The Book of Colossians Pt. 5 Strength From The Spirit To Serve Christ

Colossians 1:10  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 

We looked at this text in our last post. God is always aiming at our heart, so that we learn to trust Him by obeying His Word. Here, Paul means we are to live a God pleasing life when he uses the expression "walk worthy of the Lord."

Walking worthy of our Lord is a natural outcome of believing the gospel of Christ, and receiving a regenerated heart. 

Walk worthy of Jesus Christ our King, Master & Savior. 

Ephesians 4:1-3  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  2)  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;  3)  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians reminding them to walk worthy of their calling as believers and followers of Jesus Christ. The word "worthy" means living our lives in a manner that suitably reflects Jesus Christ our Lord. 

We should ask "Who is Jesus Christ?" 

Jesus is Jehovah in the flesh. He is the living Word who created and sustains all things. He upholds all things by the word of His power. He is the source of life for all living things.

He is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. He is King of kings, Lord of lords, and will rule all nations with a rod of iron. 

Jesus is the Eternal Son of God, one with His Father. All the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ. These are just some of the many things we can think about in answering the question "Who is Jesus Christ?" 

Therefore, knowing somewhat who Jesus Christ truly is, we begin to see why we should strive to walk worthy of Him. 

If He lets go of the universe for one second, then all is instantly undone. If Jesus commands the laws of physics to stop their function, then all the sun, moon, stars, planets, and galaxies would careen into disorder and destruction. 

If He does not sustain all life, then no plants could grow, no animals could reproduce, no babies could be born. 

Jesus is the vast, eternal, infinite God who stooped to come to earth as a man so that He could pay the wages of our sins and save us. 

How should I live as a born again believer? By walking worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

The word "vocation" does not mean our work that we do. Rather, this particular word refers to one who has accepted God's invitation of salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is also referring to an invitation to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb, when Jesus takes His Church as His Bride.

Christ is our example of walking in meekness, longsuffering and lowliness. 

Matthew 11:28,29  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29)  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

What kind of heart did our Lord Jesus Christ display during His ministry? He was meek and meekness is one of the marks of a worthy walk. 

The word "meek" means having a gentle and humble spirit which is in stark contrast to the self centered, self promoting "me first" culture that we live in. 

Jesus was lowly of heart which reflects His humble birth (See Philippians 2:5-8). He left all the glory He shared with His Father behind in order to be born a babe in Bethlehem. 

Jesus humbled Himself because He was going to be God's perfect Lamb who would take away the sins of the world. 

Christ our exalted high priest intercedes for us. 

Hebrews 4:14-16  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15)  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16)  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

He did this in order to experience the whole gamut of the human experience, from suffering to joy, from heartache to courage. Why? Because He became our great, perfect high priest who knows what our struggles, griefs, and heartaches are like.

Jesus was touched by all the emotions, pains and sufferings of humanity and He was tempted in sore trials by the Devil, but He endured and did not sin. 

He is our Advocate ever interceding for us with our Father in heaven. Jesus' blood paid for our sins and He imputes His own perfect righteousness to us. 

Jesus is our great, eternal high priest who will save us to the uttermost because He lives eternally.

Therefore, we come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace for our times of need. 

All who come to the Lord Jesus Christ with repentant faith will find rest for their weary souls. 

A born again Christian should see ample evidence of a new heart, a new spirit and a new man in Christ. We should see evidence of the Holy Spirit's regenerating work in us such that our lives are quite different than what they were before we were saved. 

We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) and we are to serve God in newness of spirit (Romans 7:6). 

If we claim to be Christians but we live like the world, then our profession of faith has no value. Those people around us will listen to what we say, and they will see that we are hypocrites by our actions. 

Belief must impact behavior and our walk should match our talk. The walk of a true believer in Christ will match what he says he believes about Jesus Christ.

A believer will walk in the light as Christ is in the light (1 John 1:7). This is why we are commanded "love not the world, nor the things that are in the world" (1 John 2:15). 

Paul helped us understand that our faith in Jesus Christ needs to grow and mature. A believer is either drawing closer to God each day or else is drifting away from Him. 

