Paul Magnifies Christ in Prison

The Gospel Project® for Adults Leader Guide CSB, Session 5

© 2018 LifeWay Christian Resources

Permission granted to reproduce and distribute within the license agreement with purchaser.

Paul Magnifies Christ in Prison

Summary and Goal

Paul wrote the letter to the church at Colossae when he learned through Epaphras that heretical teachings were running through the church. Paul’s letter pointed the church to the person and work of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is not merely a theory for theologians to ponder; it’s a real-life, real-time reality that heals, restores, and reconciles. Through the cross, Christ reconciled us to the Father, reconciles all things in Himself, and reconciles us to one another.

Main Passage

Session Outline

1. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling all things ().

2. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling us to God ().

3. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling us to one another ().

Theological Theme

Through His work on the cross, Christ is restoring the world and reconciling us to God and to one another.

Christ Connection

In prison, Paul encouraged God’s people by proclaiming the magnificence of Christ—His identity as God’s Son and His work on the cross to reconcile us to God. Christian growth and maturity does not take place through moving beyond the gospel to other Bible teaching but through continually refocusing our attention on Christ—who is the focus of the Scriptures and the head of the church.

Missional Application

God calls us, as those who have been reconciled to God, to be heralds of reconciliation to the world.

Session Plan

Introduction

Start this session by recalling how 9/11 led to significant and serious questions being asked (leader p. 58; PSG p. 46).

What other hard questions about God have you or others you know asked?

How would you answer some of these questions?

Summarize this session on Paul’s addressing some difficult questions because of heretical teachings in Colossae. Paul aimed his words in three directions—upward, downward, and outward (leader pp. 58-59; PSG pp. 46-47).

Introduction Option

Ask group members to share where they were when they heard about the events that occurred on 9/11. Next, ask what questions those events raised in them. Then proceed with the Introduction

1. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling all things ().

Note the imported heresy in Colossae, which prompted Paul to call on the church to look upward to the one true Christ to reconcile all of creation. Then read .

Colossians 1:15–20 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the 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 by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Emphasize that the Son of God was not created but is the Creator and Sustainer of all, so He is preeminent over creation (leader pp. 59-60; PSG pp. 47-48).

How should knowing Christ created and sustains the world impact how we live?

Explain the term “firstborn” with reference to Christ in this passage: He is first in rank, supreme over all creation. And as “firstborn from the dead,” He is preeminent over the new creation (leader pp. 60-61; PSG pp. 48-49).

In what ways have you wrestled with enjoying God’s good gifts in fallen creation?

Why do you think it matters that Christ will reconcile all things?

Pack Item 2: Hearing the Old Testament in the New

Pack Item 3: Handout

Ask group members to pull out their handout and fill in the blank for this session:

• “God: Created the Heavens and the Earth…” (answer: “The Son of God…”)

2. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling us to God ().

Say that Paul turned the Colossians’ focus to Christ’s work to reconcile people to God, leading them to look downward to remain grounded in faith. Ask a volunteer to read .

Colossians 1:21–23 CSB

21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—23 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.

Communicate how Christ has reconciled us to God in our salvation (leader pp. 61-62; PSG pp. 49-50).

How have you been changed from who you were before Christ?

How is Christ continuing to change you?

Highlight the “if” in verse 23, calling attention to the importance of staying grounded in the faith, which gives evidence of our reconciliation through Christ. Contrast the false teaching in Colossae with the truth they heard through Epaphras (leader pp. 62-63; PSG pp. 50-51).

What can we do to be better rooted in our faith?

Point 2 Option

On a board or large sheet of paper, draw a tree with a root system. With the final question in this section, ask group members to write their answers on the roots in the picture.

3. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling us to one another ().

Read .

Colossians 1:24–2:3 CSB

24 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. 25 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, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me. 1 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. 2 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. 3 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Note Paul’s point in this passage: The same Christ who reconciled us to the Father also reconciles us outwardly to one another. We must love one another as Jesus has loved us (leader pp. 63-64; PSG pp. 51-52).

Based on your own observable love toward other Christians, how would the world judge your church?

How does reconciliation, either by seeking forgiveness or extending forgiveness, demonstrate Christ’s love to the world?

Explain the difficulties related to being reconciled to one another, but showing Christ’s love is worth the effort (leader pp. 64-65; PSG pp. 52-53).

What do you think Paul would write about the love within your church?

For Further Discussion

How is it possible to have such care for people whom you have never even seen (see )?

