We come now to our fourth and final week unfolding our new vision here at SonRise. If you’ve missed any of these messages, I’d encourage you to go back and listen to them to catch up and hear for yourself why we’re refining and refocusing our vision.
To briefly state it all again, here it is. Our main vision is three words: Christ is All. Meaning, Jesus Christ, His Person and His Work, He Himself, is our vision. What does this vision look like as its displayed here in our life together as a church? It looks like three pursuits or three values that have formed us as a people. First, we desire to see Christ in all the Scripture. Second, we desire to honor Christ in all of Life. And third, we desire to spread Christ to all the World.
Today we finish this series by focusing on the third pursuit or value in our vision. Since we’re a people who believe Christ is All, we desire to be a people who ever spread Christ to all the world. As great as that statement is, what does it really mean? What does it really look like in our day to day lives? And can we, small little us in the grand scheme of things, really make a difference in the world for Christ?
To answer and explore all this and more today, I’d like to take you to Colossians 1:24-27…where we’ll see much. My hope for this sermon is simple. By looking at Paul’s ministry and message we see a real life pattern we’re to follow and embrace as a church. That’s my hope. That what we see in Paul, we’d be spurred on to live out ourselves. Let’s dive in.
Paul’s Ministry (v24-25)
Just v24 to start. “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the church…”
There is a lot in this verse that may seem strange to us. We see Paul rejoicing, which isn’t strange, but what he’s rejoicing in is strange. Paul rejoices in his suffering. And it’s not just rejoicing in general for hard times he’s going through, he’s rejoicing in his sufferings “…for your sake…” that is, the for the Colossian Church. To make matters more interesting Paul then makes a statement that seems to be blasphemous and heretical, “…and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the Church…” Umm, what? The afflictions of Christ are lacking? More so, does Paul really think that he is finishing or completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions through his suffering?
There are clear interpretations of this we do not want to embrace, so what then are we to think of this? Here’s what I think is going on. When Jesus said in John 19:30, “It is finished!” He meant it. So, there is no lack in Christ’s afflictions if we have His propitiating work in view. His work of satisfying the wrath of God, that’s propitiation, if that’s in view there is no lack, none at all. But, if we’re speaking about the afflictions of Christ lacking in their presenting work, there is something lacking. In regard to presentation the afflictions of Christ are lacking, because Christ is now ascended, sitting in heaven, no longer down here where we can see His wounds. That presentation of suffering is exactly what Paul fills up in his body, for the sake of the Church.
Here it clearly, Paul is adding nothing to Christ’s atonement, this verse means that in Paul’s sufferings he is displaying and presenting the sufferings of Christ to the Colossians. By speaking with his mouth Paul tells them of the full atoning work of Christ, and by showing them his beaten and bruised body Paul presents to them the work of Christ in his body. In this way Paul is completing what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ by presenting them to the world that can’t physically see Jesus’ body any longer.
You know what this means? It means Paul’s own sufferings are the means by which people taste and see the sufferings of Christ. The gospel people hear with their ears from Paul’s mouth, they see in His body with their eyes. Hear the gospel…see the gospel. Paul wasn’t adding to Christ’s work, He was embodying it in his suffering. His body bore the bruises so others could see the beauty of Christ’s wounds.
The Puritan John Bunyan knew this well. Christian, the main character in The Pilgrim’s Progress experienced something similar when he first saw the narrow road that leads to life and the wide road that leads to destruction. Looking up at the narrow road he said, “This hill, though high, I covet to ascend, the difficulty will not me offend; for I perceive the way to life lies here, come pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear; better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
Are you catching the flavor of the kind of suffering God brings about in His people for the presentation of the gospel? It’s the same flavor Paul has in v24. I think we ‘re so used to the security of comfort and the pursuits of other things in the world that we need to be awakened to what life is really about as Christians. Paul is saved by God, sent out by God, to share the gospel of Christ, and when he preaches or witnesses to the gospel people hear of Christ, but when they see the suffering he bears in his body they see the gospel of Christ. Suffering for Paul wasn’t something distracting or unrelated to his ministry, it was a pivotal part of his ministry. Without it, people would have heard yes, but they wouldn’t have seen. How kind of God to display the gospel of grace in both word and life through Paul.
Church, this kind of life isn’t just for Paul, it’s for us too. Hear some other passages of Scripture that have this same flavor as v24…
1 Peter 4:12-14, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Hebrews 11:35-38, “…Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
This life of rejoicing and suffering, sharing Jesus and showing Jesus is what v24 is all about. Paul was glad to suffer for the Church, but why did he suffer for the Colossians church? v25 fills out the rest of the picture of Paul’s ministry. There Paul says “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known…”
Here we see something of Paul’s own story, of how he became a gospel minister. He says he became a minister of the gospel, “…according to the stewardship of God that was given to me for you.”
The stewardship of God, what is that? Well, the word stewardship brings to mind responsibility and duty, or one entrusting something to someone else. Paul mentions this belonging to God though, the stewardship of God. Meaning it’s God’s prerogative (not man’s) as to who is a minister and who isn’t. So in this sense Paul is fully aware that his whole ministry was given to him, entrusted to him, not by himself or by the Colossians, but by God, for the Colossians.
