Col 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always concerning you, 4 Because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have unto all the saints 5 Because of the hope laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
[Part 1 of 2]If I had been the writer of Colossians, I would have said "because of the hope in the heavens." Paul, however, inserted the words "being laid up for you." This matter of hope being laid up for us in the heavens is actually very subjective. It has very much to do with our daily living. According to the context, the laying up of hope in the heavens has a great deal to do with how we live today. The more we love the saints [believers] , the more hope is laid up for us in the heavens. However, if we do not love the saints, there will be very little hope laid up for us. Suppose a certain brother loves all the saints, no matter what their nationality or cultural background may be. Another brother, on the contrary, loves the saints selectively, according to his taste and preference. The one loves all who have faith in Christ, whereas the other loves only a select number of the saints. When the Lord Jesus comes, which brother will have the greater hope? Certainly it will be the one who loves all the saints. This indicates that how much hope Christ will be to us depends on our living Christ today. The more we live Christ now, the more hope will be laid up for us in the heavens for our glorification. However, if day by day we do not live Christ, Christ will be there in the heavens, but He will not be laid up as a glory for us. In this Epistle Paul seemed to be saying, "Dear Colossians, if you follow the Jewish observances or the Gentile ordinances, you will not lay up anything for yourselves in the heavens as a hope. You need to live by Christ. One day, Christ who is our life will appear in glory. At present, both you and Christ are hidden in God. He is your inner life. But He will appear in glory, and you will appear with Him. However, I must warn you of the importance of living by Christ today." (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Colossians, pp. 13-14. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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