COLOSSIANS (13) Unification in Love and Knowledge

​“I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.” (Col 2:1-5)
 
Review
Last Sunday, we talked about the mystery of God. The false teachers who had come to the Colossian church insisted that they had special spiritual knowledge that would allow the members of the church to reach fullness.
 
But one of the characteristics of the knowledge they claimed to have was that it wasn’t clearly revealed to everyone. They likely said that only a few, chosen people had it and by doing so, they tried to gain power in the church and exert their influence over it.
 
Paul said that he also knew ‘the mystery of God,’ but it was very different from the secret the false teachers claimed to know. That’s because, although the mystery had been hidden in the past, it was now plainly revealed to everyone so that all those who wanted to know it would be able to.
 
Paul didn’t claim that he created the mystery. According to Paul, the mystery was determined by God even before time began.
 
But God didn’t reveal the mystery right away. He waited for the perfect time, His Kairos, and when the time had come, God sent His Son to the world born of a woman.
 
The Son was the mystery that God had decided to give us before the creation of the world. The mystery had been kept hidden for ages but was explicitly disclosed to God’s people. Simply put, the mystery of God was a name—the name of Jesus Christ.
 
That’s the mystery, the hidden treasure, that God wants everyone in the world to know about. It is the most precious knowledge we can ever have because we can find our salvation in it.
 
Paul said that it was the very reason that he became a servant of God. Paul’s mission was not to create new knowledge. It was simply to deliver the already disclosed mystery of God—the gospel of Jesus Christ—to as many people as possible.
 
As a result of Paul’s faithful work for God, the mystery of Christ was made known to many people. And the mystery has continued to be proclaimed by the words and good deeds of many faithful servants of God who heard and accepted the mystery. And it has been delivered to us.
 
Now it’s our turn to pass it on to others who haven’t heard about this precious mystery, the treasure that belongs to heaven. By its nature, the gospel of Jesus Christ drives us to proclaim it because it is so good and powerful, has a beneficial impact on everyone who accepts it, and offers salvation.
 
So, as Christians who accepted the mystery of Christ, we should never neglect the importance of knowing the mystery and delivering it to others. That’s the calling God has given not to a few special Christians, but to all Christians, including us.
 
The Purpose of the Book of Colossians
Today, we’ll move on to Colossians chapter 2. We’ll talk about the first 5 verses today, but it’s good for us to be reminded of Paul’s reason for writing this letter to the Colossian Christians.
 
The book of Colossians is one of the 4 letters that Paul wrote when he was under house arrest in Rome. But, as we can infer from the passage we just read today, Paul never met the Christians in Colossae. The church wasn’t built by Paul, but by one of his disciples, named Epaphras.
 
During his third mission trip, when he was in Ephesus, Paul taught God’s word in the lecture hall of Tyrannus every day for two years. Paul’s disciples, who had learned about God’s word and the gospel of Jesus Christ in Ephesus, went to different regions in Asia and proclaimed what they had learned from Paul. As a result, the word of God spread widely throughout the province of Asia.
 
Epaphras was one of Paul’s disciples. After learning from Paul, he went to Colossae and built a church there. After a few years, Epaphras visited Paul when he was under house arrest in Rome and reported what was going on in the church.
 
It was good for Paul to hear that the members of the church grew in faith and love. But he also heard about a serious problem that was happening in the church.
 
Some new teachers had come to the church and started teaching things that were not really related to the gospel of Christ. Their teachings were not based on the word of God, but on human knowledge, like philosophy and tradition.
 
As a result, the knowledge of this world began to replace the gospel in the church. The gospel of Jesus was in danger of losing its genuineness, and the church was consequently in danger of being divided.
 
That was the reason Paul decided to write a letter to a church that he had never been to. This letter wasn’t only intended to be sent to the church in Colossae but to other churches near it as well, which implies that the problem of different teachings was quite serious and prevalent at that time.
 
To sum up, Paul wrote a letter to the Colossian church to encourage their faith and to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ against false teachings that existed in the church.
 
This purpose is well shown in today’s passage. Let’s read Colossians 2 verses 1-4 together again.
 
“I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.” (Col 2:1-4)
 
The reason Paul wrote this letter was to introduce the essence of the gospel one more time so that the members of the church could have the complete understanding of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, and so that they wouldn’t be deceived by any teachings other than the gospel.
 
Paul’s Fight
In verse 1, Paul said that he was contending for the Christians in Colossae and Laodicea even though he hadn’t met them personally.
 
Here, the Greek verb that was translated as ‘contend’ in English is ἀγών (Agon). Even though it can mean ‘to make every effort to do something’, its original meaning is stronger than that.
 
The verb Agon was also used to describe a fight in sports or even a battle in war. Paul didn’t just put forth effort for the gospel. He was actually in the middle of a spiritual battle. He was fighting against false teachings that threatened the essence of the gospel.
 
