Aleethia!

This post is part of a teaching series on the book of Colossians. All of the lessons in this series can be found here. In the first lesson we outlined the book. In each subsequent lesson we look at one small section of the outline and seek to answer five questions concerning the text.

Colossians 1:24-29

24 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, 25 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, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

We know from our outline, and our summary of this paragraph from last week, that this passage describes Paul’s ministry of preaching/teaching.

Last week we looked at verse 24 and the suffering that is inherent in the delivery of the Gospel. This week we’re looking at the actual delivery. As we read this paragraph we’ll notice four things about Paul’s teaching ministry.

1. Paul’s appointment as a steward of the Gospel(25)
2. The message he preached (25 - 28)
3. The method he used (28)
4. The goal he hoped to achieve (28 - 29)

Paul’s appointment as a steward of the Gospel

The beginning of verse 25 refers to the end of verse 24. “Of which” refers to “the church” in verse 24. Paul became a minister of the church. When we see the word “Minister” we often think of a pastor or preacher, who has a church he is over. That is not what is meant here. This Greek word is often translated as “deacon” in our Bibles. It literally means “one who serves” and carries with it the basic idea of waiting on tables, or running errands. In Acts 6:1-6, the Hellenistic widows were being unfairly overlooked when food was distributed daily by the church. So the Apostles called everyone together and said they needed to devote themselves to prayer and serving up (deaconing, ministering) the Word of God, and that they should appoint others “to serve tables” and distribute the food evenly. Therefore the office of Deacon was created. These men were to see to it that the food was evenly distributed to all widows, regardless of place of birth or language spoken.

Paul says he is a deacon, who’s service is of benefit to the church as a whole (of God’s people). He then goes on to say that his service is “according to the stewardship from God” given to him for the church. That word “stewardship” comes from the Greek word from which we get our english words “economy” and “economics”. Paul has been appointed the steward of the Gospel “to make the Word of God fully known.” He is too administer it to the gentiles. That is why he uses the word deacon.

In other passages, such as Galatians 2:7, Paul says he was “entrusted” with the gospel for the gentiles. In other words, the Gospel is valuable. It is the only means by which a person may be saved from eternity in hell. Paul was given the responsibility (against his own will even, see 1 Cor 9:16-17), of distributing this spiritual food to the gentiles.

The Message

There is some debate amongst commentators over the meaning of the last phrase of verse 25.

to make the Word of God fully known

Does Paul mean that he must preach the whole Word of God? Or that he must make the Word known to all those he has been charged with reaching? Commentators and translators are split in their interpretation of this passage. It is clear from Scripture that Paul intended both outcomes.

First, Romans 15:15-24 shows Paul’s zeal to spread the Gospel to all the world. His desire is to preach where the gospel has not gone, to reach people groups who have not heard.

During Paul’s last meeting with the elders from the church in Ephesus, Paul declares that he had taught them “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), meaning he had not avoided any subjects because of difficulty or controversy.

I think both things are important aspects of Paul’s ministry.

The context here in verse 26 explains the last statement of verse 25. What was he making fully known?

The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

Mystery here refers to a truth which is undiscoverable except by divine revelation. This mystery was hidden, not revealed, until now. In 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 Paul tells us that he preaches a wisdom that was previously secret and hidden, even from demonic powers who, had they understood, would not have crucified Jesus. (see also Eph 3:7-10)

Verse 27 explains the secret that has now been revealed as God’s plan to save the gentiles, and not just to save them, but to indwell them.

…mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The hope of glory is our joyous expectation of the heavenly state of glorification and eternity spent in Christ’s service.

Paul often speaks of the unit of all believers “in Christ”. Here he speaks of the salvation of the gentiles by telling of “Christ in” them.

Oh how Satan and his demons hated the Jews, and still do, but they surely would have refrained from crucifying Christ had they known it would purchase salvation for the world, and not just the Jews alone! How many souls have slipped from Satan’s grasp as a result of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross! For this reason we should boast in the cross, and glory in the cross!

Notice that Paul says this mystery has been “revealed to his saints.” The mystery is still indiscernible without instruction and help from the Spirit of God. So the cross remains

a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)

Paul also speaks in verse 27 of the “riches of the glory of this mystery”.

Paul is saying that this Spirit given knowledge of salvation through Christ is gloriously valuable. Christ is the treasure that we should value above all else. Go back and start with verse 15 and read through verse 22 noting all the glorious things about Christ that Paul just shared with us.

Jesus is

• The image of the invisible God
• The Creator
• The reason for creation
• Before all things
• The glue that holds all things together
• The head of the church
• The beginning
• The firstborn from the dead
• Preeminent in all things
• The means of our reconciliation with God Almighty

He should be our treasure! To be in Christ and have Christ in us is indeed glorious!

The Method

So Paul’s ministry (service) is one of value to the Church because he is teaching and preaching about Jesus. How did he go about this? What was his method?

