A Worthy Struggle (Colossians 1:24-2:5)

Colossians 1:24-2:5

A Worthy Struggle

July 12, 2026 — Land O’ Lakes Bible Church

Introduction

On February 12, 1812, Adoniram Judson, along with his wife Nancy left America on their way to Burma to proclaim Christ to those who had not yet heard the name of Jesus. A path that would prove itself to be difficult and bring much affliction.

Even before arriving in Burma, the Judson’s would suffer the loss of a child as their baby was born dead at sea in unfavorable conditions of both ship and sea. This would be among the first of many losses that would be faced in the mission to make Christ known among those who had not heard. For Adoniram would lose other children and his wife Nancy throughout.

Further, after arriving upon the Golden Shore of Burma, it would be six years before a convert was seen. Further, during the time of the mission, a war would break out between Burma and Britain. And in the midst of this war, Adoniram would find himself imprisoned. Here is an account of his during this imprisonment:

Father (that is a guard) entered with a couple of his assistants. With jests and jokes, they lowered the long horizontal bamboo pole from the ceiling, passed it between the fettered legs of the prisoners, re-secured it at the ends, and hoisted it up with the aid of the block-and-tackle. Gradually the feet of the prisoners rose into the air until only their shoulders and heads rested on the floor.[1]

Adoniram suffered greatly for the cause of Christ. Of course, he is not the only one who has suffered for the sake of the name of Christ. If you have ever picked up either of the Dispatches from the Front books, you read of others who have suffered to make Jesus known. There is then the Five who were martyred in Ecuador as they sought to proclaim Christ to the Auca people. Each counted the cost and went anyways. For the sufferings that were before them could not compare to the glory of proclaiming Christ! Their delight in Jesus fueled their mission.

It is this very delight that fueled Paul’s mission, which we see here in our passage this morning. Let me then invite you to take a Bible and open with me with Colossians 1:24-2:5. If you are using one of those Red Bibles there in your seats, you will find our passage on page #1168.

Recap: Last week, we had that complex passage of Colossians 1:21-23. A passage presenting to us the purpose that Christ has reconciled a people to himself so that he may present them holy and blameless. And that this would be done, provided we hold to the faith, not shifting away from it. And yet in this Christ is acting to sustain all blood bought believers. For those of whom he died to purchase, he shall not now lose. He will indeed hold them fast.

For the very purpose of this great redemption is to bring it to completion in presenting all who are in Christ as holy and blameless. An argument that Paul will continue now throughout this letter.

Let us then read Colossians 1:24-2:5…

Paul has moved here in this letter from making much of the Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ to here in these verses turning for a moment to himself. But this temporary turning inward is not to make much of Paul, but to continue to exalt Christ! Therefore, I think the main argument of this passage is as follows: The fuel for a ministry of suffering and toilsome labor is not obligation; it is the riches of the glory of Christ, the hope of glory!

1. The Afflictions of Christ

2. The Riches of Glory

3. The Labor of Love

I. The Afflictions of Christ

In verse 23, Paul encourages the Colossians to continue in the faith and not shift from the hope of the gospel. A gospel that Paul says that not only have the Colossians heard and that has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. And Paul also says that he has become a minister of this very gospel.

A ministry that has been full of sufferings. Paul writes this letter to the Colossians from prison and has mentioned elsewhere the particulars of his sufferings. One such place is found in:

2 Corinthians 11:23–29 (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. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

Despite these sufferings though, Paul declares that he rejoices in his sufferings. Verse 24…

No person in their right mind would rejoice in their suffering for suffering’s sake alone. One is tempted to suffer pain for great reward, but no one is willing to suffer and rejoice for some lesser glory.

Consider how athletes are willing to suffer for the sake of their competition. They will endure the pain of workouts and training to achieve the glory of victory. This is why athletes can say things like, “No pain, no gain” or “Go hard or go home”. Because they endure the present suffering of training for the future glory.

What then is Paul willing to rejoice in his sufferings for? He suffers on account of the Colossians, of his ministry to the Gentiles, for the body of the church. Paul suffers in his flesh to fill what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

In saying what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions refers not here to their being a lack in the work of Christ to bring about redemption. For we must remember how Paul has spoken regarding this Jesus as one who alone is Supreme and Sufficient for these matters.

For Paul has declared back in verses 13-14 that God has delivered them from the domain, the rule of darkness and transferred them to the kingdom of his beloved Son, this Jesus! It is in Jesus then that they have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The very Jesus who Paul launches into this great exaltation of being the one supreme over both creation and redemption, the one who is in the image of the invisible God and who has the fullness of God pleased to dwell in!

The same Jesus, who has by his death reconciled those who were previous enemies to now make them holy and blameless and above reproach.

