Category Archives: Colossians

Christ’s Eternal Existence (Manton) Sermon II, complete

07 Friday Apr 2023

Posted by in Christology, Colossians, Thomas Manton

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Sermon II

Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature.—Col. 1:15.

The apostle having mentioned our redemption, doth now fall upon a description of the Redeemer. He is set forth by two things:—

First, His internal relation to God.

Secondly, By his external relation to the creature.

Doct. It is a great part of a believer’s work to have a deep sense of the Redeemer’s excellency imprinted upon his mind and heart.

[Outline of this sermon]

Here I shall show:—

            How it is set forth in this verse.

            Why this should be much upon our minds and hearts.

How it is set forth in this scripture:—

I.          That he is ‘the image of the invisible God.’

II.         ‘The first-born of every creature.’

I.          For the first expression there I shall consider:—

A.         What belongs to an image.

B.         In what respects Christ is the image of God.

C.         How he differeth from other persons.

I.          [The Image of the Invisible God]

A.         What belongeth to an image, and that all this is in Christ. In an image there are two things—impression and representation. Both are in Christ. There is a divine impression upon him[1], and he doth represent God to us.

1.         For impression, there is:—

a.         Likeness; for an image must be like him whom it representeth. [That is, if Christ is the image of the invisible God, then Christ must somehow represent God. Manton does not always “show his work.” Having raised a point, he moves to implications where conclusions or questions. But he does not always spell out the in-between step. Here, having said that Christ is the image of the invisible God, we come to two problems: (1) we may not make images of God, and (2) how can anything represent an invisible God? He combines both of these problems into a single question.]

i.          An artificial image of God, or such as may be made by us, is forbidden upon this account. Is. 40:18

ii.         [We are forbidden to make an image because]What is there among all the creatures that can be like such an infinite and almighty essence? or by what visible shape or figure would they represent or resemble God?

2.         Deduction and derivation.  [This is the image of a father to son] … .it is verified in Christ because of his eternal generation. Like him, because begotten of him.

a.         There is not a likeness in a few things, but a complete and exact likeness;

i.          …Heb. 1:3, ‘The express image of his person.’

ii.         There is not only likeness, but equality. [The argument here relies upon two logical propositions based upon the nature of God. It is also a nice bit of writing]

iii         God cannot

                        [1] make a creature equal to himself, nor

                        [2] beget a son unequal to himself.

3.         Representation; for an image it serveth to make known and declare that thing whose image it is.

a.         [He begins with a line from the Nicene Creed, the Son is described as “God of God, light of light”]. If light produce light, the light produced doth represent the light and glory producing….

b.         And this is the reason why the word invisible is added, because God, who in his own nature is invisible, and incomprehensible to man, revealeth himself so far as is necessary to salvation to us by Christ.  [“There is no hidden God, no Deus Absconditus, no God behind the back of the Lord Jesus.” T.F. Torrance, ‘War Service’, Unpublished Memoir, 49. https://www.academia.edu/36455985/_There_is_no_God_Behind_the_Back_of_Jesus_Christ_The_Mediation_of_Christ_in_the_Theology_of_T_F_Torrance%5D

c.         Visible things are known by their visible images, with more delight, but not with more accuracy.

i.          The image is not necessary to know the thing; but here it is otherwise. We cannot know God but by Christ: John 1:18, ‘No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.’

ii.         God is invisible, and incomprehensible by any but Jesus Christ, who being his only Son, and one in essence with the Father, he doth perfectly know him, and reveal unto mankind all that they know of him. …

B.        In what respects Christ is the image of God.

1.         In respect of his eternal generation. So Christ is ‘the express image of his person’—not substance, but subsistence[2].

a.         [This explanation only makes sense after you understand the term. See the footnote.] We do not say that milk is like milk, nor one egg like another, because they are of the same substance; so Christ is not said to be of the same substance, but of the same subsistence.

b.         He is, indeed, of the same substance with him whom he doth resemble, but the image is with respect to the subsistence; so he resembleth the Father fully and perfectly. There is no perfection in the Father but the same is in the Son also. He is eternal, omnipotent, infinite in wisdom, goodness, and power[3].

2.         As God incarnate, or manifested in our flesh; so the perfections of the Godhead shine forth in the man Christ Jesus, in his person, word, and works.

a.         In his person. They that had a discerning eye might see something divine in Christ: John 1:14, ‘We beheld his glory, as the glory of the only-begotten of the Father.’ There is the as of similitude, and the as of congruity; as if a mean man taketh state upon him, we say he behaveth himself as a king, but if we say the same of a king indeed, we mean he behaveth himself king-like, that is, becoming the majesty of his high calling. So we beheld his glory as, &c., that is, such a glory as was suitable and becoming God’s only Son….

b.         In his word; where God is revealed to us savingly, so as we may be brought into communion with him, so it is said, ‘lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them,’ 2 Cor. 4:4. As God shineth forth in Christ, so doth Christ shine forth in the gospel. …

c.         His works—all which in their whole tenure and contexture showed him to be God-man. If at any time there appeared any evidence of human weakness, lest the world should be offended and stumble thereat, he did at the same time give out some notable demonstrations of his divine power. When he lay in a manger at his birth, a star appeared, and angels proclaimed his birth to the shepherds; when he was swaddled as an infant, the wise men came and worshipped him; when he was in danger of suffering shipwreck, he commanded the winds and the waves, and they obeyed him; when he was tempted by Satan, he was ministered unto by the angels, Mat. 4:11; when they demanded tribute for the temple, a fish brought it to him, Mat. 17:26; when he was deceived in the fig-tree (which was an infirmity of human ignorance), he suddenly blasted it, discovering the glory of a divine power; when he hung dying on the cross, the rocks were rent, the graves opened, the sun darkened, and all nature put into a rout. Though he humbled himself to purchase our mercies, yet he assured our faith by some emissions and breakings forth of his divine power. …

C.         How he differeth from other persons; for the saints also are made after the image of God. Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24. [This raises an important issue: how is the question of the “image of God” used with respct of Christ and the respect of us.] I answer,—There is a great difference between the image of God in man and the image of God in Christ.

