Colossians 1:9-18 (NKJV) For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
V9 “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…” Christians stand together, pray together and for each other, encourage ones another, etc. What is the supplication? It is that they be filled (to the full and ready to overflow) with the knowledge of His will. It is important to know God’s will for life. Sufficiency is an important doctrine of Scripture: In the Bible alone God has given humanity all things that are necessary for the proper understanding of who He is, who we are, how He has acted in the past and what He expects from us.
The basic idea behind the sufficiency of Scripture is that nothing else needs to be revealed to humanity about God or His plan for the human race. The Bible is the record of all of the things that God thought humanity needed to know about Him. In other words, Scripture is complete and sufficient for belief and behavior. Nothing needs to be added to them” ” (Don Stewart–Question 24 on Blue Letter Bible).
God reveals His character, His worldview, His lifestyle, His rules for us, His mission for us, His promises, His warnings, etc. Learning God’s will involves Bible reading and study of the whole Scriptures in its plain, normal sense. Knowledge is the facts. Understanding is the why’s and how’s. Wisdom is applying both knowledge and understanding. Experience makes us greater in wisdom. Spiritual understanding would include the interpretation of Scriptures and their application.
V10 “…that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” God’s purpose is for us to use the Scriptures and live them to show God’s ways to the world and honor Him. We want to please Him, for we love God and are mindful of all His great blessings to us. God wants us to bear spiritual fruit in all we do and think, so that God’s ways are known and done by all including ourselves.
V11 “…strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy…” This strengthening is from God’s assisting grace. His strength is unknowable by us; it is glorious. We need to learn patience and longsuffering. Our patience and longsuffering is to be with joy. Only God can help us, but we must will and give effort.
V12 “…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” We always need to be thankful. The Greek word for “qualified/meet (KJV)” is (G2427) ἱκανόω hikanoō, which means sufficient and enough. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged – Little Kittel)) “Yet recognition of personal inadequacy goes hand in hand with recognition of God as the source of all adequacy (2 Cor. 3:5-6; cf. 1 Cor. 7:25; 2 Cor. 4:1; Gal. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:10; Col. 1:12).” God is our source that qualified, enabled, having enough to meet God’s standards. This is a work only God can accomplish. God qualified us to be partakers of all the inheritance of believers. The word “qualified” is in the aorist active participle having the idea that God’s work to qualify was completed in the past (when we believed).
(NKJV Study Notes Full Color, 3rd Edition) “However the inheritance (see v. 5) that believers receive is not one that they have earned but is based on being qualified by God. The Father “qualifies” us for eternal life with Him, whereas the Son will reward us at the end of the race (Rev. 22:12).”
(Zondervan Bible Commentary (1 Vol.)) “To him a knowledge of the will of God is the indispensable prerequisite of a life pleasing to Him. In the divine therapy a mental transformation is the means used to achieve an ethical renewal (Rom. 12:1, 2). Using some of the catchwords of those seeking to lead them astray, he prays for their full development in knowledge and apprehension of the will of God, through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives: that is to say, he prays for a mind instructed in spiritual truth which also grasps the application of principles to the problems of life, with a view to worthy daily conduct which shall please the Lord in every way. Thus after evangelization comes pastoral care and he prays for the deepening of their character, to take effect in fruitful activity, in good works of every kind as they grow by (or in) the knowledge of God. But this is no human wisdom to inflate their pride as had been the Corinthian danger. This deepened character and increased strength of achievement is by the power of God’s glorious might, not calculated to exalt the flesh but to promote humility.”
V13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love…” Note! God is the deliverer. He delivers us from the power of darkness. The power of darkness is our spiritual death, our spiritual blindness, our spiritual inability to find God and His ways (Romans 3:10). It also refers to the “god of this word.” See 2 Corinthians 4:4, Luke 22:53 and Ephesians 6:12. The Greek word “conveyed” is (G3179) μεθίστημι methistēmi, which means “to transpose, transfer, remove from one place to another” (Strong). We go from darkness into light. Light here means spiritual light and life with God. This light is God’s light, not the light of human wisdom.
V14 “…in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Redemption is to buy out of something. Since we are slaves of sin, God has bought us from that slavery to freedom as the adopted sons & daughters of God. This is through the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb–Jesus Christ. Satan is not paid; it is the debt of our sins that was paid. That is the idea of reckon/accounted (Genesis 15:6 and (2 Corinthians 5:17-19 NKJV) “17 Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things [are] of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”) It is through His blood (the blood of His sacrifice–Exodus 12:13 and Hebrews 9:22. Forgiveness carries the idea of penalty of sin has been paid in full.
V15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” The Greek word “image” is (G1504) εἰκών eikōn, which means image and idol. When Jesus was seen in His earthly ministry, people saw God. The essence of Jesus, God the Son, is the same essence as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Essence is mainly God’s character traits and also His being. Firstborn of all creation carries the idea of the firstborn son who receives/inherits all the goodnesses and possessions of the father. Here, we are informed that this is the universe (creation).
V16 “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” Jesus is the creator (Genesis 1-3). He also created the spirit beings, etc. The Father delegates this to His Son. Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers refer to angelic orders of authority and ability to accomplish what God wishes.
V17 “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Before carries the idea of eternity, glory, position, and the incommunicable character traits of God. Consist has the idea of Jesus maintains the universe.
V18. “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” The importance here is that Jesus has the preeminence over all beings, creations, etc. Head of the body is the final authority. The church is all believers from Pentecost to the Rapture. Firstborn from the dead means 2 things: 1) the first to rise from the dead permanently and receives a new body, and 2) all the honor of being the first.