The Great Mystery
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Introduction
Introduction
Purpose: By the grace of God we could understand the mystery of God for the church and to become faithful stewards of that mystery.
Subject: What is the mystery of God and what should we do with it?
Is it harder to keep a secret or to reveal a secret? It is difficult question, it depends on who it is about.
If you have to reveal a secret about someone else? If you have to suffer for it?
Remember when you were little, if you were told you are going to be given a present, we rejoice in anticipation. We also eagerly awaits. We are dying to find out what it is. The gift might turn out to be what we asked for, but what if it exceeds what we asked for? To the point we cannot comprehend its magnitude. Like choosing rather to eat a candy in front a gourmet feast.
So we find ourselves in a predicament, there is a mystery that all the saints before us kept as their most prized possession, that has been given to us as the greatest gift to mankind. I don’t know about you but when I first read this passage, it felt like the same old message, like a bland dish without taste, like an unenjoyable 9-5 work day that we just have to get through, like a Cubs vs Mariners game on a Tuesday night in April. Just something you have to go through to move onto bigger and better things. But here Paul presents something grand, something mysterious, he uses up significant amount of precious space to set up the description of a mystery, the mystery of God. So what is it? And what should we do with it?
Purpose: To help the audience understand the mystery of God for the church and exhort the audience to become stewards of that mystery.
Subject: What is the mystery of God and what should we do with it?
To answer that question, we must look into Paul’s discourse in , want to present to you three things regarding his life, relating to his ministry, he was:
Persecuted for a great cause
Presented with a great task
Proclaimed a great mystery
Persecuted for a great cause: (1:24)
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
Exposition: Paul rejoices in his afflictions because this is
For the sake of Colossians, meaning the beneficiary of these afflictions are the Christ followers in Colossae
For the sake of Colossians
For the sake of Christ, meaning the nature of these afflictions are preordained from Christ
Referenced in , , mark 4:17, 13, john 16
For the sake of the church (universal), meaning the outlook of these afflictions has in its subject the universal church
Explanation
rejoice
The surprising statement of filling up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ has bewildered many translators and commentators in the past
The New Living translation renders it this way:
New Living Translation Chapter 1
24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.
Obviously time does not allow us to go into depth of the various ways to interpret this but the likely meaning of what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ cannot be that there is somehow a lack in the atoning suffering of Christ, because Paul just finished on expounding on the sufficiency of Christ death in v22. So the afflictions referred to here is not one of redemption but of tribulation. The afflictions that began with Christ that extends to His second coming will be the experience of the church.
And Paul is both signifying that his current chains is a result of his ministry as an ambassador for Christ and the inevitable result of Paul’s “commission” to proclaim the revelation of God’s mystery. There seems to be also a further implication that there is a preordained amount of suffering that the church must go through during the current eschatological age before the end can come. His affliction is a sign of what is to come for the church.
Transition: There is something that drives Paul even when he is suffering, something that motivates him not only to endure but rejoice
Transition: Either way, we can clearly see the main point, that there is something that drives Paul in the midst of his affliction, something that motivates him not only to endure but to rejoice. He continues to qualify the reason for his affliction, it is because he was :
There is something that drives Paul even when he is suffering, something that motivates him not only to endure but rejoice
“This past Easter Sunday, a dozen or so brothers and sisters gathered at a remote place in the outskirts of the city to remember the Lord who rose from the dead for us. After some of the church members left, national security agents from the Chengdu Municipal Police station took them in for interrogation. Fortunately they were released one-by-one later that night” The prayer letter ended with this:”On Easter Sunday, multiple churches and hotels were intentionally bombed in Sri Lanka. More than 200 died. “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” () May we, in the midst of tribulation, still believe and proclaim, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” () Only the love of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross can dispel years of enmity. May God grant peace and comfort to those lands in terror. Lord, remember mercy! () Revive your work in the midst of the years!”
Transition: Either way, we can clearly see the main point, that there is something that drives Paul in the midst of his affliction, something that motivates him not only to endure but to rejoice. He further qualifies the reason for his affliction, it is because he was :
Presented with a great task: (1:25)
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
the stewardship is from God, this means the content of the mystery is of cosmic importance
To the stewardship from God
Was given for the church (universal), this means the way this mystery will interact with mankind is through the universal church
To make the word of God fully known, this means the purpose of the mystery is to be revealed fully. Mystery previously been hidden and now revealed to the saints
Mystery previously been hidden and now revealed to the saints
Transition: I don’t know about you but this privilege and obligation is mind numbing. This is akin to giving a 5 year old who just came back from playing in the mud the finest piece of artwork in the world to be delivered to a national museum. Paul claims that he has been given a heavenly ministry, ordained directly from God, the magnitude of this service is of universal importance and delivered through the entire church and the responsibility is to make God’s eternal word fully known to man. He claims he proclaimed a great mystery, so what is it?
