COLOSSIANS – Part Four

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

www.godsbreathpublications.com

 

Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul while he was under house arrest in Rome. Epaphras, the pastor of the church in Colossae, came to Paul to share how well the Christians were growing in faith, but also to ask for help to address the issue of false teaching that was threatening the church. Paul responded by writing this letter of encouragement that is packed full of basic doctrine concerning Christ and the Gospel. It is unclear what the exact heresy was that was attempting to creep into the church at Colossae, but it had elements of Jewish observances of the Law as well as paganism and Gnostic beliefs. It is very relevant for us today, for we are surrounded by pagan beliefs and ascetic religious concepts, while at the same time dealing with a new resurgence of Gnostic conceptual influences. Paul in the following passage covers the doctrine of the persona and work of Jesus Christ. The best way to confront false teachings and twisted doctrine is to proclaim scriptural truth.

 

We all have a ministry as followers of Christ. We have all been given spiritual gifts to use to minister to others and bring glory to God. But often we lack understanding how our ministry functions and what is exactly involved when God uses us to serve others. In Colossians chapter one Paul shares some personal notes on his ministry and we can learn from his example how to live out our own ministry. Paul states,

 

Colossians 1:24-29

“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”

 

In this portion of scripture Paul shares eight points of his view of serving God in ministry.

First we saw in verse 23 and now in 25 Paul’s source for ministry. He states, “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness.” The source of his ministry is God. Paul was a servant of the gospel and the gospel came from God through Christ. This is to be our source of our own personal ministry as well. Paul was commissioned by God to be the servant of the gospel and so are we as followers of Christ. We are to be stewards or servants of the gospel. Once we decide to follow Christ and dedicate our life to Him we have an obligation to share the gospel in how we think, act and live. The only way we can carry out this responsibility properly is to let God be the source of how we minister. The Holy Spirit who lives within us as a follower of Christ will give to us spiritual gifts to use when we minister the gospel to others (1 Corinthians 1:24).

 

Paul’s second point regarding ministry is that it is to be a joy. He says in verse 24, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered…” God does not intend for ministry to be unbearable, but it can be rough at times. In the midst of ministry, trials will come, conflicts will manifest themselves and hardships will occur. Despite this external experience, internally we can have a godly joy because we recognize God is working through us, that He is upholding us and giving us the strength to endure (Nehemiah 8:10, James 1:2-4). If we remain focused on God as the source of strength during ministry His joy will be our strength. Jesus is our example as it states in Hebrews 12:2-3 – “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

 

Thirdly, Paul shares that we will experience suffering when we minister; it is a reality of life. In verse 24 he states, “…in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,…” Paul’s ministry of the Gospel caused him much suffering and hardship and he often spoke of the suffering that other believer’s would have to endure for Christ (Philippians 1:29, 1 Peter 1:6). We might consider it strange Paul’s statement, “I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions.” It seems that he is saying that Christ’s sufferings and death on the cross were not enough to save us and that Paul felt he had to suffer to make up the difference for himself or others. But the Greek word for “afflictions” in this verse “thlipsis” is never used in reference to the sufferings of Christ. Therefore Paul is simply saying that people still wish to do Christ harm, but because He is no longer present on earth this harm will be directed towards us and Paul has experienced this type of suffering and persecution. Paul even bore on his body the marks of the blows that were intended for Christ (Galatians 6:17, 2 Corinthians 11:23-28). So we will at times when we minister experience suffering and hardship because we are associated with Jesus Christ.

 

A fourth point that Paul shares concerning ministry is that the scope of the ministry is preaching the Word of God. In verse 25 he states his purpose in ministry, “…to present to you the word of God in its fullness…” Paul made preaching the gospel his primary goal (Acts 20:20, 27) and this should be our goal as well. We should follow Paul’s example and pattern our ministry after that of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus limited His ministry to doing God’s will (John 5:30), to respecting God’s timing (John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20, 12:27, 13:1, 17:1), to seeking God’s objective (Matthew 15:24) and to building God’s kingdom (Matthew 22:21). We build God’s kingdom by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as Christ loves us. We also build His kingdom when we demonstrate God’s love for non-believers by sharing the gospel with them and ministering to their physical and emotional needs. We may not be preachers like Paul, but when we minister to people in acts of love, care and mercy we are living out the gospel in our lives and preaching it in our actions. The Word of God is the focus of our lives and it should be the focus of any ministry of God in which we serve.

