Theological Commentary: Click Here
It feels
really good this morning to be back into the New Testament. Don’t get me wrong. I love studying the Old Testament,
understanding the history, and seeing God prepare His plan for salvation. Many of the lessons in the Old Testament are
incredible to learn and even more important to make sure we do not forget. That being said, there are times when reading
the New Testament feels like slipping on a warm pair of sandals and relaxing in
the comfortable chair that I’ve sat in forever and to which my body has learned
to conform.
In
Colossians, Paul – typical for Paul – says many great things. There are far too many great things to talk
about in this simple blog. This morning,
I feel the urge to dwell on what I perceive is the crux of this chapter: God’s
love and His desire to redeem us.
What is it
that Paul prays for with respect to the people of Colossae? That they may be filled with the wisdom and
knowledge of God. Why? So that they may walk in the ways of the
Lord. Why? So that they may please the Lord. Why?
So that they may bear fruit and increase in knowledge and wisdom. Why?
So that they may be strengthened according to God’s might. Why? So that we can have endurance and
patience. Why? So that we can give thanks to God. Why? So that we can share in an eternal
inheritance with God and His saints. How
does this happen? Because we have
forgiveness through repentance in deliverance out of the kingdom of darkness
and into the kingdom of light.
As a bit of
an aside, do you notice how powerful the question why is? I personally think it is a shame that we beat
this question out of toddlers. Two year-olds
are masters of this question, and unfortunately we get so sick of asking why
that in our frustration we teach them to not say it. And then, as we get older, we make fun of
toddlers who do say it and train the other adults listening that its okay to
share in the frustration and beat it out of their toddlers. I believe that the question “why?” is perhaps
the single-most important question in the English language. In fact, I personally think that the word “why”
is the most crucial word in the English language. It is the question that always pushes us into
deeper understanding. The question “how”
is usually pretty good; and to be honest “what,” “where,” and “when” don’t get
us much past a single layer of information exchange. It we truly want to learn and grow, we must
embrace the “why” and do what we can to foster its use, especially in young
people!
Back to
theology. Look at what we learn in
Colossians just by asking why. We learn
that everything in our relationship with God is rooted in Christ work of redemption. We learn that there is a process to faith
that starts with learning, progresses through doing, moves on to extending our
learning, causes us to grow in patience and endurance, and brings us to joy and
praise. We learn that a God who could have
washed His hands of us and walked away did everything except that by taking on
the human condition and paving a way for us to get back to Him! We learn that life is best led when He is our
head. We also learn that He has called
us to live the same kind of sacrificial love that He modeled for us. All of this comes from a single man who
writes through the lens of why.
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