(Audio version; Music: "Here I Am To Worship" by: Hillsong Australia and "Jesus, Light Of The World" by Third Day)
Introduction
My family didn’t go to the movies
when I was growing up. I vaguely remember my sisters taking me when they were
able to drive but I can’t really remember any movies specifically—at least not
until 1977. That’s when one of the greatest movies of all time was released—Star Wars. Almost forty years later, it
would be hard to find anyone, at least here in America, who hasn’t heard of Star Wars. Nothing like it had ever been
produced before and although Sci-Fi films are produced almost annually now, Star Wars is still a favored film for
many of us. The Star Wars franchise has
produced the second highest gross revenue of all time in the US and Canada and
the third highest gross revenue in the world. That’s pretty amazing considering
the sheer volume of motion pictures that have been produced in the last forty
years. It was recently announced that a new episode of Star Wars is scheduled to be released entitled, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The
premise of all the movies is as old as history—the battle between good and
evil. Generally, the foundation of the movie is built on the idea the there is
an unseen “Force” that flows throughout the universe that binds all things
together. The Force can be accessed by a select few individuals in the universe
that gives them special powers over mind, body, and inanimate objects. However,
the Force is morally neutral—it can be used for good or evil depending on the
individual who can access it. On the one side are the acting Jedi Knights who
use the Force only for good; only for the benefit of others; never for their
own gain. On the other side are a remnant of Sith Warriors and former Jedi
Knights who, at some point, began using the power of the Force for their own selfish
purposes of revenge and to take control of the universe. The Knights who abandoned
their duty to use the Force for good were described as having surrendered their
lives to the “Dark Side.” According to the premise of how the Force operated,
anyone motivated by fear, anger, hatred, envy, jealousy or any number of
ignoble traits was susceptible to be seduced to surrender to a life of evil by
the Dark Side. All the succeeding episodes of the Star Wars franchise involved the struggle between those who were
servants of the noble side of the Force and those who were servants of the Dark
Side of the Force.
There has
always been an association between light/good and darkness/evil. Light and dark
are popular themes of the Bible. Darkness, in the Scriptures is always
associated with evil and light is always associated with good. John says, “Light
has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their
deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into
the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the
truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has
done has been done through God (Jn 3:19-21).” So what is this “Light” that has
come into the world? It is Jesus. Jesus is the Light that has come into the
world. Those who refuse to come to Jesus don’t want the light of Jesus to
expose their sins. Because they fear the light they try to keep to the shadows;
they remain in the dark. Those who come to Jesus come into the light. In the
light of truth that is Jesus, their sins are exposed and forgiveness of those
sins becomes possible. Those who come to Jesus are motivated by doing good for
others; serving others; caring for others; loving others. The light of Jesus
has delivered them from a life of darkness—they have been Freed From The Dark Side.
Subject Text
Colossians 1:3-14
3We
always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because
we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all
the saints—5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is
stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word
of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this
gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since
the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7You
learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister
of Christ on our behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the
Spirit. 9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have
not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of
his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we
pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please
him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of
God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious
might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving
thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the
saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Context
Colosse was
a city located in the province of Asia Minor. The letter to the Colossians was
written by Paul around 60 AD while he was in a Roman prison. It is believed
that the church in Colosse was founded by Epaphras and some other converts from
one of Paul’s missionary journeys to the province although not specifically to
Colosse. Based on the time period, the believers in Colosse were first
generation believers. Consequently, their lack of maturity in the faith left
them particularly susceptible to false teachings. The Colossian church had been
infiltrated by religious relativism. Believers tried to combine Christianity
with paganism and secular philosophy. Yes I’m still talking about the Colossian
church of the first century not the western Church of the 21st
century even though the false teachings are virtually interchangeable with
those of our own day. Not having the courage to insist on upholding the
exclusive claims of the Scriptures, some in the Colossian church clearly
believed it would be better to be more “inclusive” and “accepting.” The result
was that the witness of the truth of Jesus Christ for some of them became
diluted. However, not for all of them. It is clear from our Subject Text that some of them did not
compromise their witness and received Paul’s commendation as a result.