1.         Man resembleth God but imperfectly. [Manton is going to raise three distinct ways in which the “image” differs between Christ and other humanity.]

a.         Man was made, and is now made, after the image of God, but with much abatement of this high perfection which is in Christ, for he hath all the substantial perfection which his Father hath. [By “abatement” he refers to what was lost in the Fall. However, he does not here define what happened to the image. This has been a contentious issue throughout the history of theology.]

b.         In other creatures there is some resemblance, but no equality: [He here references Phil. 2:6]

c.         other creatures are made like God, but he is begotten like God.

2.         It is derivative from Christ. God would recover man out of his lapsed estate by setting up a pattern of holiness in our nature.

a.         [The “good” of Rom. 8:28 is defined in 8:29 as being conformed to the image of the Son.]

b.         None was fit to restore this image of God that was lost, but God incarnate, for thereby the glory of God was again visible in our nature.

c.         [Why must it be God incarnate?] God is a pure spirit, and we are creatures, that have indeed an immortal soul, but it dwelleth in flesh; therefore to make us like God, ‘the Word was made flesh,’ that he might represent the perfections of God to us, and commend holiness by his own example.

II.        Secondly, The next thing ascribed to Christ is that he is ‘the first-born of every creature:’

[This is itself a contentious area of theology historically. What does this mean.]

A.        [Explanatory, generally]

1.         that is, born of God before any creature had a being, or begotten of the Father of his own proper essence, and equal with him before anything was created and brought forth out of nothing.

2.         [The dispute] But here the adversaries of the eternal Godhead of Christ triumph, and say, The first-born of the creatures is a creature, one of the same kind.

a.         I answer

i.          —If we grant this that they allege, they gain nothing, for Christ had two natures—he was God-man. As God, he is the Creator, and not a creature; for the apostle proveth that ‘by him all things were made:’ but as man, so he is indeed a creature.

ii..        This double consideration must not be forgotten: Rom. 1:3, 4. Our Lord Jesus Christ was ‘made of the seed of David according to the flesh, but declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the Spirit;’ therefore we must distinguish between Christ and Christ, what he is according to the Spirit, and what he is according to the flesh.

b. I answer—

i.          That metaphors must be taken in the sense in which they are intended.

B.         Now what is the apostle’s intention in giving Christ the appellation of the first-born?

Four things are implied by this metaphor:—

[1.] Identity of nature.

[2.] Likeness of original.

[3.] Antiquity.

[4.] Dignity.

1.         Nothing else can be insinuated into the mind of man by such a form of speech but identity and sameness of nature between the brethren, which is true as to Christ’s humanity

a.         [In Hebrews 2: 11 & 14, Christ is referred to as the brother of human beings because he has taken on flesh and blood.]

b.         [What then of first born?] ’ or [1] priority of time, for the first-born is before all the rest; or [2] else dignity, authority, and pre-eminence.

2.         Now, which of these doth the apostle intend? [In Colossians 1:16, the first born of every creature.]

a.         The two last— [time and pre-emince]

i.          the pre-existence of Christ before anything was made, as appeareth by this reason, ver. 16, ‘For by him all things were made, whether they be in heaven or in earth;’ and also his dignity and authority above them, as appeareth by the frequent use of the word. [Proof of this point] For the first-born in families had authority over the rest. When Jacob had got the birthright, this was a part of Isaac’s blessing:

ii.         Sovereignty was implied in the birthright, so David is called ‘the first-born of the kings of the earth,’ Ps. 89:27, as the most glorious amongst them.

iii.        So here nothing else is intended but that Christ is in time and dignity before all creatures.

C.         Thirdly, Though Christ be called the first-born of every creature, it doth not imply that he is to be reckoned as one of them, or accounted a creature.

1.         [Looking to the context of Colossian 1:15-20, Manton draws out some points]

a.         But here it is not the first-born amongst the creatures, but the first-born of every creature.

b.         And for further confirmation, here is not identity of nature, for he is not at all of the same nature with the angels—those principalities and thrones, dominions and powers, spoken of in the next verse—nor issued of the same stock with any of them.

c.         Mark, he is called the first-born, not first created, which must be understood of his divine nature and eternal generation of the Father before all creatures. The creatures are not begotten and born of God, but made by him. So Christ is primogenitus—that is, unigenitus, the first-born, that only-begotten.

d.         In the following verse he is brought in, not as a creature, but the creator of all things. The first-born is not the cause of the rest of the children…..

[Part Two]  Why this excellency of our Redeemer should be so deeply impressed upon our minds and hearts? For many reasons.

I.          This is needful to show his sufficiency to redeem the world.

A.        [The problem to be solved] The party offended is God, who is of infinite majesty; the favour to be purchased is the everlasting fruition of God; and the sentence to be reversed is the sentence of everlasting punishment.

1.         Therefore, there needed some valuable satisfaction to be given to reconcile these things to our thoughts; that we may be confident that we shall have redemption by his blood, even the remission of sins.

A.         [This makes for an interesting aspect of theology. Manton is not trying to prove the point to the satisfaction of an abstract logical argument. Rather he asks a different question. When we consider the peril that we find ourselves in as a result of sin; the seemingly impossible circumstance: an infinite evil to remedied by something equal merit; how could we have confidence that such a thing could be done? This is a key element of salvation by faith alone: I am to trust my salvation wholly to the work of another. A second argument implicit in this construction: He is seeking to demonstrate the supremacy of Christ Socinians, who denied the pre-existence of Christ. He is making an argument to persuade. The structure of the argument is here as follows: The problem of sin raises an issue of an infinite debt which requires an equally infinite payment [to change the terms slightly from Manton’s formulation]. If Christ were merely a created being, he would be insufficient to satisfy this debt. Therefore, Christ must not be a created being.]

