The subject of the book of Colossians is the all-inclusive Christ. In his introductory word (Col. 1:1-8) Paul indicates that Christ is our hope, reality, and grace. In his prayer and thanksgiving (Col. 1:9-14) he gives further indications that Christ is the all-inclusive One. Let us first consider Paul’s prayer (vv. 9-11) and then his thanksgiving (vv. 12-14).
Verse 9 says, “Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf, that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” God’s will here refers to the will of His eternal purpose, of His economy concerning Christ (Eph. 1:5, 9, 11), not His will in minor things.
Years ago, when young saints asked about things such as marriage or employment, I referred them to this verse in Colossians. I told them that they should seek spiritual knowledge in order to know God’s will. But the will of God here is not focused on things such as marriage, jobs, or housing; it is concerned with the all-inclusive Christ as our portion. The will of God for us is that we know the all-inclusive Christ, experience Him, and live Him as our life. To know Christ in this way is to have the full knowledge of God’s will.
To know and experience the all-inclusive Christ requires all spiritual wisdom and understanding. The words “all” and “spiritual” modify both wisdom and understanding. Spiritual wisdom and understanding are of the Spirit of God in our spirit in contrast to Gnostic philosophy, which is merely in the darkened human mind. Wisdom is in our spirit to perceive God’s eternal will; spiritual understanding is in our mind, renewed by the Spirit, to understand and interpret what we perceive in our spirit.
Wisdom is the intuition in our spirit, whereas understanding is the realization in our mind. Through the intuition in our spirit, we sense something concerning Christ. Along with this, we need our mind to interpret what we sense in our spirit in order to have understanding. Then we shall have the utterance to speak forth what we sense and understand. This requires the exercise of all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
The will of God is profound in relation to our knowing, experiencing, and living the all-inclusive Christ. In verse 9 Paul was not praying that the Colossians would know whom to marry, where to live, or what kind of job they should have. His heart was not occupied with such trivial things. In this verse God’s will refers to Christ. It was not God’s will for the Colossians to follow Judaistic observances, Gentile ordinances, or human philosophies. Furthermore, it was not God’s will for them to practice asceticism, to treat the body severely in order to bridle the indulgence of the flesh. God’s will for the Colossians was to know Christ, to experience Christ, to enjoy Christ, to live Christ, and to have Christ become their life and their person. God’s will for us today is exactly the same. It seems as if Paul was saying, “Colossians, you have been distracted, misled, and defrauded by Gnosticism, mysticism, asceticism, observances, and ordinances. You need to be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will. God’s will is that the all-inclusive Christ be your portion.”
If we know that God’s will is for us to be saturated with Christ, then we have the proper knowledge of God’s will. Whatever we do should be done in the will of God. We should marry in Christ, work in Christ, and move in Christ. Christ should be our life and our person. This is the will of God.
In verse 10 Paul says, “To walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing by the full knowledge of God.” Walking worthily of the Lord results from the full knowledge of God’s will. If we know that God’s will is for us to be saturated with Christ, to take Christ as our life and our person, and to live Christ, spontaneously our walk will be worthy of the Lord. Some think that to walk worthily of the Lord is to be humble, nice, and generous. However, a worthy walk is a walk in which we live Christ. We can be humble, nice and generous without living by Christ. Only by living out Christ can we walk worthily of the Lord. Christ is the will of God, and He should also be our walk.
A walk worthy of the Lord is “unto all pleasing”; it is pleasing to the Lord in all ways. God the Father is pleased with the Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). In Galatians 1:15 and 16 Paul says that it pleased God to reveal Christ, the Son, in him. Nothing is more pleasing to God the Father than for us to live Christ. Apart from Christ, nothing can please the Father.
The only time we are fully happy is when we are living Christ. If we are humble or kind in a natural way, we are not happy. But if we take Christ as our life and our person and live Him out, we shall be the happiest people on earth. To live Christ is pleasing not only to the Father, but also to us. The most pleasant thing is to live Christ, to enjoy Christ, and to experience Christ.
If we walk worthily of the Lord, we shall bear fruit unto every good work. Do not understand this according to the natural concept. Bearing fruit here refers to living Christ, growing Christ, expressing Christ, and producing Christ in every respect. This is the good work Paul has in mind.
This kind of work is related to “growing by the full knowledge of God.” This knowledge is not the knowledge in letters in the mind, but the living knowledge of God in spirit, by means of which we grow in life. We need such a knowledge in order to live, grow, and produce Christ.
Christ is not only the will of God and our walk, but He is also every good work and even the full knowledge of God. Once again we see that Christ is all-inclusive. The more we get into the book of Colossians, the more we see that Christ is hope, truth, grace, the will of God, and everything to us.