Text Analysis
3We always thank God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the
saints—
There is
nothing more rewarding for a pastor than to see those who have listened to his
or her words, put those words into practice in their lives. It makes the hard
work and sacrifice worth it. That’s the joy Paul expresses in vv. 3-4. Remember that Paul is sitting
in a prison for preaching the gospel. There had to be some point at which Paul
must have wondered if all the abuse, pain, struggle, and suffering was worth
it. The Colossian believers’ continued faith in Jesus and their love for one
another must have made his incarceration seem at least a little easier. Paul
thanks God because he knows that nothing he accomplished would have been
possible apart from God’s power and will in the lives of the Colossian
believers. “The gospel should do for us what it did for the Colossians. The
gospel of Jesus Christ, like a seed, is a dynamic force that shatters the hard,
stony soil of sin and takes root as new life. By complimenting the Colossians
on how the gospel had taken root and grown in them, as it has in all the world,
Paul encouraged them to remain faithful to the message of truth they heard and
not be seduced into error by the alluring lies of the false teachers. Paul
assured the Colossians that when he prayed for them his prayers took the form
of thanksgiving.”[1]
5the faith and love that spring
from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already
heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you.
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has
been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in
all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow
servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
I am
convinced that there is nothing worse in life than living without hope. We were
not created to live without hope—especially when the pain and suffering of this
life becomes unbearable. The only way to endure life’s struggles is by holding
on to the hope that one day things will change—strife will turn to peace, hate
will turn to love, sorrow will turn to joy, sickness will turn to health, and
death will turn to life. The hope for the fulfillment of all these things, not just some of them, can be found in the
gospel. I have become more and more convinced hope is more powerful in our
lives than anything else, even love. If you think about it, without hope, love
cannot take root in our lives. Now I know that Paul says that the
foundation of our lives should be built on hope, faith, and love and that the
greatest of these is love. I’m certainly not qualified to contradict Paul but
I’d like to meet someone who has no hope yet can love God or people deeply. I
suppose those people exist but without hope there’s no reason to love if you
think about it. However, find a person who is hopeful and you’ll find someone
with the capacity to love without measure. Paul makes reference to this very
principle in vv. 5-7 when he says
that the Colossian believers’ faith and love is a direct result of their
hope—the hope of the reward that awaits them in the life to come when they
spend eternity with God. Hope has nurtured in them the two most important
aspects of the Christian life, the eternal aspect of faith in Jesus Christ and
the temporal aspect of love for people. “Paul had not been to Colosse; he had
heard of their trust in Jesus from Epaphras. He had also heard they loved all
of God’s people and acted upon that love. Trust in Jesus refers to the vertical
component of the Christian life; love refers to the horizontal component with
other believers. The Colossians’ trust in Christ Jesus and love for others had
reason: they were looking forward to the joys of heaven. Why have faith in
Jesus Christ if there is no hope for a glorious future? Why love others if it
doesn’t matter in the end? But looking forward to heaven makes all the
difference…Paul spoke of the Good News as an entity unto itself—something
alive, growing, spreading, bearing fruit, and spreading some more. Paul was not
exaggerating when he wrote the words, all over the world. He did not mean that
every location on earth had been evangelized, but that the gospel was making
headway across racial, national, and geographical barriers throughout the Roman
Empire. Indeed, nothing could stop it from changing lives everywhere.”[2]
8and who also told us of your
love in the Spirit.
