Colossians 1:24-29 - For This Purpose Also I Labor (Part 1)

Introduction

[READING - Colossians 1:24-29]

Colossians 1:24–29 NASB95

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

[PRAYER]

[CONTEXT] The Apostle Paul had never been to the Colossian church, but he cared deeply for it. Paul’s fellow-worker, Epaphras, had taught these Colossian believers the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but now they were in danger of wandering from faith alone in the real Jesus.

This was unimaginable, unthinkable, unbearable to Paul, so he began his letter by essentially telling them what he had been praying for them as he prayed that they would embrace the real Jesus once again. That’s basically Colossians 1:3-14.

But then Paul lifted up the real Jesus before them so they might marvel at His majesty once again. Paul said of Jesus…

Colossians 1:15–20 NASB95

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Jesus who was very God of very God came in the flesh to die on the cross to reconcile all things to God the Father.

But this wasn’t just true generally, it was true for the Colossians personally.

Paul continues in Colossians 1:21-23…

Colossians 1:21–23 NASB95

21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Paul wanted the Colossians to continue in faith in the real Jesus, not some twisted, fake Jesus promoted by false teachers.

He wanted them to cling to the real Jesus that first saved them.

In fact, Paul so badly wanted everyone to embrace this real Jesus that it was his life’s work.

As he said, he had been made a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[CONNECTION] Do you know that if you are in Christ Jesus, you are a minister of the Gospel?

You are not an Apostle, but you are a messenger.

You may not be a pastor, but you are a proclaimer.

You may not think of yourself as missionary material, but you are a minister.

If we are followers of Jesus Christ, our life’s work should be to see that all people cling to the real Jesus for salvation.

[INTER] But what might CHARACTERIZE your work as a minister of the Gospel? What CHARACTERIZED Paul’s labor as a minister of the Gospel?

[CIT] In Colossians 1:24-29, Paul provides several CHARACTERISTICS of his labor in Gospel ministry.

[PROP] As we consider a couple of them this morning, we should embrace them as they CHARACTERIZE our own ministries…

[TS]…

Major Ideas

CHARACTERISTIC #1: Paul’s Gospel-labor was characterized by SUFFERING (vv. v. 24)

Colossians 1:24 NASB95

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

[EXP] When Jesus called Paul into His service, He said that Paul was His chosen instrument to bear His name before Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel (Acts 9:15); he also said that He would show Paul how much he must suffer for the name of Jesus (Acts 9:16).

And the Apostle Paul surely did suffer for the sake of Jesus’ name.

In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul was defending his Apostleship against so-called ‘super-apostles’ who were bashing Paul and boasting in all they had supposedly suffered for Jesus.

Reluctantly, Paul responded to the boasting of these ‘super-apostles’ with a list of his sufferings. He wrote…

2 Corinthians 11:23–28 ESV

23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

This was Paul’s suffering as he wrote to the Corinthian believers, but even as he wrote to the Colossian believers, he was suffering in a Roman prison.

And incredibly he said his suffering was filling up what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

At first glance, this sounds almost sacrilegious. What does it mean that Paul’s suffering was filling up what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions?

First, we must understand that there was absolutely nothing lacking in Jesus’ atoning work on the cross.

Jesus paid the full price for our sins by laying down His life on the cross, and when He did, he said, “It is finished!”

No further payment required.

Second, to understand what Paul meant when he said that his suffering was filling up what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions, we must remember the words of Jesus when He appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus.

Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute more followers of Jesus after supervising the murder of our brother, Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

On the Damascus road, Jesus appeared to Paul in a blinding light and asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

But remember, Paul was persecuting followers of Jesus, so why did Jesus ask him, “Why are you persecuting Me?”

Because followers of Jesus Christ are apart of His spiritual body, which is another way of saying that followers of Jesus belong to Jesus the way our arms and legs belong to us.

If you punch me in the arm, I don’t ask, “Why did you punch my arm?”

Instead, I ask, “Why did you punch me?”

When a believer in Christ like Paul is persecuted, Christ is persecuted for that believer is apart of His spiritual body.

It’s in this sense that Paul’s suffering was filling up what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

When Jesus died on the cross, the world had not had its fill of making Christ suffer, so it turned to His spiritual body; it turned to His people in order to make them suffer.

But what the enemy means for evil, God works for good, and Paul could say he rejoiced in his sufferings because he knew that his sufferings were for the sake of the body of Christ, the church.

How did Paul’s sufferings benefit the church?

Well, writing to the Philippians from prison, Paul said…

Philippians 1:12–14 NASB95

12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

Through the suffering of Paul, God was giving greater progress to the Gospel.

Unbelievers like the Romans in the praetorian guard and others were hearing about Jesus.

Believers were being encouraged to trust in the Lord during their suffering, and they were being emboldened to speak the word of God without fear.

Again, what the enemy meant for evil, God worked for good.

God made sure that Paul’s suffering turned out for the greater progress of the Gospel.

[ILLUS] In the 1940s and 1950s Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian minister who, because of his faith in Christ, spent 14 years in prison with three of those years in solitary confinement. Romania was an atheistic state, and it inflicted great pain on those caught sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Wurmbrand famously wrote a book called Tortured for Christ, which documented the abuse he experienced while imprisoned. Suffice it to say, it was horrific.

He was mutilated. He was burned. He was even frozen.

