Title Why Thank You
Contents
why should i thank you
Kanzo Uchimura, a famous Japanese Christian thinker, in his article Why We Believe in Jesus -
He said that we believe in Jesus not to escape the mountain, but to climb it.
The right faith - not the faith that closes your eyes or turns away and avoids the problems that lie ahead, but the faith that faces the problems as the problems.
However, the saints who are not ready to climb the mountain in question are overcome with fear and succumb to the fact that there is a mountain in their way in their lives.
Perhaps the spiritual condition of the first century A.D. Colossian church members was like this.
Colossae is a city perched on a very fertile plain called Lucas.
In this area, it was economically prosperous through the production of wool through cattle farming and dyeing through wool.
However, the two earthquakes that occurred around the first century and around the first century caused a sudden decline in the economy of these cities.
Around this time, among those living in Colossae, a man named Epaphra established the church, a community of faith, in Colossae.
This can be inferred from verses 6-8 of the text.
It seems that the Colossians first learned the word not from Paul, but from their beloved Epaphras, a fellow servant (verse 7).
The gospel delivered through Epaphra became a new hope for the declining Colossae area.
However, the fact that they accepted the Gospel did not solve the difficult problems they faced in reality. It was for this very purpose that heretical doctrine entered the Colossae Church.
So-called Gnosticism or Jewish legalism came in and began to spread false illusions.
Religious groups that promise absolute solutions to all life's problems should be questioned.
Sound faith does not promise easy solutions to problems.
Rather, it teaches the attitude of a believer who boldly approaches real problems.
Many of the members of the Colossae Church began to give up their evangelical faith one by one, being deceived by the heresies' tricks that they could simply solve life's problems.
That is why Paul wrote a letter to the members of the Colossian church.
In Colossians 1:23, the direct background of Paul writing the book of Colossians is clearly revealed.
Paul felt the need to encourage those who were shaken not to be shaken.
The gist of the book of Colossians is this:
If we can hold on to the gospel that we have already received, there is a clear reason to live with gratitude and emotion with this gospel alone.
Of course, believing in Jesus will not solve your economic problems and health problems right away. Life is still dark and the future may still be uncertain.
But there are three blessings given to all who have the gospel, Paul says, and that is why we can live in gratitude.
Paul emphasizes these three gifts of the gospel at the beginning of Chapter 1.
In verses 4 and 5 we find three very familiar words. They are faith, love, and hope.
Faith, love, and hope are given through the gospel.
And if we have gained this faith, hope, and love through the gospel, there is still reason to be thrilled even though the reality surrounding us is dark and frustrating.
Paul is now talking about these reasons.
Why can we be grateful and thrilled?
1. because of faith
Look at verse 4/ to hear of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints.
Paul says in verse 3 - whenever we pray for the Colossians, we give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the first reason for our thanks - is because the Colossians have faith in Christ Jesus.
The preposition “in” is used here to emphasize the object of faith and the realm of faith.
In this age, the object of faith is ignored and only faith is emphasized.
But the Bible emphasizes faith in Jesus, not just faith.
The Bible does not teach that we are saved by faith.
Faith does not save us. There is salvation through faith in Jesus.
Faith without a savior is meaningless.
We are saved through faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord and live a new life in Jesus.
Do you know how great a blessing it is to abide in Christ?
Even today, many young people plan to live abroad because of their children's education and old people because of the cost of living.
But the best places to live in the world are not the US or Australia. It's not Jesus. I hope you believe this.
Colossians 2:9 is a very important verse that summarizes the contents of the entire book of Colossians. In him (Jesus) dwells bodily all the fullness of the divinity.
It is the story of all things of God dwelling in Jesus.
That is, God's righteousness, God's love, God's peace, God's holiness, and God's glory are all in Jesus.
Therefore, those who are in Jesus can experience all things of God by faith.
And in the next verse Paul declares a surprising fact.
Our lives are full because we can experience all of God when we are in Christ Jesus.
The faith to experience God's blessed glory, the faith to experience the abundance that the world cannot know, the faith to overcome the world abundantly, and the fact that he has given us this faith alone is reason enough to be thankful.
Praise God for the fact that we can all be saved through this faith, become children of God, and experience God's glorious things.
2. Because of love
When faith matures, there is a fruit that must be produced, and that is love.
If faith is the root, then love is the fruit.
If the beginning of Christian faith is faith, the latter can be said to be love.
Also, if faith is the key that opens the door to heaven, love is a way of life that allows you to experience heaven.
However, if we read the text carefully, the apostle Paul does not emphasize the Lord as the object of love.
Verse 4 - Emphasizes love for all saints.
Then, why not emphasize the love of the Lord?
The reason is simple. Because there is no need to emphasize.
Those who are in Jesus are those who have already experienced the love of the Lord.
They are those who have experienced the amazing love of forgiving and accepting me, sealing me as a child, and writing my name in the book of life.
We are the ones who shined in that love. So, if someone has experienced this kind of love, that love will naturally flow from me to another brother.
Christian love, this is not simply moral love or volitional love, but a natural result of a drenched experience of the Lord's love.
As a result, we become happy people by finding the object of love and giving love to the object of love.
There is a story like this in the writings of Mother Teresa.
“A person who has something to love and who has the ability to love that object is truly happy.
The Lord has given us both.”
Saying you can't love is a lie.
Romans 5:5 says that in the heart of a born-again Christian - the love of God has been poured out through the Holy Spirit.
It's not that I don't love, it's that I can't love.
And I want you to know that happiness is there when you find someone to love and start loving them.
No matter how harsh the living conditions around us are, there are neighbors we can love.
I want you to confess that you are a happy person by saying that you have someone to love and that you can love.
In spite of the dark reality that surrounds us, it is because of love that we should live with gratitude.
Because the Lord loves me and has given me neighbors I can love.
I want you to know that happiness is being given the opportunity to live a life of loving and serving them.
3. Because of hope.
Paul says that the third reason he and the Colossians should live with gratitude is because of hope. See verse 5.
Another blessing I received after hearing the gospel - hope.
what kind of hope It is a wish built up in heaven.
Humans cannot live a day without hope.
According to Dante's 『Divine Comedy』, it was said that at the entrance to Hell there would be an inscription stating that you should give up all hope. A world where all hope is cut off, that place is Hell.
The hope we have in Jesus Christ is not temporary.
It is not an imperfect wish. It is an eternal hope.
God has prepared an eternal hope for us.
It is not just the fact that you will enjoy that hope in heaven in the future.
It is because that hope is definitely guaranteed even on this earth now.
Praise the Lord for giving us this hope through the gospel.
Rejoice that the gospel has brought us this life of love.
Also, praise the Lord for giving us faith in Jesus to open new horizons in our lives.
And I hope you will win with this faith, hope, and love. Hallelujah!