I don’t know about you but this privilege and obligation is mind numbing. This is akin to giving a 5 year old who just came back from playing in the mud the finest piece of artwork in the world to be delivered to a national museum.
Paul claims that he has been given a heavenly ministry, ordained directly from God, the magnitude of this service is of universal importance and delivered through the entire church and the responsibility is to make God’s eternal word fully known to man. So what is it?
Paul claims that he has been given a heavenly ministry, ordained directly from God, the magnitude of this service is to the entire church and the responsibility is to make God’s eternal word fully known to man
The mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:26-27)
26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The mystery is “Christ in you”
Exposition:
According to there are two sides to this mystery , and both are also being presented here. The mystery of the Jew and Gentile relationship unified as recipient of God’s saving grace and the mystery that is the entire cosmos unified in Christ.
Provides the riches of glory among the Gentiles
We of all people should understand the significance of this mystery, it is precisely a direct result of this breaking down of the Jew and Gentile barrier that we can sit here today with the privilege of having believed God’s word and saved through Jesus Christ, it is as a result of this that we have been entrusted also with delivering this message to all the nations.
There
Paul’s task as an apostle to the Gentiles opened up the door for all nations to receive the Gospel. What is that Gospel? That Christ is our only hope of receiving and participating in the kingdom of God, through His death and resurrection, both Jew and Gentile, i.e. everyone could share in that glory.
Paul’s task as an apostle to the Gentiles opened up the door for all nations to receive the Gospel. What is that Gospel? That Christ is our only hope of receiving and participating in the kingdom of God, through His death and resurrection, both Jew and Gentile, i.e. everyone could share in that glory.
What is that Gospel? That Christ is our only hope of receiving and participating in the kingdom of God, through His death and resurrection, both Jew and Gentile, i.e. everyone could share in that glory.
That is the great mystery, the great secret that Paul has been guarding, the great cause that he is suffering for, the great task he has been assigned culminates in this: Christ in us, the hope of glory. the hope of glory for the church, this glory obviously belongs to God. But remember Paul described how he shared in Christ afflictions? In the same way we will ultimately be partakers in His glory. This is the marvelous truth of hope that awaits us.
Is the hope of glory for the church, this glory belongs to God and we as believers, just like in the beginning as I have explained how we shared in Christ afflictions, we will ultimately be partakers in His glory. This is the marvelous truth of hope that awaits us.
Illustration: Just prior to my mission trip last Christmas, on December 9th 2018, Chinese authorities arrested more than 100 members of Early Rain covenant Church in Chengdu China. This was only the start of another round of nationwide persecution and increasing hostility from the Chinese government. This story has been widely reported in the NY times, Wall street journal among other news agencies. As of now, the pastor and many co-workers are still under arrest at various detention centers. When their relatives go to visit them, they were prevented from seeing them saying the case is still under investigation. Some were blatantly told, who you know is more important than what you know. This is an excerpt from their latest prayer letter:
“This past Easter Sunday, a dozen or so brothers and sisters gathered at a remote place in the outskirts of the city to remember the Lord who rose from the dead for us. After some of the church members left, national security agents from the Chengdu Municipal Police station took them in for interrogation. Fortunately they were released one-by-one later that night” The prayer letter ended with this:”On Easter Sunday, multiple churches and hotels were intentionally bombed in Sri Lanka. More than 200 died. “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” () May we, in the midst of tribulation, still believe and proclaim, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” () Only the love of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross can dispel years of enmity. May God grant peace and comfort to those lands in terror. Lord, remember mercy! () Revive your work in the midst of the years!”
I want to close with this quote from
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
We as fellow stewards of this ancient Gospel that has been passed down from generations of saints before us and now entrusted to us. On behalf of the whole body of Christ, especially those who are facing dire threats for being faithful to this same old message. Proclaimers, future preachers of this mystery, let us be bold to proclaim this greatest among all mysteries, be faithful since we been given the greatest of all tasks, be prepared for the afflictions that comes with this greatest of all causes.
We as Gentiles, as fellow stewards of this mystery, let us be bold, be faithful, be prepared.