In verse 11 Paul goes on to say, “Empowered with all power, according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy.” This power is not only the power of Christ’s resurrection (Phil. 3:10), but Christ Himself. Within us we have Christ as a dynamo that continually empowers us “according to the might of His glory.” This is the might that expresses God’s glory; it glorifies God in His might. With this might we are empowered.
By Christ we are empowered “unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy.” Because of this marvelous power, we can be joyful even in sufferings. By means of this power we can take with joy whatever may happen to us. We have reason to be joyful because we have the resurrected Christ as the power within us. If we are joyful during times of affliction, we shall not age so quickly. Instead, we shall look younger than our years.
The Apostle Paul did not pray that the Colossians would have the best husbands or wives, the best houses, and the best jobs. Furthermore, he did not pray that the Colossians would be kept from suffering. To the contrary, he prayed that they would be empowered to all endurance and longsuffering with joy; that is, he prayed that they would have the capacity to suffer long with joy. To suffer long in joy is to endure suffering in Christ. Suffering may actually help us to have an increased enjoyment of Christ. Christ is the joy, the endurance, and the longsuffering. Therefore, Paul’s prayer is altogether a prayer for the experience of Christ.
In Col. 1:12-14 we come to Paul’s thanksgiving. In his prayer Paul gave thanks to the Father, who is the origin and source of all blessing. By his thanks to the Father, he brings us to his subject — the all-inclusive Christ.
In contrast to many Christians today, Paul did not give thanks for things such as healing, health, housing, family life, or a job. Rather, he gave thanks to the Father for qualifying us “for a share of the portion of the saints in the light.” The book of Colossians concerns Christ, the Head of the Body. Hence, the portion of the saints here is the all-inclusive Christ for their enjoyment. The Father has qualified us not to inherit some heavenly mansion, but to have a share in Christ as the all-inclusive portion of the saints. We can boldly declare that Christ is our all-inclusive portion.
The Greek word rendered portion in this verse cor- responds to the Hebrew word used for the allotment of the good land. After the children of Israel had entered into the land of Canaan, each of the tribes was given an allotment of the land. Of course, our portion, our allotment, today is not a physical land in Palestine; it is the all-inclusive Christ. How we must thank the Father for giving us Christ as our divine allotment!
Each of the tribes had an allotment of the good land, and the members of each tribe had a share of this allotment. In the same principle, we have a share of the portion of the saints. This means that we all have a share in Christ.
In verse 12 Paul points out that our share of the portion of the saints is in the light. Light here is in contrast to darkness in the following verse. When we were under Satan’s authority, we were in darkness. But now we are in the kingdom of Christ, enjoying Him in light.
Verse 13 is the explanation and definition of how the Father has qualified us for a share of the portion of the saints. This verse says that the Father “delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” For Christ to be the Head of the Body, and for us, His believers, to be the members of His Body, He needed to deliver us out of the authority of darkness, the kingdom of Satan (Matt. 12:26), and transfer us into the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God’s Beloved. This is to qualify us to partake of Christ as our portion.
If we were still under the authority of darkness, we would not be qualified to share in Christ. But the Father has delivered us out of the authority of darkness. Praise Him that we are no longer in the satanic kingdom! Being delivered from the authority of darkness was the first step to be qualified to have a share in Christ.
The second step was to be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. We have undergone both a deliverance and a transfer. Because Satan is darkness and Christ, the Son of God, is light, therefore Satan’s kingdom is the authority of darkness, whereas the kingdom of the Son of God is the kingdom of light. By being delivered out of Satan’s kingdom and transferred into Christ’s kingdom we have been qualified for a share of the portion of the saints.
In verse 14 Paul continues, “In Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The deliverance in verse 13 deals with Satan’s authority over us by destroying his evil power, whereas the redemption in this verse deals with our sins by fulfilling God’s righteous requirement. The forgiveness of sins is the redemption which we have in Christ. Christ’s death has accomplished redemption unto the forgiveness of our sins.
In Christ, the Son of God’s love, we have redemption and forgiveness. When we believed in Christ as our Redeemer, God immediately delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of light. Here in the light we are qualified for a share of the portion of the saints. This means we are qualified to enjoy Christ. Because this qualification is an accomplished fact, there is no need for us to pray about it. On the contrary, with Paul we should simply thank the Father for this. However, there is the need for us to pray concerning knowing the will of God and walking worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing. Now that we are in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, enjoying Him in the light, we must go on to know Him in full and to walk worthily of Him.
The subject of Colossians is the all-inclusive Christ, the Christ who is everything to us. Day by day we may enjoy Him as our portion.