Conclusion

Conclude with the truth that all of our questions will one day find their answer in Christ’s return, but until that day, we hold on to Christ’s cross (leader p. 65; PSG p. 53). Apply the truths of this session with “His Mission, Your Mission” (PSG p. 54).

Pass out cards from Pack Item 7: Faith and Questions to help group members remember the preeminence of Christ in all things, including our circumstances.

Christ Connection: In prison, Paul encouraged God’s people by proclaiming the magnificence of Christ—His identity as God’s Son and His work on the cross to reconcile us to God. Christian growth and maturity does not take place through moving beyond the gospel to other Bible teaching but through continually refocusing our attention on Christ—who is the focus of the Scriptures and the head of the church.

....................................................

Missional Application: God calls us, as those who have been reconciled to God, to be heralds of reconciliation to the world.

Expanded Session Content

Introduction

On September 11, 2001, the world watched in horror as two hijacked Boeing 767s crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and two Boeing 757s were flown into the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania. It was the deadliest attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor, some sixty years prior. For those trapped in the towers, impossible decisions had to be made. Some placed final phone calls to loved ones and waited for the inevitable. Others tried to descend crowded stairwells through the intense flames. Still others did the unthinkable and leapt from the building one hundred stories from the ground. In time, both towers collapsed along with the hearts of people around the world.

No one in lower Manhattan will ever forget those haunting moments—the expanding plume of smoke, the nauseous smell of burning chemicals, the brave firefighters who sacrificed their lives to save others, and paper and ash covering a large portion of the city. Younger generations will only read about 9/11 in textbooks, but for those who watched it that day, the events of that tragic Tuesday will remain lodged forever in their memories.

On 9/16, the Sunday following the attack, church attendance spiked. Pews that were usually empty were packed with visitors rushing to religion for answers. Why did God allow this evil to happen? Where was Jesus Christ when the towers fell? What would happen to me if I died?

What other hard questions about God have you or others you know asked?

How would you answer some of these questions?

During his imprisonment in Rome, Paul had to address difficult questions in his letter to the church at Colossae as it faced implosion from heretical teachings. Unlike Philippi, Paul didn’t plant the church in Colossae personally, though he considered the church there as one of his own. He had a friend in Colossae named Philemon and hoped to make a visit after being released. Paul even asked Philemon to prepare a guest room for him (), but it is likely he never made it to Colossae.

Session Summary

In this session we explore the letter Paul wrote to the church at Colossae when he learned through Epaphras that heretical teachings were running through the church. We will see Paul’s letter pointed the church to the person and work of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is not merely a theory for theologians to ponder; it’s a real-life, real-time reality that heals, restores, and reconciles. As we read Paul’s words in this session, we will aim in three directions—upward, downward, and outward. For through the cross, Christ reconciled us to the Father, reconciles all things in Himself, and reconciles us to one another.

Voices from Church History

“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.” 1 –Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015)

Voices from Church History

“I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away.” 2 –C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)

1. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling all things ().

In Paul’s day, Colossae (located in modern-day Turkey) was one corner of a tri-city along with its wealthy neighbors, Laodicea and Hierapolis. The sheep that grazed in the surrounding Lycus Valley produced never-ending supplies of wool, which the Colossians dyed. The city gained a reputation for manufacturing their red-dyed wool, which became a luxurious commodity in the mid-first century and an easy export via their location on the Royal Road.

But Paul was more concerned about Colossae’s imported heresy rather than her red-dye exports. We don’t know exactly what kind of heresy the Colossian church had imported, but it consisted of at least three threads woven together: Greek philosophy (), pagan practices (2:23; 3:5), and the roots of Gnosticism (2:9)—a heresy that would seduce the church in subsequent centuries and pull at the very fabric of the Christian faith.

Paul recognized the danger of Gnosticism in its infancy, which prompted him to call on the church to look upward to the one true Christ.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

16 For everything was created by him,

in heaven and on earth, the visible and the 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 by him all things hold together.

18 He is also the head of the body, the church;

he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

so that he might come to have first place in everything.

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

To correct the Colossians’ misunderstanding of Christ, Paul used what many believe was an early church hymn that expressed Christ’s supremacy as Creator. The Son of God was not created; He is the agent of creation itself, having existed “before all things” (v. 17). “Everything was created by him,” “through him,” and “for him” (v. 16). Moreover, “by him all things hold together” (v. 17)—Christ did not create everything and walk away leaving creation to fend for itself. He continues to be actively involved in His creation. The Son of God is Creator and Sustainer of all.

