Colossians 1: Part 1 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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All this week, John North says what the Bible teaches us guards us against false “truths”. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae, highlighting the true message that came to them through Jesus.

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 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world – just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:3-8

Transcript

Good morning. I hope your morning’s already going great, and I hope it’s going to get greater because we’re taking some time just to read a bit of God’s word, the Bible, and see what it has to say to us. There is nothing more relevant for our lives than what the Bible has to say to us, because what it has to say to us is timeless. It has to do with the real issues of life that never change.

Why am I here? Where did I come from? What happens when I die? What is God’s purpose for me? What is the nature of a relationship with God? Is there a problem between me and God? How can I make that problem right? And then how can my life be full of meaning and purpose? These kinds of questions are relevant to any person in any time, and the Bible speaks into our lives about these things.

And so as we take time each day to read the Bible, it shapes us in a good way in life. It’s not enough just to read it in a sort of sense of being religious, but rather in the sense of building a living relationship with God.

So let’s see what the Bible has to say in the book of Colossians chapter one in the Bible. This is a letter from the apostle Paul to the church in Colossi.

This is what he says to them. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and fellow brethren in Christ who are at Colossi. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

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You can see that it’s written like a letter, can’t you?

He goes on, we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints, when the Bible talks about saints, it’s talking about all believers in Jesus Christ, all Christians.

It calls all believers saints because of our relationship with God.

Because of the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth. Just as you learned it from Epaphra our fellow bond servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the spirit.

Well, it’s this beautiful introduction to this letter, and Paul just talks about how the Colossians had come into a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ and what He did for us at the cross.

I want you to notice that in this passage he keeps on talking about the truth, and he says we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus because of the hope laid up for you in heaven of which you previously heard in the word of truth the gospel.

And in the next verse which has come to you as in all the world, it’s constantly bearing fruit and increasing even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.

You know what the Bible teaches us helps to guard against false teachings and ideas that creep into our hearts and even into churches, particularly in this day when there’s this virtual supermarket of spiritual teaching coming to us, and there’s so much that is not based in God’s word but just in things people have heard or what someone has said happened or experienced, and you know God wants us to be faithful to what He has revealed to us as His truth.

He’s not interested in us being mostly faithful to that. Vance Tavener once said a wife who is 85% faithful to her husband is not faithful at all, is she? And there’s no such thing as part-time loyalty to Jesus Christ. So focus your mind on the truth revealed in the Bible if you want to avoid false teaching.

I’m John North.

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