COLOSSIANS (2) Faith, Love, and Hope (Col 1:3-5)

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people - 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.” (Col 1:3-5)
 
Review
Last Sunday, we started studying the book of Colossians. Colossians is one of what’s called the captivity letters written by Paul when he was under house arrest in Rome for two years.
 
What’s interesting is that the church in Colossae wasn’t built by Paul himself. It was built as a result of Paul’s earnest preaching and teaching of God’s word and the gospel of Jesus Christ in Ephesus for more than two years.
 
Acts 20:31 shows how earnestly and wholeheartedly Paul taught God’s word in Ephesus. When saying farewell to the elders of the church in Ephesus, Paul said,
 
“Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Ac 20:31)
 
As a result of Paul’s intensive teaching of the gospel in Ephesus, many of his disciples went to other regions in Asia Minor and proclaimed the gospel that they had been taught. That’s how many churches were built in different regions in Asia where Paul didn’t go.
 
The church in Colossae was one of them. One of Paul’s disciples named Epaphras went to Colossae and other neighboring regions such as Laodicea and Hierapolis and built churches there by proclaiming the gospel, praying, and working hard.
 
Now, after a few years, it seems that Epaphras visited Paul when he was under house arrest in Rome and told him about how churches had been built in those regions and how the believers of those churches kept their faith. But Epaphras also reported that false teachings had crept into the churches, which could diminish the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
That’s why Paul wrote the letter to the church in Colossae. However, it wasn’t only sent to the church in Colossae but to the other churches in neighboring regions, which shows how the false teachings had spread widely through churches in Asia Minor at that time.
 
Paul argued against the false teachings in order to defend the essence of the gospel, Jesus Christ. He wrote the letter to the Colossians hoping that their understanding of the gospel might be deepened and firmly rooted in the truth of Jesus Christ so that they wouldn’t be swayed by false gospels.
 
Paul explained why he wrote the letter in chapter 2. Let’s read it together before we move on.
 
“My goal is 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 2:2-4)
 
Faith, Love, and Hope
All right. Now, let’s move on to today’s passage. We’ll study the second paragraph of Colossians 1 today. Let’s first read verses 3-5 together.
 
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people - the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven…” (Col 1:3-5)
 
Epaphras visited Paul in Rome and told him about how the faith of the believers in the church in Colossae was shown in their faith toward God, love toward God’s people, and their hope for heaven.
 
And Paul said that he was always thankful to God because he could see the genuineness of their faith from these three kinds of fruit of the gospel of Christ and God’s grace. It shows us how we can check whether we have true faith in God or not. Faith in God, love for others, and hope for God’s eternal kingdom are three key signs that show that we truly belong to God in Christ.
 
Faith, love, and hope are not unique to Christians. Non-believers also have faith, love, and hope. The difference is what their faith, love, and hope are directed at.
 
Rather than believing in God, they believe in the power of money and fame. Rather than loving God and others, they selfishly love themselves and things that give them pleasure and satisfaction. Rather than putting their hope in God, eternal life, and the kingdom of God that He has prepared for us in heaven, they put their hope in temporary, worldly things which can’t save them or solve their fundamental problems.
 
So, all people have faith, love, and hope. But what’s important is what we believe in, whom we love, and where we put our hope. That’s what differentiates Christians from non-believers. And that’s how we can check whether we really have genuine, saving faith in Jesus or not.
 
What’s also important about these three traits of Christian life is that they shouldn’t remain abstract concepts. They must be lived out and shown in our lives. Christianity is not a religion of knowledge or meditation alone.
 
The Bible not only describes God’s love but also how His love manifests in the most selfless ways. God sent His one and only Son to the world to save us, and Jesus willingly laid down His life to wash away all our sins and give us new life in Him.
 
And, because the ultimate recipient of our faith, love, and hope is God, who not only says but shows His love in many ways, our faith, love, and hope must also be reflected in our actions.
 
It’s not enough to say ‘I believe in God, I love God, and I put my hope in God.’ It means nothing if what we proclaim with our lips is not accompanied by real changes in our lives. In other words, if we really have genuine faith in God, our faith must be shown in ways that those around us can clearly see.
 
Paul also wrote about faith, love, and hope in 1 Thessalonians. He said,
 
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you” (1Th 1:2-4)
 
Here, Paul also mentions the Thessalonian Christians’ faith, love, and hope. But what we must pay attention to is how their faith, love, and hope were demonstrated in their lives. Their faith produced work; love, labor; and hope, endurance.
 
That’s why Paul could affirm that they were really chosen by God. What Paul saw was not what they said they believed but how their faith, love, and hope manifested in their lives.
 
So faith, love, and hope are three important aspects of Christian life and proof of God working in believers’ lives. True Christians have faith in Christ Jesus. That’s the result of God working in one’s life, not the cause. We tend to think that the faith we have comes from us, but if we think more deeply about it, we will understand that even our faith comes from God’s grace.
 
True Christians have love for other people. Everyone in the world has love, but Christian love is special in its range and depth. People who belong to this world love only those whom they get along with—their family, friends, fellow workers, and so on.
 
