LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS

Description of Paul's Ministry

Colossians 1:24-2:5

INTRODUCTION

Paul is dealing with the situation in Colossae in which Gnosticism has made some inroads into the Colossian church. These inroads have resulted first in an unhealthy view of the body. Since the Gnostics believed that all matter was evil, they believed that the body was evil. As a result, they viewed suffering in the body as a part of evil. Next, they believed that only a few people had the divine spark within them. They believed that only an elite few were going to be saved. In addition to this, they believed that salvation consisted in head knowledge, that is, discovering you already had the divine spark within you.

All this sounds farfetched. Right? It's not as farfetched as we think. Some Christians do believe that an elite few are going to be saved. This is Calvin's view of predestination. Moreover, according to Calvinism you are already saved because salvation occurred before time began when God chose who would be saved and who would not be saved. Salvation then is nothing more than head knowledge--your discovering you are already saved. Finally, since the body is not evil, suffering many times has positive results. In order to address many of these issues, Paul gives us a description of his ministry. Such Gnostic views, which even some Christian thinkers adopt, radically contradict what Paul teaches in this passage.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PAUL'S MINISTRY (1:24-29)

Called to Suffer (1:24)

The first part of Paul's ministry consisted in his being called to suffer: "I am now glad amid my sufferings for you and am filling up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of the Christ." Note the element of joy when Paul speaks about his sufferings. Is he being unrealistic? After all, he's only in prison under house arrest. How bad is that? Second Corinthians (6:4-10) though tells us that Paul suffered horribly: afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness, hunger, etc. What caused him to rejoice over his sufferings?

First, he rejoiced because his sufferings were for the sake of the Colossians (and other Gentile Christians). If Paul had simply added circumcision to his preaching about salvation and told everybody to go by Moses' Law, then his Jewish opponents would have let him alone (Acts 21:20-21). The only problem though was that if he had added circumcision to salvation in addition to Jesus' death on the cross, then he would have been claiming Jesus' death alone would not have been sufficient to save us. If what Jesus did on the cross was not sufficient, then He would not have been God because surely God's death would have been sufficient for our salvation. Whether they realized it or not, Paul's Jewish opponents were not only attacking the way to be saved; they were also attacking the person of Christ. If suffering led to the Gentiles being saved, then Paul was glad to suffer.

Paul states the second reason he is glad to suffer: "to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of the Christ." This last sentence may really stun you. Paul is implying that although Christ suffered terribly on the cross, it was not enough and that we must suffer in order to complete His sufferings." That's what he says, but what does he mean?

In Isaiah chapters 40-66, Isaiah states that a new and glorious day is coming. On that day there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The Spirit will transform us radically so that we will experience righteousness and peace. So much harmony will prevail that not only will the lamb lie down with the lion but the child will even play with the cobra. What though will bring about this new age? The sufferings of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). The sufferings of the Servant of the Lord will bring about this new age of righteousness and transformation.

One of the major teachings of the NT is that Jesus the Messiah (Christ) is also this Servant of the Lord. As the Messiah, Jesus suffers in order to bring in this new age. When we see Jesus raised from the dead, we see the new age already dawning upon the world. Because the resurrected Jesus lives in us, we are getting a real taste of this new age.

Although Christ has suffered, He has not suffered enough in order to complete the bringing about of this new age. He has to suffer even more in order to consummate this new age. How then does He suffer? By having His people suffer. Because the Spirit of Jesus lives in us, the Christian is so identified with Christ that whenever the Christian suffers, Christ suffers.

Does that seem farfetched? First, think back to Saul's encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road. When Jesus confronts Saul, does He say, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting the church?" Does Jesus say, "Why are you persecuting the Christians in Damascus?" Although Saul was persecuting the church, especially the Christians at Damascus, that is not what Jesus says. Instead, He says, "Why are you persecuting ME?" We are so one with Christ that whenever a person persecutes us, they are actually persecuting Christ.

Second, remember that our sufferings have the nature of birth pangs (Rom. 8:18-25). According to Paul the sufferings of creation are birth pangs which produce a new universe. We saw this same sort of situation happen in the 20th century. As bad as the sufferings of the Jewish people were during the Holocaust, they produced something wonderful--the creation of the nation of Israel. The world was so saddened by the treatment of the Jewish people that they finally relented and allowed the Jews to return home after 1800 years in exile. As wonderful as the nation of Israel is today (produced by the sufferings of the Jewish people), how much more wonderful will be the new universe produced by the sufferings of the Christ while on earth 2000 years ago and by the sufferings of the Christ experienced by His people. For this reason then Paul rejoices. When Christ's sufferings are completed (through our sufferings), then the new age will be consummated and even God the Father Himself will come down to dwell among us in a radically transformed universe. (Remember that the part of suffering needed to pay for our sins has already been experienced. That happened when Christ was on the cross. Our sufferings do not save anybody. They just serve as labor pangs to produce the new universe.)

