The Colossians had heard and accepted the word of truth of the gospel. The gospel had also borne fruit among them. That means they began showing traits of Christ in their lives. These traits are so valuable to God. The gospel was also “increasing.” It took up more and more space in their lives (Colossians 1:6). The word of truth of the gospel is God’s full revelation in Christ. Beyond that, there is nothing. But that was exactly the sticking point for the Colossians. They were in danger of listening to voices. These voices wanted to convince them that there was more. More than they had heard and believed in the gospel.

But this supposed “more” consisted only of human or legal elements. These were philosophies that opposed the word of truth. They were traditions that set themselves against the word of truth (Colossians 2:8).

So these worldly elements did not add to the gospel. That is not possible anyway. Instead, they pushed it out of their hearts. And with the gospel, they pushed out the great Person. He is the content of this gospel: Christ.

Christ’s glory as the answer

Therefore, Paul begins his instruction with a powerful plea for Christ’s glory. In verses Colossians 1:13–20, Paul presents the titles and excellencies of the Lord Jesus. He does so with an intensity we hardly find elsewhere in God’s Word. What could one do better in such a case? When the taste for our Savior’s person is being lost. When hearts are occupied with other things. What could one do better than to “portray” the beauty and glory of Christ “publicly” (Galatians 3:1)?

The content of Paul’s prayer

But before Paul begins that, he lets the Colossians share in his prayers for them. The wording of his prayer shows where the apostle saw the reason. He explains why the Colossians let foreign things into their hearts. These things pushed out the person of the Lord Jesus. They had not yet recognized the full fullness of Christianity. Therefore, they thought something was still missing. Only someone who does not yet have everything thinks he needs more. They already possessed everything in Christ. But they had not grasped it fully or lived it out. Therefore, there was still room for other things. Yet the person of Christ and the “knowledge of His will” could have “filled” them. The emphases in the quotation from the prayer make this clear:

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge [or full knowledge; Greek epignosis] of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously” (Colossians 1:9–11).

These are concerns we have probably rarely brought before the Lord. That is true for ourselves or for our brothers and sisters. But does that mean we do not need it all the more? Perhaps we are not in the same danger as the Colossians. They were filling their hearts with philosophy and traditions. For us, it is other “elements of the world” that attract our hearts. We believe we need more than what we have in Christ. We think we need it to be happy. The reason can only be this. We have not yet come to the full “knowledge of the will of God.” We do not yet live worthy of the Lord “to please Him in all respects.” We do not yet “bear fruit in every good work.” We have not yet made use of being strengthened “with all power according to His glorious might.” In short, we have far too little drawn from the fullness. It is found in Christ and in a life for Him.

What fills our lives

Do we really believe that, at the end of our lives, we can look back and call it a fulfilled life? What if we spent all our time and energy on the following? Reading novels, listening to music, going shopping, working in the garden, washing the car. Working overtime, planning and taking vacations, doing sports, eating out, playing computer games. Sending messages, watching movies, going on outings, studying trade journals, optimizing our appearance. Watching soccer games, or simply doing nothing.

Paul’s example

Paul himself could say: “For to me, to live is Christ.” Because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord, he regarded everything else as loss and rubbish. You could offer him anything you wanted. He compared it with Christ and rejected everything that could not be joined with Him. Was he lacking anything after he had “suffered the loss of all things”? Was he now living a joyless life? No, he describes people like himself as “as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:10). At the same time, he spent time and energy completely in the Lord’s service. He fought the good fight of faith. He ran the race with endurance. He pressed on toward the goal. He kept, proclaimed, and defended the entrusted deposit of faith.

Do we notice that everything in our lives depends on this? It depends on whether our hearts are filled with Christ’s person. It also depends on the knowledge of His will.