Colossians 1:3-5a

Colossians chapter 1, verses 3 through 5A. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. May God bless to us. His sacred and holy word this morning. An evergreen is a tree that remains green, regardless of all the changes around it. It’s green in the burning heat of the summer, and it’s green in the bitter cold of the winter. Now, you and I are to be like an evergreen when it comes to thanksgiving to God. Your life is to be careful. characterized by an enduring thankfulness that is unaffected by the changes around us. When the heat of a pressure-filled weak occurs or the deadly cold pain of sickness strikes you, you are to remain evergreen. Always thankful to God. Now, Paul was certainly a case in point. One only needs to read a point. of his life or to understand a little bit about him to realize this missionary underwent a multitude of hardships. He was hated by his own countrymen. He was beaten. He was maligned. He was jailed. He was threatened with death. He was stoned. He was shipwrecked. He was left for dead. His sufferings. He was shipwrecked. He was left for dead. His sufferings. were such that at times he was without food or the necessities. He was deserted by companions and on and on and on we could go. And yet, if he had anybody that could begrudge God thanks, you would think someone like that would have to say, well, I’ve got plenty of reason not to be thankful. And yet, Paul is one of the most thankful people that you ever have come across. You can’t read any of his epistles without him being thankful to the Lord. He does not have a bitterness about his life. Our text reveals thankfulness of God is given a priority here in this epistle. When he gets through the introduction, the very first thing he talks about is thankfulness to God. So I want to talk about giving thanks this morning. First, let me begin by saying, talking about your duty to give thought of God. God thanks. We give thanks, he says here in verse 3. Now, you often find human beings are unthankful. In describing the wickedness of fallen man, Paul says in Romans chapter 1 and verse 21, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were they thankful. Man by creation in the image of God. and by the natural revelation knows of God’s existence, knows something about his perfections. This is inescapable, the scripture indicates to us. Man, however, wickedly suppresses the truth that he knows and disregards it. Man’s depravity is such that it leads him to two great evils. One, he refuses. to glorify God. He truly refuses to worship the creator and praise him for his glorious attributes. And the second thing is, man is unthankful. He refuses to thank God for all the good gifts of providence that God provides for man, such as the sunshine and the rain and the grain and the grain and the foods and so forth. Calvin said there is no one who is not indebted to God for numerous, numberless, if you would, benefits. Scripture says, in the Lord, we live, we move, we move, we have our being. He gives all life and breath and all things. In Acts chapter 17, we find those two statements. sadly, many times man ascribes these things to luck or fate or to his own abilities to make, you know, plow ground, make food, or make his way in life. Man is therefore commonly unthankful and refuses to give God credit for any of the gifts that he gives. In Gulliver’s travels, Jonathan’s swift is highly critical of those who show ingratitude. Gulliver, at one point in his travels, finds himself among the very small lilyputins. And he proceeds to describe one of the laws of the lilyputins, and this is it. Ingratitude is reckoned among them as a capital crime. For they reason that whosoever makes an ill return to his benefactor must needs to be a common enemy to the rest of mankind and therefore is not fit to lip. Interesting statement, however severe it may seem. If you will ill-treat the one who is your benefactor, then you’re not going to treat the other, you know, the common guy who hasn’t given you any benefits very well at all. And so they considered ingratitude to be a capital crime. How vile must a person’s heart be that they would be in great have ingratitude or indifference to the the lavish benefits that God provides for man on this earth. So you often find human beings are unthankful. You as a believer, however, are to be thankful. Be ye thankful. We’ll read in Colossians 315, a few chapters over. And everything give thanks for this is the will be will be will of God in Christ Jesus. is concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 518. Or as the psalmist says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. In Psalm 103. Now, you notice you’re commanded to give God thanks. It’s not a matter of whether you would like to or not. It is a command. It’s not optional. You’re commanded to give God thanks in everything, which is more difficult, because you are to find a reason to be thankful to God, regardless of what. what happens to you in this life, even the bad times. And you were commanded not to forget all his benefits. So there’s a sense in which we should be counting them up, thinking about all the benefits that we enjoy, to keep in memory, the good things. Earthly, as well as spiritual. Some of you are familiar with the story of Robinson Crusoe. And he was shipwrecked and escaped to his island. And he drew a list of the good. in the evil which had befallen him. He was cast on a desolate island and he said, well, that’s bad. So he put that in the bad category. But he was still alive and not drowned like the rest of the crew. So he put that in the good category, across from it. He said, well, at least I survived. He was separated from mankind and vanished to a lonely