Furthermore, it is this same Jesus then that Paul will go on to say that it is this Jesus who has made these Colossians alive and canceled the record of debt that stood against them with its legal demands. A canceling that came through the cross of Christ! A cross that not only canceled their debts, but disarmed the rulers and authorities, putting them to open shame as he triumphed over them through his sacrificial death on the cross!

Paul then in declaring that he is filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions is not referring to him adding to the means necessary to bring about our forgiveness of sins, but in filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in bringing out the increase of God’s word.

For he is suffering for the sake of Christ’s body the church in his ministry. A ministry that is then defined in verses 25-26…

Paul’s ministry is a ministry of the Word! He has been entrusted to him by God, to go about proclaiming this word and making it fully known. To make it fully known in making it plain and understandable for the people as he reveals to them the mystery once hidden, that has now been revealed.

For from the beginning, God has been a God who has revealed himself to us through his Word. But even as God’s plan of redemption was being spoken and promised, there was but a glimpse of how these things would come about.

Consider Genesis 3with the fall. As God’s word of judgement comes, so does the promise of a coming seed of the woman who would crush the head of the seed of the serpent. Yet, this was left a mystery to man, for with each new birth and each new generation, the people were left wondering who this seed would be. Was it Seth? Was it Noah? Was it Abraham? Was it Joseph? Was it Moses? The people kept wondering in the mystery that was hidden until it should come to pass.

Further clues of the coming plan of God were given as he entered into a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. For God promised that he would bless Abraham and that his name would be made great and that all the families of the earth would be blessed in Abraham.[2]

Or then with David, when it was promised to him that he would have a son to sit on his throne forever as God’s forever king, this was a partial revealing of this plan.

But even in that of Isaiah, there was that of the promised King who was to come and God’s suffering servant. Yet it remained a mystery hidden that these were one and the same until the revealing of this mystery in the person and work of Jesus!

But now, the God in heaven who reveals mysteries, just as we saw earlier in our service from Daniel 2, has revealed to us this mystery in Jesus! That he is the yes and amen to all of these partial shadows of God’s plan of redemption. That it is in Jesus, who would be both the suffering servant and the forever King in the line of David. That it is in Jesus that the nations would be blessed through Abraham!

And though these things were left a mystery to man, they were part of the definitive plan of God to bring about this very plan of redemption. A mystery that no longer remains hidden but made fully known in the coming of Jesus and his gospel. A message now that Paul is entrusted to make fully known so that the word may increase and draw others to be united to Christ!

It is no wonder then that Paul declares he rejoices in his sufferings in being entrusted with this word and counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ!

Like Paul, then, we too are called to enter these same afflictions for the sake of the body of Christ, the church. Pastors, elders are charged with this in their office in the church. They are charged to labor to make God’s word fully known to God’s people in plain ways. God help me, help us as elders to increase in our endeavors to make the word plain!

But this isn’t just an elder’s ministry. Every blood bought, Christian, who has been redeemed by Jesus is entrusted to make this same word of God fully known for the sake of others. This taking place through that of evangelism and discipleship. Therefore, both inside the church and outside the church body.

And though, we like Paul will likely face various sufferings as we take up and proclaim the word, we are counted worthy to suffer in the same way our Redeemer did! And that is worthy of our rejoicing in the midst of such suffering as we declare the riches of this mystery that has now been revealed. That brings us to our second point this morning.

II. The Riches of Glory

What is this mystery that Paul has been trusted to make fully known, to reveal to all the saints, including these Colossians, to you and I? The answer is both shocking and simple. Verse 27…

The mystery is Christ in you! God’s plan of redemption is that this one who is the image of the invisible God, he who is the firstborn of all creation, who holds all things together, who is the firstborn from the dead, who is supreme over all, who the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, is now in you Colossians, in you Christians at Land O’ Lakes Bible Church.

That is the mystery, that is the riches and hope of glory, Christ in you! That this all Supreme and Sufficient Son of God would now dwell in those who were previously hostile but has now redeemed by his blood!

To have the one whom all riches and treasures dwell in. Glance on down to Colossians 2:2b-3…

This one is he who dwells within those who have heard the gospel and who have their faith in Christ Jesus! Therefore, to be in Christ and to have Christ in us is to possess all the riches of Christ! I love what John Piper says here:

“When we have Christ dwelling in us, we can’t be any richer.”[3]

In this mystery now being proclaimed, it is a glorious proclamation that we who were far off are now being brought near in Jesus. That we who were unworthy are truly now declared worthy. That we who were full of blame are now declared blameless. That we who were poor are now made rich as Christ dwells in us and works in us.

No more will it be said that the glory of God has filled the temple as it did in Exodus and Ezekiel. It is now said that the glory of God fills his people through his beloved Son, Jesus. That Christ is in them, making them rich in him as he powerfully works within them!

A work that Paul declares works powerfully in him, as he models for us, bringing us what it means to have Christ in us. This now brings us to our third point.