Paul assures the Colossians that
they are not alone in their faith journey but that people everywhere had
received the same hope derived from the gospel message and that their lives
were being transformed in the same way the lives of the Colossians were
transformed. A hallmark of the transformation that is deeply rooted in the
lives of Colossians is love—not necessarily emotional love but what Paul calls
“love in the Spirit” in v. 8 as was
reported to him by Epaphras. This is love that is derived from the power of the
Holy Spirit that resides within each believer. This is a love that is particularly
evident in its love for all other believers, known and unknown. However, this
is also the power to love without condition; love that cares for those who are
lost and separated from God by their sins; love that opens the hearts and minds
of people who have lost their way; love that plants the seed of hope found in
the gospel of Jesus Christ. This power to love is a divine power that
originates specifically from the Holy Spirit. “For Paul, then, love is never
simply a self-attained virtue; it is the result of a transformed life filled
with the Spirit of God, which pours God’s own love into the human heart. Lack
of love therefore calls into question the presence of the Spirit in one’s life,
and hence one’s whole relationship to God. The fact that Paul’s encouragements
to love are frequently voiced in the form of prayer reflects his conviction that
love, like everything good, ultimately derives from God as a gift of grace. The
key to loving is being filled with the Spirit of God.”[3]
9For this reason, since the day
we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill
you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and
understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good
work, growing in the knowledge of God,
There is a
dynamic component to our salvation. Not that it’s a moving target but that it’s
an ongoing process. Specifically, we have been saved, we are being saved, and we
will be saved. We have been saved so that our eternal place in the presence of
Jesus is assured. We are being saved so that we have the power and ability to
live in a way that brings honor to God. And although we have been saved in
order to be able to spend eternity with Jesus one day and we are being saved so
that our lives can bring glory to God, we will nevertheless become sick and die
one day. Our salvation will only be complete when we are finally glorified with
Jesus (Rom 8:16-17). Nurturing the ongoing process of salvation is what Paul is
saying in v. 9-10 when he says that
he is praying that the Colossian believers would be filled with the knowledge
of God’s will that results from spiritual wisdom and understanding. Although
Paul is praying for this outcome for the Colossian believers, they nevertheless
have a duty to pursue that outcome themselves. It’s not something that happens
while they are sleeping. Instead, nurturing spiritual wisdom and understanding
of God’s will requires a volitional act on the part of believers. Knowledge and
understand of God isn’t an accident and isn’t granted simply because we ask for
it. Don’t forget, God deeply desires to be in relationship with us. And any
healthy relationship requires intentionality. We can’t have a healthy and
growing relationship with God if we won’t commit ourselves to learning as much
as we can about Him, what it takes to be in relationship with Him, what it
takes to love Him, and what it takes to bring Him glory.
Paul’s prayer for the Colossians is
a direct frontal attack on the false teachers that have infiltrated the Church
in Colosse. The only way for the believers there and by extension the believers
everywhere and at all times is to be equipped with a knowledge and
understanding of God that is rooted in His Word and revealed to us in the
person of Jesus Christ. In essence, Paul wants them to know exactly why they
believe what they believe. “The wisdom and understanding that Paul and Timothy
desire to see in the Colossian Christians are inseparable from the knowledge of
God and of his will—a knowledge which, as the prophets of Israel insisted, is
of the essence of true heart-religion…This knowledge is not merely intellectual
exercise, no theosophical gnōsis [Gk.
“knowledge”] such as was affected by the teachers who threatened to lead the
Colossian church astray. The Colossians must be impressed with the nature and
importance of true knowledge before being warned against the ‘knowledge falsely
so called’ which was being pressed upon them. True knowledge is found in
practical religion; it is that knowledge which, as the OT wisdom writers
affirmed, starts with a proper attitude toward God: ‘The fear of the LORD is
the beginning of knowledge’ (Prov. 1:7). Right knowledge leads to right behavior:
it was because the pagan world, according to Paul, ‘did not see fit to retain
God in their knowledge’ that they were abandoned ‘to a base mind and to
improper conduct’ (Rom. 1:28).”[4]
11being strengthened with all
power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and
patience, and joyfully
Imagine the
faith it takes to preach a message of endurance, patience and joy while sitting
in prison and you’ll understand that that’s exactly what Paul is doing in v. 11. Paul’s prayer for the Colossians
wasn’t so much about enduring any immediate physical threats even though that
day would no doubt come for them as it had already come for him. Instead, he
was praying that they would patiently endure the false teachers who were trying
to lead them astray. For the Colossian believers as it is for us today,
endurance or patience (also referred to as “long-suffering) is not a matter of
personal bravery but a matter of strength derived from a deep and intimate
relationship with God. “[Endurance] signifies that kind of perseverance which
enables one to hold the position already taken in battle against enemy attacks
from without. By this ‘endurance’ the Colossian community will stand firm in
every respect—especially by holding against the pressure of evil forces…that
would lead them astray as well as make them dispirited. This kind of endurance,
however, does not derive from…stoical fortitude. Rather, as in the OT and later
Judaism, it is seen to spring from God who is its source. Thus he may be petitioned
for it, or thanked when it is evident in the lives of believers. At the same
time Christians are summoned to endurance, and by it they prove their standing
in the faith. With such endurance they persevere through suffering, as they
directed their attention toward the final day. Long-suffering in both the Old
and New Testaments is used of the patience of God and his people…Because of
God’s dealings with his people this word, which was not very significant in
secular Greek, was given a new and unexpectedly profound importance, so that
the human attitude of ‘long-suffering’ is now set in a new light. God’s
patience with his people means they ought to act in a similar manner toward
others.”[5]
12giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom
of light.