life. He put that in the bad column. That’s not good. But then he said, he wasn’t starving, for he was able to grow food from seeds that he had found on the ship. He says, well, that’s a good thing. So he put that in the good call. He had no clothing. He said, well, that’s bad. But it was a warm climate. He didn’t need much to wear. So he didn’t have to wear anything, really. So he said, well, that’s good. He was without any means of defense. He said, boy, that’s bad. But he didn’t see any wild beasts like lions or anything like that on the island, which he had seen on the coast of Africa. And he said, well, that’s good. There’s no wild beast. Even though I don’t have a weapon, at least I don’t have to fight off any wild beast. He escaped with nothing and so was destitute of all things. And that was bad. But God sent the ship near enough shore that he could make trips out to the ship and get as much stuff off of it as he could before it sank. So he went out, he made all these trips and got as much stuff as he could, and he said, well, that’s good that that happened. Crusoe concluded that there was not any condition of the world so miserable, but that there was something, negative or positive, for which to give God thanks. That was his conclusion that he came to. Now, that’s not an easy conclusion to come to, but it’s the right conclusion. We ought to have ourselves. But it’s a difficult one. if we weigh matters out, the bad and the good, there’s always something, it seems like we could be thankful for. Remember the 10 lepers that came to Jesus to be healed of their leprosy, and he heals them, but only the one, the Samaritan, came back and thanked him. And what was Jesus’ reply? Where are the other nine? Shouldn’t you all be thankful that I healed you? This lesson is kind of humbling, but it’s also instructive. The best of us are quick to go to the Lord for help, but are we willing to return to him in prayer and say thank you for providing what I requested and what I needed? If you’re commanded, if you compared, let’s say, your murmurings and your complainings and your discontentments with your thanksgivings, what do you think would be greater? It’s difficult, isn’t it? if you do that. It’s always those who daily feel their debt to God’s grace who remember to daily thank and bless the Lord. So your duty is to give God thanks. Now the one to whom you are to give thanks is God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re to give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this, raises the question about what does this mean? You should understand how God is the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we talk about Christ, we always have to understand that Christ has a twofold nature. He is the God man. So he is God manifested in the flesh. In the same verse of Scripture, you’re going to find things that attributed to the person of Christ, some might relate to his human nature and some might relate to his divine nature. But he’s still one person. We read, Whose are the Fathers? And of whom as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is overall God blessed forever. Romans 9.5. According to the flesh, according to his human nature, he is called the Son of Abraham. Or the Son of David. the book of Romans. That opens up with those two ideas. If you look at Matthew, you get the genealogy of Christ laid out before us. And so according to the flesh, Jesus came from the fathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by his mother, Mary. and yet according to the Spirit. Or his divine nature. Jesus is declared to be God blessed forever. He is the son of God. He is equal with God, and yet he’s the son of man. And he is from the family of he came through Mary, as we know, and of the family of Joseph. As the son of man, the same God that is his father is his God also. He’s the God of Christ as far as his human nature is concerned. Because God chose the human nature of Christ to be united to Christ’s divine nature, there’s a sense in which you read in Scripture of Christ being chosen. just as you and I are chosen. we are elected. He’s chosen of God, 1. Peter 2.4. To grace and union with Christ’s divine nature. Christ, as a man, predestinated, just as you and I are. You know, Isaiah, or excuse me, Psalm 89 talks about one chosen out from among the people. And that’s speaking of the greater David, the son of David, the son of David, Christ himself. So God is Christ God in respect to election, to expect to free grace. He’s also his God, because God made a covenant with him. If you look at the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he says, let’s say, in Genesis 177, and I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee and their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee. God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because he made a covenant with them. We can understand that the bond of friendship that he made with these men. So in that respect, we see that because God made a covenant with Christ, he is the God of Christ in this sense. so you find Christ calling him my God in Scripture. I think the you recall the, you recall that time when he was on the cross. My God, why hast thou forsaken me? He is his only refuge in all the time of distress. he looked to the Lord God. because God is the author of all the blessings enjoyed by Christ. He is also his God. In Psalm 45, we read, thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore, God hath blessed thee forever. God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Again, we’re speaking here of the human nature of Christ. So all these things would indicate to us why you find at times Christ saying that the Father is His God, because it refers