(GRACE IN MOTION - Day 2 of 3)
“…the word of truth - the gospel”(v 5) “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;”
Colossians 1:6
The emphasis at the beginning of the letter to the Colossians is the word. The “word of truth”, “the gospel”, “the grace of God in truth”. They received this true grace in/through the word of the gospel implanted in their hearts by sowers (disciples of Jesus - Christians) and upon that good soil of an honest heart the fruit of goodness and righteousness sprung forth. And it has multiplied and continues to do so!
This imagery of bearing fruit, and multiplying, after one’s own kind and filling the earth by the word of God we see laid down for us in the very beginning of scripture. A foreshadowing, and divine commentary, if you will, on what was to come forth from God spiritually in the very beginning of the church through the word of God.
“Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.’ And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:11-12 - 3rd Day) “So God blessed them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, and fill…’” (Genesis 1:22) The creation is the grace of God bursting forth upon the world, and the new creation in Christ Jesus is the grace of God bursting forth upon the world.
Of great importance and worthy to note in this revelation of Colossians 1:6 is how “hearing and understanding” produces a particular effect/outcome. It bears fruit and multiples. That is, it keeps on multiplying - continuously so. If we look at our life so as to examine it, and we do not find growth, fruitfulness, and multiplication then it must be tied back to our lack of hearing and understanding the grace of God. In some way, form, or fashion.
This is one reason that daily readings of God’s word are so valuable and important. They are the energy that produces the opportunity for spiritual growth. The source of that energy is God's word, the word of truth, the gospel, the message of the Spirit. This is how God “causes the growth”. This is how the message multiplies, both in yourself and from yourself.
“Since the day you heard of it” - is a very personally convicting statement. The Holy Spirit reveals that the “grace of God in truth” remained flourishing in the hearts of these brethren. What about me? What about you? What about us? Could the same be said of us? Does hearing and understanding the grace of God in truth still cause me to marvel, to act, to bear fruit? May our commitment to the gospel be renewed each day, and in that renewal may it daily revive your spirit “so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10)
Comments