There is no spiritual plateau we reach, where we get to relax and chill out as Christians. Moving forward on the straight and narrow path with Christ or backsliding away from Him. 

Those are the options as to how we choose to live. As we become more conformed into His image, we will be productive servants for His kingdom. 

Whatever good work God allows us to do, we must do it heartily as unto our Lord (See Ephesians 2:10; 2 Timothy 3:17; Titus 3:8; 14). 

Praying for our inner man to be strengthened by God's Spirit. 

Colossians 1:11  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 

Paul prayed for the Colossians to be strengthened, that they might be well fortified against the temptations and attacks of Satan. Also, he prayed that they might be well equipped for all their spiritual duties. 

It comforts us to know that He who undertakes to give strength to His people is a God of glorious power. When there is spiritual life in someone, there is an ongoing need of spiritual strength for all the activities of spiritual life. 

For a believer in Christ to be strengthened, is to be prepared by the grace of God for every good work, and fortified by that grace against every evil one. Thus, we will be enabled to do our duty, and hold fast our integrity. 

The Word of God conveys His strength to us and it must be earnestly sought by prayer. It was in answer to earnest prayer that the apostle obtained sufficient grace. We will be filled with a passion for completing whatever good works that Christ allocates for us to do. 

The word "glorious" is contained in the word "doxology" which is a hymn of praise to God for His mighty works. Thus, the power of God whereby He strengthens each believer is marvelous, irresistible and unstoppable. 

The end result is that we will express hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God for all that He has done for us, all that He is presently doing for us and all that He has promised to do for us in the future. What a grand and glorious God we serve!

His strength will make us "patient", which refers to a man who does not swerve from his deliberate purpose of serving God. It is a man who is loyal to the faith and pious in his actions, even during great trials and sufferings.

His strength will help us be  "longsuffering" when someone treats us wrongly. It is the idea of being slow to get even with the offending party, for we would rather see that offender come to repentance. 

The word "longsuffering" in the Bible is made up of two Greek words meaning “long” and “temper”, literally, “long-tempered.” 

To be longsuffering, then, is to have self-restraint when one is stirred to anger. A longsuffering person does not immediately retaliate or punish. 

Instead of being angry, he has a “long fuse” and patiently forbears. Longsuffering is associated with mercy (See 1 Peter 3:20) and hope (See 1 Thessalonians 1:3). Longsuffering does not surrender to circumstances or succumb to affliction.

Being "longsuffering" means we will persevere when things do not go our way or when we face opposition. We will be generous in forgiving those who insult or injure us and will not fall prey to petty vindictiveness. 

Moses tells us that Jehovah is longsuffering toward His redeemed people. He has plenty of mercy for us. He is gracious toward us even when we fall into sin or fail Him in some manner (See Exodus 34:5-8; Psalm 86:15).

As our Great God strengthens us and we are able to walk worthy for His names sake, we will lastly, be joyful people. 

Looking for Christ to return & pursuing good works. 

Titus 2:13,14  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14)  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 

In writing to Titus, Paul reminded us that we should always be waiting and watching for the return of Jesus Christ, and that we should be productively serving Him until He calls us home. 

The imminent yet future return of Christ is going to be a glorious event and thinking of it fills us with great joy and unquenchable hope. God will do what He promised to do!

As we are strengthened by the Spirit of God we are purified day by day. We are  Christian people transformed into God's own personal, beloved possession. 

The blessed Spirit of God is the author of this strength, for His strength is granted to our inner man  (See Ephesians 3:16). 

Thoughts to Ponder...

We see already Paul is stressing the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and emphasizing His preeminence in all things. 

May we be likeminded and pray for the Spirit of God to strengthen us that we might walk the worthy walk for Jesus Christ.

May we ask our Father what good works He has ordained for us to do, that we might walk in them, be zealous of serving Christ and be His special, beloved people.

Let us remember that all of our hope, our faith and our future is connected to the words, works and Person of Jesus Christ. 

May these thoughts fill our hearts with joy, calm assurance and a growing desire to live for Him as we watch and wait for His return.

Bob