“For this cause also, from the day in which we heard, we do not cease praying on your behalf, and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, for you to walk worthily of the Lord to all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing into the full knowledge of God; being empowered with all power according to the might of His glory, to all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for a share of the inheritance of the saints in light, who delivered us out of the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins….” Colossians 1:9-14
Though the ancient city of Colosse no longer exists – the old east-west road was moved, causing the once-important city to wane – by the grace of God the believers who once lived there are now reigning with Christ Jesus in His glorious heavenly kingdom.
Paul – probably while he was a prisoner in Rome, along with Timothy, when they heard of the faith and love of these believers in the Roman province of Asia (in modern-day Turkey) – prayed for them that they might continue in the true faith and grow in their knowledge of God.
Paul wrote to them in his letter: “For this cause also, from the day in which we heard, we do not cease praying on your behalf, and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, for you to walk worthily of the Lord to all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing into the full knowledge of God; being empowered with all power according to the might of His glory, to all patience and longsuffering with joy….”
Paul and Timothy continually lifted up their fellow believers in Colosse, requesting that they be filled with the knowledge of God’s will together with all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that they would use this knowledge of God rightly and live a life pleasing to Him, doing God’s will rather than following the whims of false teachers who held up another way of faith and life. They prayed that the believers there would continue to grow in the knowledge of God and be strengthened by Him so that they would endure in the true faith and rejoice in Him and what He had done for their salvation.
Paul and Timothy prayed for these believers that they too would give thanks to God the Father for graciously making them acceptable and fit to be partakers of the eternal inheritance of the saints in light – the blessings of heaven which God graciously gives to all who trust in Christ Jesus. It was God the Father who had delivered them from the rule and power of darkness – the kingdom of the devil – and translated them into the eternal kingdom of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. And, it was in Christ Jesus and for the sake of His blood shed upon the cross for the sins of the world, that they had been redeemed, forgiven of all their sins and made acceptable in God’s eyes.
What Paul writes applies to all of us who believe today. How important it is for believers – for you and for me – to learn and be filled with the knowledge of God through the study of His Word! And it is not enough to just learn facts about God. We need to know Him and His ways and so be strengthened in our faith in Him and rejoice in the salvation He has provided us in His Son. Then, as a fruit of our faith in Him, we will also seek to please Him by walking in His ways.
And, in all this, we have every reason to give thanks to God the Father; for it is He who has made us acceptable for His kingdom by sending His only-begotten Son to die for us and redeem us with His holy and precious blood shed upon the cross! It is in Jesus that we have pardon and forgiveness. It is in Jesus that we have life everlasting and a place in God’s eternal kingdom. God rescued us from the rule and dominion of darkness by sending His Son to redeem us. He translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son by bringing us to know and trust in Jesus for our salvation.
Again, the point of it all is that our salvation is complete in Jesus Christ. Jesus died for us, paid for the sins of the whole world and rose again in victory on the third day. God the Father, through the death of His Son, made us fit and acceptable in His sight; and He, by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit, brought us to faith in Jesus and thus rescued us from the doomed kingdom and rule of the devil and translated us – transferring and carrying us – into the eternal kingdom of His only begotten Son!
We thank You, dear Father in heaven, for graciously sending Your only-begotten Son to redeem us and for mercifully bringing us into His eternal kingdom. Grant that we might grow in our knowledge of You and walk worthy of Your gracious calling. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.