Philippians 1:3-6 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
As I was reading these few verses over and over again, I couldn't help but picture Paul, in prison, praying, and then getting overwhelmed with joy as he thought of all those whom he had fellowship with in the Gospel, knowing that God was working in them all. I suddenly realised how every saint today can also rejoice as we think of our family in Christ, those who fellowship with us in the Gospel.
Why rejoice?
Well, Paul rejoiced because he knew God didn't just begin a good work in them when they repented and came to faith in Christ, but that God will also complete the work He started until the day of Jesus Christ!
But do note that Paul's confidence wasn't based on what he taught and witnessed when he was amongst them, for his confidence was in God, working in His children through the Holy Spirit till the very moment of Christ's return.
Now this brings me to all my fellow saints in Christ: shouldn't we too rejoice because of our brothers and sisters in Christ, being confident that the work God started in them He will continue in them and bring it to completion till Christ comes?
Often we lose sight of the work God does in those who came to faith, as we tend to focus more upon what they do or don't do or should have done instead of what God did and is still doing in them, which He will complete till the day of Christ!
Scripture reminded me afresh to not just pray for all my fellow saints in Christ but to rejoice, thanking the Lord that He started the work in them as He did in me and that He will finish it till Christ comes.
You see the joy Paul had was his adoration for the Lord's continual work in us.
Think about those who fellowship with you in the Gospel for a moment, and how their faith in Christ reminds us that because of God's work in Christ, they are justified, forgiven, reconciled and made new and have eternal life. Yet that's not all, for He who started this good work in them leads them in sanctification and growing up in Christ through the Holy Spirit, and this work in them will continue till the day of Christ!
In Romans 8:29 Paul mentioned how God began this process in us, making us look more and more like Jesus, conforming us into the image of His Son.
No wonder Paul's confidence was not in the people he prayed for but in God and, therefore, filled with joy because of what God still does in us till Jesus comes again.
Amen