Seeds for 1/13/2023 - Colossians 1:12c
Scripture: “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” [This sentence is rather long, but we’re wrapping it up today.]
Observation: What has God qualified the Colossian Christians for? “…to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.” Three words in this short phrase tell us something very important about salvation: share, people, kingdom. Salvation is a community experience.
As many authors and preachers have stated, salvation is personal but never private. It is personal. Each person is invited into a relationship with God. It is communal, not private. It’s never “just me and Jesus;” it’s “welcome to the family of Jesus.”
When we say yes to Jesus, He opens the door and we find ourselves entering a robust residence with all who have also said yes to Him. In Genesis 1, God creates humankind in His image, not only individual persons. In the Exodus, God saves a people-group, the Israelites, from Egyptian slavery, not just individuals. Even two traditional biblical terms for God—Father and King, contain within themselves the implication that we are saved into a community—God’s family, God’s people. Salvation is being adopted into the family of God, accepted into citizenship in His kingdom. It is absolutely personal, and it is thoroughly communal.
Application: How do/can I actively lean on my community of faith to grow spiritually? How do/can I contribute within my community of faith to serve in God’s kingdom?
Prayer: Lord, lead me to be a faithful sister, a faithful brother, a faithful citizen in this kingdom-family called “the People of God,” your Church. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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