Colossians: journey through joy

Paul's letter to the Colossians has to be one of my favourite books of the Bible. I remember being at New Word Alive in 2006, hearing a series of talks by different speakers through this short letter, and it really impacted my life about the centrality of the gospel in the Christian life. My church, Hill City, also went through the book last year with dynamic, practical teaching that resonated 'Christ in me' again and again. But more recently, I was reading Nancy Leigh de Moss's book 'Choosing Gratitude- your pathway to joy' and I was reminded of how much thanksgiving and joy are part of this New Testament letter. So I decided to read through it looking at all the sources of our joy as believers as found in the book. Here's what I found...

The most important joy in Colossians is joy in the gospel and the work of salvation of God the Father through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the lives of people today. Paul describes how the gospel came to the Colossians and is 'bearing fruit and growing' all over the world (Col 1:6). Its message is one of salvation, of God qualifying the unqualified to 'share in the inheritance of the saints' by delivering them 'from the domain of darkness' and giving them 'redemption' and 'forgiveness of sins' in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, His Son (Col 1:11-14). How amazing it is to be in this kingdom! We, who 'once were alienated and hostile', are now 'reconciled', 'holy and blameless' before a holy God (Col 1:21-22). We were 'dead in... trespasses' and God made us 'alive together with Him', and cancelled 'the record of debt that stood against us... nailing it to the cross.' In doing so, Jesus 'disarmed the rulers of authorities' and truly triumphed over them once and for all. (Col 2:13-15) Our joy as believers, then, is fundamentally in Christ, 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col 2:3). He is the key to everything, the way we can know God and please Him. It's possible for us to have a personal experiential relationship with the God of the universe through Jesus Christ! And it's not a one-off thing, it's a daily reality of walking in faith:

'Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.' (Colossians 2:6-7)

If we move away from Christ, we will lose our joy! We'll get bogged down and distracted by things that don't really matter. We'll lose our perspective. Listen to Paul:

'Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.' (Colossians 3:2-4)

Jesus gives us joy in the future, in the hope of our wonderful eternity which our human minds can hardly comprehend. And Jesus gives us joy in our new identity as children of God, no longer in the kingdom of darkness but in His kingdom of light. We are 100% accepted in Him - that's cause for celebration!

Jesus also gives us joy in lives on earth, as we seek to obey Him.

'Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. .. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self...Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.' (Col 3:5-17)

It sounds like a tall order, but with the help of the Holy Spirit we can truly get rid of the sinful practices of our past and live a joy-filled life of freedom in purity which pleases God.

We can also find joy in our mundane tasks, our work, because we are 'serving the Lord Christ' (Col 3:23-24). We can take joy in any ministry we may have, as Paul did, despite his suffering. He understood that he was carrying out a God-given mandate to 'make the word of God fully known', and he understood that the gospel of Jesus made known a 'mystery hidden for ages and generations'. The message he was preaching, of 'Christ in you, the hope of glory', was a message of transformation, and so completely worth all of the 'toil' and struggle to carry it out. Ultimately Paul knew that he was able to do his ministry because of 'His energy that He powerfully works within me'. (Col 1:24-29) God does not leave us unequipped for the things He calls us to do, so we can do all things with joy knowing that He is sufficient!

We can joy in prayer, because we know our Father hears us. 'Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.' (Col 4:2) We can joy in fellowship with other believers, just as Paul sends Tychicus to encourage the hearts of the Colossians (Col 4:8). And we can joy in the faith of others because the gospel is dynamic and spreading all the time, today as well as in Paul's day.

'We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints' (Col 1:3-4).