“CHRIST IN YOU” Col. 1:24–27 (Part 2)

*Elaborate on the suffering of Christ and its connection to the Church*

We began this section of Colossians 1:24–27 and only made it through verse 24. The points there were too significant to pass up, and so now we pick up where we left off. Our main thought for this portion of Scripture is…

When Jesus is first, your savoring, suffering, and serving all change.

Our savoring changes, we desire Christ because He is the most desirable. Our lives, our goals, aspirations, and desires, our very savoring, changes because we are united to Christ. But what about Paul’s discussion of suffering, and what about Paul’s service?

Which brings us to a consideration of our own suffering and serving. You see, being united to Christ, or having Jesus first, changes our savoring, suffering, and service.

These two points bring us to a hard reality. We live in a fallen world. Life does not always go the way we expect, and certainly not the way we desire. We get sick, we break bones, we lose jobs, our health declines, a spouse passes away. But that is only one part of life in such a fallen world.

There is also the worldly system, the system of opposition to God in every conceivable way in every period of human history in every culture that has, does, or will exist. This system hates God, and will undermine Him deceptively or reject Him outrightly. And because of our union with Christ, we are also opposed, as Jesus Himself told His disciples, John 15:18-19

John 15:18–19 NASB95

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

The suffering we endure is, or should be, tied to our serving, tied to our union with Christ.

When Jesus is first, your savoring, suffering, and service all change.

II. UNION WITH CHRIST AND OUR SUFFERING- 1:24b

Paul savored Christ, being united with, or to phrase it like we did in our previous sermon, Christ is the believer’s life, strength, and salvation.

And because of that, Paul served the Lord Jesus and as Paul did so he suffered. And here in this second half of verse 24 we have two key, life-sustaining truths to consider. First,

A. UNION WITH CHRIST SEASONS OUR SUFFERING WITH PURPOSE- “for your sake” and “on behalf of His body, which is the church”

Paul’s suffering was not pointless, and no suffering ever is. It is, after all, guided by the hands of a good and loving God. But to make it a bit more concrete, I want to read an excerpt from the book, When Faith is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians, written by Tom Nettleton, host of the Voices of the Martyrs radio show.

I think it provides a modern example of what Paul is teaching here.

“The nickname ‘Haji’ is a term of respect in the Muslim world, bestowed on those who have completed their hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, one of Islam’s five pillars. It’s not commonly combined with the title pastor!

We met ‘Pastor Haji’ at his grass-roofed house in the southern part of Ethiopia, an area where a rising tide of radical Islam was threatening the church and Christian believers. Outside the house, there was burn mark on the wall. One week prior, radical Muslims tried to set fire to Haji’s house. Thankfully, he put out the fire.

As we sit, drinking orange sodas Haji graciously offered us, we can look up to see sunlight streaming through holes in the tightly packed grass roof. The holes are the result of neighborhood Muslims throwing stones onto the house, trying to pressure Haji and his family to leave the area or return to Islam. Thankfully, none of his family was injured by falling stones.

Haji understands the hatred of radical Muslims. He used to be one of them! He was so devout, he was sent to Saudi Arabia for special training.

As we stood outside the hut, Haji had his arm around the evangelist that brought us to meet him. Nodding his head toward the evangelist, he said five words I will never forget.

‘I used to beat him.’

What?

‘I used to beat him.’ Haji went on to tell us that he was the leader of a radical Islamic group of young men, and part of their holy duty to their Prophet was attacking and harassing Christians. One of those they attacked was this very evangelist, the man now smiling with Haji’s arm draped loosely across his shoulders.

…Eventually, Haji’s heart was won by the gospel message and the love of the Christian man he was attacking.”

Tom Nettleton, When Faith Is Forbidden, 23-24

Paul rejoiced in his sufferings because he savored Christ. Paul rejoiced because he knew his suffering was seasoned with purpose.

This does not mean, by the way, that Paul enjoyed the pain and suffering. I can guarantee he did not. But like a doctor breaking a bone to set it properly, Paul knew that the sovereign Lord would build His church through Paul’s suffering.