III. The Labor of Love

Colossians 1:28 … Because Christ in you is the mystery, Paul seeks to proclaim nothing then but Christ! He warns everyone and teaches everyone with all wisdom by pointing them to Christ alone!

And the purpose of this proclamation is so that he, along with Timothy, may present all mature in Christ! This is why he both rejoices in his sufferings and toils in his labor. Look there at how Paul describes his labors in Colossians 1:29 and 2:1…

Paul struggles and toils with all his might for these Colossians and for those at Laodicea, a nearby city. He struggles not just in his own strength, but the energy of Christ that is being worked through him for their sake! And he struggles and toils in this energy, so that he may present all mature in Christ, including the Colossians, and including you and I.

As to what this maturity is, it is further flushed out in Colossians 2:2-3, where we read…

Paul knows the false teachers threaten the Colossians belief. Likely even declaring to hold the mysteries of God that are hidden. And so, Paul wants us to understand that God’s hidden mystery is found in Christ alone! That in him are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For this purpose, as found Colossians 2:4-5…

Paul desires to see the firmness of the Colossians faith in Christ, to see their good order in a people knit together in love because of their all having Christ in them! He desires to see them reach the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of Christ!

For he knows that if we are to continue to hold fast to the confession of Christ, we must not lose the profoundness of this mystery of Christ in us. And yet, how often is our deep delight in Christ choked out by the riches of this world and our love for the things of it?

False teachers threaten to delude us with plausible arguments, but it is our dissatisfaction with Christ that opens the door for them to enter in.

Beloved, where are we being tempted to be dissatisfied with Christ, allowing such false teaching to tickle our ears?

Are we tempted to think that there are more treasures of wisdom and knowledge found in the things of this world broken by sin or in Christ himself? For this temptation is great in our time. There is the temptation to think that wisdom and knowledge are left to our own autonomy, us choosing for what purpose we were made and created for.

There is the temptation of us to find our assurance in religious endeavors and rituals and activities rather than our full assurance resting in God’s mystery of Christ in you!

Another temptation that is that of desiring various extremes of teaching found in the Bible. One extreme wanting all the morals or law of the Bible without the Christ of the Bible. And on the other end of the spectrum is to want the forgiveness of Christ without the law of Christ.

Neither of these extremes captures the mystery that has now been revealed of Christ in you! Something that Paul will continue to unfold in this letter as he calls the people to walk in a manner worthy of Christ, putting off the old and putting on the new. Of not being given over to various man-made religion and holding fast to Christ who nourishes and knits us together!

Therefore, let us behold Christ, finding all God’s riches and hope in Him and Him alone! Let us learn to treasure Him above all and Hold fast to Him! For he is our assurance of God’s redeeming work! And this is why we are called to hold fast to our faith in Him! For even when our faith is weak, when we fear our faith will fail, Christ will Hold us Fast as he powerfully works within us!

Then let us hold fast to our faith in Christ! For this is the call to maturity! A mature faith in Christ is not a perfect faith that never struggles. Rather, it is a faith that rests solely on Christ! A faith that is not easily deluded by deceitful and plausible arguments to turn elsewhere. For it understands God’s mystery that has now been revealed is Christ, his Beloved Son!

But maybe you are not a believer. Maybe you are one who has been persuaded by these plausible arguments to turn to either Christ plus something else or completely away from Christ, rejecting him.

Friend, do not continue to be deluded by such arguments. See that the fullness of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ alone! For apart from him, you live in a world deluded by sin. You live in a world of lies in thinking that man appeared, in man having self-autonomy, in man being rather good. Just take a good, close look around you, and you can see the delusion of these lies. For the riches of this world will not satisfy you. But there is the riches and hope of glory presented to you in Christ! That he who is supreme over all creation was willing to bleed for you, dying on the cross to bring about your reconciliation. See the love of Christ for you and come and be united to him by faith! A faith that will move you from being full of guilt and blame to being made blameless in Christ! Repent from this present delusion that you have been persuaded by and trust in Christ today!

Conclusion

As we now conclude, why are those like Paul, Adonirum Judson, William Tyndale, Jim Elliot and the others with him, willing to take the gospel and suffer for it? Because of the riches of glory found in the message of God’s revealed word they go to proclaim, the mystery of Christ!

A glory that works in us as Christ is in those whom he has redeemed by the shedding his blood to purchase them for himself. A glory that compels us to love Christ so greatly and stirs us to fill up what is lacking in his afflictions of making his glory known to the end of the earth so that others may hear the teachings and the warnings and come to rest in Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins.

Let’s pray!

[1]Courtney Anderson. The Life of Adoniram Judson: To the Golden Shore. (Judson Press, 197), 305.

[2]See Genesis 12:1-3.

[3]https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/we-rejoice-to-suffer-for-you