That you may be filled with the knowledge of His will

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

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

² To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters 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 reserved 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 bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard 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 we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking 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 perseverance and patience; joyously ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

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.

The text says: For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking 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 perseverance and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  We have something available to us that those who Paul was writing to did not. If we want to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, we have easy access to His written word.  God’s word, from Genesis to Revelation, reveals His will. We need more though than just a knowledge of His word. It is not good exegesis or hermeneutics that will cause us to walk rightly with the Lord. We need more than just to know what His will is. To walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him, we need spiritual wisdom and understanding. It is the Spirit who guides us and teaches us. It is the Spirit, who dwells within us, the Spirit helps us to apply what we know to what the need is. Jesus says: “But when the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, He will testify and bear witness about Me.” (John 15:26 AMP) God’s word is truth and to fully understand God’s will, we need the Spirit of Truth.  It is through the understanding of the Spirit that we bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God. It is by the Spirit that we are strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience. We need to read and study God’s word, but we need to do it under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit.  

The text continues saying: … joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He 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. He 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.  Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus is more though than just the revelation of God and His God’s will. He is the fulfillment of God’s will. In Genesis 3:14-15 it says: Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all the livestock, And more than any animal of the field; On your belly you shall go, And dust you shall eat All the days of your life;  And I will make enemies Of you and the woman, And of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”  Jesus is the seed of woman who came to redeem us from sin. Jesus was there at creation when God said: “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) God’s will is that we would be redeemed and restored to the image and likeness of Christ just as He intended. Romans 8:28-30 says: We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Thank you heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for the revelation of Your will, the fulfillment of Your will and the understanding of Your will. Thank You that by Your Spirit we can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please You in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You our God; strengthened with all power, according to Your glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience; joyously giving thanks.  Amen.