One Mystery Explained
Col 1:24-29
24 Now 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. 25 Of 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, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to 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. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Now 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. What can we observe about the sufferings of which Paul wrote about in this verse?
- Paul’s sufferings were for someone else – his focus was not upon his own comfort but rather on what served the greater body of Christ. It is rare that a person can focus on the good of another when they themselves are being mistreated. But this apostle was able to do that, and others like him throughout the history of the church, have been able to do the same. Can you tell us how other’s suffering has been used in your life? Now can you picture how your suffering can be used in someone else’s life?
- Paul’s sufferings are identified with Christ’s suffering – this is a verse that has caused some confusion. There are a few things that we can be sure of from the writing of Paul
- He didn’t think that Christ’s suffering was incomplete. Paul firmly believed that Christ died once for all and that all of our sin was paid for through His sacrifice.
- Paul also did not believe that through personal suffering, he would gain God’s approval since he knew that God’s approval was already secured through the blood of Christ.
- I wonder if this might not mean that Paul himself continues the burden that Christ had to bring people to the Father. Christ Himself lived with the burden to see God’s people redeemed. Remember, that Christ wept over the lost sheep of Israel. I don’t doubt that Paul also wept over the lost.
- It has also been suggested that this verse is an indication that when any believer suffers because of their faith, it is also Christ who endures with that believer.
- Paul’s sufferings caused him to rejoice – meaning that he probably was able to look past the temporary discomfort of the suffering to the end results that this suffering would offer to others. That end result is the letters that we have from Paul, written during his imprisonment.
Of 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.
There are some who wonder what their calling in the ministry should be. There are those who have a gift towards evangelism and service. For the apostle Paul, he knew what God wanted him to do. He was to carry out the preaching of the word of God. This is a general description for the oral proclamation of the apostles. I like that Paul’s mission was to preach the Word because that is something that each of can do. We preach the Word both through our words and our lives. In fact, there are other places where Paul talks about living among believers and living the word before their eyes. You don’t have to open the Big Book in front of everyone in your life to live the word. But I believe when you are preaching, you better be using the Book.
Now we come to one of those marvelous verses of the Bible. This verse talks about a mystery. There are some things that we will only know because the Spirit of God reveals them to us. One of them is this mystery mentioned here. And I believe it is one of the keys to understanding the remarkableness of your salvation.
The mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to 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.
When the Bible talks about mysteries, and there are a few uses of this word, it is referring to something that is undiscoverable by any other means other than Divine revelation. The word is used in Ephesians 6 times, 4 times in Colossians, twice in Romans, 1 Cor. and 1 Timothy. In most cases, it is refers to an “open secret”. But in this case, Paul tells us that the secret has not been revealed to everyone, but only to His saints.
In this passage, Paul notes that the One who decided to reveal this mystery was God. You see, God owned the information and only by His will would that ever be able to be known. In the plan of God, He decided that He would reveal this mystery, which carries such remarkable riches. I am not even sure how to express this – maybe you have read something or remember something that you think expressed this well?
What is this mystery? It is Christ in you. In you and in me. Christ residing in the believer. What are the elements of this mystery?
First: The fact that God could or would take residence with a person. Remember that the OT picture of the presence of God was something of conditional presence. There were times when God was in the camp, and there were times when He was not. The comment here points to the issue that God is always with the believer. This is a remarkable thing because the last time that people knew that God had personal contact was probably with Moses. There is no history of God residing with a person, let alone in that person.
Second: Usually God was in a place where the Chief Priest would visit once a year. Because of the holiness of the presence of God, there were so many things that had to be done and prepared so that the Chief Priest could come into the presence of God to seek the forgiveness of the people. Now, instead of God only being accessible to one person, He was to reside within the lives of all believers. The ability of God to reside in so many at the same time must have challenged their knowledge of what God did in the past.
Third: There were very few people throughout the history of Israel who understood that God was the God of all lands and people, and not only of the Jews. You can find the verses, but it took a remarkable OT saint to see that God was inclusive of the Gentiles as well as the Jews. This might have been Paul’s greatest surprise about the gospel, that it included an offer to the Gentiles. Now that mystery is revealed: God is seeking the lost even among the Gentiles. If you had felt outside the reach of God prior to this announcement, this knowledge would have given you reason to shout for joy. You and I have been raised in a world where access to God has become commonplace. Again this is a part of our salvation that we have lost the impact of this. We have a share in Christ’s riches. We have Christ in us, living in us, abiding in us. That simple thought alone should keep us from making some mistakes regarding how we live and what we do with the time God has given us. Everywhere you and I go, you take Christ with you.
And what is more, it is not just Christ in you, as if that wasn’t enough, but it is also the hope of glory. This speaks to the anticipation of being joint heirs with Christ, being a part of the Heavenly family.
Now, how does this fact affect the ministry of Paul? We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
Paul saw that proclaiming Christ was the focus of his teaching. So we can say that the method was through the Word of God, and the message was Christ, the means he used was to admonish every man and teach every man with all wisdom and the mark he wanted to hit was to present every man complete (mature) in Christ.
For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Labor – it is work
Striving – it a full forward thrust
According to His power – and it’s done by His power.