Colossians 1:9-14 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you… From the thanksgiving presented because of the faith, hope, and love of the Colossians, Paul next proceeds to intercession for their spiritual progress There is considerable similarity between the intercession he makes for the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:14-21) and the intercession he here makes for the Colossians. In both he appeals to the Father that the most intimate and loving relations may be established between the persons prayed for and "his dear Son." He gives, however, in the case before us a magnificence to his conception of Christ which is not found in the longer Epistle. In this way he could best meet and overcome the Gnostic tendency at Colossal. Let us consider the truth embodied in the intercession in the following order: - I. WE SHALL CONSIDER THE KING HERE REFERRED TO. (Ver. 13.) Paul has already presented Jesus Christ as the Object of the Colossians' faith. But in the present section he presents him as "God's dear Son," or "the Son of his love" (υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ), in possession of a kingdom. This kingdom is the antithesis of "the power of darkness;" it is, in fact, a kingdom of light. The sphere of the inheritance of the saintly subjects is said to be light (ver. 12). Hence Jesus is brought before us in this prayer much as he is brought before us in the Apocalypse, as the light giving Lamb (Revelation 21:23). "I am the Light of the world," he said; and as the greater light rules the day, so does Jesus rule in his kingdom (John 8:12; Genesis 1:16). The sun is now known to be the source of all the light and heat enjoyed on the earth; to his genial beams we owe spring and summer and autumn, and all the precious fruits of the earth; so is it to Jesus Christ we owe all the procession of seasonable blessing which his kingdom affords. He is King, then, over such a realm as Pilate could not appreciate - over a kingdom of truth, whose rights interfered not with the rights of Caesar (John 18:33-38; Matthew 22:21). The light in which our spirits are bathed is truth - the truth as it is in Jesus. From his glorious Person there radiates the benign and healing beams which enable the recipients to grow even as the calves of the stall (Malachi 4:2). II. LET US CONSIDER THE SUBJECTS SECURED FOR THIS KING. (Vers. 13, 14.) Now, Paul in this prayer speaks of the Father providing subjects for his dear Son. And, strange to say, he finds them in the kingdom of darkness, and by translation he populates the kingdom of his Son. He finds the raw material in sinners who need redemption and pardon, and they become Christ's subjects through receiving at his hands these indispensable blessings. Truly it is a strange arrangement that the King, God's dear Son, should, before entering upon his reign, first die and provide through the shedding of his blood the redemption and forgiveness the subjects need. Yet so it is. The Father sent his Son to be the Sacrifice to take away sin, and from the altar he passes to the throne. We here can see how endeared the King must be to his subjects. Having lived and died to redeem us, we feel it to be only just that we should live, and, if need be, die for him. Hence the consecration of the blood of the Son of God is upon all the subjects. It is a kingdom of redeemed and pardoned and blood-bought souls over whom Jesus reigns. III. CONSIDER NEXT THE OCCUPATIONS OF THIS KINGDOM. (Vers. 9-11.) We can now see clearly that the duty of the blood bought subjects of King Jesus is, in one word, to do his will. But, before we can do his will, we must know it. Hence Paul prays that these Colossians may be "filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." The cry of the blood bought soul is "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" We place ourselves at the disposal of our King and ask him to show us his will. As a rule, we shall not be left long in doubt regarding it. In the darkest hour the light ariseth for the upright (Psalm 112:4). If we straight fowardly want to know what Christ's will is, we shall soon find it. But this knowledge of Christ's will is that the Colossians may "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." Jesus indicates his will that his blood bought people may walk worthily. High moral principle is to characterize them constantly. And every good work will find in them willing hands. The servants of Christ have been always in the van of philanthropic effort. And this morality and zeal will not be allowed to hinder progress in the knowledge of God. Education is not withheld from any of Christ's subjects by reason of the multiplicity of other claims. The real education, which is in the knowledge of God - for the world and all that it contains constitute in the last analysis simply a revelation of his power and Godhead (Romans 1:20) - goes hand-in-hand with moral earnestness and effort. But yet again, the subjects of Christ's kingdom find the need of patience and long suffering; they cannot get along without bearing a good deal from worldly people - sneers, insolence, persecution, and in extreme eases death. Yet the King strengthens his people with might according to his glorious power, so that they are able joyfully to bear and suffer what is sent. It is here that the occupations of the kingdom constitute a power. The world wonders at the saints who can be so joyful in their King, in spite of the drawbacks and difficulties to which they are exposed. IV. CONSIDER AGAIN THE COMPENSATIONS OF THE KINGDOM. (Ver. 12.) What is "the inheritance of the saints in light"? Does it mean a heavenly world where light such as only shines on tropical lands shall bathe emancipated men, and they shall be enabled to lie like lotus eaters amid the glory, and never further roam? It is to be feared that the current notions of heaven partake of the dreamy "sofa religion," which to earnest worldly natures is so repulsive. Let us, on the contrary, remember that the doing of our Lord's will is its own reward. Heaven will afford no higher enjoyment than this. Our souls are not rightly balanced when they look for something else or more. "We are saved," says Archer Butler, "that we may for eternity serve God; salvation itself would be misery if unaccompanied by a love for that service." In the pleasing of our King, therefore, all the compensations of the kingdom lie. The outward conditions and circumstances would be changed in vain if we were not animated by this loyal and loving spirit. May such meetness for the inheritance be our present experience, as it was that of the Colossians. - R.M.E. Parallel Verses KJV: For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; |
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