Why did Paul begin his assault on the heresy plaguing the Colossian church here with the beginning of all beginnings and the affirmation that Christ is Creator of everything? Because at the core of Gnosticism was a sharp distinction between what is physical and spiritual.

The Gnostics believed only the spiritual was good; everything physical—all of creation—was evil. This is why they denied that Jesus was human. The Son of God could not have taken on flesh because that would have meant He had enrobed Himself in evil. Instead, the Gnostics argued that Jesus wasn’t really human, He merely appeared to be so. Paul addressed this directly in verse 22, “he has reconciled you by his physical body,” and in the following chapter when he wrote, “For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ” (2:9). Later the apostle John would attack this heretical teaching more fully in the prologue of both his Gospel and his first epistle.

This is why Paul began with Christ as Creator. Remembering that Christ created everything and that He sustains everything—He continues to care for His creation even after the fall—not only informs your understanding of who He is but how you are to live as part of creation. Christ is preeminent over creation, and every single atom of it exists for His glory. Christ is concerned with the world around us. So should we be.

How should knowing Christ created and sustains the world impact how we live?

Christ, in whom the fullness of divinity dwells (v. 19), is preeminent, or firstborn, over all creation. “Firstborn” is a curious term to use when speaking of eternal God. How can Christ be firstborn if He is Creator? The answer is that this term doesn’t mean what it sounds like.

When we read Christ is firstborn, it is hard not to think He was born first. But that is not what it means here. Instead, Christ being firstborn means He is first in rank. He is supreme over all creation. And that makes sense because the Creator is always greater than His creation.

Because Christ is preeminent over all He created, He is also preeminent in the Father’s mission of reconciling creation back to Himself. The Gnostics weren’t entirely off—all of humanity and creation is fallen and under the curse of sin. There is a problem with creation, but that problem is not that creation is hopelessly evil. God is working His plan “to reconcile everything to himself” through Christ (v. 20). And “everything” includes all of creation, not just people. All things were created by Christ. All things matter to Christ. And all things will be reconciled to God through Christ.

This is why Jesus is not just “firstborn over all creation” (v. 15), but He is also “firstborn from the dead” (v. 18). Jesus is preeminent over creation and He is preeminent over the new creation, which was inaugurated with His crucifixion and resurrection.3 Creation came through Christ, and re-creation does too.

In what ways have you wrestled with enjoying God’s good gifts in fallen creation?

Why do you think it matters that Christ will reconcile all things?

Further Commentary

“The word ‘image’ refers to an exact visible representation of something or someone. Thus, Jesus the Son represented the invisible God of the OT (). Jesus also represented sinless humanity (). The title ‘firstborn’ does not mean that Jesus was created (v. 16), but indicates his priority of rank as supreme over all the created order.” 4 –Andreas J. Köstenberger

Further Commentary

“Many Christians keep Jesus separated from the non-religious parts of life because they believe only the openly spiritual is part of God’s Kingdom. However, everything was created through Jesus. He is supreme over all things (; ). If Christ ‘created everything,’ then every academic study should pursue God’s truth. Those who teach chemistry or geology are bringing glory to God because they are explaining the details of God’s universe. If everything was ‘created through him and for him,’ we should view the study of non-religious truths or the universe with the same reverence we view theology.” 5 –Africa Study Bible

Voices from Church History

“For everywhere He is first; above first; in the Church first; for He is the Head; in the Resurrection first.” 6 –John Chrysostom (circa 347-407)

Voices from Church History

“A Savior not quite God is a bridge broken at the farther end.” 7 –Handley Moule (1841-1920)

Voices from Church History

“The orthodox idea of the atonement of Christ is highly distasteful to the modern mind…Nothing to the modern man is so utterly ridiculous as the suggestion that all he needs today is something that has been offered to mankind continuously for nearly two thousand years. Indeed, he regards it as insulting to be told that he, with all his knowledge and advancement and sophistication, is still essentially in the same condition spiritually as men have been throughout the long history of mankind.” 8 –Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

2. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling us to God ().

Paul began by guiding the Colossians to look upward at Christ’s work to reconcile all of creation. Now it is time to turn their focus to Christ’s work to reconcile people to God, which would lead them to look downward to remain grounded in faith.

21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him— 23 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.

The light of the cross shines brightest when it is viewed in front of a dark backdrop of sin. For the Colossians to see the brilliance of Christ reconciling them through His death, they first had to remember their desperate need for reconciliation.