But why did God entrust and give this ministry to Paul? He gives one primary reason at the end of v25, “…to make the Word of God fully known.” What a calling, what a ministry he’s given by God. To preach, to herald, to proclaim, and to spread abroad all the Word to all the world. To this work Paul devoted his life exceptionally, and for this work Paul suffered exceedingly. This is Paul’s ministry.
Paul’s Message (v26-27)
If we were to pick one word that summarizes Paul’s message, as its described in v26-27, it would be the word mystery. This mystery is why God made him a minister, and it was this mystery that Paul was to preach and spread all over the world, including here among the Colossians.
But, I should be quick to point out that Paul means very different things than we usually mean in the word mystery. When we use the word we intend to communicate something that is unknown, unidentified, or secret – like the old TV show “Unsolved Mysteries.” Also, in some Greek and Roman cities in the first century certain hucksters went around claiming that they knew great mysteries that they’d be very eager to share with others, for a fee. This is not what Paul means when he proclaims a mystery, and Paul shames these hucksters by preaching the mystery of the gospel free of charge.
Every time the New Testament uses the word mystery and when Paul uses this word here in our text there is a very different meaning. Look at v26-27, “…the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ is you, the hope of glory.”
So the mystery Paul is to preach is something that was hidden but now has been made plain. What is the mystery? It’s Christ Himself! But why does Paul use the word mystery to speak of Jesus? Well, he means that his preaching and his message is about God’s unfolding plan throughout history of the redemption where God would slowly but surely unfold the beauty and glory of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is exactly what it was like for Old Testament saints – they believed and welcomed the promises of God looking forward to the day when God would bring them to pass, and though most of them didn’t get to see the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ, Hebrews 11 says they saw them and welcomed them from afar. Paul boldly states here in his message that the mystery is over – meaning, no longer is the fulfillment of all God’s promises waiting for some future date, no longer is the fulfillment of redemptive history hidden from view. It is now plainly revealed in the Person and Work of Christ, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Meaning, God Himself, in the Person of Christ, will be directly and personally present in the lives of His people (that’s “Christ in you”), and His presence assures them of a future life with Him when He returns (that’s “the hope of glory”).
This fulfilled mystery is to be the centerpiece of Paul’s message. So to preach Christ, as the fulfillment of all, is what Paul means when he says make the Word of God fully known in v25. This is his ministry and message.
Now, you might think we’re done with our passage but there remains one large piece of the puzzle to see. How do we get the substance of our vision from this? Remember today we’re zooming in on the last phrase in the vision, Since we’re a people who believe Christ is All, we desire to be a people who ever spread Christ to all the world. How does that come from this? Answer: this message Paul is to spread abroad to all the world, is a missionary message. How do we know that from v27? We see it in the word Gentiles.
Did you know the Greek word Gentiles, means a lot more than just those who are not Jews? That’s the usually meaning, right? That there are two groups of people in the world, Jews and Gentiles. It does mean that, but it means so much more than that. The Greek word Gentiles is the word ethnos, and it could also be translated nations. Let’s re-read v26-27 with the that translation in view. “…the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the nations are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ is you, the hope of glory.”
See the shift in meaning here when the nations are in view? Paul’s calling and ministry, that he suffers greatly for, that he’s given by God, is to preach, to herald, to proclaim, and to spread abroad all the Word to all the nations. His message is a missionary message. That Christ came to save a people who were lost and without hope in this world, strangers from the covenants of promise and alienated from God. Hope is now being broadcast to all the nations in the gospel.
This brings us back to our vision. If we’re to be a healthy and faithful church here at SonRise (do you see it?) what compelled Paul must compel us. Paul’s message must be our message! Paul’s missionary zeal to get all the Word out to all the world must be part of our zeal too.
If our ministry is to be a biblical ministry, we must never stop at that door and only have ourselves in view. We must ever have the nations in view. Yes, it was Paul’s calling, but it’s ours too. Paul went, we’re to be involved in going too. Paul suffered for this, and we’re to join in that as well, not retreating or shrinking back in fear from hard things, but enduring and persevering for the sake of the nations hearing the gospel, believing the gospel, and growing in the gospel.
Church, when we say Christ is All it means we don’t just gather to know Him. We scatter to make Him known.
Paul bore scars so the Colossians would see Jesus. What will we bear so the nations can see Christ in us?
We’ve heard the mystery, the hope of glory: Christ in us. Now it’s our turn to go and take this message out. This is why we must be about spreading, about healthy missionary effort. This is why we have a missions wall in the back. This is why we give to missions. This is why we raise up and send our own missionaries out, like Tory, like the Abitz’s, and like others in the future. This is why we take short term trips. This is why we visit our missionaries to encourage them and join them in the work.
This is one of those passages that reminds us of these great realities. That we must ever be a people eager to count it a joy to suffer for the sake of the gospel getting out, carrying the mystery—no longer hidden, but revealed in Christ—to the ends of the earth.
Christ is in us, the hope of glory. The world needs hope. So let’s go, spreading all the Word to all the world. Why? So that Christ who is all, would be all in all.