B. UNION WITH CHRIST SITUATES OUR FOCUS ON CHRIST- “what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions”

We revisit this idea, although it is connected with Union with Christ and Our Savoring, because it is by savoring Christ that we keep our focus on Christ.

In other words, there is a bigger deal to our suffering than just we suffer. It is part of the plan of God, and ultimately our suffering should draw our attention to the Church, which should then draw our attention to Christ.

Consider Paul’s words to the Corinthian believers, 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

2 Corinthians 4:7–10 NASB95

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NASB95

16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Our suffering should point us to the One Who suffered for us. Isaiah 53 details that Christ endured unimaginable pain for us.

But it also reminds us that, because of our union with Christ, we will suffer persecution, our suffering “fills ups” what is lacking in Christ, or the Church. We saw that in John chapter 15, and Paul says a similar truth in 2 Timothy 3:12 “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

Union with Christ and Our Suffering changes our suffering because it is seasoned with purpose and situates our focus on Christ Himself. But it also changes our service.

III. UNION WITH CHRIST AND OUR SERVING- 1:25a

Now, we will pick up the rest of verse, Lord willing, next week. We will simply note that union with Christ changes our service. We have already discussed Paul’s life before Jesus Christ completely changed him.

Now, Paul only lives for Jesus Christ, whereas before Paul hated Jesus Christ.

Paul did not choose this assignment, nor did he desire it, God gave it to him.

He was a minister, a deacon (same word but used differently than the office of a deacon). He lived to serve the Church. Again, we will unpack this more next week, but for our remaining time I want to focus on us.

When you are united to Christ, your service changes as well.

This does not mean your vocations, or job, change. In fact, for most people in Christian History, your work is not connected directly to a church like a pastor’s work is. But this does not mean your service is any less under the rule of Christ.

We will see this worked out practically in Colossians chapters 3 and 4, where Paul teaches what union with Christ looks like for the service of husbands, wives, children, fathers, slaves (or, more up to date, employees) and masters (employers). He deals with governmental relationships in Romans chapter 13.

Paul’s service was shaped by preaching the Gospel and strengthening the church. Paul and I share similar job descriptions. But what about you? What is your calling, your vocation? Listen to some biblical principles that should shape our service, first generally and second in the church specifically.

A. UNION WITH CHRIST SANCTIFIES OUR SERVING IN WORK GENERALLY

I am just going to cover these in passing, but I think they will be helpful to sanctify our work generally, whether as a parent, husband/wife, employer or employee, etc.

Principle 1: Work is good and it is not a part of the Fall.

Principle 2: Work should aim at God’s glory and our (others’) good.

Principle 3: Work is “a good gift but a terrible idol” (Jon English Lee, There Remains a Sabbath Rest for the People of God, 223)

Principle 4: Work reminds us of God’s Godness and our humanness.

Each one of these principles could be applied to any station of life, whether you are a mom changing the 14th poopy diaper, or the lead at a massive company with tight deadlines, each principle is applicable and helpful in realizing what our union with Christ (where Christ is our life, strength, and salvation) looks in our service generally. But what about in the context of the church?

B. UNION WITH CHRIST SUSTAINS OUR SERVING AT CHURCH SPECIFICALLY

What has God called you to do in the church? Now, we often think of the church as this blob that needs to be served. But when we think of the church biblically, i.e., individual people, all of you, it helps us to desire to serve.

Passages like Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 through 14, lay out some clear gifts and areas of service in the church. They typically, although not always, align with natural giftedness and desire. But all of them are geared at the glory of God and the good of the church.

But how is that connected with our union with Christ?

Paul was made a minister by God, and Paul lived and operated from his union with Christ. Likewise, we must serve by the sustaining life of Christ. You will not be able to bear one another’s burdens, as taught in Galatians 6:2, unless Christ sustains you.

You will not be able to rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep, unless Christ sustains you.

You will not be able to give or receive admonishment, unless Christ sustains you.

You see, when Jesus is first, He changes everything, including our savoring, our suffering, and our serving.