He wanted the Colossian Christians to know that he was fighting against false teachings, which means that he also asked them to join in the battle along with him. That’s the battle, or spiritual war, that we’re also to fight as Christians. We should fight against every false teaching that distorts the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
The reason Paul emphasized his special concern for the church members was to defend the gospel that he taught. It’s easy to misunderstand someone when we don’t have a personal connection with them and only know them by their teachings.
 
That was likely what happened in Colossae. One of the best ways to attack a certain message is to attack the messenger who said it. The false teachers likely knew about Paul. They wouldn’t hesitate to slander him to make their teachings more convincing.
 
That’s why Paul expresses his personal concern for the church members. The reason he hadn’t met them personally wasn’t because he had no interest in them. He did. And Paul wanted them to know that because it would encourage them to stand firm upon the gospel against false teachings.
 
One of the great things I have found since I started believing in Jesus is the sense of being connected not only to the members of the church I attend, but also all the other Christians around the world. Because there’s only one head of all the churches in the world—Jesus Christ. All Christians are connected in Him no matter how far or close we are to each other.
 
This special bond we come to have in Christ is a huge blessing to us. We know that we’re not alone in our fight. God Himself is with us and uses us to take care of each other.
 
Being United in Love and Knowledge in Christ
To know that we’re all connected in God is important in our faith life. That’s why Paul emphasizes the importance of unity in his letter.
 
He said,
“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ” (Col 2:2)
 
One of the important topics in the book of Colossians is unity. Receiving different teachings inevitably results in division in the church. So, Paul really wanted them to continue to be devoted to being united.
 
Paul said that he wrote the letter to encourage their hearts. But here, encouraging doesn’t mean that he wanted to comfort their sad hearts. It means that Paul wanted to strengthen their hearts so that they wouldn’t be shaken by wrong teachings.
 
And in order to do this, Paul encourages them to be united. Again, we can’t fight alone. That’s why God has allowed us to have each other in the church community.
 
As Ec. 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ec 4:12)
 
God allowed us to have this community so that we could be united as one body of Jesus Christ by encouraging, teaching, and building one another up and so that we can stay strong together against whatever comes to weaken our faith.
 
Then, how can we be united? What would it look like for us to be united? In today’s passage, Paul presents two important elements that bind us as one body—love and the knowledge of Christ.
 
To be united in Christ, Paul encourages us to love one another and to stand upon the same truth of Christ together. These are the two important things that define a Christian community.
 
As Christians, we should not only have one heart of love but also one mind based on the same truth. And both of these things come from Jesus Christ.
 
Paul said in Romans 15:5-6,
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rm 15:5-6)
 
There are a variety of elements that can bind a certain community as one. It may be a common goal, interest, passion, and so on. But Christian communities are different in how they are united.
 
The center of every Christian gathering is Christ. We’re people of one mind based on the truth of Jesus Christ. That’s how we who have different mindsets, cultures, and values can become one in Christ.
 
In Colossians chapter 3, Paul again emphasized the importance of love and knowledge of Christ in the unity of the church community.
 
Let’s read Colossians 3:14-16 together.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (Col 3:14-16)
 
The world we’re living in is full of “fine-sounding” words that may deceive us. And it seems harder and harder to keep our faith. How can we stand firm against the things that come to attack us? Our lives are to be grounded in the love of God and the word of Christ.
 
The love of God is what binds us together in perfect unity. The message of Christ serves as the firm foundation of our gathering. When we lay down our thoughts and our wills and make the message of Christ the highest standard of our lives, then we can truly experience His word of truth unifying us as one body and we’ll come to know more about Him through each other.
 
That’s the kind of community that I want us to become in Christ—being united in the love of God and in the knowledge of Christ so that we can grow into the fullness of Christ together, building one another up through His word of truth and serving each other out of God’s love that has been poured out into our hearts.
 
That will keep us from losing our faith and being deceived by worldly values. And that will help us fight the good fight of faith until the end. I believe that’s the reason God built the church. Again, we’re channels of God’s blessings to each other. Please keep in mind the importance of the church community so that we can serve and love each other with God’s love.
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for making us one body and Your household in Christ.
 
We want to fight the good fight, keeping our faith until we finish the race, but we confess that we’re so weak that we can’t do it alone.
 
But, You’ve put fellow workers of faith around us so that we can stand strong within Your love together. Thank You, Lord, for taking care of us and building us up through this community.
 
Now, Lord, we want to learn from You. We want to be filled with Your great love and the knowledge of Christ. We want the message of Christ to dwell richly in our hearts.
 
Please come to us, give us the same mindset that Jesus had, and pour out Your love so that we can be united in love and the message and so that we can be used as channels for Your blessings in the world without our faith being shaken by worldly things. 
 
We’re looking forward to seeing what You will do through us.
We thank You and love You, Lord.
We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
 
Sharing Questions
1) What do you fight for in your faith nowadays? In what areas do you think you’re fighting the good fight? How do you think you can keep fighting to the end?
 
2) How do you think God’s love and the gospel of Christ serve to unify the church community to be one body of Jesus Christ? Why do you think it is important for us to belong to a church community? What are some spiritual benefits it can provide?