B.         There are three things that commend the value of Christ’s sacrifice—the dignity of his person, the greatness of his sufferings, and the merit of his obedience.

i.          But the two latter without the former will little quiet the heart of scrupulous men. [This gets to his point regarding the Socinians] His sufferings were great, but temporary and finite—the merit of his obedience much; but how shall the virtue of it reach all the world?

ii.         And if he be but a mere creature, he hath done what he ought to do. I confess a fourth thing may be added—God’s institution, which availeth to the end for which God hath appointed it;

iii.        but the scripture insists most on the first—the dignity of his Person—which putteth a value on his sacrifice: Acts 20:18; Heb. 9:13, 14; at least there is an intrinsic worth.

iv.        This answers all objections. [The objections: Hell is eternal. The eternity of any one person is not enough to answer for the eternity of another. How then can the suffering on man for a limited time answer to the multiple eternities of all human beings? The answer is in the merit of his person. An infinity of my suffering cannot answer for my own sin, much less your sin. But Christ’s merit is such that can answer for all.] His sufferings were temporary and finite; but it is the blood of God,—he hath offered up himself through the eternal Spirit.

B.        To work upon our love, that Christ may have the chief room in our hearts.

1.         [The first point answers to the intellectual point: Christ must have divine merit, because he answers to an infinite debt. This second point goes to the affect this should have upon us. Notice, that Manton does not rest in an intellectual case but now makes an affective argument.]

2.         There is no such argument to work upon our love as that God over all, blessed for ever, should come to relieve man in such a condescending way: 1 John 3:16, ….

3.         There was power discovered in the creation, when God made us like himself out of the dust of the ground; but love in our redemption, when he made himself like us.

4.         The person that was to work out our deliverance was the eternal Son of God.

5.         That God that owes nothing to man, and was so much offended by man, and that stood in no need of man, having infinite happiness and contentment in himself, that he should come and die for us! Hereby perceive we the love of God. When we consider what Christ is, we shall most admire what he hath done for us.

C.         Thirdly, That we may give Christ his due honour; for God will have all men to honour the Son as they honour the Father, John 5:23, he being equal in power and glory.

1.         The setting forth of his glory is a rent due to him from all creatures. We are to praise him both in word and deed, in mind, and heart, and practice, which we can never do unless we understand the dignity of his person.

2.         [This idea of paying rent may sound quite foreign as if it were a “work” and not grace. Or paying someone back for a gift. However, we need to think carefully on this point. First, Manton is alone in using such an image. Here is an example (among many) from a contemporary, “Let God alone have the glory of outward mercies; do not crown thine own head with laurel, but pay thy rent of laud and praise to God alone, who is the true landlord.” Swinnock, George. The Works of George Swinnock, M.A. James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1868, p. 61. A great deal of work has been done of late to understand the patron client relationship of the Roman work where the grace of the patron created a relationship in the client of return, but never in any kind which would approximate what was received.

“In recent years, James A. Kelhoffer has contributed a number of articles exploring some important features of 2 Clement. His seminal article, “Reciprocity as Salvation: Christ as Salvation Patron and the Corresponding ‘Payback’ Expected of Christ’s Earthly Clients according to the Second Epistle of Clement” has informed the concluding observations about the applied theology of the book.20

    The article analyzes the widely misunderstood concept of ‘payback’ or ‘repayment’ (αντιμισθία) that … believers owe to Christ. Much of the secondary literature is laden with theological polemics (e.g., the author perverts Paul’s gospel of grace, rather than an attempt to understand this concept relative to social relationships in antiquity). I argue that Second Clement presents Christ as salvific benefactor and patron. Christ offers salvation to those who accept the terms of his patronage, terms that include the obligation to render ‘payback’—for example, in the form of praise, witness, loyalty, and almsgiving. A failure to accept these terms would jeopardize the relationship between Christ and his earthly clients and thus call their salvation into question. As a corollary, I propose that a likely purpose for Second Clement was to convince a Christian audience that the benefits of salvation come with recurring obligations to Christ, their salvific patron.21

“Kelhoffer’s insights point the way ahead for understanding the relationship between correct behavior and soteriology in this writing and thus its ultimate message. A summary of these thoughts follows, supplemented by my own comments. As a background to his argument, Kelhoffer explores the sociology of the patron-client relationship in Roman society.” Varner, William. Second Clement: An Introductory Commentary. Edited by Paul A. Hartog and Shawn J. Wilhite, Cascade Books, 2020, pp. 42–43.]

3          We are apt to have low thoughts of Christ, therefore we should often revive the considerations that may represent his worth and excellency. [This last comment is interesting when considered from a context of acting toward Christ. Our failure to be engaged in “setting forth his glory” as “rent” can be the result of low thoughts of Christ. But, doing such actually raises our thoughts of Christ. To praise is to objectively give praise, but when understood rightly will also subjectively increase our praise.]

D.        Fourthly, That we may place all hope of salvation in him, and may make use of him to the ends which he came to accomplish. ….

E.         Fifthly, That we may the better understand two things:—

1.         The humiliation of the Son of God.

a.         [This is a principle argument of Manton’s Socinian opponents: he could not be God incarnate if he were so humbled. Manton explains a covering.]

b.         …. Now, how did he humble himself? Was he not still the image of God in our nature? Yes, but the divine glory and majesty was hidden under the veil of our flesh: little of it did appear, and that only to those who narrowly did observe him; the brightness of his glory did not conspicuously shine forth…..

