Moments to Ponder

Episode 152: The More You Know Him... (Col. 1:9-14)

• Betsy Marvin • Season 16 • Episode 152

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Paul's prayer for the Colossian church reveals how God makes us worthy through Christ, not through secret knowledge or spiritual achievement. This episode explores how the early believers were influenced by Gnosticism and other false teachings, and how Paul redirected them to true wisdom found only in relationship with Jesus.

• God's pleasure over our lives makes us reservoirs of wisdom and spiritual understanding
• Paul confronts the Gnostic heresy that valued secret knowledge over relationship with Christ
• The more we know what's true, the easier it is to recognize what's false
• Maturity comes through yielding to God's work in us, not through accumulating more information
• God has already made us worthy to receive His glorious inheritance
• Jesus rescues us completely from darkness and transfers us into His kingdom
• Spiritual growth happens as we endure life's challenges with God's strength

If you enjoyed this episode, if you learned something today, please consider following the show, subscribing to it on your favorite podcast platform or leaving a five-star review. This helps the podcast more than I can say, allowing me to reach more people with the Word of God.

0:03  Welcome to Moments to Ponder

0:30  "I've heard about you"

1:56  Paul's prayer for wisdom

3:20  Confronting false Gnostic teachings

6:21  Living worthy through God's grace

9:51  Finding hope in God's strength

12:07  Episode closing and call-to-action

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Speaker 1:

Hey friends, I'm Betsy and I want to welcome you to Moments to Ponder. This podcast is designed to help you spend a few moments in God's Word and take away something to ponder. It's my prayer that you will find encouragement as we spend time together. This is Episode 152. I've heard about you.

Speaker 1:

These words are usually said when someone you're meeting for the first time has heard something good about you, right? I mean, if they'd heard something that wasn't good, they probably wouldn't say anything at all. But when we hear those words, even though we assume it's probably good, we get a little nervous. We're thinking well, what were they told and who told you? Is it true? I wonder what they think of me. Although it can be a bit disconcerting to know you were talked about, sometimes it's actually nice to know that someone shared something so that others can celebrate you or pray for you, connect with you.

Speaker 1:

That's where Paul is as he continues his letter to the church in Colossae. He's heard of this new little church and he wants to guide them and teach them. They're new believers and he can't be with them. He knows they'll face hard things as they grow. They're like new trees, in a way, and they need watering and pruning, nurturing. So he does what he can do, he writes them a letter and he prays.

Speaker 1:

Verses 9 through 14 contain a two-part prayer from Paul. One is a request and one is of thanks. One is actually the response to the other and he begins with since we've heard about you, let's continue with Colossians 1, verse 9. Since we first heard about you, we've kept you always in our prayers that you would receive the perfect knowledge of God's pleasure over your lives, making you reservoirs of every kind of wisdom and spiritual understanding. We pray that you would walk in the ways of true righteousness, pleasing God in everything you do. Then you will become fruit-bearing branches, yielding to His life and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in His fullness. And we pray that you would be energized with all of His explosive power from the realm of His magnificent glory, filling you with great hope. I really like how this translation shares verse 9, that you would receive the perfect knowledge of God's pleasure over your lives, making you reservoirs of every kind of wisdom and spiritual understanding. This is the request. This is the first reference to the area where the church is in need of some instruction, wisdom and spiritual understanding. We do need a broader picture of what the church is dealing with, to understand Paul's prayer.

Speaker 1:

For them, Colossae was a cultural mix of Greek, jew and other native people, so with that came Greek, jewish and other native religions, and the people of Colossae are trying to figure out what to truly believe. They had knowledge of the gospel, of all the Roman gods and a mix of whatever had been brought to the area and, much like today, they took a bit of this and a bit of that as they created their belief system. One such system was called Gnosticism. Now, the root word of Gnosticism is gnosis, which means to know. Their teaching was actually heretical, meaning it contradicted biblical doctrine, and Paul is concerned that the new believers are being influenced by this group.

Speaker 1:

Now, the Gnostics valued the accumulation of knowledge, especially a secret knowledge that few people could know. They taught that it took this special knowledge to be accepted by God, which took Jesus out of the story, and that the spiritual perfection they sought came from a secret hidden plan that very few were privileged to know, came from a secret hidden plan that very few were privileged to know. This created an exclusive sect that became perfect through knowledge, not God. So, in effect, knowledge was power. They also believe that the body, the human form, was evil and because Jesus came in a physical form, he could not have been the Son of God, because the body is evil. Now, from scripture we know that it's only through Jesus that we achieve righteousness, that we can be fully forgiven, because Jesus came. He came so that all could know him and, in him, become righteous. Thus the prayer for this church.