Knowing
that the endurance and patience that is needed can only come by the power of
God through the Holy Spirit, it is only natural to thank God the Father who
sent the Holy Spirit to live within the hearts of all believers, when the
fruits of the Holy Spirit become manifest in the actions and attitudes of
believers. And this is exactly what Paul does in v. 12. Interestingly, a grateful heart is just another
manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of the true believer. I
want you to notice something else about this verse. What is the believer
joyfully thanking God for? It’s not for delivering them from persecution,
oppression, suffering, or struggle. Instead, they are joyfully thankful that God
has granted them endurance and patience to hold-up under and stand against the
struggle and hardships they face.
As
believers in Jesus Christ, we are co-heirs with Jesus of the kingdom if we
accept that we are co-heirs in the suffering that comes with being followers of
Jesus (Rom 8:17). This is the inheritance shared by all the saints: An
inheritance of suffering before the inheritance of the kingdom of light.
“Saints” according to the Bible are believers during all ages who have put
their faith in God in the Old Testament and God as revealed in Jesus Christ in
the New Testament. Sainthood is not conferred on someone by the Church as is
practiced by the Roman Catholic church. That is a practice that has no biblical
support and attempts to elevate prominent individuals within Roman Catholicism
above other Christians. This is a false teaching and like any other false
teaching, it undermines the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice equally for all
people and the equality of all believers in God’s economy. Let me be clear—all
Christians are saints! Paul says that we are “saints in the kingdom of light.”
Here is how that works systematically: As I just explained, we are saints as
believers in Jesus Christ—Jesus is the Light of the world (Jn 8:12)—As
believers we are children of God (1 Jn 3:1)—As children of God we are children
of light (1 Thess 5:5)—as children of light we will inherit the kingdom of
light (v. 12). Light is used throughout the Bible to illustrate goodness and
righteousness. “God takes the initiative in bringing Christians into the realm
of his righteous presence…Here it refers to bringing one into salvation…God
gives people what they need to be a part of his kingdom. The basic need is
righteousness…When God qualifies people for his kingdom, he supplies
righteousness, a necessary prerequisite for salvation. Since he declares
believers to be righteous by his grace, he alone qualifies a person for
entrance into the kingdom;”[6]
the kingdom of light.