to the human aspect of Christ. But it’s the Father of Christ as the God man. As God, Christ is God’s son. His only begotten son, according to Scripture. The Jews objected to Christ’s claim that he was the son of God because it made him equal with God, as John Chapter 5 in verse 18 indicates. As God the Son, Christ is of the same substance, in essence, in essence, as the Father. He that has seen me has seen the Father, Jesus could say. Christ is the eternal son of God. Was in beginning with God. By Him, Christ, all things were created. And we’ll look at that. We get later on here in Colossians. As man, Christ is God’s son, for his human nature, was directly created by God. If you look at Luke’s gospel. When he gives the genealogy of Christ, you’ll notice that he goes all the way back to Abraham, all the way back to Adam. Matthew’s Gospel, I believe, goes back to Abraham. But here, he goes all the way back to Adam in Luke chapter 3. And what is, you know, you have this person begat this person, this got, and so forth, he goes back, who was the, who was the son of this person, who was the son of this person, who was the son of this person, who was the son of this person, who was the son of person. And when you get to the last part, you get to Adam, and he says, who was the son of God? Interesting statement. Why? He was directly created by God. Was he not? Adam had a unique beginning. And so it is with regard to Christ human nature. It was specifically created by God in the womb of Mary. As the angel said to Mary, by Christ’s conception, that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the son of God. In Luke 135. So Christ’s human nature was brought into being by the Holy Ghost, overshadowing Mary in a special way and bringing about the human nature of Christ. The power of the highest overshadowed her. While Mary did not know a man prior to her conception here of Christ. God himself caused Christ human nature to grow and exist within the womb of the Virgin Mary. Now, since Christ’s divine nature and his human nature are inseparable, they’re joined together now in the person of Christ. Christ is unique. He’s unlike anybody else in this regard. So the same person, he’s unlike anybody else in this regard. So the same person, he’s unlike, who is the son of man is also the son of God. And so we have to keep that in mind when we come to a phrase like this, you should understand how God is the God and the Father of Christ. We looked at those two ideas. Now, why you should thank God in respect to him being the God and Father of Christ? There’s several things that we can point out here. First is that you and Christ are brethren. Did you remember previously, Paul called God our father in verse 2. Isn’t he our father? But he’s also Christ father. So what does that make us? Makes us brothered with Christ, does it not? It indicates that you and Christ are in the same family. For Christ is the firstborn among many brethren, according to the Book of Romans chapter 8 verse 29. He’s the elder elder brother who looks after his siblings. Christ can relate to you, be touched with the feelings of your infirmities, because he has a human nature like yours. You should be thankful to God that the one who intercedes for you has such a close relationship to you. Can you imagine if your brother was the President of the United States? What influence he can. could wield on your behalf because of his power and his authority in that position. What doors he could open for you? What help he could render you? Now the Lord Jesus Christ is in a position even greater than any president or any king. For he is king over the nations and he has God’s ear and he wields almighty power and he’s your brother. He benefits you as one of the people of God. So you and Christ are brethren. The second benefit we see is this. You enjoy the blessings of the new covenant in Christ. You know, under the old covenant, it was the names of the patriarchs. It was in those names that blessing was conveyed. For example, we read, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. Or blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Or blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Or blessed be the Lord God of my Master Abraham. Or blessed be the Lord God of our fathers. Or blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meishak and Abendigo, as we read in the book of Daniel. God make covenant promises to these men, and it looked like these promises flowed from these men to others. However, if you look carefully at the covenants that God made with the individuals, you’ll notice that veiled within that is the promise of the seed. which was Jesus Christ. So that God, in a sense, preached beforehand the gospel under Abraham when he said, in thee, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Meaning in his seed, the seed from him. The Lord Jesus Christ, all nations would receive divine blessings through his seed. That’s the gospel message. The day would come when the people of God would no long. longer say, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, or the God of Abraham, or the God of Isaac. Because the covenant of grace coming to its fullest expression in a new covenant, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob fade from the scene, and the seed is promoted. Christ is now the source of all blessing. He always was the source of all blessing, but it was sort of veiled a bit in the Old Testament. Christ, the true seed, has come, and the new covenant is revealed, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s greater than Abraham. He’s greater than Solomon. And it’s because of your relationship to Christ. You notice he said, our Lord Jesus Christ. We, he’s ours. We possess him in a sense. He’s special to us. He’s special to us. It’s cause of that, God’s blessing rests upon you. Look with me at Hebrews chapter 13 a moment. Hebrews chapter 13, verses 20 and 21. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do as well. Working in you, that which is well-pleasing in a sight through. Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever and ever. The blessing here of the new covenant flows through Christ. It’s everlasting. It’s the blood of Christ himself as the true sacrifice that’s important here. And the atonement was made for sin. The law was fulfilled. Eternal redemption was obtained and divine blessings were purchased. So the one to whom you are to give thanks is the God and Father of our Lord. Jesus Christ. The third thing here is these blessings for which you should give thanks to God. And guess what these? These are the graces of what? Love, faith, and charity. Or I hope. The three things that, you know, 1 Corinthians 13 mentions as the abiding graces, faith, hope, and charity, or the seared graces that are mentioned here, are they not? And so let’s touch on those briefly this morning. Faith in Christ. When someone comes to faith in Christ, there’s always rejoicing. Even the angels in heaven we read, rejoice when someone comes to know the Lord. And certainly, should not God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, shouldn’t we be rejoicing when someone comes to know the Lord as well? Christ is preached, and the forgiveness of sins comes through him. And we find justification in Him. So faith seizes on Christ. Faith trust in Christ. But this is a persistent faith we’re talking about that clings to Christ all through your lifetime. Such a faith, being a gift from God, is a reason for giving thanksgiving to God. Well, the Colossians are personally unknown to God. Paul. He’s never met them. He has heard of their faith in Christ. And therefore, he gives God thanks for this. Notice, if faith was man’s contribution to salvation, Paul’s words wouldn’t make any sense. If faith was what man contributed, why would he be given thanks to God? He gives thanks to God because it is God’s gift of faith that these individuals have. Whenever we find someone who has faith in Christ, we ought to be thankful to God for it. Faith in Christ. Love for all the saints. Christians Christians show they are Christ’s followers by loving one another. Isn’t that what Jesus said we should do? There’s sort of a natural bond between family members. So it is with the family of God. While you are to move, you are moved to love your neighbor as yourself, there’s a special love. We should have for the people of God, the saints of the Lord, as Galatian 610 indicates to us. The world doesn’t love the people of God because it doesn’t love the Lord. But you love the people of God because you love the Lord. You are to love all the saints. Even those who may be mistaken in minor matters of doctrine or practice. Even the immature babes in Christ as well as the battle tested and mature saints. Saints with weaknesses. Maybe they have more weaknesses than they have virtues, but you’re still to love them all. For Christ loves each and every one of them. Now, you and I have known families that have had late children born into the family. They may have people, sons or daughters in college. and all of a sudden they find themselves with a new born baby at home. And those things happen. Now, would they love that baby less than the older person who has the maturity and the mental capacity to think and act and be independent even on their own? When that child climbs up into your lap or gets your knee and gives you a hug you don’t say no Johnny I can’t love you because you’re so little or because you have defective thinking at this stage I’ve given all my love to your older brother or older sister that’s not the case you know you love the last child better than any perhaps and certainly not less they say if there’s a child that’s sick in the family that child often gets the most attention. So you must have the same attitude toward your weaker brothers and sisters in Christ. We don’t cast them aside. We love them even despite their failures. Friends, we all have failures. So love for all the saints. And then he talks about this hope that’s laid up in heaven. Paul also finds reason for thanksgiving because the hope he finds in the closions of eternal glory. You know, the world length hopes that tomorrow may be better than today and maybe they’ll have more abundance in the matter of earthly things. But they’re not looking for a new world in which there’s a new heaven and earth that dwells in which dwells righteousness. They may hope for riches, fame, honor, long life, earthly pleasures, everything visible to the naked eye. Your hope, however, and the Christian, Christian hope always passes beyond this life. Yeah, there are things we would like to have on the earthly sphere, but our main hope is beyond this life to the life that is to come. We have a desire to part and be with Christ because we know it’s far better. Whenever you find such a person who has a hope of heaven and glory, you realize that you should thank God because he’s made them a new creature in Christ. Well, Evergreens don’t change. change regardless of the burning heat or the freezing cold. They just remain constant. As Christians, you and I ought to find a reason to be thankful to God in all areas of life, which, as I said, is not always easy. But thank God for what you have in Christ, for what he has done to manifest his grace in others, your fellow believers. Let us be thankful for what God. has done and is doing through the people that he is called by his name. Let us close with a word of prayer.