Verse 28 tells us. First, he proclaimed Jesus. This is to publicly declare or preach about Jesus in an evangelistic sense.

We see examples of this in Acts 13:5 where this same Greek word is used. Here Paul is preaching in the synagogue, sharing the good news with the Jews.

In Acts 17:23 Paul is in Athens and standing in the center of their town council he begins to proclaim Jesus as the “unknown god” they had erected an alter to.

This kind of preaching is to those who are not believers and we see many examples of it throughout the book of Acts.

He doesn’t stop with the conversion of lost souls though. Paul goes on “warning” and “teaching” everyone. The word “warning” here literally means to reprimand firmly, to rebuke or chastise. There would be no sense in reprimanding an unbeliever, you must simply share the gospel with them and let God bring them to repentance. I think this reprimand is being given to believers. It is correction. Paul was quick to correct the churches, that is why we have his letters making up a large portion of the New Testament. “Teaching” here implies a system of learning or instruction, and carries with it the idea that this takes place over an extended period.

In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus tells us to make disciples, baptize them, and then teach them everything he had commanded. That would take time! Throughout the book of Acts as we witness Paul planting churches and evangelizing entire regions, he often spends extended time there teaching in the new church before moving on. In Acts 11 he spends a year in Antioch. In Acts 18 he spends a year and a half in Corinth. In Acts 20:31 Paul reminds the Ephesian Elders that he spent three years teaching them.

Even after leaving and continuing on his journeys, Paul continues to pray for these various churches, write them letters of instruction, and even send his coworkers to them for further teaching and training.

We’re talking about discipleship here. It takes time. You can’t do it overnight. If you know another believer who is younger than you in the faith and you want to disciple them, you can’t expect to do it in a day, or a week, or a month, it takes time. Maybe years, maybe the rest of your life. Are you prepared for that?

The Goal

What was the goal of all this work? Why spend years of your life suffering hardship and persecution to bring the gospel to people and then more years teaching and discipling them?

that we may present everyone mature in Christ

The goal is to create mature believers who will stand beside Paul before the throne of Jesus. When he says he wants to “present” them, that word literally means “stand beside”. It means to recommend them. He wants them mature “in Christ” not in any other way, but mature spiritually as Christians. What does it mean to be “mature in Christ”?

The word literally means “having reached its end”, perfect or complete. Paul often used it in the sense of being full grown or mature (1 Cor 14:20, Eph 4:13, Heb 5:14, Heb 6:1).

Taken in context of Paul’s teaching ministry, I think it means the same thing it does in Hebrews 5:11-6:2. We are to be growing (increasing) in our knowledge and practice of God’s Word. This means the goal of a preacher or teacher is to increase his people’s knowledge of Scripture, and move them to obedience of Scripture. This is movement along the scale of sanctification. This means seeing fruit of the Spirit’s work in people’s lives. This is done by teaching and applying the Bible (John 17:17).

One last note on this verse. It is not just a certain few that Paul is concerned with, it is everyone. He proclaims the gospel to all people. No one is above or below salvation, by nature of their nationality, skin color, language, place of birth, or anything else. He does not just cater to the eager disciples when teaching and training either. His goal is to mature all the believers. Notice the use of the word “everyone” three times. The Gnostics believed in secret knowledge that only a few could understand. Paul indeed said the gospel is secret wisdom, but it has been revealed to all who have been called of God. There is no elite class of believers to whom some secrets are revealed, which are not revealed to all the saints.

To be sure, some have more training, more maturity, more experience, more knowledge, different gifts. That does not mean that we should not all strive toward a more thorough knowledge of Christ and His Word. That was Paul’s goal for us, and should be our goal for ourselves and those around us.

In verse 29 Paul explains that all his labor and effort is Jesus working through him. He cannot brag about anything except the cross of Christ, because he has done nothing. Christ has done it all.

Application

Paul was given stewardship of the Gospel for the gentiles. Hudson Taylor was given stewardship of the Gospel for the people of China. Adoniram Judson was given stewardship of the Gospel for the people of Burma. Jim Elliot was given stewardship of the gospel for the Auca Indians. For whose sake have you been given stewardship of the Gospel? Your parents, siblings, school mates, coworkers, people of Pulaski County, or some remote people group you may not have even heard of yet? Remember Jesus’ parable of the talents, you may not be called to bring the gospel to an entire people group, but you have been entrusted with it for a purpose. There are mission fields all around you ripe for harvest.

In America people have often heard the gospel, or heard of Jesus. What they probably haven’t seen, sadly, is a Christian who lived their life as if Christ was their treasure. If you live your life treasuring Christ, people will pay attention when you speak of Him. It will change how they respond to the message.

Find your mission field, proclaim Christ, and see it to completion. Your work is not done with conversion of unbelievers to faith in Christ. Discipleship takes time and bears a cost. Are you willing to invest your life in the cause of Christ? To spread the joy and hope of eternal glory to others, so they too will worship the risen Christ? That is the reason God created you. That is the mission he has called you to? Will you obey?