Speaker 1:

The people were drawn to the idea of knowledge being the answer. It sounded scientific and logical. The more you know, right, I mean? We still see this today. People want facts and logic so they can prove something when we know, it takes wisdom and spiritual understanding, received through belief in Christ, that makes the difference. We'll hear this theme over and over in this letter wisdom and spiritual understanding.

Speaker 1:

Paul encourages them to seek godly wisdom, to know God more and to seek understanding through the Spirit, not being led away by false teaching. The more we know what's true, the easier it is to see what's false. Jesus said it this way in John 15, 7 and 8, but if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want and it will be granted when you produce much fruit. You are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. So remain in me and my words are in you. As they live for God, the believers will bear fruit and grow in maturity as they experience God's fullness, will bear fruit and grow in maturity as they experience God's fullness. They don't quite know what this will be yet, but Paul is praying that they will continue to live out their faith, knowing that maturity will come.

Speaker 1:

He continues in verse 12, your hearts can soar with joyful gratitude when you think of how God made you worthy to receive the glorious inheritance freely given to us. By living in the light, he has rescued us completely from the tyrannical rule of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom realm of his beloved Son, for in the Son all our sins are canceled and we have the release of redemption through his very blood. This is the prayer of gratitude. Paul is so thankful that they do know Jesus and have been made worthy because of what God has given them. When we know where Paul is coming from and the false teaching of the Gnostics affecting the church, these verses make so much more sense. He's reminding them of the truth. God, not knowledge, makes you worthy of his inheritance, which was freely given and it's not a secret, to be earned. It's God who rescues us completely, not anything we do or know for ourselves, and Jesus transfers us into his kingdom because in him all our sins are canceled.

Speaker 1:

In Ephesians 2.10, paul writes it this way we have become his poetry, a recreated people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the anointed one. We are new creations with purpose, joined with Jesus. I think we all have an understanding that there is more, more of God to know, more of his love, to experience more of his explosive power alive in us, more than we can fathom. Yet this fullness, a deeper knowing, it's found in the way that we often wouldn't want to walk in, which is learning to grow in maturity, which takes patience and yielding, which takes enduring.

Speaker 1:

When someone first comes to faith in Christ, there's this assumption sometimes that life will be great now that Jesus has saved them. So when the first crisis hits, new believers can be disillusioned by it, wondering um, so where's God? I thought he loved me. So why did this happen? But Jesus told us in John 16 that the world will have trouble and although we're loved and rescued, we do still live on this earth. The key, the spiritual understanding, is that God is with us through it all and he will never leave us. And the wisdom, the wisdom is knowing that we need the Holy Spirit's power to endure it. I know for me, the more I know God, the more I realize I need Him. As I try to live according to His Word and be obedient because of my love for Him, the more I see the fruit that comes from living a life through Him. And as I yield or surrender to His work in me which isn't always fun I discover that I am in the maturing process through experiences and learning through him.

Speaker 1:

Let's go back and take in those words from verse 12 again God made you worthy. God made you worthy. This is freely given. As we live in the light, he qualifies us to receive His inheritance. He rescues us from darkness and cancels our sin. He offers redemption, freedom worth belonging grace. This leads us to some questions to ponder. Do you live out of his worthiness in you? Does his worth in you change how you live your life? Do the branches of your life bear his fruit? Do the branches of your life bear his fruit? When was the last time you said thank you for the grace he's given you.

Speaker 1:

Dear one, you are so loved. You are loved so much that God wanted you to have his glorious inheritance of eternal life so that he could spend eternity with you. In order to do that, he made you worthy. Through his son, he rescued you and brought you home to himself. Take that in. You're worthy.

Speaker 1:

Take a deep breath. You are loved. As you walk with Jesus, may his strength help you meet life's challenges and endure them. May you overcome problems with patience and find joy In his strength, find hope. Now. I pray that you would walk in the ways of true righteousness, pleasing God in everything you do. I pray that you will seek to be a fruit-bearing branch, yielding to his life and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in his fullness, of knowing God in His fullness. And I pray that you would be energized with all His explosive power from the realm of His magnificent glory, filling you with great hope. Amen. If you enjoyed this episode, if you learned something today, please consider following the show, subscribing to it on your favorite podcast platform or leaving a five-star review. This helps the podcast more than I can say, allowing me to reach more people with the Word of God. Thanks for joining me.