVID’S ENCOUNTER WITH GOLIATH AND ALL OTHER BASIC SUNDAY SCHOOL MATERIAL.
THERE COMES A TIME WHEN WE MUST GRADUATE FROM THE BASIC TO THE ADVANCED AREAS OF GOD’S WORD. HERE’S A TEST TO SEE IF YOU DO: JUSTIFICATION, SANCTIFICATION, AND THE TRANSCENDENCE OF GOD.
HEBREWS 5:12-14, HITS HARD BY SAYING "YOU HAVE BEEN CHRISTIANS A LONG TIME NOW, AND YOU OUGHT TO BE TEACHING OTHERS.
INSTEAD, YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TEACH YOU AGAIN THE BASIC THINGS A BEGINNER MUST LEARN ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES. YOU ARE LIKE BABES WHO DRINK ONLY MILK AND CANNOT EAT SOLID FOOD.
AND A PERSON WHO IS LIVING ON MILK ISN’T VERY FAR ALONG IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DOESN’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.
SOLID FOOD IS FOR THOSE WHO ARE MATURE, WHO HAVE TRAINED THEMSELVES TO RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG AND THEN DO WHAT IS RIGHT."
THIS IS WHY I FIND IT SO SAD THAT OF ALL THAT THE CHURCH HAS TO OFFER THE LEAST ATTENDED PROGRAM IN THE CHURCH IS BIBLE STUDY.
CHRISTIANS MUST BE WILLING TO STUDY GOD’S WORD TO ACHIEVE A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR FAITH. THIS IS WHY PAUL USED THE WORD FILLED TO INDICATE WE ARE TO COMPLETELY AND FULLY UNDERSTAND OF OUR FAITH.
SECONDLY, PAUL SAYS THAT HE WOULD PRAY THAT WE WOULD LIVE A LIVE WORTHY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THIS CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT OBTAINING A COMPLETE AND FULL UNDERSTANDING OF OUR FAITH.
IT IS A FAIRLY EASY EQUATION: THAT LIVING A LIFE WORTHY OF THE LORD COMES AS A RESULT OF KNOWING GOD’S DESIRE FOR OUR LIVES.
IF JESUS CHRIST IS REALLY YOUR LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR THEN PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO TELL. PAUL IS SAYING HERE THAT A GENUINE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST WILL REVEAL ITSELF IN A TRANSFORMATION IN A PERSON’S CHARACTER.
WHEN TRANSFORMED WE WILL NOT ONLY BE PLEASING GOD, BUT WE WILL BE CONSIDERED WORTHY. THE WORD "WORTHY" PAUL USES HERE LITERALLY MEANS "OF EQUAL WEIGHT" TO SIGNIFY THAT WE HAVE EQUALED AND MATCHED THE LORD’S STANDARD OUR LIVES WILL BE "BALANCED!"
WHAT IS THAT STANDARD TO MATCH? IT IS AS 1 PETER 1:15-16, TELLS US, "YOU MUST BE HOLY IN EVERYTHING YOU DO, JUST AS GOD - WHO CHOSE YOU TO BE HIS CHILDREN - IS HOLY. FOR HE HIMSELF HAS SAID, ’YOU MUST BE HOLY BECAUSE I AM HOLY.’"
WE MUST BE CONTINUALLY STRIVING TO MOVE FORWARD IN OUR FAITH INSTEAD, AS 1 PETER 1:14, SAYS OF "SLIPPING BACK INTO OUR OLD WAYS OF DOING EVIL…."
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE GREATEST INDICATORS THAT WE ARE PROGRESSING IN OUR FAITH? AS PAUL INDICATES IN THIS LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS THE GREATEST INDICATOR IS THROUGH THE EVIDENCE OF BEARING FRUIT.
THE WORD "BEARING" LITERALLY MEANS THAT YOU ARE "PRODUCING.’ YOU ARE A "PRODUCTIVE" CHRISTIAN. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU ARE LEAVING "EVIDENCE" OF YOUR FAITH THAT COULD CONVICT YOU AS "GUILTY" OF BEING A CHRISTIAN.
OTHER INDICATORS SHOW THAT YOUR KNOWLEDGE IS DEEPER AND ARE GROWING IN YOUR FAITH. YOU SHOW GREAT ENDURANCE AND PATIENCE TO MEAN THAT YOU ARE NOT EASILY SUCCUMBING UNDER PRESSURE OR PERSECUTION.
LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, YOU PROVE TO BE A THANKFUL PERSON. THIS IS SOMEONE WHO HAS LEARNED TO GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS.
YOU, IN A SENSE, ARE A PRODUCT OF JOY BECAUSE JOY IS ONE OF THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. IT IS THE INTERNAL AND ETERNAL JOY THAT FUELS THIS THANKFULNESS.
AS ANOTHER NEW YEAR APPROACHES AND THOUGHTS OR RESOLUTIONS COME INTO MIND, LET US MAKE IT OUR RESOLUTION TO MAKE PAUL’S PRAYER OUR AMBITION.
THE AMBITION TO SEE IT NOT ONLY FULFILLED IN OUR LIVES BUT IN THE LIVES OF OUR LOVED ONES AND THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW CHRIST INCLUDING OUR ENEMIES.
MAY IT BE OUR AMBITION TO LIVE OUR LIVES IN SUCH A WAY THIS COMING NEW YEAR THAT GOD WILL GIVE US A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT HE WANTS TO DO IN OUR LIVES.
THAT HE WILL MAKE US WISE WITH SPIRITUAL WISDOM SO THAT THE WAY WE LIVE WILL NOT ONLY HONOR AND PLEASE HIM BUT WILL ALLOW US TO KNOW HIM BETTER.
THAT WE WILL BE STRENGTHENED WITH GOD’S GLORIOUS POWER SO THAT WE WILL HAVE ALL THE PATIENCE AND ENDURANCE WE NEED.
AND IN DOING ALL OF THESE THINGS, MAY WE BE BLESSED THAT THE FATHER, ALMIGHTY, WOULD FILL US WITH HIS INTERNAL AND EVERLASTING JOY!
