Faithful brothers and sisters in Christ at Colossae: Grace to YOU, and peace, from God our Father. ·…We heard of YOUR faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which YOU have towards all the holy ones ·through the hope laid up for YOU in the heavens… The Good News ·…is producing fruit…in YOU since the day YOU… ·…learned (it) from Epaphras… ·(who) is always struggling on YOUR behalf in prayers: that YOU may stand mature [Gr. teleioi] and complete in the whole will of God… ·And…we have not ceased to pray…: that YOU might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ·that YOU might walk worthy of the Lord:

The word of God…— ·the mystery which has been hidden for ages, and for generations—is now revealed to his holy ones. ·To them God wants to make known, among the nations, the unique wealth of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in YOU the hope of glory. ·Him we proclaim: admonishing every human being, and in all wisdom teaching each one so that we might present every person mature [Gr. teleion] in Christ. ·...Much conflict I have about YOU. Also (about)…the many who have not seen my face in person, ·that their hearts might be encouraged and knit together in love towards all the wealth of full confidence, of understanding towards knowing the mystery of  Father God, (and) of the Messiah ·in whom are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and of knowledge!... ·Therefore, just as YOU received Jesus the Messiah, the Lord, even so walk in him—·rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith…, overflowing in thanksgiving… ·If then YOU have been raised-together, with the Messiah, seek the things that are above where the Messiah is—sitting on God's right hand. ·Set YOUR mind on things above, not on things of the earth. ·For YOU have died away from these, and YOUR life is hidden together with the Messiah in God. ·When the Messiah— YOUR life—appears, then YOU also will appear together with him in glory. (1:25-28; 2:1-3,6-7; 3:1-4 PH)

In his letter to the Colossian believers, Paul has a lot to say about ‘giving thanks to the Father’, especially in the context of their being fruitful witnesses to Jesus (Med.#81). Why then are Paul and Epaphrus still struggling in prayer over them? Because the Christian life is less about how we start it than it is about how we continue to ‘walk’ in it when things get tough. If we are to ‘stand mature and complete’ at such times, we need to grow: in our understanding of ‘God's mystery’ and in a ‘spiritual understanding’ of his will. If we don't, both our ‘walk’ and our witness to the world will be weakened. Instead of being focused on growing to maturity, these believers seem focused on their own trials, sufferings, temptations and failures and on powerful people and social pressures (Med.#31)—what Paul calls ‘the things of this earth’.

Such an earthly focus leads to thinking of God's will in terms of performance-oriented questions, like: ‘What does God want me to do?—as a vocation, in this situation, as a Christian ministry, with regard to marriage, etc. Performance-oriented believers tend to treat God as a distant third person. They live in fear of doing something wrong, or of making an irreversible mistake that will deprive them of the ‘perfect’ life they imagine that God has for them in Christ. And like the older brother of the Prodigal Son, they tend to be harsh with others who fail—and to focus on what God should do for them because they ‘serve’ him. As a result, they are unable to hear, let alone rest in, their Father's words: ‘You are always with me, and all my things are yours’ (Med.#20). Paul's challenge to such believers begins with a prayer, asking God to help them grow in their relationship with him (‘in the knowledge of God’) as their Father—enjoying their partnership with him and giving him thanks for the strength he gives them: to do good works, to bear fruit for him, and to endure difficult times. For when we all stand before Jesus there will be people who failed to do the Father's will in fellowship with him. Even though they performed mighty and successful deeds for him in Jesus' name, they will hear the words, ‘I never knew you, depart from me…’ (Med.#16).

New believers usually have no difficulty being filled with thankfulness to Jesus. Many are very conscious of the sin, darkness and bondage of their past—the things they needed to be rescued from through Christ's death on the cross. Yet even while rejoicing in their new sense of peace and freedom, they can remain sin-oriented and performance-oriented. And soon it becomes a real chore to be always thankful while living the Christian life—especially in the midst of trials and temptations, when they don't see the changes in their life that they expected. Bill Johnson writes: ‘The outpouring of the Spirit always brings an increased awareness of sin. But the revelation of our sin and unworthiness is only half of the equation... At some point (if a move of God is to become a lifestyle) we must go beyond being simply "sinners saved by grace".’ Such an Alcoholics Anonymous approach to being a Christian (‘Hi, my name is Jim; I'm a sinner’) may help me to be accountable and avoid sin; yet the constant confession of a negative identity will also keep me from building a new positive identity. Echoing Paul's words, Johnson concludes, ‘We (need to) learn to live from our position in Christ.’[i]

According to Paul, this position involves enjoying a fuller relationship with God as our Father! While Jesus is the one ‘in whom we have redemption’, it is the Father whom Paul tells us to thank! For he is the one who delivered us from the ‘authority of darkness’ through Jesus' death on the cross. And he is the one who now ‘moved’ us into the family kingdom of his Son—as adult sons and daughters, seated-together in him (Med.#44). The first reason that we give thanks to our Father, according to Paul, is for the way he ‘has qualified us’ in Christ to share in ‘the inheritance of the holy ones in light’. Our Father did this by sending ‘his beloved Son’ as ‘the Firstborn’ of all creation: to live a human life on earth in the power of the Spirit, as ‘the image of the invisible God’; and then to be for us ‘the Firstborn from the dead’ through his resurrection and his ascension, taking the seat ‘at the right hand of God’ for us! Jesus did not just come to die for our sins!

The Father wants us to ‘reach…full assurance’ in ‘understanding’ all the riches of this long-hidden mystery (Med.#6 & Med.#8), so that we able to proclaim this good news with all endurance, patience and joy. Such a ‘mature’ and ‘spiritual’ understanding of the will of God, though, requires a transformed mind. It is so contrary to the world's way of thinking about God that even Bible translators are prone to frequently translate the Greek word, teleion, as ‘perfect’ instead of as ‘mature’. Yet the ‘mature will of God’ is not primarily about figuring out the ‘perfect’ behavior, or things God expects us to do for him. Rather, his will involves every aspect of walking in a new relationship with him as our Father through Jesus. Doing his will is more about a worshipful, surprising and grateful lifestyle with the Father, than it is about an anxious religious performance (Rom.12:1-2; 6:4, Med.#48).

After three years of fruitful intercultural ministry in Indonesia, I was tired. Yet after working another six months in the home office of my mission organization I was ready for a new challenge. So I set aside three days to seek the Lord. My prayer was: ‘Lord, what do you have for me to do next?’ His answer was: ‘What do you want to do?’ Not a little surprised, I took the awkward step of looking into my own heart. What I saw there were three primary desires: to work with young people, to do creative evangelism, and to live in community. Within forty-eight hours I was staring at a letter from another mission group in Amsterdam, whose ministry involved all three things! Looking back, I can see how that experience led to a marked growth in my relationship with God as my Father. And for almost forty years I have been able to minister in all three areas as a member of this organization. I continue to thank him for the strength he gives so I can be fruitful, with joy in all circumstances.

Is gratitude to your Father the underlying theme of your Christian life? Or do you still struggle with feeling confident and qualified as an adult son or daughter of your heavenly Father?

Father, thank you for qualifying me towards a share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. Fill me with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that, rooted and built up in Christ, I may stand mature in him and walk worthy of him: in all endurance and patience with joy, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in my relationship with you. (Col.1:9-12; 2:7a)

Father, thank you also for delivering me out of the authority of darkness through the redemption in Christ; and for moving me into the kingdom of your beloved Son—the Firstborn of all creation and our Eldest Brother. (Col.1:13-15; Rom.8:29)

[i] Bill Johnson, Dreaming with God, Destiny Image Publishers, 2006, p.38.