The Hope of Heaven

Col 1:1-11
Paul begins this letter by commending the brothers at Colossae. He is thankful for them for two reasons: 1) their faith and 2) the love that they have for all the saints. Why do they have this faith and love? Verses 5 tells us that it is because of the hope stored up for them in heaven. The word hope in the Greek means "expectation or confidence." The Colossian believers had a firm confidence in the hope of heaven and the Word of God. The gospel had begun to spread all over the world and was (and still is) "constantly bearing fruit and increasing." This reminds me of the passage in Isa 55:11 "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding {in the matter} for which I sent it." Verse 7-8 tell us that Epaphras is the one who founded the church and brought the report of it to Paul. In verses 9-12 Paul explains how he prays for the Colossians. 1) He prays without ceasing. 2) He prays that they will be filled with the knowledge of His will. 3) He prays that this knowledge would cause them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. 4) He prays for them to be strengthened with the power of God to obtain endurance and patience with joy. 5) He thanks God for them.
In verse in 9, the word for knowledge is epignosis. This word literally means "to know above or beyond." It implies participation in knowledge. Thus Paul is praying for the Colossians to not have only intellectual knowledge of God, but to really KNOW God. If they really know God, they will walk according to His will and obey His commandments. But accomplishing this goal is hard, and we get tired. So Paul prays that the power of God would strengthen them. The word endurance is hupamone in the Greek. It literally means "to abide under." The same word is used to describe endurance in James 1. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have {its} perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." This word for endurance also implies hope, so it is a an endurance that has hope in what is to come. In James 1, I think of it as a humble submission to the trial and thus to God's will because we have epignosis (knowledge beyond the here and now). We must also remember that it is through God's "glorious might" that we can attain such endurance.

There are several of ways that we can apply this to our lives. The first is to examine our lives. Are we full of faith and love for other believers? When people look at you do they see someone who is abounding with love for others? Second is to use Paul's prayer to challenge our walk. Are we living out the things Paul is praying? Is this a pray that we need to pray for ourselves? Does the way you live your life show that you KNOW God, and don't just know OF Him? The book Knowing God by J. I. Packer is a really good resource for the topic of knowing God. The more we know God, the more we should desire to serve Him and thank Him for His amazing grace! Thirdly, we can use Paul's prayer as outline of how to pray for others. When you don't know how to pray for someone, there are many examples in scripture of prayers that can help you get started. Eph 3:14-21 is another good one. Fourth, we can practice endurance. This is not something we just all the sudden get, but something that God grows in us. How? Through trials. This is why we are to have joy in trials; we know that trials help us to see our sin and get rid of it. And if we have endured the trial with this attitude, we will be more like Christ and so thankful for the trial.