3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing-- as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. (Col. 1:3-6 ESV)
The Colossians first heard the gospel and understood the grace of God, then Paul heard their testimony, and then he wrote this letter to them. He expected this letter to be read out loud so that more people could hear about it. Indeed, it has been heard, for thousands of years and in diverse tongues, in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing. This is nothing short of a legend that has been recounted thousands of years and counting. This legend is the word of the truth, the gospel, which begins from Christ Jesus. When the Colossians heard of it and believed, they became part of the legend. As soon as Paul heard of their faith, he thank(ed) God the Father of Lord Jesus Christ for them. For the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. (Rom. 1:16) Everyone who has been saved becomes a witness. One witnesses to ten people and ten to a hundred, and all the way down to the present. We are the fruits of the gospel and have become part of this legend.
Paul often pray(ed) for people, because he set his mind on God’s mind and wished that all should reach repentance and be part of this legend, (2 Pe. 3:9) which starts first with our faith in Christ Jesus. This faith comes only by the grace of God. Man may fake it but would never acquire it on his own. From the very beginning man is seeking for immortality. From serious undertaking of religious practices to imaginative exercise of creative writings, there are many mad-made ways towards heaven, but no one would imagine the way of the cross, which is folly to those who are perishing. (1 Co. 1:18) Not only they could not imagine that, they would not believe even when it has been made known. When Jesus’ disciples, who had followed him for three years, were told about the resurrection, they would not believe it. (Mar. 16:11) No wonder prophet of old had lamented, who has believed what he has heard from us? (Isa. 53:1) If anyone who is neither mentally incapable nor crazy dare to believe such a gospel, that would be puzzling. If many people believe the gospel, they must know something that I do not. If this gospel has spread all over the world, and more and more people are believing, it is a legend like none other.
This incredible faith brings out incredible love, that is the love for all the saints. We had love on earth, and the love of man is no more than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends, (Joh. 15:13) for his lover, or for a good person. Yet while we were still sinners, despising, rejecting, even killing him, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:7-8) All believers are mesmerized by the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, (Eph. 3:17) which motivates us to love in turn. That is to love all believers as Christ loved us. (Joh. 15:12) This love breaks down walls set up by races, politics, classes, grudges, generational gaps, and upbringing and make us one family in Christ Jesus. The church is set up as a miracle of love and has weathered thousands of years and still thriving. We love because Christ first loved us, (1 Joh. 4:19) and all other kinds of love pale before this legendary love. All who live and love in this way, live out the same legend.
Once this legendary life sets off, always looks out for better days to come. Because of the hope laid up for us in heaven, we rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. (1 Pe. 1:8) All the hopes of man under heaven must be tested out by the toil under the sun, (Ecc. 1:3) and ultimately by death. (Ecc. 3:18, 19) Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, (Psa. 23:4) because our hope is in heaven. If anyone does not have this resurrection hope, he has not yet believed the gospel. Because this hope is inseparable from the word of truth, the gospel. For all who has this hope, their stories here on earth serve as short preludes to their eternal stories in heaven. All such stories are sequel to the gospel legend played out between heavens and earth, it is a legend about faith, love, and hope. If you have not heard about this legend, we want to tell you about it. If you have heard already, we invite you to join our little flock, to love each other with the love of Christ, for the greatest of these is love. (1 Co. 13:13) The letter Paul wrote to the Colossians, he wrote to all who live in Christ, for we are all part of the same legend.
Prayer: O Lord! May all who heard the gospel believe the way, and carry on the only legend under heaven, the legend of faith, love, and hope! Help us labor in preaching and living it out ourselves!
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