How To Have Faith & Love Through Hope in Christ – Life Is a Journey, part 40
Is the hope of Christ your heart’s desire and motivation? This message teaches us the importance of anchoring our hope in Christ, and how growing in faith and love helps us and others. Plus, find out what to do when we don’t know God’s will.
Press in and ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Through this series, you’ll learn how to live well & enjoy God's promises. You are loved by God; He knows your name. He has a plan for your life. Get helpful advice, encouragement, and hope for a life well lived.
Are you walking in faith and victory? Set your eyes on the promises of God. You only have one life journey; say yes to Jesus.
Faith and love spring forth from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven.
Do you continue to grow in knowledge of God?
Today we’re learning from the apostle Paul’s letter written to the believers in Colossae. In the verses we are about to read we find that Paul begins his letter with a greeting and then addresses the believers’ spiritual lives. It came to Paul’s attention that he needed to address false teaching that mixed religious traditions, humanistic philosophy, and mysticism with the truth of the gospel.
This still happens today. Many people have tried to change or add to the gospel message to fit their own personal desires or way of thinking. Adding a little worldly philosophy, ungodly teaching or ideas that may sound nice or appealing but are contrary to scripture is exactly what Paul stood opposed to. Truth mixed with error, even a small amount of error, is a false gospel.
Paul wanted to address the spiritual error head-on and encourage the believers to live a life worthy of the Lord.
Paul is clear on the point that Jesus is the son of God. In his letters, Paul firmly addresses that the gospel is true, that Jesus’ death and resurrection are factual, and that faith in Jesus is the only way to be saved and experience the forgiveness of sin and peace with God. It is this truth of the gospel that gives hope to the believer of eternal life with Christ, the hope of glory. It is hope in this gospel that inspires faith and love for God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The gospel that the believers in Colossae heard and knew to be true in their hearts is what brought about their faith, love, and hope in Christ. This is the spiritual fruit that was visible and apparent in the believer’s life. As the gospel of Christ spread, the spiritual fruit of faith, love and hope in Christ was seen bearing fruit everywhere. Paul gives thanks to God for every believer as he acknowledges their journey out of spiritual darkness.
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:3-14, NIV).
Paul clearly proclaims Jesus as the Son of God when he addresses the believers in Colossae and in all his letters to other churches. The apostle Paul has never been to the city of Colossae himself. However, one of Paul’s fellow servants, Epaphras, shared with Paul how the gospel was bearing fruit in people’s lives. Paul, hearing of their faith, love, and hope in Christ, wanted to encourage the believers to continue to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the truth of God’s grace.
Paul did not want to see believers led astray. Paul encouraged the believers by telling them that all over the world the good news of the gospel was bearing spiritual fruit, just as it was bearing fruit in their lives. Paul encouraged and partnered with the believers in Colossae, telling them that he was praying for them to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of God’s will, and in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
What to Do When You Don’t Know God’s Will
At times we do not know the will of God, or so it seems. We wonder and pray “what you are doing Lord? Why am I having to go through this? Why the pain and suffering?” Or maybe, “what is your will in this situation Lord?” You believe you are doing everything right, but you are still not sure of God’s will.
When the will of God is unclear, let me suggest that you:
Keep the faith.
Look and pray to the Lord. He will give you peace regarding his will.
Take the first step and trust the Lord. He will either close the door or give you the peace to move forward.
Do you anchor your faith and hope in Christ?
Let me stop here and challenge all of us to pray as Paul did. Paul is a fitting example for us to model. We are to encourage one another to pray that God will fill each one of us with faith, spiritual wisdom, and understanding.
The believers in Colossae needed encouragement to remain faithful and to look to the hope they have in Christ, and to allow their faith and love for Christ and others to be the beacon of hope and light to others in a dark time.
I cannot imagine what the people and believers in Ukraine are feeling or going through in this moment, but what I do know is that they need encouragement to remain faithful, and to hope and trust in the Lord with all their hearts. You see, without the hope of the gospel, without hope in Christ, without the hope of eternity with Christ in glory, people might lose faith.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
Paul tells us that faith and love spring forth from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven. Let us pray that believers around the world will never lose sight of the hope they have in Christ. This is the truth of the gospel.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).
The believer’s hope is in Christ. Hope in the resurrection and faith in Christ, the Son of God. This is the hope that inspires faith and love towards God and for others to know, understand and believe God’s will for them.
Paul tells the Colossians that this hope was being shared around the world and that it was bearing fruit, and changing lives, just as it was doing in the hearts of people in Colossae. It’s exactly what they needed to hear.
