Colossians 1:24-29

Colossians 1 [NASB]
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.
25Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
27to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
29For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

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24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

Paul the apostle was like Jesus, ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’ (Isaiah 53:3 NASB). When Jesus spoke of Paul to Ananias, as recorded in Acts 9:16 [NASB], He said of him: ‘for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake.’ In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul speaks of examples his sufferings for the sake of Christ and the church:

2 Corinthians 11 [NASB]
23Are they servants of Christ?--I speak as if insane--I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
26I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;
27I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
29Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

When I look at what he went through I am in awe. Many Christians around the world suffer today as Paul did, and we are told to expect as much.

2 Timothy 3:12 [NASB]
12Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

So what is our response to be? Paul always speaks of his sufferings with an attitude of joy, thanksgiving and humility. He says to the Colossians that ‘I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake’. I must admit that this is not my response when things get hard. Paul has just finished speaking of Christ’s supremacy in creation, the church and in redemption, and goes on to speak of the preaching of the gospel. In the light of who Jesus is, what He has accomplished on our behalf, and the work of God in the proclamation of the gospel, Paul can say that he rejoices in his sufferings. He knows that it is for the sake of the Colossian believers, and the church as a body. He says that ‘in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions’. Paul says that he is doing his share on behalf of His body the church. All the members of the body contribute their share, in whatever the Lord requires of them. The question remains however - was there something lacking in Christ’s afflictions? In regard to the atoning value of Christ’s sacrifice it is clear in this letter that Christ’s death was sufficient.

Colossians 1:20-22 [NASB]
20and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
22yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--

Colossians 2:14 [NASB]
14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

There are two main schools of thought that I could find regarding this passage. The first (supported by William Hendriksen) is that the enemies of God were not satisfied and so are trying to fill up their measure of the sufferings they desired of Christ by causing sufferings in His followers (Revelation 12:13, John 15:18-21). The second interpretation is that Paul had not yet suffered as fully as Christ had, or as fully as Christ had assigned to him. There was still more for Paul to suffer, and so he was filling up what was lacking (supported by Matthew Henry and Albert Barnes). I am inclined to follow the second, however they are not mutually exclusive.

25Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,

Paul was divinely appointed to his position as a minister to the church in rather spectacular fashion. His apostleship was bestowed on him, and his teachings carried with them a weight of authority because of this. The Colossians needed to remember his authority when faced with contrary teachings. We need to remember that those who are in authority as teachers are called to their position by God.

Ephesians 4:11-13 [NASB]
11And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

All teachings need to be tested against Scripture, as even those at Berea tested the teachings of Paul.

Acts 17:10-11 [NASB]
10The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

It is a great responsibility for teachers, they are charged with ‘fully carry(ing) out the preaching of the word of God’. We should pray for them and support them in their ministry.

26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,

Hendriksen states ‘In Pauline literature a mystery is a person or a truth that would remain unknown had not God revealed him or it’. In 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, Paul speaks of a veil still being over the hearts of those who do not know Christ. The veil is however lifted when one turns to Christ. Praise the Lord for God’s mercy and glory. What was hidden from past ages and generations is revealed to us!

1 Peter 1:10-12 [NASB]
10As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,
11seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look.

This greatly humbles me, and convicts me of the way I treat the Bible. I should treasure the privilege I have to be able to access the whole canon of Scripture. This scripture states that the great men of old who were said to have served God with all their heart (David, Abraham, Hezekiah, Josiah) did not have as full a revelation of the mystery of God as I do. And yet Christ says regarding a parable about stewards and masters:

Luke 12:48b [NASB]
48bFrom everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

We have been entrusted with the mystery of Christ, fully revealed as never before. What do we do with this treasure? Are we good stewards of what we have been entrusted with?

27to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

God willed to make known this mystery to His saints. The mystery is glorious, richly glorious. Christ has taken down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles, reconciling both to God in one body through Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22 esp. 16).

Ephesians 2:8-9 [NASB]
8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The mystery of salvation available to Jews and Gentiles is summed up in ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’. Through Christ, we have an expectation of the glory to be revealed in us in the future.

Colossians 3:4 [NASB]
4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul speaks of the resurrection hope which Christians have, that our body will be sewn in dishonor but raised in glory. We have not only been forgiven our sins, transferred into the kingdom of God, declared to be the sons of God, and given everlasting life in Christ, but given the promise of glory also! Praise the Lord!

28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

Whatever Paul preached, wherever and whenever, he proclaimed Christ. He proclaimed the One who is supreme in creation, the church, redemption, who has purchased us by His blood, and who guarantees our future glory. To admonish is to warn, stimulate, encourage. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 he pleads, and in 2 Corinthians 2:4 and Philippians 3:18 he sheds tears. Paul knew that this Christ is the only hope for every man and so He is presented to all through admonition and teaching. This needed to be done with all wisdom because the goal is so important. Paul (and his fellow-workers) proclaimed Christ that they ‘may present every man complete in Christ’. This ‘complete’ could also be ‘perfect’. This role is usually attributed to Christ (Ephesians 5:27) and God the Father (2 Corinthians 4:14). In God’s good plan the wise faithful proclamation of Christ in the form of admonition and teaching is able to accomplish this goal. What a glorious privilege and responsibility. This is in view of Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:23), as F. F. Bruce states: “it is then that the work of grace in the believer’s life is complete, it is then that perfect conformity to the likeness of Christ is attained”.

29For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Knowing that God has bestowed on him this ministry and that he has a role to play in presenting these believers complete in Christ, Paul says that he labors – literally labor to the point of weariness and exhaustion. However he knows that he is not in this alone. It is also God’s work as seen in Ephesians 5:27 and 2 Corinthians 4:14, and Paul knows that he works according to His power. This power of God is the same power which raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20). Paul records in his letters that his striving included earnest prayers, listening to God, careful planning, letter writing, directing, mentoring, personal witnessing, living as an example. How did Paul accomplish so much? It was Christ in him, God’s power at work.

What does this mean for us? What ministry has God given us? We may not be called as Paul was to proclaim Christ before kings and rulers, but we are called to live excellent lives among the Gentiles (1 Peter 2:12), to go and make disciples, teaching them of Christ (Matthew 28:19), to be subject to our husbands (Colossians 3:18), to do our work heartily as for the Lord (Colossians 3:23) etc. We are called to follow Paul’s example given here. He suffered with rejoicing, knowing what it was achieving. He knew the stewardship God had given him and was seeking to fully carry it out. We need to value the mystery which has been revealed to us, and treasure and study the Word in all its fullness. We need to appreciate the riches of the glory of the mystery which is Christ in us, the hope of glory. We need to proclaim Christ as Paul did, warning, stimulating, encouraging, teaching EVERY man. We need to work hard, to strive and labour, in God’s strength with works within us. Lord help us to this end!

God bless, Taliah.