Colossians 1:24-29
October 17, 2012
Oak Park Baptist Church – Wed Bible Study Series
Colossians Bible Study
Paul’s striving for the spiritual maturity of the church:
Paul has been encouraging the members of the church in Colossae to remain faithful to the gospel that they 1st heard from Epaphras and now from him.
He urges them to continue to believe in this truth they heard and NOT to depart from it. Paul stresses to them that the gospel they have heard is being preached to those all over the known world and it is the same GOSPEL they have heard…
Paul affirms the unique and exclusive message of Christ here…in other words, anything else is a false gospel and should be rejected!
Then in v24 thru the end of this particular section, Paul begins to speak about how they are to walk in this gospel. He speaks about how he is walking in this gospel and how suffering is a part of being a believer.
Let’s read v24-29 and break it down verse by verse and glean the knowledge and application that God wants us to learn from this passage! [read passage here]
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church. 25I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.
In the past when I read v24 I was confused as to what Paul was saying…What does he mean when he says, “…I am completing…what Christ is lacking…” it almost sounds as if Paul believes he is the continuation of Christ.
However, knowing the writings of Paul and the heart of Paul that is expressed thru those letters, we can KNOW that Paul would NOT think or believe that… plus he would never advance that thought to the churches he was ministering to…
With that being said, what Paul is saying here is basically that suffering is part of being a believer and that he was glad to suffer to continue the work of the Church… Christ came to begin the church, and it was HE and other leaders who were called to continue where Christ has begun!
It is NOT as if Paul believed he had something to give that Christ could NOT give… it was that Paul knew Christ has started the church and he had been called to continue the church IN CHRIST!
As for the comment on suffering, I believe we can see that Paul considered suffering for Christ a privilege in his service to God. Now for the avg believer the word ‘suffering’ is NOT something we consider a privilege, it is definitely NOT something we look fwd to…
But Scripture tells us that when we DO suffer, that if we are faithful to Christ in that suffering, the message of Christ is exalted and it is lifted up before the world around us. But suffering on the behalf of Christ has at least 4 benefits 4 believers:
It takes our eyes off the comforts of this earthly realm;
It serves to weed out those who are not truly believers;
It strengthens the faith of those who endure the suffering;
It serves as an example to others who may follow
Now what I want us to understand at this point is that the ‘suffering’ Paul is speaking about here is our suffering on behalf of our faith, it is NOT about us doing something wrong… most of us believe that suffering comes when we have sin in our lives or when we fail or falter in our service to Christ…BUT
Here I want us to understand that the suffering Paul is speaking about here AND the suffering Peter speaks about in 1 Peter 4 [read verses]
1 Peter 4:1-2 [HCSB]
1Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, equip yourselves also with the same resolve—because the one who suffered in the flesh has finished with sin—2in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.
1 Peter 4:12-13 [HCSB]
12Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. 13Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.
This suffering is NOT a suffering because you have done anything wrong, but it is definitely because you are doing things RIGHT and the enemy is coming against you because of your service to Christ! Thus the term ‘suffering for Christ’
It is also this type of suffering that can actually verify your faithfulness in Christ and embolden your spirit to continue in service to Him. This is why James tells us in James 1 that when suffering (trials, tribulation) comes our way, that we should count it ALL joy…
WHY? Well it helps to mature us in the faith! So don’t resent the suffering for Christ that comes your way, but instead do as Paul does here…Paul calls on believers to actually EMBRACE it because it reveals we are headed in the right direction – spiritually speaking.
Paul knew that the believers would be suffering and that may be an issue with them, but he also knew that they were dealing with a dangerous teaching. Let’s read v25-27
25I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Within the church at Colossae, there were some who were teaching that they had a special, secret message that was available to only a special few…
This was a beginning form of what was to become known as Gnosticism… which was a heretical teaching later in the church that taught that there is a secret knowledge that only a few can ever achieve… and you have to DO things and LIVE a certain way to ‘achieve’ this knowledge.
This was being presented to these new believers in Colossae and they were confused… The message of the Gospel had shared that Christ was sufficient, but now they were hearing that there was more knowledge they needed and that they had to ‘work’ or ‘do’ something to gain this knowledge!