2.         It showeth us how the image of God may be recovered; if we be changed into the likeness of Christ, for he is the image of God.

a.         [By example] His merit should not only be precious to us, but his example. It is a great advantage not only to have a rule but an example; because man is so prone to imitate, that an example in our nature maketh it the more operative.

i.          His excuse is ready at hand: we are flesh and blood—what would you have us do? Therefore Christ came incarnate to be an example of holiness. He had the interests of flesh and blood to mind as well as we; and so would show that a holy life is possible to those that are renewed by his grace.

ii.         He obeyed God in our nature; therefore in the same nature we may obey, please, and glorify God, though still in a self-denying manner. The foundation of it is laid in the new birth.

b.         [By the Spirit] The Spirit that formed Christ out of the substance of the Virgin, the same Spirit is ready to form Christ in you. He maketh new creatures; so that there is not only Christ’s example, but Christ’s power.

III.       [Application]

A.         Use 1. Then let the excellency and dignity of Christ’s person be more upon your minds and hearts; think often of those two notions in the text—that he is the image of the invisible God, that therein you may be like him. You cannot be the image of God so as he was, but you must be in your measure…..

B.         Use 2. Consider, again, that he is Lord of the whole creation, and therefore called ‘the first-born of every creature.’ Well, then, we should be subject to him, and with greater diligence apply ourselves to the obedience of his holy laws, and use the means appointed by him to obtain the blessedness offered to us.

1.         There is in us a natural sentiment of the authority of God, and we have a dread upon our hearts if we do what he hath forbidden; but we have not so deep a sense of the authority of Christ, and play fast and loose with religion, as fancy and humour and interest lead us.

2.         Now, from this argument, you see we should honour the Son as we honour the Father, and be as tender of his institutions as we are of the commandments evident by natural light; for he is not only the messenger of God, but his express image, and the first-born of every creature.

3          Not to believe him, and obey him, and love him, is to sin, not only against our duty, but our remedy and the law of our recovery.

[1] The impress which God makes upon Christ: something stamped.

[2] Manton is casually dropping some sophisticated philosophical terms into his sermon.  “What is common and general is predicated of the included particulars. Essence, then, is common as being a form [eidos, class, form], while subsistence is particular. It is particular not as though it had part of the nature and had not the rest, but particular in a numerical sense, as being individual. For it is in number and not in nature that the difference between subsistences is said to lie. Essence, therefore, is predicated of subsistence, because in each subsistence of the same form the essence is perfect. Wherefore subsistences do not differ from each other in essence but in the accidents which indeed are the characteristic properties, but characteristic of subsistence and not of nature. For indeed they define subsistence as essence along with accidents. So that the subsistence contains both the general and the particular, and has an independent existence, while essence has not an independent existence but is contemplated in the subsistences. Accordingly when one of the subsistences suffers, the whole essence, being capable of suffering. is held to have suffered in one of its subsistences as much as the subsistence suffered, but it does not necessarily follow, however, that all the subsistences of the same class should suffer along with the suffering subsistence.” It goes on a great length along these lines. John Damascene. “An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.” St. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus, edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, translated by S. D. F. Salmond, vol. 9b, Christian Literature Company, 1899, p. 50.

[3] “Thus, therefore, we confess that the nature of the Godhead is wholly and perfectly in each of its subsistences, wholly in the Father, wholly in the Son, and wholly in the Holy Spirit. Wherefore also the Father is perfect God, the Son is perfect God, and the Holy Spirit is perfect God. In like manner, too, in the Incarnation of the Trinity of the One God the Word of the Holy Trinity, we hold that in one of its subsistences the nature of the Godhead is wholly and perfectly united with the whole nature of humanity, and not part united to part4. The divine Apostle in truth says that in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily5, that is to say in His flesh. And His divinely-inspired disciple, Dionysius, who had so deep a knowledge of things divine, said that the Godhead as a whole had fellowship with us in one of its own subsistences6. But we shall not be driven to hold that all the subsistences of the Holy Godhead, to wit the three, are made one in subsistence with all the subsistences of humanity. For in no other respect did the Father and the Holy Spirit take part in the incarnation of God the Word than according to good will and pleasure But we hold that to the whole of human nature the whole essence of the Godhead was united. For God the Word omitted none of the things which He implanted in our nature when He formed us in the beginning, but took them all upon Himself, body and soul both intelligent and rational, and all their properties. For the creature that is devoid of one of these is not man. But He in His fulness took upon Himself me in my fulness, and was united whole to whole that He might in His grace bestow salvation on the whole man. For what has not been taken cannot be healed.” John Damascene. “An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.” St. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus, edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, translated by S. D. F. Salmond, vol. 9b, Christian Literature Company, 1899, p. 50.

Christ’s Eternal Existence (Manton) Sermon 1.4

27 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by in Colossians, Thomas Manton

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C.         None was fit to give this ransom but Jesus Christ, who was God-man.

1.         He was man to undertake it in our name, and God to perform it in his own strength;

a.         a man that he might be made under the law, and humbled even to the death of the cross for our sakes;

b.         and all this was elevated beyond the worth of created actions and sufferings by the divine nature which was in him, which perfumed his humanity, and all done by it and in it.

2.         This put the stamp upon the metal, and made it current coin, imposed an infinite value upon his finite obedience and sufferings.  [Since the obedience of Jesus was the obedience of the God-man, God incarnate, the human obedience had infinite worth.]

a.         [Proof of the point] By taking human nature a price was put into his hands to lay down for us:

i.          Heb. 10:15, and his divine nature made it sufficient and responsible, for it was the blood of God:

ii.         Acts 20:28, ‘Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood;’ and

iii.        Heb. 9:13, ‘For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?’

b.         It was that flesh and blood which was assumed into the unity of his person—as a slip or branch grafted into a stock is the branch of the stock, and the fruit of it is the fruit of the stock.

3.         A naked creature without this union [of God and mand] could not have satisfied the justice of God for us. This made his blood a precious blood, and his obedience a precious obedience….

D.        Nothing performed by Christ could be a sufficient ransom for this end, unless he had crowned all his other actions and sufferings by laying down his life, and undergoing a bloody and violent death.

