Title: Know God
Colossians (2) Know God (Colossians 1:9-12)
<Know God>
At that time, the Apostle Paul heard the news through Epaphra that the Colossians were doing well in their faith life with the love filled with the Holy Spirit. However, since Gnosticism and Jewish heresy were so prevalent at that time, we prayed that the Colossians would be overflowing with spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they would not be deceived by such false ideas (verse 9). Education is not important, but education is important. Therefore, keep trying to know the Bible and to know the will of God. If you don't know, you run the risk of falling into false beliefs.
Why should we seek to know the will of God? It's not just to increase knowledge or to brag about it. This is to please God in all things by doing God's will and to come to know God more deeply (verse 10). After all, the ‘blessing of growing in the knowledge of God’ in verse 10 is more precious than the ‘blessing of being filled with the knowledge of God’ in verse 9. In particular, ‘know God’ is more important than ‘know about God’. Don't trust it blindly. Sometimes we need an intellectual belief, and we need a doctrine that systematizes the knowledge of truth.
Heretic leaders indoctrinate them to unconditionally exclude their doctrine for fear of revealing their behavior. Don't get caught up in such a wrong brainwashing process and treat the doctrine as unconditionally bad. The purpose of the principles of doctrine is not to bind faith and limit the Holy Spirit, but to prevent abuse of faith and abuse of the Holy Spirit. Doctrine should not be too absolute, but doctrine should not be too exclusive. Doctrine is necessary as imperfect. Spirituality is important, but the doctrine is also necessary so that it does not become the spirituality of a shaman, and we have to try to understand it to some extent.
We need faith, but we also need theology. A belief that ignores theology may flash briefly into a narcissistic emotional belief, and then it's over. Faith without theology has neither greatness nor permanence. We need great believers, but we also need great theologians. We need Peter, who has faith filled with the Holy Spirit, but we also need Paul, who systematized that faith as a doctrine. Although Paul made a significant contribution to the formation of Christian doctrine, no one would say that Paul was not spiritual.
We need to combine faith and theology to sustain grace and blessings. The knowledge of God must also be excellent. If you ignore that knowledge, you will eventually be ignored. Therefore, try to know God more and practice God's will so that your knowledge of God will mature more. Try to combine proud faith with proud theology so that your faith is recognized and respected by people as a word-centered faith.
<Thank God>
The principle of blessing is not far away, but lies in a life of gratitude. The most distinct characteristic of being filled with the Holy Spirit is in a life of gratitude in all things. One of the most important things the Holy Spirit does is to remind you of many things to be thankful for. In the midst of so many life crises, how grateful are you to be alive until now? Also, because you don't realize it deeply, how many things are you really grateful for, even in the little things? The Holy Spirit reminds us of many things to be thankful for, so the person who gives thanks in everything is ultimately the most filled with the Holy Spirit.
Don't let dedication develop into a sense of merit. Even with great dedication, “God! It is by the grace of God that I have been able to devote myself like this. When you say, “Thank you,” that dedication becomes a blessing in preparation for tomorrow’s blessings. When you look at everything with eyes of gratitude and release it with a grateful heart, thinking that all circumstances, situations, and people are God-given, and have the faith to be thankful for everything, God will open the door of blessing to such a person.