The King Living In You | Colossians 1:24-29

November 25, 2012

INTRODUCTION

Apostle Paul is writing this letter to the church at Colossae. The church at Colossae was a very young church, probably founded by Epaphras (1:7). Paul has never met these church members, but has mentored and met their leaders, 2:5. When Paul was writing, he has recently heard about them coming to faith. This church was bombarded with cultural syncretism and find-sounding argument which was distorting them from the true Gospel. 2:4; 8, 22-23

Paul is writing to counter these false teachers and educate the church to say that you just the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, how does Paul being?

He has told the Colossians what he is thanking God for when he thinks of them, v3-8
He has told them what he is praying for when he thinks of them, v9-14
Then Paul gives a 1^st Century hymn on Christ, v15-20
In Colossians 1:24-29, we have a rather dense summary of Paul’s own ministry.
He is turning to his own situation to explain who he is and what his work is all about.

What was Paul’s work all about?

Colossians 1:24-29

²⁴Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. ²⁵I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness ²⁶the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. ²⁹To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Paul’s Suffering. Paul suffering for the Church; 1:24
Paul as a Servant. Paul, the servant of the church; 1:25-26.
Paul Speaking God’s Mystery. Paul Entrusted With the Mystery God Revealed; 1:26
Paul’s Proclamation. Paul’s Strenuously Proclaiming Christ; 1:28-29

Paul suffering for the Church.

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Paul rejoice in his sufferings: Paul says this suffering is an indication itself that this Gospel is powerful and is having its effect and is challenging the principalities and powers. With his imprisonment, Paul is able to identify with the Colossian Christians in their insecurity and suffering. The church was suffering through internal dissension and external pressure from Jewish and other cultures.

On the one hand there is a sense that actually Paul knows that suffering is going to come to all Christians in some form sooner or later, but right now this little church in Colossae is too young for that, they would not be able to stand it. Paul says if I can draw the fire, if I can take the suffering on myself then maybe you will be spared a bit. Standing in the leadership many think is glamorous, but for Paul he is the first line in the attack.

ILLUSTRATION

The image may be like a brave military leader who goes out into no man’s land ahead of the troops to draw the enemy far onto himself in order to allow his troops perhaps containing injured and wounded people to escape to safety. Paul says, “I am happy to sit here and take it if it means that you are going to have respite.”

I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church

Remember, Christ’s suffering on the cross was once-and-for-all atonement for sin never to be repeated. Christ made a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Jesus does not have to suffer over and over again in every generation. What he did was the turning point of history.[1]

Jesus himself in Mark 8 spoke about his own vocation to go to the cross to suffer and die and he said if anyone wants to come after me, they must take up their cross and follow me.

Salvation which was won uniquely when Jesus died on the cross is to be implemented, worked out in the world not through the Christians using the weapons of the world, but through the same ministry of suffering love. They won’t have to die for the sins of the world, Jesus has already done that. But the way in which the gospel works in the world is through, as Jesus himself said the poor in spirit, the meek, the broken hearted, the wounded, the vulnerable, the mourners, the hungry for justice people. This is how the gospel goes to work and Paul says that is fine, this is as it were completing the Messianic affliction. God’s people may have to go through suffering through which the message of the death of Jesus will become effective in the world.

However, Paul sees his suffering on one hand an integral part of his identification with Christ and, on the other, on behalf of the church.

APPLICATION

In the midst of the suffering Paul was able to rejoice. This insight offers comfort to those facing trials today. While suffering is difficult, we can find solace in knowing that our pain can have a purpose. Just as Paul’s suffering was meaningful for the sake of the church, our trials can bring forth perseverance, character, and hope. In Christ, even in the darkest moments, there is a glimmer of joy, for God is working all things for our good.

Paul, the servant of the church; 1:25

Colossians 1:24-25

Paul affirms that he is the servant of the Church.
He has been entrusted with the sacred word of God.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2

¹This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. ²Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Paul is primarily a servant of Christ.
That makes Paul, a servant of the Church.
He has been entrusted with the word of God.
Paul must prove faithful in proclaiming the word.
Paul had to give an account of the position he held.

Slogan of the Lausanne Movement of World Evangelization, “The whole Church brining the whole Gospel to the whole World.”

Challenge: We need to be a whole (united church). We need to speak the whole gospel. We need to do it together. The gospel should reach the whole world. The whole church is called to proclaim the whole Gospel.

The wholeness of the gospel was Paul’s concern.

Paul warned the Galatians: Galatians 1:9 If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse.

The problem in Colossae, is that some were preaching a partial gospel but adding to it their own culturally-contained gospel.

Our preaching and teaching should be on sound gospel that should bring revival and church growth. Every revival has resulted in faithful teaching and preaching of God’s word.

People cannot know Christ better without knowing the Scriptures better.[2]

2 Timothy 3:14-17

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The work of the word here as always is what the word does which is the word of creation and the word of new creation. He has spoken, it was done says the Psalmist about the original creation and then as we saw in Isaiah 55, the word goes out and like rain or snow comes down from above and is fruitful and things grow and new things happen that is what Colossians is all about.