Third, an interesting verse in Revelation supports just this very thought. When Jesus breaks the fifth seal, we hear underneath the altar those who had been martyred during the Great Tribulation. They ask God: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell upon the earth?" God answers them: "For a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been should be complete also" (Rev. 6:10 & 11). In other words, the Tribulation will last until the last Christian martyr has suffered for Christ. Through all this we see that Christ gives our sufferings a new perspective. We don't suffer because we are evil or simply because we are human. Our sufferings are actually the labor pangs of Christ which bring about a new heaven and new earth.

The Message of Paul's Ministry (1:25-28)

After stating that God had selected him for his specific ministry, Paul says that he has come to "fill up God's Word." In other words, although God's Word has been preached for centuries, it had not been completely known or understood. What was lacking in the understanding of God's message to mankind Paul has now come to communicate.

What specifically has Paul come to communicate which will complete God's Word to His people? The secret that was hidden from past generations. By using the word "secret" or "mystery," Paul has once again picked up on one of the key words of the Gnostic heretics. They used the word "secret" to refer to the code words that the Gnostics were to use in order to get past the hostile angels who controlled the fortresses which prevented them from returning to the heavenly realm and being reunited with other Gnostics. Paul though means something radically different.

When Paul uses the word "secret" (mystery), he means that he is revealing something to God's people which was in the OT all along but which was not completely understood and appreciated until Paul had pointed it out to them. For example, in the OT we see bits and pieces of God's desire to reach the Gentiles. In fact the book of Jonah was written expressly to motivate God's people to reach out to the Gentiles. Yet the Jews did not understand this. Paul's ministry now is to highlight those thoughts in the OT which God wanted highlighted. (Now this is not due to Paul's keen insight into the OT. God had to reveal to Paul the significance of these thoughts. He is merely highlighting what God Himself wanted highlighted.)

What specifically is the secret/mystery that God revealed to Paul? First, the Gentiles in addition to the Jews are being made part of God's people. Now whereas the Jews had tried to bring the Gentiles into God's family for hundreds of years, their method was to make them part of God's people by first making them Jews, not by accepting them as Gentile members of the people of God. They were to submit to circumcision and then observe the Mosaic Law. Paul though will now say that God will make the Gentiles part of His people while allowing them to remain Gentiles! That was radical for the Jews of Paul's day.

The second part of the message Paul preached was that Christ now lived in them and that this constituted their hope of glory. The Jews believed that the Christ/Messiah was going to come save His people; however, they thought that salvation meant the destruction of the Romans. Whereas one day the Christ will destroy physically all His enemies, it is also true that in many ways the enemy is--you. More people have been defeated by what was going on inside of them than by what was going on outside of them. Christ has come to give us victory over ourselves by living within us by means of His Spirit.

How is Christ's living in us our hope of glory? Why do we hope with legitimate cause that one day we will rise from the dead and live forever with Him in a glorious existence? Because the same Christ who rose from the dead and who now experiences that glorious existence Himself right now lives within us. He has come to live within us so that from the inside out He might radically transform us. Right now we are experiencing that transformation internally; we can experience to a real but limited degree the glorious existence He experiences. On the day though when Jesus returns, He will complete that transformation so that we will be transformed not only internally but also externally.

In summing up Paul's message, Paul says: "Him (Jesus) we proclaim, while warning every person and instructing every person in all wisdom so that we might present every person complete in Christ" (1:28). For the hundredth time God was not the focus of Paul's message. What was the advantage to that whenever 95% of the world believes there is a God? You've added nothing new by discussing God. Paul preached Jesus and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Look at the NT. It primarily preaches Jesus: the Gospels preach the life of Jesus; Acts, the continuing ministry of Jesus through His Spirit; Romans, the righteousness Jesus provides for us; 1 Cor., the lifestyle of the person who follows Jesus; 2 Cor,. the truth that followers of the suffering Christ will suffer; Galatians, the righteousness Christ provides for us; Ephesians, the nature of His body the church; Philippians, the exaltation of Christ; etc. At the present time it really is all about Jesus. You can say God all day long and never reference Jesus; when you have said, "Jesus," though, you have said, "God."

Paul then states that he preaches Jesus first by admonishing or warning every person. This implies that people are in sin and need to repent in their attitude towards Jesus. It is critical that they change in their attitude towards Jesus because God the Father has endorsed Jesus. To reject the Son is to reject the Father who has endorsed Him. Second, he preaches Jesus by instructing every person. He teaches people the truths about Jesus and His claims upon their lives. The reason he does this is so that he might be able to present every person complete in Christ on that last day. He wants to present to Jesus a world of mankind which has submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ and which has grown in its relationship to Him.