13For he has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The
existence of light necessarily implies the existence of darkness. If there were
no darkness there would be no need for light. Darkness has always been the
antithesis of light. From the very beginning, God had to introduce light in
order to vanquish the darkness prior to creation. Darkness, however, does not
have the power to overcome light. Let me explain: You can bring light into a
darkened room but you can’t bring dark into a lighted room. Light can be
transported in order to overcome darkness but darkness can go nowhere—it is
stationary. Unfortunately, all things begin in darkness. Until we are born, we
exist in darkness for approximately nine months and then are born into the
physical light of the world around us. Until we are enlightened academically,
we live in the darkness of ignorance. It is the same in the spiritual realm of
our lives. Until we are liberated by the Light of the world that is Jesus from
the death sentence resulting from our sins, we exist under the dominion of
darkness; the lordship of Satan. When we turned our lives toward the kingdom of
Light, we were rescued from the dominion of darkness. “Primitive thinking
begins by dividing reality into a dichotomy between light and darkness, viewed
as combatants in a perpetual battle for dominance. When light dawns, chaos is
again averted…It is impossible to understand the biblical imagery of light
without seeing it as the great antithesis and conqueror of darkness.”[7]
Application
In the
final climactic scene of the final Star
Wars episode, the last remaining Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker, comes face to
face with the Dark Lord, Darth Sidious, and his protégé, Darth Vader. At some
point prior to this scene, Luke’s mentor and teacher revealed to him that Darth
Vader was once a Jedi Knight whose anger and hatred pushed him to the Dark Side
of the Force where he became the manipulated pupil of the Dark Lord. Luke also learned
that before he turned to the Dark Side, Darth Vader was originally Anakin
Skywalker, Luke’s father. Convinced that there was still some good in his
father, Luke set out to rescue him from the influence and grasp of the Dark
Side. In the final scene, Luke’s love for his father and his willingness to die
rather than kill him and give in to the fear, anger, and hate that leads to the
Dark Side, served to bring clarity and light back into the heart and mind of
Darth Vader who then sacrificed himself to save Luke from certain death at the
hands of the Dark Lord. In the end, because of Luke’s love and hope that there
was still some good in his father, Darth Vader destroyed the Dark Lord and was Freed From The Dark Side.
In so many ways, the battle between good and evil; light and dark in the Star Wars films is the story of many of our lives and the lives of those around us. This morning before I began preparing this lesson, I was heartbroken when I read an article about the millions of Christians in Nigeria who are in danger of having their light extinguished by the dark evil of Islam. Christians throughout the Middle-East, North Africa, parts of the Philippines, and many other countries face the dark forces of Islam every day. However, the darkness and evil of Islam cannot be overcome with bullets and bombs. Instead, Muslims must be delivered from the dominion of darkness the same way as the rest of us—by putting their trust in the Light of the world that is Jesus Christ. Whether it is the simple hatred of unbelievers here in America or the brutality of Muslims virtually everywhere else in the world, it is all inspired and controlled by the very real Dark Lord of this world—Satan. However, Christians are not of this world. Instead, we are like aliens in a foreign land. Our true home as children of the Light is in the kingdom of the Light. Nevertheless, we were all at one point under the dominion of darkness desperately in need of salvation. When we became believers in Christ, we were rescued from the dominion of darkness; we were saved. In this same way all those who are under the dominion of darkness can be rescued by Jesus. Through faith in Jesus Christ, all those who are now servants of Satan, the Dark Lord, can be Freed From The Dark Side.
Will you
please make a commitment today to pray for all those who are being persecuted
by the servants of evil who are influenced by the Dark Side that God would
grant them endurance and patience? Will you also please pray for the evil
servants of the Dark Side; that the darkness in their hearts and minds will be
vanquished by the light of Christ? Will you please make a commitment today to
share the hope of the gospel with someone who is lost and under the dominion of
darkness? Will you let your words and your actions be the light in a dark world
that illuminates the path to Jesus for someone who is a prisoner to darkness?
There is only one way to eliminate evil and darkness from the hearts and minds
of people who are lost in the dark—by bringing them into the Light that is
Jesus Christ or by bringing the Light to them. Only through Jesus will they be
able to see and think clearly. Only through Jesus can their sins be forgiven.
Only through Jesus can they be transformed. Only through Jesus can they be
saved. Only through Jesus can they be Freed
From The Dark Side.
[1] Max
Anders, Galatians, Ephesians, Pilippians
& Colossians—Holman New Testament Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing
Group, 1999), p. 278.
[2] Bruce
Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 871.
[3] Gerald
F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 576.
[4] F. F.
Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to
Philemon, and to the Ephesians—The New International Commentary of the New
Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984), p. 46.
[5] Peter T.
O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon—Word
Biblical Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2000), p. 24.
[6] Richard
R. Melick, Jr., Philippians, Colossians,
and Philemon—The New American Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H
Publishing Group, 1991), p. 205.
[7] Leland
Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III, gen. eds., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, (Downers
Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1998), p. 509.
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