Paul is the servant of the church, commissioned to present the word of God in its fullness.

Paul, Entrusted With the Mystery God Revealed; 1:25-26

Christ is the mystery disclosed to the Lord’s People; 1:26

Colossians 1:26

….the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.

For Paul, Jesus Christ is a mystery.
This mystery has been kept hidden for ages and generations.
In the OT, the message of salvation was for both the Jews and Gentiles slowly getting unfolded in the call of Abraham. All nations will be blessed through Abraham.
The Messiah of Israel is the Saviour of the world.
The Son of Man in Daniel (7:13-14) was to become the incarnate Son of God.
God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants was enveloped in a new covenant, first announced by Jeremiah (31:31-34) and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.[3]

God’s secret plan hidden through all ages of time was progressively revealed.
God revealed himself in the sacrificial systems and laws of Moses.
God then in his dealings with Israel, in the Psalms and in the Wisdom literature.
In the times of Israel’s spiritual decline, God raised up his prophets to bring back Israel to living faith.
These acts of God found their fulfilment in the NT story of Jesus.

This mystery was revealed to Paul himself.

Romans 16:25-26

²⁵Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith

Ephesians 3:2-3

²Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

Ephesians 3:8-11

⁸Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, ⁹and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. ¹⁰His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What is the mystery?

Colossians 1:15

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Colossians 1:19-20

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 2:2-3

²My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Other NT writers talk the same thing:

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 1:3

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

1 John 5:20

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Jesus Christ is the mystery.
Now the mystery is disclosed to the Lord’s people. It is not secret any longer.
For Paul, the proclamation of the Gospel is now making everybody know what it is that has been kept secret for ages, making everybody know about Jesus.

Colossians 1:26-27

²⁶the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Paul has been personally commissioned by God to make the mystery known to the Church.
Paul recognizes that God has also called the saints in Colossae to make known this mystery to others.
Everyone in a church has to be mission minded and witnessing church.
Paul never lost an opportunity of sharing the gospel.

The neighbouring church at Laodicea was becoming lukewarm.

Growing economic prosperity in Laodicea had lured the church into self-sufficiency.

Their missionary vision had declined.

What the Colossian church facing a similar danger? Are we facing a similar situation?

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The Glory of God is God’s personal presence.
God’s glory was revealed in the wilderness journey as a cloud in the in Exodus.
God’s glory filled the temple as witnessed by Isaiah; Is. 6:1-9.
In NT God’s glory was seen in Christ’s birth, life & ministry, transfiguration, cross, & resurrection.
The glory of God is in us with Christ residing in us by his Spirit.
Well that is the image of God’s glory in us is not just for us.
God’s glory is with us individually. God’s glory is with us as a community, church.
In the 2^nd coming, God’s glory will come back and flood the whole creation with his glorious presence. That is the ultimate hope for the whole world.[4]

Paul sees this little church in Colossae, a few households; maybe not particularly socially significant, most of them not well off, many of them not educated at all. Paul sees them as a family of Jesus followers with the Christ in their midst, the glory of God in their midst. That as Jesus is dwelling there as the king as the Messiah in their midst, this is the sign and the foretaste of the fact that one day God will flood the whole of creation with his glory, with his love, with his justice and his joy.[5]

Paul’s Proclamation

Paul’s Strenuously Proclaiming Christ; 1:28-29

Paul says it is Jesus who we are proclaiming.

Colossians 1:28

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

Paul concludes his personal testimony to the church by declaring: He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

The ‘we’ includes Epaphras and Timothy.

Paul Proclaims Jesus:

Paul’s Proclaiming Christ is twofold: Warning & Teaching

Warning implies exhortation & correction.
Teaching implies imparting practical and theoretical knowledge.

Paul warns everyone for the dander of rejecting Christ, bringing what is happening in the context and diluting the gospel, brining culture and diluting the gospel. Paul is not against culture, Paul is not against modernization, but if these things influence the church and we reject the Lordship of Christ, it is a big problem for Paul. So Paul proclaimed Christ, warning and teaching them.

Everyone – The whole gospel of Christ was for everyone.

Paul’s proclamation was to present everyone fully mature in Christ, 1:28b

Paul’s aim is to present the believers “full-grown” under the direction and in the power of Christ’s cross and resurrection. Maturity is both individual and corporate (Church). Only when we are mature that Christ in us will become visible on earth.

Present everybody fully mature in Christ. That does not happen overnight, it takes pastoral work, it takes teaching, proclaiming, instructing, presenting, working, struggling. Teaching of the OT scripture. Stories of Jesus. Teaching from the letters. As they are taught they become fully mature in Christ.

Teaching everyone with all wisdom: Wisdom now enabling people to become wise just as the book of Proverbs, now that wisdom is found in the life of Jesus.