The gospel message is a message of hope. The promise of God is true. The person who places their faith in Christ will gain eternal life. Their hope is secure in heaven. The world is spiritually sick and is without hope on its own. But thank the Lord, God the Father sent his one and only Son, fulfilling the promise of a savior.
The entire Old Testament points forward to Jesus and the cross. The New Testament points back to Jesus and the cross. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus fulfills the promise and hope that heaven is possible when we place our faith in Christ the Lord.
The will of God is that whoever believes is saved. This is the spiritual wisdom and understanding that Paul was speaking of and is asking God to impart to the believer’s heart.
Paul desires the knowledge and truth of the gospel to be made alive in the hearts of all who hear and hope in the gospel message. This should be our prayer as well.
The gospel message is this: Jesus died for our sins, if we believe this we can be forgiven and have a close, personal relationship with God, and (eventually) enjoy. Then we will grow in spiritual knowledge and understanding, living a life worthy of the Lord:
Pleasing him in every way.
Bearing fruit.
Growing in knowledge of God.
Being strengthened with power.
And living joyfully and giving thanks to God.
Along with sharing with the saints the spiritual inheritance of living in the kingdom of light.
Having been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and receiving redemption and forgiveness of sin.
This is the hope that every believer has when they place their faith in Christ. It is the living hope we have in Christ. The life of the believer is a continual journey of knowing and growing in spiritual wisdom and understanding. Of knowing God’s will and pleasing him in every way and, like Paul, encouraging others to live a life worthy of the Lord.
What does a life worthy of the Lord look like?
In all of Paul’s letters, he endeavors to encourage people to grow in worship, grow in prayer, grow in the Word and in the gifts of the Spirit. All for the purpose of living a life worthy of the Lord and to tell others of the hope found in the gospel message. Always pointing others to Christ and inspiring hope, faith, and love for God and others.
This is the will of God: that all who hear the gospel will live a life worthy of the Lord.
“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40).
Yet sadly, many people have not heard the gospel message of hope, and others have drifted away from following and living a life worthy of the Lord. Many have lost sight of hope in Christ and looked to other things. They have forgotten, or never really knew, the truth of the gospel. They may have known about Jesus but never placed their faith in him. They have been drawn away and followed false teaching, humanistic philosophy, and other things away from the truth of God’s Word.
When we stop growing spiritually in the knowledge and understanding of Christ, we will—over time—find ourselves burdened down, joyless, and far from God. We will begin to grow cold spiritually and become spiritually inactive. We will begin to look around at the present with fear rather than with hope and faith to a future with Christ. We will find ourselves having the desire to live for ourselves, rather than to live a life worthy of the Lord.
The apostle Paul combats this spiritually wayward desire to live for ourselves and confronts the problem head-on in prayer. Paul clearly lays out what a life worthy of the Lord looks like.
A life worthy of the Lord is a life:
Of faith and love.
That grows in the knowledge and understanding of God Almighty.
Of joyfulness and fulfillment.
Journey filled with hope, faith, and love.
Always moving forward towards pleasing the Lord in every way.
Giving thanks and proclaiming forgiveness of sin and eternal life in glory.
Will you fan the flame of hope in Christ?
Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you (2 Timothy 1:6). In other words, Paul encouraged Timothy to do what was needed to be on fire for God. To fan the flame of hope in Christ and do all that is needed to burn bright and live a life worthy of the Lord.
Let me encourage you to:
Press in and ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Pray for those around you, that they will grow in the knowledge of Christ and in spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Hold one another up in prayer with hope and faith in Christ.
I am challenged in my spirit to pray for a great move of God to begin in Pleasanton and the surrounding cities. I pray that the church and believers everywhere will begin to rise in faith, proclaiming the hope of glory and pushing back the spiritual darkness over the city.
Thousands of people are headed in the wrong direction spiritually. They need to hear, see, and experience for themselves the truth of the gospel. It begins with prayer and being filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding, and is witnessed in our lives by living a life worthy of the Lord and bearing fruit in every good work.
Allow the hope of Christ to be your heart’s desire and motivation. Pray with faith and in spiritual wisdom and understanding that God will heal, deliver, restore, and redeem the lost and broken hearted in our family, city, state and the world.
May we never cease to expect and believe the impossible to be possible in Christ, along with our love and passion for God to never grow cold. Choose to live life’s journey with faith and love that spring from the hope you have in Christ.
Suggested Praise and Worship
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This and other sermons brought to you by Faith Chapel, an Assemblies of God church in Pleasanton, CA.