1.         [Why?]

a.         Partly to answer the types of the law, wherein no remission was represented without a bloody sacrifice;

b.         partly from the nature of the thing, and the fulness of the satisfaction required until all that was finished, John 8:20. Death was that which was threatened to sin, death was that which was feared by the sinner.

2.         [It was not just his blood per se, for any bleeding would have been sufficient then. It was the sacrificial death which matter.] ….Surely his death was necessary, or God would never have appointed it; his bloody death suited with God’s design.

3.         God’s design was to carry on our recovery in such a way as might make sin more hateful, and obedience more acceptable to us.

a.         Sin more hateful by his agonies, blood, shame, death; no less remedy would serve the turn, to procure the pardon and destruction of it….His design was for ever to leave a brand upon it, and to furnish us with a powerful mortifying argument against it, by the sin-offering and ransom for souls….

b.         To commend obedience. …. All his former actions, together with his death and sufferings, make but one entire act of eminent obedience; ….

E.         From this ransom and act of obedience there is a liberty resulting unto us, for the redeemed are let go when the ransom is paid.

1.         [Here is an interesting comment on the effect of our being freed “from the law”]

a.         Christ came not to free us from the duty of the law, but the penalty and curse thereof.

b.         To free us from the duty of the law is to promote the devil’s interest.

c.         No; he freed us from the wrath of God that we may serve him cheerfully, to establish God’s interest upon surer and more comfortable terms,

2.         [The relation of this freedom to the work of the devil] and so by consequence from the power of the devil, which is built on the curse of the law and reign of sin. Satan’s power over us doth flow from the sentence of the condemnation pronounced by the law against sinners, and consists in that dominion sin hath obtained over them. If the curse of the law be disannulled, and the power of sin broken, he is spoiled of his power. Col. 2:14-15

[a.        Another verse relevant here is Heb. 2:14-15. Christ destroyed him who had “the power of death, that is, the Devil, and deliver all those who through of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” The fear of death created by the law creates the power to enslave by sin, seems to be the idea here.]

F.         That we are not partakers of this liberty, nor of the benefit of this ransom, till we are in him, and united to him by faith, …

1.         Certainly we must be turned from Satan to God before we are capable of receiving the forgiveness of sins,

2.         We do not actually partake of the privileges of Christ’s kingdom till we be first his subjects:

3.         Man’s recovery to God is in the same method in which he fell from him. It is first brought about by a new nature, and communication of life from Christ. He regenerateth that he may pardon, and he pardoneth that he may further sanctify and make us everlastingly happy.

What is hope

16 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by in Colossians, Hope, Sermons, Uncategorized

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I previously posted notes for a sermon on hope. The actual sermon as given appears below.  While the theme is the same, the presentation is rather different. I trust it may be of some encouragement to someone:

It was delivered in the Joint Heirs Fellowship Group at Grace Com. Church on March 31, 2019

Learning to see rightly

12 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by in Colossians, Uncategorized

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If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20–23, ESV)

More than the implications of national politics, or the far more subtle pull of tribal allegiance, everyday gospel living is at stake. If you’re a pastor, the allure of speaking into popular topics with your tribe’s language is ever-present. If you’re a church member, then just making it through the week without feeling like you’ve let Jesus down again haunts your dreams. Both of us need to embrace the loving rebuke

What hope produces, what produces hope.3

29 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by in Colossians, Hope, Uncategorized

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[And here is the conclusion of my notes; I guess I will see what is left when it has been edited and re-written. ]

To our second point, let us consider the nature and certainty of this hope. So look down again at verse 5:

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel

This hope is certain: that is a where and a what. The certainty of the hope is tied to its location: it is a heavenly hope. Everything here upon earth is temporary; it changes; it decays:

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Eccl. 1:2. Nothing in this world is stable, secure, eternal. It is a vanity, a breath and then it is gone like mist on a cold morning. The most certain things on this planet are temporary, shifting things. Even mountains wear down; even billionaires and kings die.

If it is here, it can be found, broken, stolen. To store one’s treasure here, to count on an inheritance from this world is to be disappointed; we need a better, safer place:

Matthew 6:19–20 (NASB95)
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

You may have noticed that I didn’t finish Jesus’ sentence; we’ll come to the end of his statement in a moment. For now, notice this: here on earth, our treasure, our hope is insecure. It may be lost: decay and trouble will assault our treasures. My family went to King Tut’s treasure: here were the possessions of an unimaginably wealthy, powerful man. They had been buried in vault for centuries. And now they were on display, in protected rooms, with monitored light and humidity and temperature, because light and air were a danger to this treasure.

Tut gathered his treasures for what he thought was a heavenly journey; but all his treasury remained in his tomb. His treasure is in constant threat of theft and decay.

But our hope is not like that: it is in heaven. As Peter writes:

1 Peter 1:3–5 (NASB95)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We have a hope, an inheritance, which cannot decay or be stolen, an inheritance which is kept by God — reserved in heaven.

And here is where you must stop as you think of this treasure. You might be thinking the inheritance, the hope, the treasure is some mansion, or the streets of gold or the gates of pearl. Those are merely decorations and ornaments; they are paper about the present — both those things are not the treasure, they are not our hope.

Think again. Paul said that you have heard of that hope in “the word of truth, the gospel”. The gospel is not that you get a large house and gold pavement. Think again about the gospel.

What is there in the Gospel? You may say that the gospel is that my sins are forgiven, that I will not go to hell. There is life without end, without decay, without death. Yes, there is all of that. There are great and glorious, outrageous promises and goodness in the forgiveness of sin.
This forgiveness of sin is an unimaginable, audacious blessing. Listen to Psalm 41:4

As for me, I said, “O Lord,, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

That is dumbfounding: not forgive me because I have made things right; not be good to be because I have been good. David prays, heal me, forgive me, because I have sinned. We may have become used to hearing such things being around church — and if we have, then our ears have grown dull. We don’t ever deserve to say such a thing. But that is precisely what is involved in this word or truth, this good news:

Colossians 2:13–14 (NASB95)
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

There is good news! You were an enemy of God, and God took his claim against you and fastened those claims to Jesus who bore our sins in his body on the tree: the claim against us was nailed to the cross! Now that is glorious.

