Walk Worthy As Well

Colossians 1:9–18 (NKJV)

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:9-18

As was stated earlier, some of Colossians is also spoken of in Ephesians. Ephesians, chapter four contains a discussion of the need for Christians to walk worthy of the calling that God has placed upon them. In this passage in Colossians, Paul repeats this admonition in chapter one, verse 10. While this is not a quote, it does reveal one of the basic tenets of Christian action, that is, to walk worthy of the sacrifice Christ made and worthy of the calling He placed. Paul told them that he prayed for them always, asking that the church at Colosse be filled with the knowledge of God’s will(Ephesians 1:17), His wisdom, and His understanding. He wanted them to please God and be fruitful, to be strong by God’s power, and to have patience and joyful longevity in the faith. He called them to alway be thankful and to partake of the inheritance of the saints. Why does Paul give them so many things to pursue? Because Christ has delivered the Christian from the power of darkness and made him or her part of the kingdom of the Son! The Colossians had been redeemed and their sins were forgiven, therefore they should be about His business, living His life, and answering His call.

Paul then moves into a discussion of the attributes of Christ in verse 15. He is the Image of God, the firstborn over all creation, the creator of all things, the initiator of political and national power and the positions that operate in that power. He is eternal, and the entire earthly existence is in stasis because of Him. He identifies Christ as the head of the body, another Ephesian-letter concept (Ephesians 5:23), and further calls Him the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, and the preeminent One. This beautiful description of Christ and His attributes paints a picture of the greatness of the Savior. He is God incarnate and in heaven. He is greater than all beings and is transcendent, above man and his thoughts, yet He made a way for us, creating us and sustaining us and promising us a future through redemption by His blood. God walked among us, yet ascended above us and made us fully His. This is the hope we have in Christ. Walk worthy of that hope and calling, and glorify Him in all that you do.

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