What do I do with all this knowledge?

Read Colossians 1:24-26 “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.”

Introduction

I found an interesting statistic.

53% of college graduates are either underemployed or unemployed.

Underemployed means having a job with no college degree requirement.

For example, graduating with a bachelor degree and then working at Starbucks.

So if you graduate college it’s more likely you will have no job or work a job that doesn’t need a degree.

And this is not to shame college graduates for working a job that a high school grad could get.

In fact, when I graduated college in psychology, I worked as an assistant manager for a shoe store.

Then I sold suits.

And then I got a job working for a cybersecurity company which required a bachelor’s degree.

It took me 3 years to get a job that required a college degree.

But I couldn’t help but think after graduating, and working jobs that didn’t use my degree at all, and waiting 3 years to get one, feel like I have all this useless knowledge.

I couldn’t help but think, ‘what do I do with all this knowledge?’

And I hope, some of you are thinking that today, after being in youth ministry whether for a few weeks or a few years, ‘what do I do with all this knowledge of Jesus?’

What do I do with all this knowledge of the Bible?

Last time in student worship, we learned about what Jesus does with all this power: He reconciles, and makes us worthy before Him.

So today, we’re going to learn what do I do with all this knowledge of Jesus’ reconciling me and making me worthy before Him?

And the first thing we do is:

1. Rejoice when things get tough (v.24)

That’s what Paul says here, ‘I now rejoice in my sufferings for you’

Notice how Paul says, ‘now’

By saying, ‘now’, Paul is signaling to us, that what he is saying, is based on the previous verse.

In other words, now that I explained what Christ does with all His power, here is how I react.

Here is my response, to Christ’s reconciling and making me worthy before Him.

Here is what I do with all this knowledge of Christ’s power, Paul is saying.

And what Paul does is rejoice in his suffering for the Colossians.

Rejoice in suffering?

Doesn’t suffering equal pain?

How can two, completely opposite: joy and pain, happen at the same time?

One of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced, sends chills down my spine, just thinking about it.

Stepping on a Lego piece.

I tell you, there was not an atom of joy in me when my soft foot was defeated by a small plastic brick, but only pain and misery.

On a more serious note, when I was in 8 grade, living many years alone , one of the most helpful things to me at the time, was video games.

And I remember still to this day, that one of those days, I stopped feeling joy and happiness from video games.

And that was one of the most depressing feelings I ever felt.

Not the lack of fun from video games.

But the lack of any fun, happiness or joy from anything.

These are two times I can share with you, where I experienced zero joy and 100% pain.

One in an instant and the other for almost 2 decades.

And yet, Paul does the unthinkable here.

He rejoices in suffering.

He rejoices when he was imprisoned.

He rejoices when he was whipped.

He rejoices when he experienced multiple near death experiences.

He even rejoiced when people he trusted betrayed him, his final in letter to Timothy.

How?

Because Paul knows the power of Jesus.

He is thrilled with the knowledge of being reconciled and being made worthy of Him.

He rejoices because of grace.

It is the undeserved love and justice of God that enables Paul to rejoices even in the most painful moments in his life.

He didn’t care about the problems he was facing, because he was so amazed of Jesus’ grace.

You see, the more knowledge of Christ’s power that you have, the more you can do with it.

The more you can rejoice when things get tough.

And I think one of the barriers that keeps us from rejoicing when things get tough is false expectations.

You see, many times we forget the reality of the Christian walk.

We think, ‘now that I’m baptized everything is going to be smooth sailing.’

We expect nothing but comfort and an easy life.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus said in John 15:20

John 15:20 (NKJV)

Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.

You see students, what a joke it is, to think that we will get better treatment than Jesus.

Jesus our almighty God was nailed to a cross.

If Jesus being infinitely superior to us was nailed to a cross, what makes us think that we deserve better than that?

Unless, you think that you are actually superior to Jesus, therefore, you won’t have a painful life?

Let’s have the right expectations.

Don’t expect to be treated better than the master.

The Master who suffered is in us and we in Him.

We are united with Jesus, the suffering servant.

So since we are united with Jesus, since He suffered we will also suffer.

Not for our sins, since Jesus already paid for that!

But our life will be like that of our Master who suffered for us.

Speaking of, ‘for us’, that is what Paul also says, sufferings for you.

It is not a random suffering.

It is not a pointless suffering.

It is suffering with a purpose.

It is suffering for the good of others.

That is why Paul can rejoice because he knows that the Colossians are benefitting from it.

His suffering is helping others.

We’re not rejoicing in our suffering because it makes us more righteous or holier than others.

We rejoice in our suffering, knowing that one day, God will use this unique trial and suffering that you are experiencing, so that you can help someone in the future who will face what you just faced!

So with all this knowledge of Christ, rejoice when things get tough.

Because of Christ’s grace, and because you are going to help someone one day because of your unique trial.

2. Take up the cross (v.24)

In summary, this is what Paul is saying when he says, ‘and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ’

Now, you may be wondering, ‘how can Paul fill up with is lacking in the afflictions of Christ?’

Isn’t Christ’s suffering on the cross enough for us?

So how can there be any lack?

Well remember, back in v.21, Paul explains that Christ has reconciled us through His death on the cross.

So Paul can’t be saying that he is filling up what is lacking in the cross, otherwise, he would be contradicting himself.

But what Paul is saying, is that he is filling up what is lacking in his flesh!

Meaning, Paul is saying is that he is continuing the life of suffering that being united with Christ comes with!

He is fighting the good fight.

He is finishing the race.

He is living out what Jesus said in Matthew 16:24

Matthew 16:24 (NKJV)

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Jesus is not saying, ‘If you want to come after me, live a pain-free life’.