He had the soles of his feet beaten until the flesh was torn off, and then the next day they were beaten again down to the bone.

But amazingly Wurmbrand referred to his time in prison as time in “the seminary;” he said he saw prison with all of its suffering as a place that deepened his faith in God and understanding of God.

Through his 18 books and the establishment of Voice of the Martyrs, an organization that highlights the persecution Christians around the world, Wurmbrand’s faithfulness in suffering has inspired countless believers and continues to do so today.

God made sure that his suffering too turned out for the greater progress of the Gospel.

[APP] You and I may not be suffering like the Apostle Paul or like Richard Wurmbrand, but if we were, could we say we would rejoice in our sufferings if he meant great progress for the Gospel?

We shouldn’t long for suffering, but should we find ourselves suffering for the name of Christ, we can trust it is for the glory of God and the exaltation of Jesus.

We can trust that our suffering is for the greater progress of the Gospel.

[TS] Paul’s Gospel-labor was characterized by suffering.

CHARACTERISTIC #2: Paul’s Gospel-labor was characterized by REVELATION (vv. 25-27)

Colossians 1:25–27 NASB95

25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[EXP] Paul was made a minister so that Jesus would be revealed as the Christ, as the Messiah, the promised Savior of God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike.

This was a stewardship (i.e., a trust) that Paul received from God and for which he was accountable to God.

This was a stewardship given to him for the benefit of the church universal, which included, of course, the church in Colossae specifically.

And this was a stewardship that Paul would carry out by the preaching of the word of God.

In the last part of v. 25 in the NASB Paul said that by revealing Jesus as the Christ for Jews and Gentiles alike, he would “fully carry out the preaching of the word of God.”

The KJV/NKJV has him saying that he would “fulfill the word of God.”

The Lexham English Bible (LEB) has him saying that he would “complete the word of God.”

But I think Paul’s meaning is most clearly expressed in translations like the ESV and CSB in which Paul says that by revealing Jesus as the Christ for Jews and Gentiles alike he would “make the word of God fully known.”

In other words, Paul said that he would fulfill his stewardship as a minister of the Gospel by revealing Jesus as as the Christ for Jews and Gentiles alike as he proclaimed that message from the whole counsel of God’s Word.

This was the mystery hidden in ages past but now revealed to the saints (i.e., believers) in the preaching of the Apostles.

The Messiah isn’t just a Savior for Jewish people, Jesus is a Savior for all people who will trust in Him.

In Jesus, the riddle is revealed, the mystery is manifested; God sent a Savior for Jews and Gentiles alike.

Jesus is Christ in us, the hope of glory.

For all who trust in Him, He is resurrection from the spiritual death caused by sin, and He is the certain expectation of eternal life to come.

[APP] Just focus on that phrase in v. 27 for just a moment—“Christ in you.”

If you have turned from your sin against God and trusted in Jesus as your Savior, the One who paid for your sins on the cross and rose from the dead to make you righteous before God, then Christ is in you and you are in Him!

The two of you cannot be separated!

And if this is true for you, then you have the hope of glory, which is the certain expectation of eternal life in heaven to come.

Because Christians are in Jesus and He is in them, Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39…

Romans 8:38–39 NASB95

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and Christ Jesus our Lord is in us!

Nothing shall separate us from the love of God!

What assurance of salvation this is!

Jesus has been revealed as the Christ—the Christ who lived for me, died for me, rose for me, ascended for me, the One who lives in me if I have trusted in Him.

But that is the biggest ‘if’.

Have you trusted in Him?

Have you placed your faith in Him?

In your heart now, see Him—see Jesus—suffering for you on the cross, paying the price for your sins.

Hear him say concerning you, “Father, forgive him…” or “Father, forgive her…”

Hear him say concerning your salvation, “It is finished.”

In your heart now, see Him rising from the dead.

See the stone rolled away.

See the empty tomb.

Hear the risen Jesus call you to ministry, saying, “Go, make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” (Matt. 28:19).

He says that to you, dear Christian.

Will you serve Him? Will you be a minister in His service?

Will you suffer for Him if it means the great progress of the Gospel?

Will you, from the Scriptures, reveal Jesus as the Savior for all people who trust in Him?

[TS]…

Conclusion

If we have been saved by Jesus, we are meant to live as a minister of Jesus.

That ministry will likely be CHARACTERIZED by suffering—suffering for faithfulness to Jesus so the Gospel goes forward.

That ministry will certainly be CHARACTERIZED by revelation—revealing Jesus from the whole counsel of God’s Word.

Are you ready to be used by Him?

Maybe your response to God’s Word this morning is a prayer, “Lord, I’ve been slack, but I want to be used as a minster in your service. Lord, forgive me and use me.”

But perhaps you’ve not yet trusted in Jesus.

You know you’re a sinner. You’ve broken God’s commandments; you’ve violated your own conscience; and you know you’ve rebelled against what God says is right.

And perhaps you’re feeling the weight of that rebellion. You know that the price for sin is death, but—and hear me now—the free gift of God is Christ Jesus.

He lived the perfect life you should have lived.

He died the terrible death that you deserved to die.

He rose from the grave, so that you could be made right with God.

But what will you choose to do?

Will you choose to trust Jesus for salvation and give your life in service to Him?

The Apostle Paul did.

Richard Wurmbrand did.

And they never regretted, and, believe me, they don’t regret it now.

You won’t regret it either.

[PRAYER]