But our hope is even greater than that: our hope is greater than the most perfect of environments; our hope is greater than a resurrected body and a conscious cleaned from sin and shame; there is something even better — and it was right there in verse five: a hope in heaven.

Our true and supreme hope is the reason why we are forgiven and cleansed and brought into a beautiful place. Imagine a man or a woman preparing for their wedding day: we have a special place, we wear special clothes, we have a special party, we go on a special trip: all of those things are marvelous, but none of them are the point of the wedding. We have and do all those things because there is someone we seek.

The gospel involves forgiveness, and resurrection and life everlasting, but those things are all less than the great point and glory of the gospel, those things are all less than the real hope. Turn over to verse 25 of chapter 1 because you must look at these words:

Colossians 1:25–27 (NASB95)

25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God [that is the word of truth, the gospel]
26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, [that mystery is what you have heard — and what is it]
27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Listen to those words: our hope is “Christ in you”. Paul calls it “the hope of glory”. Your hope, your treasure is not the wedding dress, the wedding cake, the honeymoon — it is the bridegroom. Our hope is secure because our is the Lord himself. Paul says here that our hope is a hope of glory and he defines it as “Christ in you.”

Calvin wrote of this verse, “he calls Christ the hope of glory, that they may know that nothing is wanting to them for complete blessedness when they have obtained Christ.” If we have Christ, we have all.

We sing that song, All I have is Christ — but to have Christ is to have all: “all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” 1 Cor. 3:23.

Our hope is Christ, it is a hope of glory, a heavenly glory, a glory of the age to come. As Peter says in 1 Peter 1:7, that our faith, tested through fire, like a suit of armor battered and ravaged, will prove true at the last, and it will “be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

And now the third point, which will make the other points even more clear. Our hope creates a destination, a direction: it is a compass point which draws along the entire rest of our life.

Paul has said that our hope is in heaven, our hope is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.

What I wish to finish with is just the hint of something. We know our duties as Christians to have greater faith, to have greater love. We know that love fulfills the law. We know that love is the bond of unity. And Paul has told us that our faith and love are somehow sustained by hope. We also know that our hope is in heaven. And so we can sometimes think that we can just hope to go to heaven; and we will struggle along and try to not be too bad, to do our best and hope it works out.

But Christ does not intend that for us. Take a look at chapter 3. In verse 1, Paul says the we are to seek the things above — where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Then look at verse 2, he says we are to set our minds on the things above — that is in heaven: seeking and setting our minds on something sounds very much like hoping. We are to be hoping, hoping on Christ who is above, who is at the right hand of God.

Then in verse 3 Paul says, that we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. So our life is not our own. Like Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “For I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ live in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.”

And now in verse 4 of Colossians 3 we see our hope stated plainly, in large, unmistakable letters:

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then we will be revealed with Him in glory.

There is our hope. That is why we put to death what is earthly — we give it up because we are straining for something better. There is our hope. That is why hope produces faith, because faith gives substance to our desire in hope. That is why we can love, because we are becoming like Christ as we strain forward, fixing every thought upon Christ.

Our heavenly hope is Christ, himself.

He will “present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach — if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard.” Col. 1:22-23.

 

What hope produces, what produces hope.2

28 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by in Colossians, Faith, Faith, Hope, Uncategorized

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[Picking up from the first part]

I said there were not three things, but here are three things in this verse about hope. First, hope has a very present effect. That is the word “because”. Second, the hope is certain:  it is laid up in heaven. Third, the hope marks goal, the end of our pilgrimage. Our hope is laid up in heaven.

First we are going to consider the effect of hope. I want you to notice something about. In 1 Corinthians 13:13, Paul writes that, “faith, hope and love” now abide. Here is a triad which lies at heart of being a Christian: we cannot be a Christian without faith hope and love. Paul mentions these three in our text:

4since we heard of your faith [there is faith] in Christ Jesus and the love [there is love] which you have for all the saints;

5because of the hope [there is hope] laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel

Notice also that the hope comes about from hearing “the word of truth, the gospel”.  So there is a chain of events here: 

First there was hearing the word of truth. We will think about what is that word of truth in moment. For right now, just notice that hope did not come their imagination or their experience or anything else. Hope came from hearing “the word of truth”.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:5 Paul describes what happened to that church:

“for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and full of conviction”

There is the pattern which is throughout the Scripture — and demonstrated over and again in the history of the Church. Believers, the church of Jesus Christ are created by Word of God and the Spirit of God. The Word of God comes to people and comes in the power of the Holy Spirit.  It presses down upon the elect and they believe and are transformed. 

Now understand this about true, saving faith: it is not just some sort of historical calculation. For instance, I believe George Washington was the first president of the United States. But that belief is just an idea, it’s just an exercise of thought.

Saving faith is different, it is not just an idea. It comes with power, with conviction, it changes. When true faith comes, it comes with hope. In Romans 4:18, Paul describes Abraham’s saving faith like this, “In hope again he hope he believed.” And in Romans 8:24, Paul writes, “For in hope we have been saved”. 

Faith and hope are very close together; and in saving faith, it comes with hope. We believe we are now saved, and we believe we will be saved. We believe we will be justified on the day of judgment, we believe we will be resurrected, we believe we will be forever with the Lord. But notice that all of that belief entails hope:

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Rom. 8:24-25. And conversely, we could not possibly hope for something we did not believe to be true and real and ahead of us. No one could hope for something he did not sincerely believe was true.

Now consider this also: faith and hope strengthen one another. As we believe, we can more easily and clearly hope: as we hope, our faith gains strength and vigor.