So Paul kindly reminded the church of who they were before Christ. They were “alienated” from God. They were “hostile” against God. And they expressed this hostility through their “evil actions.” It wasn’t just creation that needed reconciliation. It wasn’t just the heretics who had infiltrated the church either. The Colossians needed to remember daily that they too needed to be made right with God.

Just as Christ is preeminent in His reconciling creation, He is preeminent in His reconciling us to God, which He accomplished through taking on flesh and then laying His life down on our behalf. Because of the blood He shed on the cross, we are no longer alienated, hostile, and evil. That is the old person who has been put to death with Christ on the cross.

In that person’s place, we have received new life, new identity, in Christ. And it is this new person who has been declared holy, faultless, and blameless whom Christ presents to the Father. This is the fundamental change of Christ’s reconciliation. He has undone sin’s curse. He has restored that which was broken. He has made right that which was wrong. He, not us, has accomplished this work of reconciliation. And this is why He receives all the glory of our salvation.

How have you been changed from who you were before Christ?

How is Christ continuing to change you?

Did you catch the little word that begins verse 23: “if”? We are reconciled and will be presented holy, faultless, and blameless if we remain grounded in the faith. Is Paul saying reconciliation comes through our ability to remain grounded? On the contrary, he is saying our groundedness, our rootedness, is how we know we have been saved. It is evidence in our lives of the reconciliation Christ accomplished on the cross.

That’s what the word radical actually means. To be radical is to be different, certainly. And Christians are called to look, think, and act differently than the world. We are to be holy. But the word radical has a deeper meaning. It comes from radux, which means “rooted” (like a radish, which is a rooted vegetable). Paul encourages the Colossians to sink their roots deep into the soil of salvation to avoid “shift[ing] away from the hope of the gospel” (v. 23).

In light of the false teaching influencing them, Paul encouraged the Colossians to remain grounded in the “gospel that you heard” (v. 23). Remember, the Colossians didn’t have the four Gospels of the New Testament that you and I possess. The Gospels most likely were not written until after Paul was executed. The Colossians believed in a Christ they heard, not read, about.

Paul reminded the Romans, “How can they believe without hearing about him?” (). He added, “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ” ().

Paul’s letter would have challenged the Colossians to entrench themselves in the gospel they heard. But it also would have encouraged the one who spoke it to them, Epaphras. Paul was basically saying this: Listen to this fellow servant because his message about Christ, his message about reconciliation, is true. At one time, you were alienated from the gospel, but because the “physical body” of Christ (His full humanity) died and rose again, God has grafted you into the family. And what is more, even though you “were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions” (v. 21), Christ makes you as “holy, faultless, and blameless” as He is (v. 22).

Jesus once said, “Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (). Haunting words from holy lips! That’s why we need roots. Without roots, there will be no fruits. But here’s the good news! There is another tree whose fruit never withers. Paul points us to it: the cross of Calvary—a tree “planted by streams of water” and “blood” (; cf. ).

Because of that tree, the Colossians could escape the consequences of their sin. Paul knew the Colossians needed direction, discipline, and discipleship, but not punishment. Christ had already taken the punishment for them.

What can we do to be better rooted in our faith?

99 Essential Christian Doctrines

62. Christ as Reconciliation

Ever since the fall of the first man and woman in the garden of Eden, God and human beings have been estranged. Sin resulted not only in an estranged relationship with God but also in enmity between God and humanity. Sin is an infinite offense against an infinite God. Thankfully, God loves His enemies and has sent Christ to be the reconciler between us and God. Through Christ’s death, God provides the means whereby that broken relationship is restored and renewed (; ).

Further Commentary

“While the Colossians should rejoice in their total reconciliation with God, they must not grow careless, but must remain ‘established and firm’ (1:23). The Christian life is a spiritual battle because the devil, though defeated, is not disarmed. He would love to see them ‘moved from the hope held out in the gospel.’ The Colossians must thus maintain constant vigilance, for there are many ambushes on the road to the celestial city.” 9 –Solomon Andria

Further Commentary

“Paul presents a strong contrast between the Colossians’ pre-Christian status and their favorable situation now as Christians. ‘alienated.’ Sin has resulted in estrangement from God (; ) and thus creates the need for reconciliation. This is due, in part, to the fact that nonbelievers are ‘hostile in mind’ to God (). The result of reconciliation is that Christ is now working in all the believers ‘to present you holy and blameless’ before God. This is the same language used in the OT to describe the unblemished animals that the Levitical priest would bring for a sacrifice to God. When Christ brings his followers to the Father for inspection, they will be found to be above reproach.” 10 –Clinton E. Arnold

Voices from Church History

“[Faith is] not only an assent to the whole Gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection; a recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life, as given for us, and living in us. It is a sure confidence which a man hath in God that through the merits of Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God.” 11 –Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

3. Christ is preeminent in His reconciling us to one another ().

24 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. 25 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, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.