But instead Jesus says, ‘if you want to come after me, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me’ meaning, reject your old way of living, thinking, and wanting even if it doesn’t feel good and follow me!

With all this knowledge of Christ, take up the cross.

You see, taking up the cross without all this knowledge of Christ is impossible.

The famous reformer, Martin Luther would spend decades of trying to be a good person.

One time, he would exhaust a priest by spending dozens of hours confessing his sins, because he constantly thought of new sins that he needed forgiveness of.

But it wasn’t until he knew that he was justified in Christ, it wasn’t until he truly knew Christ that he was finally free.

And that’s what I’m telling you.

I’m going to tell you, deny yourself, and take up the cross.

But only in reference to your knowledge of Christ.

Deny yourself, your lusts, your desire to be like the world, because you have complete joy knowing that Jesus has made you into a new creation.

Take up the cross, stand up for Jesus even if it costs you friends or social standing, because Jesus is has already secured your salvation forever and is with you to the end.

And do all this for the good of others.

That’s why Paul says, ‘for the sake of His body, which is the church’

Paul having all this knowledge of Christ took up the cross for the good of others: the church.

It was because of Christ enduring in Paul through the imprisonments, the beatings, and the betrayals that the Colossian church, whom Paul never even met, came to believe in Christ, and flourish in love for one another and the world.

And you must do the same.

You guys may be young, but you can all be leaders.

It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you are a Christian you have the ability to lead one another to Christ!

How? You may ask?

When you, having all this knowledge of Christ, take up the cross, by refusing to speak foul words like the people in your school, refuse to do foolish things that others do, other Christians who see you, will learn, be encouraged, and be influenced by your holy behavior!

That is how you lead one another to Christ by taking up the cross.

And even if the people who notice your different behavior aren’t Christians, you are also leading them to Christ, and they may one day, being intrigued by how different you are, may ask you some questions!

So with all this knowledge of Christ, take up the cross!

3. Encourage one another with Scripture (v.25-26)

We see this when Paul says in v.25, ‘of which I became a minister'

Now what is a minister?

Often we use minister, in terms of an official church authority like a pastor, but minister is not limited to that meaning.

Minister in the bible simply means being a servant of Christ.

Meaning, that every Christian in a sense, is a minister.

That’s why Paul says in 1 Peter 4:10

1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If you are a Christian, God has given you a spiritual gift to minister or serve others.

And notice Peter also uses the word ‘steward’.

That’s what Paul says, that ‘he became a minister according to the stewardship from God’

Ministry, and the spiritual gift God gave you is a stewardship.

What is stewardship?

Stewardship is simply management of something that belongs to another.

In this case, management of what belongs to God, which is your spiritual gift and your duty to minister it to others.

You need to steward or manage what God has given you, because it’s God not yours.

You need to honor God by stewarding your spiritual gift by serving one another.

You see the ministry I do is God’s not mine.

This is not my ministry this is God’s ministry, I’m simply stewarding what He has gifted me to do.

And so I recognize that ministry is not all on me.

But’s it’s all of us together.

I may minister to you by preaching, but you will minister in ways that I can’t.

Playing music, helping putting away and set up, being generous to one another, listening and encouraging to one another.

Be a part of God’s ministry.

Because you see, just like all the previous 2 points, your gift was designed for the good of others.

That’s why Paul says, ‘the stewardship from God which was given to me for you’

Again, Paul’s gift was not so that he could feel cool or better than others, but it was for the good of the church.

And what exactly does ministry look like?

Paul says, ‘to fulfill the word of God’

Paul fulfilled the word of God by preaching the gospel.

You may not be called to preach, but you are all called to fulfill the word of God.

‘Well if I can’t preach, how can I do that?’ You may ask?

Encourage one another with Scripture.

With all this knowledge of Christ, now encourage one another with Scripture, His Word.

Not every Christian can preach, but every Christian can share what they learned from God’s Word to others.

You see, what if you guys started asking one another, ‘how are you doing spiritually?’

‘How are you doing in the Lord?’

You see, it’s one thing if I ask for prayer requests.

You expect that kind of question, because I’m your pastor.

But there’s something special, when some of you, who have known each other for years and have a unique relationship with one another, ask each other ‘how are you doing in the Lord?’

You’ll be able to encourage one another in unique ways that I can’t.

It’s in those personal and unique relationships that you can truly encourage one another with Scripture.

We truly live in a special time.

Where we can encourage one another with Scripture because we know Christ in a deeper way than others.

That’s what Paul is saying here in the final verse, verse 26, ‘the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.’

It’s not that the people during the OT didn’t know about a coming suffering Messiah like you see in Isaiah 53.

It’s simply that, it became perfectly clear when the Son of God took on flesh and came into this world 2000 years ago.

It’s 2023 A.D.

The year of our Lord.

This is Jesus’ time.

And what that also means is that we live in the end times.

The time when Jesus will return is soon.

So don’t waste time.

Instead, with all of this knowledge of Christ, urgently serve one another.

Because our time here is limited.

Ask yourself, ‘how much time am I wasting?’

How can I use the time to serve others?

That’s what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 5:15-16

Ephesians 5:15–16 (LSB)

Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Paul says, don’t waste your time, because we live in the end.

The days are evil, and Jesus is coming soon.

So with all this knowledge encourage one another with Scripture.

Conclusion

Knowledge is power, guys.

With all this knowledge of Jesus you can rejoice when things get tough, take up the cross, and encourage one another with Scripture.

But if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

You have the one knowledge that can change your life forever.

You can see it in the lives of other Christians in this church!

The knowledge that only Jesus can save you from judgement.

That your works are worthless, and only Jesus’ work on the cross is worthy.

So Jesus offers you eternal life as a free gift.

All you have to is accept it, by faith alone, that you and nothing else can save you but Jesus.

Let’s pray.