What Paul says here in these verses is that the Gospel he proclaimed was God’s FULL and COMPLETE Gospel… The implication here from Paul is that there is NO further revelation or there is NO other secret knowledge to be learned…
Paul does mention that the Gospel was kept ‘secret’ for generations, but that all ended when Christ came and fulfilled the plan of God. What WAS a mystery before Christ is now plainly known!
Paul then reveals the SECRET… he is not actually revealing anything, but merely reinforcing what they already knew… Paul says, “Christ lives in you!” and do you remember what he just said about Christ?
In v.15-20 Paul had revealed that God was entirely pleased to dwell within the body of Christ… that Christ was the image of the invisible God… Paul basically laid it out that all of God’s salvation plan is wrapped up in Christ… that Christ is all, and there is nothing to add…
There is another implication here as well and that is that if Christ is ALL and COMPLETE… then adding things to Christ in salvation or the kingdom of God would be a false teaching… ADDING anything to the Gospel of Christ is false teaching.
Paul ends this particular part of this section by saying, “the hope of glory…” the NLT puts it like this, “…this gives you assurance of sharing His glory…”
Because Christ has come TO us…with salvation
Because Christ has done all FOR us…in salvation
We can rest assured that we will share in His glory one day! This is our ‘hope of glory’… Christ is our HOPE of glory, for without Christ there is NO hope!
So Paul lays out in v24-27 that suffering is part of living the Christian life and that Christ is EVERYTHING to the Gospel… there is nothing to add to Christ for salvation. In Him we are complete and have a hope in glory.
So in v.28-29 we find Paul wrapping up this particular section…
28We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.
Basically what Paul is saying in these 2 verses is… “Hey this is why we TEACH you about Christ! This is why you need to continue to learn about Christ! So that you are not fooled by those who are counterfeit in their doctrine!
Do you know the best way to spot a counterfeit bill? Well, I can tell you that it is NOT about knowing what the counterfeit bills looks like and being able to spot them!
The best way to spot a fake is knowing what the genuine/true bill looks like! Anything different from the original means it is counterfeit. Paul wanted these believers to know how to spot a false teacher… and the only way to do that was to know Christ more and more!
He says here that he is ‘…warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom…’ In other words this is not something that is a one and done learning session, but it is something we all must strive for all the time. The enemy will constantly attack and we must be constantly ready for that attack!
So Paul teaches these people so that they can become more mature in the faith…In v28 Paul says he desires to present these believers ‘mature’ in their faith… he wants to see them grow PAST spiritual childhood and into a mature believer who is capable of making other mature believers…
In v29 Paul ends this section with a statement of fact… basically he is telling them that this is what God has him doing… this is his calling from God… to teach and train believers to know and grow to maturity in the Lord.
Paul’s desire was to see believers mature into a faith that was able to be sustained and duplicated. Paul’s heart was all about seeing people come to a mature faith in Christ, and likewise that should be our calling in the church today!
We should all seek to KNOW Christ more and more and then to teach others to know Him more and more. There is also a comfort here that we have a tendency to overlook and forget about… it is that we are not doing this on our own, but we are led by and empowered thru the indwelling of the HS within our lives.
Our striving for growth and maturity should always be accomplished out of love and not out of fear of being left out OR pride in some sort of special knowledge.
The message of Christ is a message for ALL peoples of the world, and Paul understood this… he traveled extensively within his world to let others know that this message of Christ was FOR them… so Paul was willing to endure suffering on behalf of His calling to share Christ with the world around him.
Presenting the Gospel will always have its challenges, but the Gospel is for everyone… but that without Christ people would perish! This teaching reveals that Christ is needed in the world and that there will always be some form of resistance to His coming…
This is why Paul struggles so hard against the powers of this world and the powers of darkness… this was why Paul was willing to suffer pain and anguish…
But Paul understands that he cannot and will not ever do this on his own power… He realizes the need for Christ and His power to do what needs to be done! Paul basically is saying here that as Christ works in you , tell others about Him by warning and teaching them in love!
So this evening I want to ask all the believers… are you striving hard to know Christ to the best of who you are? Are you striving to allow the HS to navigate you through this life and guide you down the right paths? God is seeking mature believers to do His bidding… are you ready to be that mature believer?
