Colossians 1:24-2:5 - The Mystery of God
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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.
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
Deluded drinks, etc....
It’s Summer time…cold drinks…melting ice can delude the flavor…our Cold Brew. :)
In our passage today, this is Paul’s concern…the pure Gospel message being deluded by, as the NIV puts it, “fine-sounding arguments”
In their time, the Colossians were faced with convincing, plausible, persuasive arguments which had the effect of DELUDING the Gospel of Jesus.
We are faced with the same pressures today...
This is the importance of returning to the Word and fellow-shipping over the Word…our flesh is always working to delude the work of the Gospel in our hearts. So, it is even more challenging when the entire CULTURE is putting forth ideas which are in conflict with the Gospel or supposedly can be added to the Gospel to enhance it.
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,
1:24 - Paul REJOICES in my sufferings for your sake
-In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions
LACKING? Is something LACKING in Christ’s afflictions?
-From the Cross before Jesus died, John 19:30 says...
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
And we see the implication of this elaborated on in Hebrews 10:11-14...
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
The sacrifice for our sin has been made ONCE for all…there is no more sacrifice needed for us to be reconciled to the Father, the blood of His cross has made peace for us with the Father.
So, what does Paul mean that he is filling up what is lacking?
-Remember from last week in ch 1 vs 15-17 Jesus is the Creator of all things. He is before all things and all things are held together by Him
Jesus is Omnipresent and Omnipotent …He did not just live for 33 years on earth on a small track of land east of the Mediterranean Sea.
Speaking of Jesus in John 1, John records...
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
-Christ felt on the Cross was ALL the brokenness of humanity across time.
-Yet, for us who are bound by time and space, there remains a suffering to come…it is not complete and will not be complete until the Lord returns or calls us home.
Jesus spoke of this plainly in John 15...
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 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. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
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,
-So, Paul is telling the Colossians, he counts it a JOY to suffer for the sake of the Body of Christ, the Church
-Paul sees that his suffering in prison is actually a BENEFIT to the Body of Christ…because from this place He can speak boldly of the hope he has in the Gospel with complete confidence.
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,
25 - Paul became a minister of the Church
according to the stewardship from God given for them…again, Paul sees his imprisonment as a calling from the Lord that he is to steward with a purpose…that purpose is...
> TO make the word of God fully known…namely v26
26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
26 - There is a mystery to the Gospel…Paul speaks of it over and over in his letters...
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
so there is a mystery…we’ll get to it’s meaning in a second.
our verse here in Col 1:26 also says, it was hidden for ages and generations
In Hebrews 11, you have the testimony of the prominent saints of the Old Testament and
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
I think Paul puts it plainly when speaking to the Galatians
5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
The mystery is not difficult to understand logically. The mystery is something you may have heard OVER AND OVER again, namely that by belief that:
You have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
AND that by believing Jesus death on the cross pays the penalty for your sin
You can have eternal life in the presence of God. As Galatians describes it, by faith, you can be blessed along side Abraham the man of faith.
See it is not complex to understand or even describe....yet it is a mystery to our hearts because it is EMOTIONALLY incomprehensible…we KNOW we don’t deserve this kind of blessing. And yet, by the blood of Jesus, we have been transferred from the dominion of darkness to the Kingdom of the Beloved Son.
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.
27 - To (the saints) 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.
28 - Him we proclaim (PREACH)…that we may present everyone mature in Christ
-warning (admonishing) everyone
Urgency of the Gospel
-teaching everyone with all wisdom
Logical consistency
Explaining the teaching of Jesus
29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
29 - For this I toil, struggling with all HIS energy that HE powerfully works in me
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
2:1 - For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you …
-For you
-For Laodicea
-For anyone who has not met me
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,
2 - Paul struggles
1) That their hearts may be encouraged
2) that they being knit together in love
3) to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding
and the knowledge of God’s mystery,
which is Christ.
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
3 - in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus Christ.
4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
4 - I say all of this in order that
no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
5 - For though I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit,
rejoicing to see your good order
and the firmness of your faith in Christ
GO WITH THIS...
Rejoice even in Suffering - Suffer in the strength of Jesus
Rejoice in what God has given you to steward
Rejoice in the Mystery of God, Jesus Christ, the hope of Glory
Sharing in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord TOGETHER (CG, Sunday, etc)
its been revealed to the saints, we teach and warn everyone...
knit together, assurance of understanding and knowledge of God’s mystery, Christ.
Do not be deluded with plausible arguments
1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
We live in a time when anything conceivable is possible. If you can think of a possibility, maybe there’s some truth to it. We are devaluing research and scientific process in exchange for ideas and computer learning.
If you can’t experience it in real life, maybe virtual reality, augmented reality … and perhaps that’s where you were meant to experience it…
PODCAST OUTLINE:
NAMES: In Conclusion; Final Thought; Restoration Recap;
MOTTO: Taking the sermon to the next step;
OUTLINE:
Bumper Intro/Welcome
I'm Blake & this is my co-host, Jose
Here on the Restoration Recap podcast
Let's talk about why we're here for a minute...
The Bible is rich...practically every passage can take you back and forth from New Testament to Old from Genesis to Revelation
etc...
READ the PASSAGE
GO WITH THIS...
Rejoice even in Suffering - Suffer in the strength of Jesus
Rejoice in what God has given you to steward
Rejoice in the Mystery of God, Jesus Christ, the hope of Glory
Sharing in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord TOGETHER (CG, Sunday, etc)
its been revealed to the saints, we teach and warn everyone...
knit together, assurance of understanding and knowledge of God’s mystery, Christ.
Do not be deluded with plausible arguments
ME TO JOSE: Jose, initial thoughts after this week's sermon? What stood out? What did you learn? What were you reminded of? What's your takeaway from the message yesterday?
MY TAKEAWAYS
It's not like Paul is existing in some euphoric state all the time while in prison. His proclamation within his letter is learned through the experience of being jailed and YET still having hope in Christ.
DOCTRINE CONNECTION
STUFF I LEFT OUT...
We live in a time when anything conceivable is possible. If you can think of a possibility, maybe there’s some truth to it. We are devaluing research and scientific process in exchange for ideas and computer learning.
If you can’t experience it in real life, maybe virtual reality, augmented reality … and perhaps that’s where you were meant to experience it…
