The Goal of His Gospel

Introduction

Attention (Why should they listen to you?) Did you ever consider God to be a goal driven God? I mean there are a ton of books out there on the value of setting goals, how to achieve you most cherished goals or how to discover your most pressing goals. Pursuing our goals is a really good thing!

What if you had the opportunity to sit down with God and ask Him what His main goal is? What do you think He might tell you?

I think He would tell you that His goal is to

God’s Goal? Grow people into Christlike maturity and to use you to do it!

What is the Hearer’s problem? Did you catch that? He wants to reach people with the Gospel, save them from His eternal wrath, adopt them into His family and grow them into the image of Jesus Christ - aka Maturity in Christ. And His plan includes YOU!

You are a tool prepared by the God of the universe, hand crafted specifically for your culture and context to not only reach your friends and neighbors for Christ, but to help them mature as followers of Christ...

What do the hearers need to know?

Main Textual Idea:

Main Idea: You Are God’s Tool To Help Others Grow In Him!

Interrogative: Really? Well, how does this work?

Transition: There are two ways in which this works and the first way is...

Body (Satisfaction)

1. You Are His Tool for Their Maturity (vs. 28)

Lead in...

Text -

Colossians 1:28 ESV

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Explanation – Last week we talked about Paul’s stewardship or management responsibility. And according to verse 25, he says that he “became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known…”

He was a “Manager of the Message.” And suffered for it! But God used him powerfully to communicate the life-changing message of the Gospel.

Paul was a tool, a very sharp and effective tool in the hands of God. He accomplished so much for Jesus in his short ministry time on this earth. 22 years from His first missionary journey to when he was beheaded. As I said last week he planted some 20 churches personally and mentored some one hundred more. He wrote a voluminous amount in the New Testament and all the while working a side tent-making business.

Paul was an expert at “Managing the Message.”

Looking at verse 28, we can see exactly what he means by being a good steward of God’s truth. He tells us exactly his process of good management looks like…

You are a Tool to Proclaim - “Him we proclaim…” – καταγγέλλω – verb “To make known openly and with wide distribution.”

This is what Paul’s life entailed! He was the sower that Jesus talked about. He was the thrower of the seed!

By the way, do you know what a fertilizer spreader is called? It’s called a “broadcaster!” This is what the sower of the seed was, a broadcaster! He put his hand in the bag, grabbed a handful of seed and he broadcast it out. Paul grabbed a handful of the word (if you will) and threw it out!

Consider the parable of the sower…

Luke 8:4–15 ESV

4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Paul was an expert at broadly proclaiming the word of God…

Are you a faithful broadcaster of His truth? If you are going to help people mature in faith you must start with this!

But Paul doesn’t stop with general broad casting of the word, He also tell them...

You are a Tool to Warn - “…warning everyone…”

It’s not all sunshine and unicorns when it comes to life. There are pitfalls that can destroy a person. This is true for the unbeliever as well as the believer!

And so, Paul warns “EVERYONE!” I think it is fair to say that Paul warned the unbeliever as well as the believer!

For the unbeliever Paul warned of the impending reality of God’s wrath that would inevitably be poured out on the earth and would eternally be meted out on every unbelieving soul.

Yet

There is warning for the believer as well.

Hebrews 12:3–11 ESV

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

1 Corinthians 11:27–32 ESV

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

We, as believers in Christ must be very concerned with how we live our lives. We are to be a holy people! This is what Peter challenges us with in 1 Peter.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

“A royal priesthood” – God’s priest were consecrated (made holy) before the Lord!

“A holy nation” – Not simply as individuals but corporately we are to be a holy people!

Whether it is how we live our lives or the words we say, we are each a tool God uses to warn people!

You are a Tool to Teach - “…and teaching everyone with all wisdom…”

Correlates with

A multi-faceted tool like a swiss army knife or Leatherman.

You are a Tool to Present - “…that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” -

Illustration – An illustration on a coach or someone that helps you grow.

Argumentation – Did you know that you and I have the same privilege that the Apostle Paul had? Because of the great commission, this passage isn’t simply reserved for those who are pastors and teachers. We, as a body are to be tools in the hands of God to help others grow in Christlikeness.

We are tools that PROCLAIM.

We are tools that WARN!

We are tools that TEACH!

We are tools the PRESENT the MATURE!

This is what Paul was called to and this is what we are called to. And the only way this is ever going to get done to the level it needs to be done is if we are share in the load.

Application – Ways in which we can “share the load” of helping others to mature in Christ.

Review - You Are God’s Tool To Help Others Grow In Him!

· You Are His Tool for Their Maturity

2. You Are His Tool in Which He Works Powerfully (vs. 29)

Lead in...There are some people in this world who just know how to work and work hard. The best example I have of this kind of person was my dad. He worked so hard his whole life…

Paul knew how to work as well. Perhaps because he was commissioned by God Himself to steward the message of the Gospel?

Colossians 1:29 ESV

29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Text -

Explanation – Paul admits to the fact that serving Christ in the way of discipleship is toilsome work! It is not easy at all! It takes a tremendous amount of energy and effort! Why? Because it involves people! And people can be exhausting!

Remember, Paul is talking about helping Christians grow into maturity!

When a little baby is born, it would be ridiculous for us to expect much out of that baby. There is a lot of time that needs to be spent with that little one! To nurture it, feed it, change it and just help keep he or she alive!

You and I have the amazing privilege to help our disciples to grow into Christian maturity. Does that excite you? It should!

But as exciting as it is, the hard reality is it is a bunch of hard work. Like no kidding, hard work!

This is what Paul says in verse 29!

“For this I toil, struggling…”

“Toil” – to become weary/tired. to exert oneself physically, mentally, or spiritually, work hard, toil, strive, struggle[1]

“Struggle” - αγωνίζομαι (agonize) From and athletic perspective it is to engage in a contest. It also means to fight.

But the sentence takes a strange turn in the next half.

“For this I toil, struggling with all of His energy that he powerfully works within me.”

“Energy” - ἐνέργεια – Working, operation, action

And this isn’t just any energy, this is HIS energy! He is the action behind the action.

Paul goes on to say that it is God’s energy that HE POWERFULLY WORKS WITHIN ME!

This is a picture of the Divine / Human Cooperative.

Illustration – Circular saw sure works better when it is plugged in!

“The tool doesn’t do the work unless you work the tool!” Tony Beckett

Argumentation – Apart from Christ I can do nothing. God has a goal to use you. Are you cooperating with Him on this goal? Do your goals align with His goals for you?

Application -

Application - ways to tap into the power source...

Review - You Are God’s Tool To Help Others Grow In Him!

You Are God’s Tool To Help Others Grow In Him!

You Are His Tool for Their Maturity

You Are His Tool in Which He Works Powerfully (vs. 29)

Conclusion (Visualization)

Review opening illustration (if appropriate)

Action they should take

Land the Plane

Connection Group Reflection Questions

What encourages or challenges you from this passage of Scripture?

Why are goals important for the Christian? What kind of goal are near to the heart of God?

God’s goal is that you are a tool in his hand. According to verse 28, what are the characteristics of a profitable tool?

Why do you suppose God would use His people to help others mature in Christ?

Paul puts forth a great deal of effort to ensure the maturation of fellow believers, yet he does it with God’s energy. How is this possible?

What are you doing to be the most effective tool you can be for Christ?

[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 558.