Let’s do a little thought experiment.  Let us assume that the story gets around that Tom is feeling generous today and that he is taking every out to lunch. And so we all hope and believe that Tom is going to bring around limos and we will all be ferried down to Gladstones at the ocean and we will have lunch and be brought back to church in time for evening service. 

But after our initial rush of hope and belief, we start to think about this. We begin to realize that taking a couple of hundred people in limos to lunch at the ocean might be unrealistic for Tom. Tom probably doesn’t have ten thousand dollars to spend on our lunch. And so, our belief begins to wane. And as our belief wanes, our hope wanes. And by the time noon comes around, our faith and hope in Tom’s wonderful lunch surprise goes away.

Faith and hope need one another to survive. 

Here is a point of application. We must keep our faith and our hope well and in good strength. When we becomes hopeless, when we begin to falter in our hope, our faith will decline. In fact, I would surmise that for most people it is their hope which falters first, and then their faith.  The Devil would not easily get you to deny the Incarnation — but if he can discourage you, if he can distract your hope and draw it on to other things, you faith will fail. Faith cannot stand without hope. To keep faith without hope is like keeping a roof without walls. Faith and the roof will fall to the ground.

But Paul also draws love into this equation look again 

4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;

5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel

The love which the Colossians experience and exhibit is “because of the hope”. Their hope gives rise to their love. Some of the commentators are puzzled by this connection. Since love is a very generous affection, it seems odd to connect with one’s hope. How can hoping make one more able and willing to love?

Let us think of the greatest act of love in the history of humanity: without question, it is the love Jesus showed to us when he went to the cross. Jesus himself said that giving one’s life for another was the greatest act of love. Jesus abounded in love, when he went to the cross.

Now I want you to consider Hebrews 12:2, “Jesus … who for the joy set before him endured the cross”. Jesus’ love toward us was itself grounded in hope. Jesus died for us to glorify his name, to glorify the Father — and for us, he made atonement for sin. Jesus gave himself in love, but Jesus also gave himself in hope. 

Because Jesus knew his work would be successful does not mean that Jesus did not hope. Hope does not mean an uncertain a foolish desire. Hope can be quite certain, as we will see. The security of the hope does not mean that it is not hope. Hope is desire for something which is not now present. 

Hope is means of enjoying something in the future now. It is taking possession of something just beyond our grasp. 

Jesus’ love and Jesus’ hope were in perfect agreement and were both fulfilled together. 

Love is a generous affection. Hope is also generous. A hope of acceptance and love from God, makes us wealthy — it makes love and generosity wise. Hope fixes our eyes upon Christ (and that is a whole other thing which we cannot fully consider) — and as it fixes our eyes upon Christ, it makes us like Christ:

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NASB95)

18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Our hope transforms us by fixing our gaze upon our Lord. And in so doing, our hope transforms us into those who love. We could never love without hope. We love in hope that our love will be received and will work good in the beloved.

If our gaze could never go beyond the confines of this life and this world, then the full generous love God commands, to love our neighbor as ourself would be insane, it would be dangerous and foolish. To love as God calls us to love is a sucker’s game if there is no heaven calling us: if there is no life beyond this life, then as Paul writes, we are most to be pitied. 

But hope gives room and promise and purpose to Christian love. As Paul also says, our labor will not be in vain. 

When we are filled with hope, then faith and love will grow themselves. And here is the amazing thing: When we have these three, they each make the other grow. When we have love and faith, it grows hope. When we have hope and love it grows faith. Love fulfills the law, love is obedience to Christ. And in Hebrews 5:14, we learn that obedience — which will necessarily require love — makes us fit and able to learn more of God, to increase the scope and depth of our faith and hope, because it gives more range for faith and hope act.

What produces hope? The Word of God brought to bear by the Spirit of God, the word of God believed produces hope. And what does hope produce: faith and love. If you see you faith flagging look to your hope. If you love has grown cold, look to hope. If you hope is weak, look to your faith. 

If you feel yourself wander, discouraged, fallen into sin and tempted with despair, come back to the fountain, come back to the place you lost your way. Come back to the start, to the Word of God, pick up the trail in faith; your flagging hope will stir and that will set you going in the correct direction.

What hope produces; what produces hope.

27 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by in Colossians, Hope, Uncategorized

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(These are first draft notes for a sermon to be preached on Col. 1:3-5)

Colossians 1:3-5

What produces hope
What hope produces

Our text for this morning is in Colossians 1, verses three through five. Paul writes to these Christians whom he had never seen and had only known by report:

Colossians 1:3–5 (NASB95)

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

We have one very simple aim. It’s not three points or ten points. It is merely this. I want you to hope. I want to stir up your hope and strengthen your hope and focus you — the hope which you already have if you know Christ; a hope laid up in heaven. I want you to look upon that hope until it stirs your heart to laid hold upon that hope as a real thing.

And so I want to think about hope for a moment — we have the word in our text. But sometimes we run past words and don’t give them the time they need.

I want you to think to yourself, consider yourself for a moment: Why do you do anything? Why do you pick one thing over another? Think not just a few a choices, run your mind over many choices. Try to consider what those years upon years worth of choices have in common.

Sometimes it was the way you felt in the moment; sometimes it was a careful decision. Sometimes you used memory; sometimes you used a hunch. You exercised judgment, or you chose at random.

Among all the elements of all those decisions, one aspect must be present, hope. Hope often escapes our notice. It can be a subtle addition to a plan, but it must always be present or we would never act.

When the decision is quick, when the decision is insignificant, we don’t really notice the hope. It sort of appears and fades before we have a chance to consider its presence. But it must always be there.

Just imagine the absence of hope: Would you sit on a chair if you didn’t hope it would hold you? Would you drive on the freeway if you didn’t hope you’d arrive safe.

But I’m not really concerned with that small hope. I want to think of another sort of hope. The hope which draws someone along through miles and years and shapes an entire life.