1 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. 2 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. 3 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Here’s Paul’s point in this passage: The same Christ who reconciled us to the Father also reconciles us outwardly to one another. The cross goes vertically, but it also extends horizontally. Our reconciliation with God is firmly attached to our reconciliation with others. In fact, Jesus even told his disciples to pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us” ().

Paul cared deeply for the Christians in both Colossae and Laodicea, her nearby sister city. He worked hard for their benefit in both ministry and prayer, even though he had never seen their faces! Paul challenged them as bodies of believers and as sister churches to be “joined” or “knit” together in love, to weave themselves together in “all the riches of complete understanding” and “the knowledge of God’s mystery—Christ” (). Paul wanted them so joined together that they could read each other’s mail (4:15-16).

Not all the churches in the Mediterranean looked the same, struggled with the same sins, or boasted the same amount of resources. Colossae and Laodicea were nearby but distinctly different in their history and economic opportunities. According to Paul, the Colossian church struggled with heresy. According to Jesus, the Laodicean church would struggle with apathy (). But they did all share something (or Someone) in common—“the head of the body” (1:18), which is Jesus Christ.

Essentially, Paul was tapping into the same impulse that motivated Jesus to tell His disciples: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” ().

Based on your own observable love toward other Christians, how would the world judge your church?

How does reconciliation, either by seeking forgiveness or extending forgiveness, demonstrate Christ’s love to the world?

God’s reconciliation with us frees us to reconcile with one another. John knew this. Look at what the “beloved” disciple wrote from the nearby city of Ephesus: “Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another” ().

Easier said than done. All of us know people who frustrate, challenge, and oppose us: family members, coworkers, bosses, employees, students, and neighbors. Some of us even have outright enemies set on seeing us fail. The church is not so different.

Hence, Paul encouraged the church to be “joined” or “knit” together in love because he knew how hostile churches could be—especially in the restoration of a fallen brother or sister. Paul’s not postulating here. He’s speaking from personal, pastoral experience. Look at his churches—petri dishes of relational problems! In the Corinthian church, Paul noticed, “There is rivalry among you” (). To the Galatians, he wrote, “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you” (). “Mind your own business,” Paul reprimanded the Thessalonians ().

Even though Christ has reconciled us to one another, there is still work for us to do. And that work is not easy. It is hard to love others. And it is hard for others to love us. But it is worth the effort. The more Christ’s church is joined together as one in love, the more we will know Christ—our greatest treasure—and be able to live for Him giving Him the glory He is due.

What do you think Paul would write about the love within your church?

Further Commentary

“Paul rejoiced in his ‘sufferings’ (; ; ; ) because they benefited the church. By suffering Paul was ‘completing’ in his ‘flesh’ what was ‘lacking in Christ’s afflictions.’ This enigmatic phrase cannot mean that something was lacking in Christ’s atoning work (v. 20). Rather, Paul’s sufferings benefited the church by promoting the spread of the gospel.” 12 –Andreas J. Köstenberger

Further Commentary

“All the hardships Paul experienced are part of the divine commission he received to present ‘the word of God in its fullness’ (1:25). He describes his message as ‘the mystery’ of Christ (1:26), which is now fully revealed, not just to a select group but also to the Gentiles (; ). Here Paul may be contrasting the ‘glorious riches of this mystery’ (1:27) with the faith proclaimed by the ‘mystery’ religions that promised salvation to their followers. But the only mystery worth delving into is the one revealed in Jesus Christ, who offers the certain hope of future glory.” 13 –Sanyu Iralu

Voices from Church History

“Paul desires that there should be first of all a spiritual unity ‘in love.’ If this prime condition was fulfilled, there would be little danger of serious divisions caused by erroneous teachings. The unity of love is the best safeguard against the party spirit and unseemly wrangles over matters of doctrine.” 14 –E. Y. Mullins (1860-1928)

Voices from Church History

“If the Lord Jesus Christ can put up with you, you ought to be able to put up with anybody.” 15 –Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Voices from the Church

“The gospel presupposes and prescribes reconciliation; it announces salvation for individuals and a community of salvation. We need each other. The Christian life must be walked within the encouragement, edification, and accountability of Christian community…We treat the church the way we hope Jesus never treats us, keeping us at arm’s length because we’re weird or messy or socially awkward. But if the holy God of the universe affectionately welcomes all those losers to himself, who do we think we are when we refuse to do so ourselves?” 16 –Jared C. Wilson

Conclusion

There are no quick and easy answers when it comes to the problems of evil, suffering, murder, and death. Why does God allow violence, terrorism, and tragic loss of human life? One day, our questions will be answered fully when He “will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face” (). But for now, we cling to the cross, the difference between Christianity and all other religious movements.

