JANUARY 14, 2025
“We give thanks to God…For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.” (Colossians 1:3a, 5a)
Three graces should be always conspicuous in Christians – faith, love, and hope. They are each mentioned by the Apostle in the opening verses of this Epistle. These lovely graces should be so conspicuous in every believer as to be spoken of and consequently heard of, even by those who have never seen us. These graces should so perfume our lives that the fragrance may be perceived by those who have ever gazed on them. So was it with the saints of Colosse. Paul says, “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 ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven…”
We should therefore be rich in faith, which is the root of every grace; and to this end we should daily pray, “Lord, increase our faith.” We should strive to be full, even overflowing with love, which is of God, and makes us like God. We should also abound in hope, even that heavenly hope which causes saints to purify themselves in readiness for the inheritance above. We are, after all, “begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” (I Pet. I:3b, 4)
Note, however, the special character of each of these graces as it exists in the Christian. It is not every faith and love and hope that serve us, for of all precious things, there are counterfeits. There is a kind of faith in all men, but ours is faith in Jesus Christ, faith in Him Whom the world rejects; Whose cross is a stumbling block, and Whose doctrine is an offence. We have faith in the Man of Nazareth, Who also is the Son of God, faith in Him Who having made atonement by His own blood once for all, and is now exalted to the Father’s right hand. This is the faith of God’s elect.
The love of Christians is also special, for while a believer is moved to universal benevolence and desires the good of all men, yet he has a special love unto all the saints, whom the world does not love because it loves not the Lord. The true believer loves the despised and persecuted people of God for Christ’s sake. He loves them as brethren, even those who may hold different views on minor matters. He loves the Lord, and he loves all who share in that love. His love extends beyond Christ Himself to all who are in union with Him.
Our hope is most special as well, because it is laid up in heaven; a hope in which the world has no interest, nor do the worldlings care one whit about it. He hopes that tomorrow might be better than today, and that his life here will become more and more abundant, but he cares nothing for an eternal inheritance where time shall be no more. He hopes for riches and for fame; he hopes for long life and prosperity; he hopes for pleasures and domestic peace. The whole range of his hopes are within compass of his sight: but our hope has passed beyond the sphere of things seen, “for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The Apostle asks, “…for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Ours is a hope which demands nothing of time, or earth, but seeks it’s all in the world to come.
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