 

Fifthly Paul tells us the subject of ministry is the mystery of God that had been hidden. He says in verses 26-27, “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In the Old Testament the Jews were God’s chosen people and they knew there would be a coming Messiah, but the mystery that they did not know was that Gentiles would be allowed to come into the kingdom of God through the Messiah. This mystery was revealed by Christ in His teaching, life, death on the cross, resurrection and ascension to Heaven. Paul’s use of the word mystery “musterion” is not to indicate a secret teaching for a select few, but truth revealed to all believers in the New Testament. This truth or mystery is the mystery of the incarnate God, Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:2-3, 9), the unity of the Jews and the church (Ephesians 3:3-6), the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51) and other revelations. These truths are revealed by the will of God to men, those who believe in Him and His Son. These truths were hidden from those in the Old Testament until the proper time for them to be revealed according to God’s will. This mystery will be fully revealed when Christ returns to claim His kingdom. This is all the mystery of the gospel and should be the subject of our ministry to others. We should share this mystery with those we witness to and it should be reflected in how we minister to people in physical ways as well. We show love in our actions, behaviors and the manner we serve them because we believe in this mystery that has now been revealed.

 

Sixthly Paul shares about the style of his ministry. This style was both negative (admonishing) and positive (teaching) and this is a godly style depending on the situation and circumstance. He says in verse 28, “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,” Paul’s passion was to “proclaim Him,” Jesus Christ. Proclaim “katangello” means to publicly declare a completed truth or happening. Paul declared that God, through Christ, was making salvation available to all people. Sometimes he admonished people to turn from their sin and at other times he taught them how to live in Christ after accepting Jesus as Savior. When we declare, preach or share the gospel our style may be in an admonishing fashion. Admonishing “noutheteo” is encouraging counsel in view of sin and coming punishment (Acts 20:31). This may come across as negative at times because we are confronting people with their sinful nature and lifestyle and warning them that they need forgiveness for their sins. We are always to share the gospel in a loving manner, but the truth of God’s Word will convict in an admonishing manner at times. In Colossians 3:16 Paul shares again this style of ministry as he teaches, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Teaching “didaskontes” refers to positive truth and is the responsibility of every believer and part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20). Romans 15:14 tells us that any Christian is capable of teaching others about Christ because we do it out of the wisdom we gain as we grow in understanding of Biblical principles for holy living.

 

Paul’s seventh point of ministry is the goal of the spiritual maturity of the saints. He states in verse 28, “so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” The goal of ministry is the maturity of fellow followers of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13 tells us that God established a foundation of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to achieve maturity in Christian believers. While we do not have apostles or prophets today, we do have evangelists, pastors and teachers who admonish and instruct us in the faith. After we are taught, we should seek to admonish and teach others so that they can grow in knowledge and wisdom as we have. This was Paul’s goal and it should be ours as well. This is spoken of in 2 Timothy 2:2 as well, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” And of course the textbook from which we teach and admonish maturity is the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

Paul does not leave out the power source for carrying out godly ministry and this we need to hear for it is central to how we will minister. His eighth point for ministry is that we remember that our strength comes from the power of God. He says in verse 29, “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Labor “kopiao” means to work to the point of exhaustion. This gives us a high goal to seek, in how and to what extent we minister. Ministry is not a casual interest or activity. It should be at the heart and soul of our being and should be demonstrated in our level of commitment with our talents, time and treasures. Striving or struggling “agonizomai” refers to maximum effort spent in competing in an athletic event and gives us the intensity with which we minister with God’s power. But we must remember that striving and struggling is not done in the flesh but with God’s power as our foundational source. Paul shares this also in 1 Corinthians 15:10-11 and Galatians 2:20.

 

So every follower of Christ should:

1. See God as the source of their ministry to others.

2. Experience joy as the spirit of their ministry and life.

3. Expect to experience suffering and persecution in their ministry and witness.

4. Know that the scope and focus of their ministry is the Word of God.

5. Communicate in their ministry the mystery of salvation in Christ.

6. Use a style in their ministry of both admonishing and teaching others.

7. Seek to make the sum and end result of their ministry the maturity of each Believer.

8. Understand that the strength and power in their ministry is from God and Him alone.

 

In our next part we launch into chapter two and expose ourselves to more of Paul’s admonishing and teaching!