When Paul expresses his because of God in the opening verses of Colossians, he says that he does so “all the time” (Col. 1:3). His gratitude, in different phrases, was not a brief feeling however a constant behavior. Furthermore, he was in little question about whom he ought to thank: “We all the time thank God.” The Lord, he acknowledges, is worthy of all of the glory of gratitude, for He’s in the end chargeable for every part good we obtain.
These ideas are easy sufficient on their face. However as we try and observe Paul’s instance of thanksgiving, we could discover ourselves developing brief on the query “What, precisely, ought to I thank God for?”
Fortunately, Paul graciously units an instance for us on this respect as effectively. In Colossians 1:3–8, he thanks God for 5 particular presents that we are able to take up in our personal thanksgiving.
The Religion We Embrace
Paul thanks God to begin with for the religion that the Colossians had embraced: “We heard of your religion in Christ Jesus” (v. 4).
Paul didn’t consider religion as pure to fallen humanity however slightly as a sign of the supernatural exercise of God’s Spirit inside women and men’s lives. After we discover ourselves embracing religion and suppose again down the highway that led us there, we are going to in the end suppose it again to God. Regardless of who could have been instrumental in main us to the reality of the Gospel, we perceive that it’s God alone who in the end attracts us to Himself.
If we ever discover ourselves saying, “Lord Jesus, why me?” as we glance across the workplace, as we return to our faculty, as we transfer amongst our mates, we are able to perceive that it occurred within the thriller of God’s will. And for that He deserves our thanks.
The Love We Exhibit
Secondly, Paul thanks God for the love the Colossian believers had been displaying alongside their religion: “We heard of … the love that you’ve for all of the saints” (v. 4).
The identical grace and energy that brings a believer right into a relationship with Christ in heaven additionally brings him right into a relationship with His individuals on earth. “Residing in religion and dwelling in love” must be an correct description of any true believer. Religion devoid of affection will finally be nothing greater than a stiff orthodoxy, and love minus religion will degenerate into mere sentimentality.
As with religion, love’s origin is present in God. The apostle John expresses it fairly splendidly in his first letter: “Beloved, allow us to love each other, for love is from God” (1 John 4:7). By nature we discover ourselves saying of our neighbors, “I don’t love them, as a result of I don’t discover them engaging. I don’t love being with them, as a result of they don’t suppose the identical means I do.” However the love that comes from God extends to “all the saints”—to not point out our enemies (Matt. 5:43–48)! After we see this love of God alive and at work amongst believers, we must thank Him.
The Hope We Encounter
Finishing the acquainted triad (1 Cor. 13:13), Paul subsequent thanks God for the hope that the Colossian believers skilled: “… due to the hope laid up for you in heaven” (v. 5).
The Christian’s hope is the motive energy behind religion and love. It isn’t a imprecise optimism, like “I hope it doesn’t rain.” It’s a assured assurance and expectancy of the numerous blessings which might be nonetheless awaiting believers within the life to come back.
God alone offers us such hope, since solely God could make the promise of a heavenly dwelling. The Colossians’ hope, Paul reminded them, didn’t depend on their potential to keep up an optimistic face within the altering circumstances of life. Moderately, hope for the believer rests within the unchanging character of God. It’s “saved in heaven” for us (1 Peter 1:4), reserved for our profit, stemming from the phrase of reality that God has given us: “Of this you could have heard earlier than within the phrase of the reality, the gospel” (Col. 1:5). Such Gospel hope is unquestionably worthy of our gratitude.
The Progress the Church Experiences
Because the Gospel brings hope, religion, and love, it thus bears fruit: “Of this you could have heard earlier than within the phrase of the reality, the gospel, which has come to you, as certainly in the entire world it’s bearing fruit and growing—because it additionally does amongst you” (vv. 5–6). This progress within the Gospel is one more reason for reward to God.
In fact, every of us can thank God for the fruit we see in our personal lives. That’s straightforward sufficient. However Paul goes additional: He thanks God for the best way the Gospel is advancing and saving women and men all through the world. The enlargement of the church, he reminds us, is the results of the facility of God by the message of salvation. The Phrase of God has inherent energy to convey forth fruit as it’s positioned in divinely ready soil.
It’s to our profit as Christians to concentrate to the work of the Gospel occurring at dwelling and overseas in order that we are able to thank God for it. God didn’t cease working after the apostolic age. Gospel ministry didn’t die with missionaries like Hudson Taylor or Jim Elliot. God is working at the moment—and the testimonies of His work are there for us to listen to in order that we are able to supply Him our reward.
The Ministry We Get pleasure from
Lastly, we must thank God for individuals who faithfully minister to us, like Epaphras did to the Colossian believers: “He’s a devoted minister of Christ in your behalf” (v. 7).
Epaphras wrote no books of the Bible. His identify is rarely talked about exterior of the Colossian context. But Paul known as him “our beloved fellow servant” (v. 8) as a result of he valued Epaphras’s partnership within the Gospel.
Epaphras was clearly a conscientious trainer. He exercised a ministry of the Phrase: “you heard it and understood … you realized it” (vv. 6–7). In different phrases, he had a educating ministry. And what did he train the Colossians about? “The grace of God in reality” (v. 6)—not the striving of males after spiritual enchancment however the story of Christ, in His sheer goodness and mercy, endeavor for His personal sake to make them His servants.
The ministers in our church buildings didn’t write the Bible. However once they proclaim it faithfully, presenting us with “the grace of God in reality,” they present themselves to be fellow servants with Paul and the apostles and devoted ministers of the Lord Jesus. That God has given such males to His church is a profound motive for thanksgiving as we come to Him in prayer.
“We At all times Thank God”
When it’s unclear how we should always pray, the Scriptures can typically open the best way for us. The Psalms achieve this. So does the Lord’s Prayer. However passages like Colossians 1:3–8 additionally give us great templates for thanksgiving to God. At this time, as you pray, think about thanking God for the 5 blessings Paul mentioned he “all the time” thanked Him for—and see whether or not God makes use of your prayers to adapt your coronary heart’s needs to the presents He so generously lavishes on His individuals.
This text was tailored from the sermon “Causes for Thanksgiving” by Alistair Begg.
