Christ in You
Notes
Transcript
What is your ‘go to’ scripture in times of trouble or difficulty? Did you know that every writer of the NT comes to the same conclusion on how to face trouble, tribulation, suffering? Rejoice. Be full of joy. Count it all joy. How you doing with that?
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,
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,
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.
28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
The Suffering for the Gospel
If I try to live this life in my own strength, using my own power, I will fail.
Part of the benefit to a life lived in Christ is Christ lives in you. His power and as Paul says His energy.
Why is this important? Because there is suffering in this life. Whether we have Jesus or not, there is suffering in this life. We will face moments we dont like. Moments that strike fear in our hearts. Moments we will grieve for the rest of this life. Family dynamic. Shared experiences. Hurtful things said and regretted and remembered. Loss of life.
Paul reminds the church of the privilege of suffering for the sake of Christ, calls it joy, then makes a unique statement: in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
Paul is not completing a lacking of Christ’s work of redemption. The sacrificial sufferings of Christ are over, but the church experiences suffering because of our stand for the faith. And Christ feels it (Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?) What Paul says here is he is taking his turn in suffering. We each take ours. Not the ‘common suffering’ that is similar to the ‘common grace’, but the specific suffering that comes from living a life of faith in Christ. The phrase lends itself to the idea of ‘coloring in the lines’. Think coloring book drawings that need to be colored in. Jesus drew the lines, we color them in.
To be clear, this is not suffering to accomplish atonement. That was completely secured by the death of Christ on the cross.
How can there be joy in suffering? The same was said of Jesus: for the joy set before Him, He endured… Because suffering always produces something. In Romans he said it this way:
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
We should probably make a distinction here - obedient suffering produces... Last week we mentioned obedience as without complaining. Are we there yet? How much longer? I'm bored!? The kid in the back seat is waiting, but he’s not being patient.
But just like there is no forward motion without overcoming resistance there is no spiritual growth without moving through suffering. Without the ox pushing against the yoke the plow doesn't move… So suffering is a part of the ChristIan life that is crucial to growing men and women of great character and faith! And sometimes we wish it wasnt. Sometimes we are tired and weary and we lay in our bed at night weeping over what is wearing us out, wishing the suffering would go away and the joy, which is promised to come in the morning, would hurry in.
But for the joy set before Him, He endured...
The Mystery of the Gospel
Messianic fulfillment of OT prophecy. For Paul to be a minister to the Gentiles at this point in his ministry there were some dots to connect in their understanding. They would not have had the working knowledge of the significance of Christ in fulfilling God’s plan for redemption. Not just of the Jews but of the whole world.
When we see in the letters to the Corinthians to the Ephesians to the Romans and here to the Colossians this idea of the mystery of the gospel we can understand it always refers to Christ. Christ, the Messiah, fulfilling the OT prophecies. Christ Jesus saviour to the Gentiles. Its all about Jesus! Specifically, Christ in you.
The Gospel is not a system or a set of regulations. It is the person and work of Jesus. This is the message of the Gospel. And this applies to both Jews and to Gentiles. The prophets and those who read them couldn't reconcile this. It was a mystery to them. Also, there were some Jews reading Paul’s letter who were jealous of this, not wanting the benefit of the gospel to apply to Gentiles.
The Effect of the Gospel
When it gets into us, it changes us!
Admonishing
Scripture warns and corrects us. We need to be reminded there is an enemy who is active, seeking whom he may devour. That he is the father of lies and a deceiver practiced in his craft. That he has plans and minions enlisted to carry out his plans. His plan includes stealing, killing and destroying. That he is opposed to God and all He loves, namely us.
We need to be reminded of the consequences of sin. Even when the accuser is kept at bay our flesh is still drawn to sin. But sin also deceives. It separates from close fellowship with God. It tears down trust and promises what it cannot continue to deliver.
So admonishing helps the believer press ever closer to the Father. It keeps us mindful of the devil’s schemes. It protects us.
Teaching
Notice here it is not preaching but teaching which is elevated in importance. In the next chapter Paul says in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The treasures of Christ are to be taught. The folks in the church at Colossae needed to be taught some of the back story of Jesus to recognize just how great His offer of salvation was. Talk about a treasure!
This life God has called us to: To be treasured and cherished. And it includes suffering. Jesus told His disciples this exact thing. In this world you will have trouble… I have overcome the world. He offered comfort with the truth. His comfort didnt come in the form of an explanation. It came in the form of the Comforter. When Ella was small, RSV
The significance of the plagues God chose against Egypt
The curious layout of the Tribes around the Tabernacle
The significance of the untranslatable term in the Old Testament
The messages in the Patriarchs namesInteresting literary patternsWhat the Ark, Ark of the Covenant, Altar, and Mercy Seat have in commonWhat could have made touching the Ark of the Covenant deadly.The significance of the 12 and 7 leftover loavesA couple of God’s numeric patternsGod’s Divine TimelineDid Pilot indicate that Jesus was God?Jesus and the term “on this rock”God’s time and geographyJesus and Hebrew Betrothal