But the range of Christian love is exceptional because it includes ‘all people’ regardless of cultural background, gender, race, social status, language, and more. As Paul said in Colossians chapter 3 verses 10-11,
 
“[You] have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (Col 3:10-11)
 
We’re commanded to love all people without limits because our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ loves and died for all people. If we say ‘I have faith in Jesus,’ it means that we don’t get to pick and choose who we love. [Grammatically, it should be “whom,” but in speech, people often say “who” instead. It’s acceptable, but we just want you to know that it’s grammatically incorrect.] We must love even our enemies. But, we should also remember that Jesus has given us not only the command to love but the power to carry out that command.
 
Christian love is exceptional in its depth as well. The love we’re commanded to have is not our own love but Christ’s love that was clearly shown on the cross.
 
1 John 3:16, 18 says,
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters…  Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1Jn 3:16, 18)
 
This is the way of love Jesus showed that we must follow. Christian love is without limit. People who belong to this world don’t know about this love. They only have limited love. So, we’re to show them that there’s a much higher level of love. When we show them how we love all people without any discrimination to the point of laying down our lives, they will know that we’re Jesus’ disciples, and they will glorify our heavenly Father and return to Him. How amazing will that be?
 
When we talked about the image of God, we defined it as the ability to have relationships with God and others the way the triune God has a relationship with one another in deep mutual love and respect.
 
So, the recovered image of God in Christ changes our relationships with God and with others. We recover faith in God and love for others. So, true faith and love are proof that we really became children of God in Christ.
 
That the Colossian Christians had faith and love means that they started recovering the image of God by renewing their relationship with God in heaven and with others on earth. But Paul added one more important aspect.
 
He wrote that their “faith and love spring from the hope stored up in heaven” (Col 1:5), which means that they could only have true faith and love once they were filled with true hope for heaven.
 
Paul didn’t say that hope is a result of faith and love. Rather, he maintained that faith and love are the result of hope. That’s because the faith and love we experience as Christians on earth are not perfect yet. They are only a taste of what we will ultimately enjoy in the kingdom of God.
 
In Paul’s usage, hope is always related to the ultimate future promised in the Scriptures. So we shouldn’t think that we enjoy most of God’s blessings now. The blessings we’ve received from Christ in the world are indeed exceptional, but they can’t even compare to the blessings that we will ultimately enjoy when Christ returns and makes everything new.
 
So, the real good things haven’t come yet. What Christ achieved hasn’t yet fully appeared. They are still ‘stored up’ in heaven. We should acknowledge that our present experiences are only a taste of what is to come soon with the return of Christ.
 
This perspective is contrary to the worldly view that the life we have on earth is everything.
 
Those who don’t know about the ultimate Christian hope put their hope in temporary things that will fade away and disappear soon. But those who put their hope in God will never lose it because we know the One who promised it. He never breaks His covenant but faithfully keeps it with His power.
 
Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1Co 15:19)
 
Christians can be defined as those who put their hope in Christ, not in the life we have on earth. If there’s no Christian hope, Christians are most pitied of all people because their lives are filled with suffering and self-giving sacrifice. From the point of view of this world, all of Jesus’ disciples, including Paul, lived miserable lives. No one would want to live that kind of life.
 
If you truly follow Jesus, there is certainly much more to lose than to gain in this world. That’s why even many Christians avoid taking up their crosses daily and walking along the narrow path with Jesus, while only accepting good aspects of salvation.
 
However, if what we hope in Christ is real and the reward in heaven is real, where would you put your hope, what would you seek, and how would you live in this world?
 
So, what we really need to recover to have true Christian faith and love is the ultimate hope found in Christ and the kingdom of God. Without full confidence in its existence, we can’t really follow Jesus’ way or love the way He loved us.
 
Peter wrote about the ultimate hope we have as Christians,  
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1Pt 1:3-4)
 
The glorious future that was promised but hasn’t yet happened is real. There will surely come the time when Christ returns with His glory, judges everyone, and makes everything new with His power.
 
On that day, we’ll be resurrected like Him and we’ll be with Him eternally in the kingdom of God. We have this ‘blessed hope.’ This hope shall never perish, spoil, or fade because it doesn’t belong to this world but to heaven.
 
Today, we talked about three important traits of Christian life—faith, love, and hope. Let’s look back on our lives and faith. Do we really have true faith in God and Jesus and true love for God and others that spring from our ultimate hope in Christ?
 
I hope that we can grow in these areas in our lives so that we can be more confident in our salvation and follow Jesus’ way no matter what the world says to us.
 
Let’s pray.
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching and correcting us with Your word. We’re looking back on our lives according to Your word of truth.
 
If our faith hasn’t been lived out in our relationship with You, please correct us. If our love hasn’t reflected Your love, please teach us how to love the way Jesus loves us. If our perspective and worldview are not based on the eternal, ultimate hope You’re preparing and storing up in heaven, please open our eyes to see it.
 
Oh Lord, we want to be conformed to the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ. So we rely on You and Your grace. We rely on Your word of truth. Let our faith and lives be firmly grounded in Your word and give us power and strength to live it out.
 
Give us stronger faith in You, limitless love for others, and glorious and blessed hope in Christ. And let these be the foundation of our lives.
 
We thank You Lord. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
 
Sharing Questions
Today we talked about Christian faith, love, and hope. Here are the questions I want us to think about today.
 
1) How do you think Christian faith, love, and hope are different from worldly faith, love, and hope? What makes Christian faith, love, and hope unique and exceptional?
 
2) Out of the three important traits, which do you want to recover the most this year? What are some practical ways to do so?