Notice the audience Paul targets with his message: every person. Now the Gnostics believed that their message was only for a select few since only a few of them had the divine light within themselves. That might seem strange to us; however, many Christians believe the same thing, while others act like they believe this to be true. Calvinists believe that only a few have been chosen before the foundation of the world for salvation. No matter what you or I do, those are the only people who will be saved. Paul though targets every person because he believes that each person has the potential to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is a realist enough to know that not every person will accept Christ; however, he also knows that each person can have a relationship with Jesus. That drives him to present Christ to every person. (Special deep Bible studies which appeal to only the elite few also contradict Paul's view.)

The Effort Paul Puts Into His Ministry (1:29)

Paul claims that he "toils" and "agonizes" in order to present every person complete in Christ. The idea behind toil is that of a manual laborer who has to work extremely hard at his job. It has the idea of a farmer who works by the sweat of his brow in order to till and weed the ground. It is hard work in order to be effective for Christ. The idea behind "agony" is that of a wrestler. I had a roommate, Tim, who wrestled for the University of Auburn. When we would wrestle, he would throw me up against one wall, then the other, then the other, then the other, until finally there were no more walls, ceilings, or floors to throw me up against (thank goodness). Tim said that one of the keys to wrestling was straining and using every muscle to defeat your opponent. In the same way, Paul stated that the Christian was to use every spiritual muscle in his work for Jesus.

I feel for those Christian workers who doubt themselves because they find it really difficult in preparing to teach, to preach, or to do anything for the Lord. They feel like something is wrong with them because of the struggle they go through. Do you think it is any coincidence though that a person who owns a business for 20 years experiences trouble in that business only after he has started living for Jesus? The truth is that I have yet to find anybody effective for Christ who has not had to struggle. They work, they pray, they study, and yet they feel like the lesson they are preparing is not going to be any good, and then all of a sudden they get up to teach and everything comes together. The fact that it all came together shows that they should not have downed themselves. The struggle is part of the process. Birth pangs are a necessary part of producing the baby.

The wonderful thing though is that we are not left to our own strength and power in our labors for Jesus. The risen Christ who has come to live in us gives us His resurrection power to achieve victory in the life He has given us.

PAUL'S SPECIFIC MINISTRY TO THE COLOSSIANS (2:1-5)

Not only does Paul struggle for the churches at large, he agonizes specifically for the Colossian church and for her sister churches at Hierapolis and Laodicea. (Apparently Epaphras was the founder of these 3 churches in the Lycus valley.) The immediate reasons he agonizes for them is (1) that their hearts may be strengthened (encouraged) and (2) that they might be united together in love.

It is essential that they be strong in their faith. They are being bombarded by false teachings; they will be bombarded by persecution from the Jews and the Romans. It would be so easy to cave in; however, caving in is not an option. Caving in would be disastrous for themselves in their relationship with Christ. Although Christians do fail, the bottom line is that they also persevere to the end. When Queen Victoria received some discouraging news about the British war in S. Africa, she said: "This house is not depressed. The possibility of defeat does not exist!" That is the same attitude Christians should exhibit.

Paul also works to unite their hearts in love. Unfortunately love is normally the first casualty in our struggles. We are so concerned with being right or promoting God's agenda that we sacrifice love in doing it. Love though is like the room in which God lives. If you want to be with God, if you want God to be with you, then you must love; otherwise, you are out of the room where God dwells. Love is not optional.

The ultimate purpose of Paul's striving for the Colossians is that they might attain all the riches that the full assurance of insight brings, with a full knowledge of Christ, the secret of God. Why should we seek this knowledge of Christ? Because in Christ lie the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. What is wisdom and how does it relate to Christ? Wisdom seeks answers for the big questions in life: "Who am I?" "Why am I here?" "Is there a God?" "What is He like?" Paul claims that those questions are ultimately answered in Jesus Christ. Who am I? I am one who has been created in the image of Jesus Christ, the image of God. Why am I here? I am here for Christ. I am here to serve Him and live my life for Him. I am to experience His saving power so that I can become like Him. I am to grow in my relationship with Him. "Is there a God?" We know conclusively there is a God because Jesus, God the Son, by His resurrection has proved that God exists and that He is God the Son. "What is God like?" He is exactly like His Son Jesus who is the image, the spitting image, of the Father. I like the scene in Ben Hur in which Judah Ben Hur tells Balthazar: "[Because you have met Jesus,] life has answered your questions." Balthazar responds: "No, Judah, LIFE has been answered."