Paul says he is working hard for this to happen:

Colossians 1:29

To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Paul recognizes that the church matures or people mature with when two things happen: Human toil or struggle of a good minister and the supernatural power of God to make that happen.

Every child of God goes through struggle. Every minister of God goes through struggle. Struggles like discouragements, tensions, unjust accusations, failure to see results, money, temptations etc. Just as Christ was constantly under attack from Satan and demonic powers, ministers of God, believers go through struggle. At this time Paul rejoices that it is Christ that powerfully works in his life, energising, enabling him to accomplish his task to which he has been called.

The resurrection power of Christ gives us strength.

There is the paradox just as in Christ. God and humans come together. Heaven and earth come together. So in the work of the gospel Paul says actually it is me, it is God at work within me. He says it in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 as well when he talks about being one of the least of all the apostles because he persecuted the Church of God and then he says nevertheless, I worked harder than all of them but it was not me it was God’s grace working in me.

That is the sure sign it seems to me of a genuine Christian work. That yes you have to put your back into it. You have to work hard at it, but when all is settled down you look back and realise anything you achieved was simply the result of God working through you. So Paul has now put the Colossians on the map of what he said in Chapter 1:15-20. He has now put himself on the map.

Let’s reflect on the word of God we just heard.

LIFE APPLICATION POINTS

Rejoicing in Suffering: Just as Paul found cause for rejoicing in his sufferings for the sake of the church, we too can find comfort in knowing that our trials can have a purpose. Suffering may challenge us, but it can also be a powerful testimony of the Gospel’s impact and our identification with Christ. We can draw strength from knowing that God can use our hardships to bring forth growth and perseverance in our faith.

The Servant’s Heart: Paul saw himself as a servant of the church, entrusted with the word of God. As followers of Christ, we are also called to serve others and faithfully share the Gospel. We must be faithful stewards of God’s Word and be mission-minded, proclaiming the whole Gospel to the whole world. Our teaching and preaching should be grounded in the sound doctrine of Scripture, leading to revival and church growth.

Christ, the Mystery Revealed: The mystery hidden for ages is now disclosed to the Lord’s people—it is Christ in us, the hope of glory. Embracing this truth means recognizing that God’s glorious presence resides in us through Christ’s indwelling Spirit. We are called to be a witnessing church, making the mystery of Christ known to others, sharing the good news of salvation.

Proclaiming Christ: Paul’s ministry was centered on proclaiming Jesus Christ, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom. Similarly, we are called to proclaim Christ to everyone, individually and corporately. We must faithfully share the Gospel, encouraging and admonishing others in their faith journey.

Pursuing Maturity in Christ: The aim of Paul’s proclamation was to present everyone fully mature in Christ. We too are called to grow in maturity, individually and as a church community. This involves diligent teaching, studying God’s Word, and relying on the empowering work of Christ within us. As we mature in Christ, His presence becomes more evident in our lives.

Relying on Christ’s Power: In our ministry and daily struggles, we must remember that it is not our efforts alone but the power of Christ working in us that leads to fruitful outcomes. Just as Paul strenuously contended with the energy Christ provided, we too can rely on the resurrection power of Christ to give us strength and enable us to fulfil our calling.

In conclusion, this passage from Colossians reminds us of the purpose and calling in our lives as believers. We can find comfort in knowing that our sufferings have meaning and can be used for God’s greater purposes. As servants of Christ, we are entrusted with the mystery of Christ in us, and we are called to proclaim Him to the world, leading others to maturity in their faith. In all things, we rely on Christ’s power, working through us, to accomplish His plans and bring glory to His name.

Bibliography

Dr. Daniel K. Darko, Prison Epistles, Lecture 3, The Christ Hymn (Col 1:15-2:5), 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_7GB0g5TNM.

Lucas, Dick. The Message of Colossians & Philemon. The Bible Speaks Today New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020.

Nicholls, Bruce J., and Brian Wintle. Colossians & Philemon. Asian Bible Commentary. Bangalore, India: Theological Book Trust of Bangalore, India, 2007.

N.T, Wright. The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon. InterVarsity Press, n.d.

Udemy. ‘Paul and His Letter to the Colossians’. Accessed 28 July 2023. https://www.udemy.com/course/paul-and-his-letter-to-the-colossians/.

[1] Dr. Daniel K. Darko, Prison Epistles, Lecture 3, The Christ Hymn (Col 1:15-2:5), 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_7GB0g5TNM.

[2] Dick Lucas, The Message of Colossians & Philemon, The Bible Speaks Today New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 70.

[3] Bruce J. Nicholls and Brian Wintle, Colossians & Philemon, Asian Bible Commentary (Bangalore, India: Theological Book Trust of Bangalore, India, 2007), 84.

[4] ‘Paul and His Letter to the Colossians’, Udemy, accessed 28 July 2023, https://www.udemy.com/course/paul-and-his-letter-to-the-colossians/.

[5] Wright N.T, The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon (InterVarsity Press, n.d.), 92.

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The King Living In You | Colossians 1:24-29