2016-09-16
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was led to continue the analysis of Paul’s prayers for the believers in Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea contained in the epistle to the Colossians, chapter 1, verses 9-14. We did word studies, using Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, and www.biblos.com as resources, on the words “knowledge” and “wisdom.” Today we will work toward examining at the word “fruit,” from the original Greek to clarify what Paul meant. It helps to first look at RO 12: 1-2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God---this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve of what God’s will is ---His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
What this wonderful and important passage does for me is to beautifully describe God’s ideal for our participation in sanctification. The latter is the working out of our covenant relationship with Him, in that He promises to forward our spiritual maturation, and we promise to live by His teaching and to reveal, genuinely confess, and expunge sins from our lives in an on-going basis. It takes honesty, openness, and courage to face sometimes emotionally painful truths about ourselves. God knows this and values it. In continuing prayer, Paul has asked that the Colossians are “filled by God with the knowledge of His will, through spiritual wisdom and understanding” [COL 1: 9]. This is done “so that they may live lives worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power…so that you might have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of light” [COL 1: 10-12]. The crux of what Paul says is found in COL 1: 13-14 in which we’re told “…for He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
We must understand that Christ’s message was foolishness to the Greeks and a “stumbling stone” to traditionally Jewish people [1 COR 1: 18-25; 1 COR 2: 14]. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in 1 COR 1: 20, 2: 4-6, and 3: 19, Paul showed the contrast between the Gospel and human philosophy. He refers to human wisdom, as “the wisdom of this age.” We have a better understanding of this contrast when we read IS 55: 8-9, which is God’s comparison between what He knows and human wisdom. Solomon was known as the wisest man in the Bible, but he turned away from God in the end [1 K 10: 4,6, & 8; 1 K 11: 1-13; 2 CH 1: 7-12].
Now we can look at the real meaning of the word “fruit” from COL 1: 10 in the second paragraph above. It has a Strong’s no. of 2592, and the Greek word for the verb, to bear fruit, is karpophorountes, pronounced “kar-pof-or-eh’-o.” Metaphorically, it means to bring forth good deeds by people who show their spirituality through their conduct. The adjective form is the word, fruitful, which in the Greek is karpophoros, pronounced “kar-pof-or’-os.” A more modern way of expressing this meaning is that the person is demonstrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit [GA 5: 22-23].
PRAYER: O Lord, pleasing You is very important to us. We express our love, the love of Christ You taught us, for all You are and all You do [PS 86: 5, 13, & 15]. We acknowledge Your superior power, presence, and wisdom. We welcome Your teaching and see its value in 2 TIM 3: 16-17. You taught us to pray often, asking You for help when we need it and not forgetting to offer You thanks and praise for the blessings we have already received. PS 116: 1, “I love the Lord, because He hears my prayers and answers them.” PS 86: 7, “In the day of my trouble I will call to You, and You will answer me.” Dearest Abba, You have told us Your will for our lives and shown us the behaviors and attitudes You want us to exhibit, through Your Spirit. We know that Your teaching followed does bear the kind of fruit that Paul described in his prayer above. Worshipping You individually and corporately, serving others in various ministries, reaching out to unbelievers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and in general living according to Your teaching brings enormous happiness and satisfaction to many. This is the life You command that we have; it shows us that “…Man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord,” DT 8: 3b. We thank and praise You with all our hearts, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: There is more to discuss on the meaning of the word, fruit, in the metaphoric sense meant in the Scriptures. So, I’m led to continue on that subject as we begin the next segment of these “Knowing God” messages called simply “Fruit.” As a Messianic Jewish person, I must admit to falling deeply in love with the Lord I serve and with His word. I can’t help but recall DT 6: 4-5, which goes to the very heart of my desire to obey God’s command, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” In my mind, I can still hear the rabbi’s voice that I heard as young child repeating this command. Despite leaving traditional Judaism to accept Christ as my Yeshua, my personal Lord and Savior, it remains with me. I hope and pray that each of you also never forgets this ethical and spiritual command in your lives. I say this, because of the inner peace and happiness that living it out yields. Praise be to our Lord forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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