When a runner sets out at the beginning of a race, the runner hopes to reach the end. The runner hopes to not be hindered or hurt but to be successful. And the hope of the end and of the good of that end and the success drives the runner on.

Or think of a trip. I have been a couple of very long overseas trips. If you’ve gone on these trips — and you didn’t get to ride in a limo to the airport and ride in first class on the plane — you know how unpleasant such trips can be. There are airports and long walks between terminals and car rides; none of which is pleasant, but all of it is endured because of hope: I hope to get to my destination.

Hope is wonderful. Without hope no good thing would have ever been completed. Our houses were built in hope. We married in hope. We have children in hope. We work in hope. Without hope, no one would have ever walked on the moon.

Hope is a marvel.

But hope if fragile. Cared for well, hope will last a lifetime. But hope can easily be ruined. It is a crystal vase which can fall from a stand. It is a glorious eagle o a perch, which can fly away.

When hope fails, it makes us ill: “Hope differed makes the heart sick.” Prov. 13:12. When hope wears out, becomes exhausted and fails, it collapses into despair. It becomes a bloated, infected corpse and infects everything about it.

Think of that trip to an exotic and distant destination. But the airplane breaks down in a foreign airport. You become ill from the food. Your passport is stolen. You realize you will never make your end and you may not make it home.

Romance turns sour can dash hope. Think Romeo and Juliette and how things worked for them.

But hope is not merely lost through despair. It is also lost through distraction. Let’s go back to Romeo for a moment: Before Romeo met Juliette, he was moping about because he hoped to win the affection of another girl. Then, while at a party, Romeo lit upon Juliette and his hope was transferred from the first girl to the second. Hope found a new object and it was off.

That is position as Christians in this world. We are aiming to walk clean out of this world into another world; we have hope for another life. We must give up everything in this world willingly to gain another world — and here we have only hope.

Hope is a cable which take hold of in this world and which is anchored in the next. That is exactly how the author of Hebrews describes it for us in Hebrews 6:18-19:

Hebrews 6:18–19 (ESV)
18 ……we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

We are beset on one side with dangers, on the other with pleasures. We assaulted with trials and tried with temptations. The Devil pushes one way and the flesh pulls in another. One moment we are tempted to despair and give up all hope; the next we are offered something bright and new as a substitute hope.

With some many dangers and distractions, it is not surprising that our hope is constantly in danger. And this what threatened the Colossian Christians. Sometime had come along to challenge their hope and to substitute to their hope. A new idea, a new teaching, another Christ had offered itself for their consideration.

And so Paul sent them a letter to rescue them. He needed to warn them of the danger and he need to set their road straight. And so to protect them and correct them, he sets about straightening out their hope. He takes a firm hold upon their attention and he fixes their attention on Christ and the world to come, so that they can safely make it through the present world.
Listen to these words:

Colossians 1:3–12 (NASB95)
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.

We are going to focus in on the words of verses 4 and 5 in particular. Paul is thankful for the Colossians. In verse 4 he says that he is thankful because the Colossians are marked with faith and with love. You can think of that as what they know and what they do: everything about these Colossians, their faith and love was a matter of thanksgiving.

Verse 5 tells us what caused this faith and love:

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel

Their faith and love flowed out of something, it came from somewhere.

True faith and love and heavenly things: true faith and love are not at home here. You don’t need any special experience to understand that faith in Christ and love for all the saints is not an easy, normal thing. It does not spring up from the ground like weeds after the rain.

These are heavenly flowers and they only exist by means of a heavenly source. Look at verse 8, Paul further describes their love, it is “love in the Spirit”. It is a wonder produced by God.

But how do these heavenly flowers get the dew of Zion to wash upon their petals, so that they may grow here in this sin cursed world, choked with weeds and death? What reaches up from this life and reaches into the life to come to bring water from the River of life?

Hope.

Look at Paul’s words again:

Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

I said there were not three things, but here are three things in this verse about hope. First, hope had a very present effect. That is the word “because”. Second, the hope was certain: Third, the hope marked their goal.

Paul got there first

27 Saturday May 2017

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Colossians, Hope, Psychology, Theology of Biblical Counseling, Uncategorized

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“We aren’t built to live in the moment”:

What best distinguishes our species is an ability that scientists are just beginning to appreciate: We contemplate the future. Our singular foresight created civilization and sustains society. It usually lifts our spirits, but it’s also the source of most depression and anxiety, whether we’re evaluating our own lives or worrying about the nation. Other animals have springtime rituals for educating the young, but only we subject them to “commencement” speeches grandly informing them that today is the first day of the rest of their lives.

A more apt name for our species would be Homo prospectus, because we thrive by considering our prospects. The power of prospection is what makes us wise. Looking into the future, consciously and unconsciously, is a central function of our large brain, as psychologists and neuroscientists have discovered — rather belatedly, because for the past century most researchers have assumed that we’re prisoners of the past and the present.

Paul got there first, Colossians 1:3–8 (ESV):

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, 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 servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Paul anchors the faith and love exhibited by the church in their forward expectation.

Ethics of Gratitude 

17 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by in Colossians, Theology of Biblical Counseling

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Patience, longsuffering and joy should continually be accompanied by a thankful spirit. In Christianity, someone has said, theology is grace, and ethics is gratitude. If God’s attitude and action towards us have been characterized by grace, our response to Him, in life and behaviour as well as in thought and word, should be characterized by gratitude. Nothing less is fitting, when we consider how, in the apostle’s language here, He has “fitted us to share the inheritance of His holy people.”

Commentary on Ephesians and Colossians, E.K. Simpson, F.F. Bruce (Wm. B. Erdmanns, Grand Rapids, 1957), 187

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A Worthy Walk

24 Friday Jul 2015

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Here is a sermon given by a dear friend, Pastor David Jordan on Colossians 1:8

Colossians 1:9–10 (ESV)

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.