How do we hold it together? In Him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:1-17 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

³ We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; ⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶ which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷ just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

The Incomparable Christ

¹³ For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Paul says he prays for the believers at Colossae, “that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,  so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;  strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience”    Paul prays that they will have a knowledge of God’s will. It is vital for all believers to have knowledge of the will of God, otherwise we easily stray off course into our own or other’s agendas. Paul says this knowledge of the will of God enables us to walk in a worthy manner, pleasing God and bearing fruit in every good work.   

Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.     Our salvation is for more than a future eternity in heaven with God. God calls us and saves us for good works which He prepared beforehand. Jesus says: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.(John 10:10)   The abundant life that Christ gives is a life which produces fruit for the kingdom of God. Again it is critical that we know the will of God in order to produce fruit for the kingdom of God. Jesus says:  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.(John 15:5)

We produce fruit for the kingdom only to the extent that we abide in Him. The psalmist says: Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.(Psalm 37:4) As we abide and delight ourselves in God, we not only get a knowledge of His will, but as Paul says we are also, increasing in the knowledge of God.  It is not enough for us to know about God. We can read the Bible and know much about the will of God and these are vital. But, we must also know God. We need to continue to increase in the knowledge of His character. As we abide in His presence and delight in Him, we become more like Him.  Through the knowledge of God we are, “ strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience”      The more we know God, the more we will trust Him in every aspect of our lives, we attain steadfastness and patience through the knowledge of God.

As we look around the world in our day, we see chaos and confusion. God is not a God of chaos and confusion, He is a God of order. While the world see the events and circumstances of our day and respond in fear or propose new man made rules to try to regain order, God brings forth order out of chaos. Genesis 1:2-3 says:    The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.      Formless and void are translated from words that mean chaos and confusion. God spoke to the chaos and confusion and there was order, He spoke and there was light.  Paul says we are: qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. God still brings order where there is chaos. He brings light where there is darkness. We are called both to share in that light and to share that light.

When the world sees and experiences the chaos and confusion they become fearful and hopeless. God has “ rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Through the knowledge of God, abiding in Him we have been delivered from the fear and confusion of the world.  Jesus is:

“the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Without Jesus no one can expect to hold things together in the chaos of this world. God still brings light and order to chaos and confusion. Jesus says: "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) That’s the fruit we are to bear, more than programs, more than  works of service, it is shining the Light of Christ into the darkness and chaos of the world, to the glory of God.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.  Amen.