By the cross, Christians enter into a personal relationship with the Man of Nazareth who, being fully God and fully man, suffered with us, suffered for us, and suffers through us as we “weep with those who weep” (). The beams of the cross point us upward (Christ), downward (grounded in the faith), and outward (loving others). Be careful to keep those three beams together, for if we become deficient in one, the others will fall apart. May we proclaim a whole redemption through a whole Christ to a world that is not yet whole.

Christ Connection: In prison, Paul encouraged God’s people by proclaiming the magnificence of Christ—His identity as God’s Son and His work on the cross to reconcile us to God. Christian growth and maturity does not take place through moving beyond the gospel to other Bible teaching but through continually refocusing our attention on Christ—who is the focus of the Scriptures and the head of the church.

Additional Resources

Get expert insights on weekly studies through Ministry Grid at MinistryGrid.com/web/TheGospelProject. Grow with other group leaders at the Group Ministry blog at LifeWay.com/GroupMinistry.

Study Material

• “The Process of Speaking the Truth in Love”—Chapter 12 from Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp

• “How to Move from Forgiveness to Reconciliation”—Article by Steve Cornell; find a link to this article at GospelProject.com/AdditionalResources

• Previous Biblical Illustrator articles, including “Jesus as the ‘Firstborn,’ ” can be purchased, along with other articles for this quarter, at LifeWay.com/BiblicalIllustrator. Look for Bundles: The Gospel Project.

Sermon

Jason Paredes: “Making Disciples”

Find a link to this at GospelProject.com/AdditionalResources

Tip of the Week: New Community Members

Do you know what it is like to move to a community where you do not know anyone? It is a fact that new neighbors are looking for relationships and assistance in acclimating to the community. Consider putting together a welcome basket from your group with gifts, community information, church information, and an invitation to your next group fellowship. Ask group members to identify one newcomer each month from their own neighborhood. Have them deliver the gift, provide a warm welcome to the community, and offer to accompany the newcomer to the next Bible study or fellowship. 17

References

1. Elisabeth Elliot, quoted in The New Lady in Waiting: Becoming God’s Best While Waiting for Mr. Right, by Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2014) [eBook].

2. C. S. Lewis, quoted in Is Your Lord Large Enough? How C. S. Lewis Expands Our View of God, by Peter J. Schakel (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), 112.

3. Andreas J. Köstenberger, in CSB Study Bible (Nashville: B&H, 2017), 1895, n. 1:18.

4. Andreas J. Köstenberger, in CSB Study Bible, 1894, n. 1:15.

5. Africa Study Bible (Oasis International, 2016), 1750.

6. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians, III, in The Homilies on Various Epistles (Altenmünster, Germany: Jazzybee Verlag, 2012) [eBook].

7. Handley Moule, quoted in A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 2nd ed., by Robert L. Reymond (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 397.

8. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Is the Gospel Still Relevant? (1947),” in The Christ-Centered Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Classic Sermons for the Church Today, eds. Elizabeth Catherwood and Christopher Catherwood (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014), 65.

9. Solomon Andria, in Africa Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Tokunboh Adeyemo (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 1478.

10. Clinton E. Arnold, in ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 2295, n. 1:21-22.

11. Charles Wesley, quoted in Wesley on the Christian Life: The Heart Renewed in Love, by Fred Sanders (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 60.

12. Andreas J. Köstenberger, in CSB Study Bible, 1895, n. 1:24.

13. Sanyu Iralu, in South Asia Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Brian Wintle (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), 1663.

14. E. Y. Mullins, Studies in Colossians (Nashville: Convention Press, 1957), 78.

15. C. H. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit: Sermons Preached and Revised by C. H. Spurgeon, vol. 49 (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim, 1970-2006), 234.

16. Jared C. Wilson, The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can’t Get Their Act Together (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2017) [eBook].

17. Steve R. Parr, Sunday School That Really Works (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010), 136.