The Task of Servants of God

Colossians 1:28-29 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. We Proclaim Him (1:28)

i. Paul opens verse 28 by returning back to the idea of preaching that he presented in 1:25. But the beauty of this statement in verse 28 is that he writes we proclaim Him. Paul is not addressing just preachers at this point as he wrote in verse 25 that he was given the burden of fully carrying out the preaching of the word of God. Rather here in verse 28, he makes it clear that all Christians must be doing this. It is not just the job of the preacher, but the job of every believer in Christ.

ii. Paul starts verse 28 by writing we proclaim Him. Literally it means we declare/announce which deals with his preaching. What is the topic of Paul’s ministry? It is Him. We preach the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Up to this point what Paul has addressed to the church at Colossae is no different. Everything up to this point has been what God has done and specifically, what God has done through Christ.

iii. And because He has preached Christ and is speaking about Christ, Paul follows by stating that he admonishes every man and teaching every man with all wisdom.

iv. Paul starts the section by stating we admonish every man. Admonish here is dealing more with warning for Christians who might be tempted to stray. We have to recognize Paul’s statement in light of the New Testament. Paul has given us a glimpse of this by telling us in verse 24, to rejoice in his sufferings. The reality of Paul’s statement informs us that there was adversity not only to Paul but for Christians in general. We know from history regarding the persecution that Christians faced. This idea of warning to stay the course fits into the context of Paul admonishing believers to continue to press forward. Paul tells us in verse 23, that we are to continue in the faith and not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel.

v. Paul’s language here is telling us to continue to keep pressing forward even if it gets hard. We see this idea continue in verse 29 where Paul writes that this is the purpose that he labors. But this military language tells us to continue to press forward even if you want to give up. Don’t fall behind and don’t give up.

vi. Why should we not give up? Paul’s statement of we proclaim Him and admonish every man makes it clear that the task of the servant is for His master. This is what it means that Christ is Lord over us. It means that we live our lives for His purpose. The Lordship of Christ is not simply I believe in Him and now I have new life in Him. No, rather it means that all that I am now, it is because of Him and I give my life to Him. This is why we don’t proclaim ourselves or our ability, rather we proclaim Him.

vii. But not only is there admonition to keep going, but teaching every man with all wisdom. If we take a look here, the repetition on every man, or everyone is emphatic. Paul is reminding us that God’s truth is not just for some but that all the truth of God is for all the people of God. This idea of every man brings to mind what Paul wrote in 1:6, where he wrote that the Gospel has come to you and in all the world where it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing. The reason this was happening was because of 1:28.

viii. This is a complete contrast of a cult or false religion where it only pertains to the religious elite. It reminds me of Charismatic theology where God only answers the prayers of those who earn their answers. I recall when I was growing up, I always used to hear people say things like God didn’t answer your prayers because you didn’t have enough faith or because you didn’t pray enough or because you didn’t serve Him enough. The blame was always placed on the person and certain times, people would be encouraged and want to improve on those things. They would work harder and faster and try to fix it. But most of the time, after they heard this a couple of times and were beaten up because of it, they would give up. Therefore, in cults or false religion, God only answers the few. The ones who keep trying and have earned God’s rewards.

ix. This is the very opposite of what Paul is writing here. Paul is telling us that we proclaim Christ and admonish every man and teach every man because the Gospel is for everyone. There is nobody who is too far from reach of God and nobody who is too near to God that they don’t need Him. Everyone comes short and everyone is in need of Christ. This is why Paul says that we teach every man. How are we to teach them?

x. This close relationship between faithful teaching and faith-filled hearing of the gospel is reinforced with the addition of the phrase “with all wisdom,” which matches what Paul has said earlier about the Colossians’ understanding of God’s will (1:9). As people need wisdom to know how to live out true knowledge of God, so the preacher needs wisdom to know how to teach and admonish the people. This is why with all wisdom, we must win the hearts of men. We must encourage and persuade people to believe in Christ. It’s not merely teaching and admonishing. It’s having wisdom in how we approach them.

xi. Paul follows that up by telling us the result. We do this so we can present every man complete in Christ. The word here for complete or mature could be understood as complete and undivided way in which a person, with all one’s positive and negative attributes, is oriented toward God or toward Christ. It’s the characteristic of who we are in Christ. It is not saying that we are perfect. But rather, even in our deficiencies, we are working towards this commitment and goal. It is to be so committed to God that we are trying to do everything in our power to live a life that is acceptable before God. It is so much so that when we stand before God, our lives can be used as evidence to show the completed work.

b. We persevere because of Him (1:29)

i. I love verse 29’s beginning. For this purpose. What purpose are you speaking of Paul? For the purpose of proclaiming Christ, by admonishing and teaching everyone and presenting every man as complete in Christ. This is the labor that I am partaking in. What is his ultimate purpose? To present everyone fully mature in Christ. Why does Paul set out to do this? Because of what he wrote in verse 22. Just as Jesus died in His body to present us before Him blameless and holy, Paul labors to do the very same.

ii. Paul is echoing verse 22 by telling us that presenting every man complete in Christ is to show that they have been reconciled to Christ and because they have been reconciled, they can be presented holy and blameless.

iii. Paul writes that this is the reason also I labor. Labor is a general verb for any kind of work but Paul often uses it to refer to the work of the ministry. But the beautiful part about this verse follows this phrase. Paul writes striving according to His power. This is beautiful because it brings together this idea of laboring and struggling through his labor. The word here striving is literally agonizing. It is a verb dealing with athletic competition, it is someone who is struggling through the race.

iv. We see similarity to Paul’s comparison in verse 23 where he writes that you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast. This idea of contending for the faith by continuing to remain steadfast is in view. But not only that, not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. It is a person who is fighting the current so that they don’t fall away and continuing to hold on. It is not a passive act but active. It is someone who is agonizing to keep from flowing away.

v. How does Paul do this? He says according to His power which mightily works within me. As he has done earlier in v. 11 with reference to the Colossians’ life of Christian obedience, Paul again stacks up words referring to power: with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me; or, more literally, “according to his [Christ’s] energy which is working in me in power.” This is similar to what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:10 where he talks about his efforts but in reality, it was God who enabled him to work that hard.

vi. What is beautiful with Paul’s usage here is that he says he labors according to His energy which energizes within me. It shows us that all our labor is because of His ability to strengthen us. Paul makes that clear in Philippians 4:13 which tells us that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Because of God’s sustaining power, because He has reconciled me through His son, we have the strength to push forward. His salvation is what motivates me to continue moving forward. But not only does it motivate me, it gives me the energy and recharges me to continue to keep going.

3. CONCLUSION