Colossians 1:24-2:7

Introduction and Recap

The All-Sufficient Christ

As we have seen over the course of this letter, Paul’s main concern is to remind the Colossians of what they have in Christ, of who Christ is, and to encourage them to stay firm in that knowledge. The point of the letter is found in 2:6-7, which we will come to today and a little next week as well. In those verses Paul says:

Read Colossians 2:6–7 “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.”

And so, Paul has reminded them of three things over the past verses, the first two I covered in 1:15-20:

Christ is Superior and Christ is Sufficient

and the third which Ralph preached on last week:

that because of Christ’s superiority and sufficiency, because He is fully God and fully man,

Christ ALONE can reconcile us to God. And He HAS through His blood shed on the cross. He has reconciled, or brought back to harmony, his people, through His death. It is in His death that we can now be presented “holy, faultless, and blameless before (God)”.

But as Pastor Ralph reminded us last week if we only think of the Gospel as what Christ did on the cross and our reconciliation, then we miss the glory of the Gospel’s entirety, that Christ not only died for our sins, but ROSE so that we may live in Him and to Him.

So we see that our salvation is all dependent on Christ’s work, and yet we are called to “remain grounded and steadfast”, not shifting away from the Gospel. So we have some role to play in this new life that we have been given by surrendering to the Spirit’s leading who helps us to remain in Christ.

Now as we get to today’s text, we see that Paul is going to focus on his calling as a servant of the Gospel and the Church, and what that means to the Colossians and surrounding areas; reminding them that he is writing to them so that they can know the glory of Christ and their part in it, so that they can be mature in Christ, and so that they can remain steadfast because of Christ.

Kent Hughes - “Seeing Christ as he is will keep us from heresy, for it will steel us against a scaled-down Christ which has captured so many lost hearts. And it will cause us to begin to love him with a real love.”

Read Colossians 1:24–2:7 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church. I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me. For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery—Christ. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable. For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ. So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.”

Paul as a Servant to the Church and to the Gospel

Paul begins this section in v 24, and the section in 2:1, with similar ideas, as he brings to mind the struggles he is facing for the church and the Gospel. these two ideas are interwoven throughout our text this morning:

Paul suffers for the church and for the gospel because he is a servant of both. His suffering for the church is so that they can know the Gospel, and the Gospel from v21 motivates WHY he wants the church to KNOW.

Read Colossians 1:21–23 “Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.”

1. The Gospel motivates Paul’s ministry

We have to consider what “completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” means…

-cannot mean that anything is lacking in Christ’s sufficiency (1:15-20, Hebrews 7:11–8:6)

-Hebrews 7:22–28 “Because of this oath, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant. Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them. For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.”

-could be a reference to Acts 9:16 “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.””

-could be that there is a finite amount of suffering before Christ returns (Revelation) and Paul is taking some of it on so Colossians don’t have to

-could be that Paul’s suffering is to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, which was not Christ’s ministry

How does the Gospel help Paul to suffer or even cause suffering? Do this apply to us?

-2 Corinthians 1:3–7 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.”

How does the Gospel drive Paul’s mission (God’s commission to him) to the Gentiles, Colossians, Laodecia, etc

Paul recognizes that he has been set apart by God for this mission and that his mission is to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles, but not just to evangelize, to strengthen.

Philippians 1:12–14 “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ. Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly.”

Paul Labors in it, strives in it, struggles for the church

Paul’s striving is akin to an athletic contest, it’s not “light work”. It requires effort

2. The Gospel is the goal of Paul’s ministry

Proclaiming Christ

Paul knows his God-given task is to make the Word FULLY known, to lead the church into understanding the WHOLE Gospel (Ralph), the MYSTERY of Gentile inclusion-CHRIST

Warning Against Falling Away

The “philosophy” entering the Colossian church

Galatians 1:6–9 “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!”

Hebrews 2:1 “For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.”

Parable of the Sower

John 16:1-4, Matthew 24:10-13

Teaching With All Wisdom

Christ is with us, this will motivate and hold

“Christ is the one in whom is to be found all that one needs in order to understand spiritual reality and to lead a life pleasing to God.” -Douglas Moo

Maturity in Christ -

“mature” is translated from “teleios” : the quality of being so wholehearted in one’s devotion to the Lord that one can be said to be blameless in conduct.

EVERYONE is repeated here

The Gospel will give the church a common goal (knit together)

“while the process of knitting together the church into a united body clearly includes the growth of love, it also includes the growth, on the part of the whole community, of that proper understanding of the gospel which leads to the rich blessings of a settled conviction and assurance. Living in a loving and forgiving community will assist growth in understanding, and vice versa, as truth is confirmed in practice and practice enables truth to be seen in action and so to be fully grasped (cf. 1:9–11). All of this promotes the encouragement, comfort and strengthening of the heart, regarded metaphorically then as now as the seat of affections and the mainspring of actions.” -NT Wright

The Gospel will anchor the church to truth

-the depth of the church’s relationship with Christ will enable (or prevent) the church to dace the challenges ahead.

-God’s people are completley “in christ”, meaning they are completely identified with Him, this new identity brings HOPE

Application/Closing

Following Christ will lead to suffering - can we rejoice in suffering for Him?

John 16:16-33, John 16:33 “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.””

Romans 8:16–18 “The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”

James 1:2–4 “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

Romans 5:1–5 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Following Christ requires effort “striving/Struggling” to see the Gospel grow and go

-Do we understand/believe the mission well enough to work?

-Do we believe the Gospel fully enough to believe it IS enough?

-To see Christians at work is to see God at work!

-The Gospel is for everyone! Exclusive and Inclusive, do we see others as “worthy” of the Gospel?

Following Christ requires putting Him first in all things, following the WHOLE Christ, finding His wisdom and knowledge as a treasure - do we really want a Christ-centered Gospel? GROWING IN MATURITY

-The Gospel cannot be separated from Christ, and Christ cannot be separated from His church

-All Spiritual treasures and knowledge are found in Christ alone

--“every single Christian is capable of the maturity of which Paul speaks, since, though it involves ‘knowledge’ and ‘wisdom’, these are not to be weighed in the scale of ordinary human intellectual ability, but are of an altogether different order”

Following Christ requires submitting to Godly leadership and the Church

-teaching and warning, united in love, working through things

-Pastor Ralph and I have a job to do…will you let us? You also have a job to do as family.