Colossians 1:25-29
by Dr. Grant C. Richison
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Colossians 1:25
"Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from
God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God."
From 1:25 to the end of the chapter, Paul presents his ministry. After
stating his two conflicting emotions of "suffering" and "rejoicing,"
he gives his purpose of ministry.
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"Of which"
This phrase points back to the church in verse 24. Paul became a minister
to care for the church. The "of which" of verse 23 refers to
the gospel. First he was a minister of the gospel. Now he is a minister
of the church.
Some people simply minister the gospel but not minister to the church.
To minister the gospel is indispensable but that is only a start. He was
an expert in the gospel (Rom. 1:1; 15:16). He wound never step down from
preaching the gospel to some secondary issue. He never postpones the preaching
of the gospel to deal with secondary, incidental issues. He understood
the difference between the good and the best.
Not only is he a minister of the gospel but he is a minister to the church.
This will separate the men from the boys.
PRINCIPLE: Ministry has a double barrel shotgun: to the lost and to the
Christian.
APPLICATION: A church that ministers to those without Christ exclusively
has only half a ministry. A balanced ministry ministers to both.
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"I became a minister"
The New Testament often translates the word "minister" as "servant."
Sometimes it translates the word "deacon."
Before he became a Christian Paul was the head of a goon squad on their
way to Damascus to murder Christians (Acts 9:1). At the entrance of the
city he met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face and became a Christian.
Jesus made him a "minister" (I Tim. 1:12,13). God found the worst
sinner he could find and revealed his Son in him (Gal. 1:15,16; I Tim. 1:15,16).
He made him a minister of the gospel and a minister of the church. The
church here is not the local church. It is the universal church, the mystical
body of Christ, made up of anyone who has come to trust in the cross to
save them from sin. His ministry was not to a local church but to the entire
body of Christ.
Paul's ministry was not to a local church. The longest he spent in any
one place was Ephesus (3 years). He was a pioneer missionary. Missionaries
are ministers. A missionary is no second rate minister who could not make
the grade at home. We do not learn that from the Bible! This intrepid
minister was the primary minister of the first century. He had a wider
ministry than even Peter.
PRINCIPLE: Jesus can use anyone to preach the gospel, even a murderer.
APPLICATION: Has God called you into the ministry? What are your ambitions?
Would you like to be a minister? You may feel that you are not qualified
to serve Jesus Christ. Neither was the mighty missionary Paul. If God
could use him he can use you.
If you say, "There is not much future in it; there is not much security
in it; there is not much money in it" then the ministry is not for
you. But there is no work on earth that is more gratifying. Why not at
least open yourself to the possibility that God may want you in the ministry?
Have you ever given one moment's consideration of the ministry? God only
knows what he might do with your life.
You may say, "I don't feel that I have the ability." That feeling
is not justified unless a person has examined his giftedness and tested
those gifts. I never felt that I had the gifts to become a minister when
I first became a Christian. That comes after a test.
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"according to the stewardship from God"
The word "stewardship" means dispensation. Paul became a minister
by the dispensation of God. "But as we have been approved by God to
be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but
God who tests our hearts" (I Thes 2:4). God had a steak in him. God
made a deposit with him. I Corinthians 2 says the same thing, "1Let
a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful."
We need not be famous, simply faithful.
"For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity
is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if
I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been
entrusted with a stewardship" (I Cor. 9:16,17). God entrusts the
gospel with human beings. He will reward us in eternity for faithful service.
PRINCIPLE: God has a steak in our ministry.
APPLICATION: Are you faithful to the "stewardship" God has given
you? God has never asked us to become great. He only asks that we be faithful
with the ministry he has given us.
God entrusted Paul with the truth. His responsibility was to be faithful
in delivering it to others.
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"which was given to me for you"
Paul clearly understood his ministry was from God. It was a ministry from
God for the Colossians.
"to fulfill the word of God"
The Colossian heresy crowed about their special "fullness" that
was possible exclusively through their secret rituals. Paul says that he
is a God-ordained servant of the fullness of the Word of God (1:9; 2:9).
God wants Paul to give full scope to or fill full the Word of God. God
wants him to give as wide an audience as possible to his Word.
God put Paul in a special place of ministry. Paul wrote half of the New
Testament. Matthew wrote one book; Mark wrote one; Luke wrote the gospel
of Luke and Acts; John wrote five books; Peter wrote two; James wrote one;
Jude wrote one; the Hebrews author is unknown but it could have been Paul;
Paul wrote thirteen books, possibly fourteen of the 27 books of the New
Testament. Only Matthew, Peter and John were of the original twelve apostles.
There are subjects in the writings of Paul that are found nowhere else
in the Bible. God gave him a great ministry.
PRINCIPLE: God has a special place for each of us in his service.
APPLICATION: Have you taken time to find out what special place God has
for you in his service? Are fully discharging your responsibility for getting
the gospel out?
Colossians 1:26
"The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations,
but now has been revealed to His saints."
This verse demonstrates that the believer has a new standing before God
with privileges.
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"The mystery"
"Mystery" in the Bible is not something spooky as it is in the
English. It is not mysterious or abstruse. Mystery is something formerly
concealed and then later revealed (Eph. 3:8,9). It is a sacred secret.
Paul contrasts this with the Colossian heresy that a mystery was a secret
known only to the initiated.
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"which has been hidden from ages and from generations"
The mystery is the introduction of the church into God's economy. The church
was not disclosed in the Old Testament. Abraham or Moses did not know of
the church. God revealed it initially in a doctrinal sense to Paul (Ephesians
3). Jesus said the church was still a future institution in Matthew 16:16-18.
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"but now has been revealed to His saints"
The birth of the church took place when the followers of Christ were placed
into the body of Christ (Acts 1:5; chapter 2; I Cor. 12:13).
The mystery was not that Gentiles would become Christians. It was that
the Gentiles would be placed at the same status quo with Jews into one body
(Eph. 3:1ff). There would be no middle wall of partition between them (Gal.
3:28; Eph. 2:12-14).
The Old Testament believers knew about the first coming of Christ and his
second arrival. They knew that he was going to be crucified (Psalm 22;
Isa. 53). However, they knew nothing about the church. The church was
revealed to the saints of the economy of the church.
PRINCIPLE: The New Testament believer has a status quo equivalent to Jesus
Christ's status quo before God.
APPLICATION: You would think that we would be better Christians than the
Old Testament believers because we have so much more revelation than they.
Also, our prerogatives are much greater than Old Testament believers.
You would think that we would live up to them.
Colossians 1:27
"To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory."
Paul here introduces the idea Jesus comes to indwell each person who places
their faith in the death of Christ for the forgiveness of their sin.
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"To them"
The antecedent is the "saints" of verse 26.
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"God willed to make known"
God chose to make known the mystery (v.26) to the saints. From eternity
God determined to make known this mystery.
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"what are the riches of the glory of this mystery "
God's glory is the shining forth of his attributes and character. The disclosure
of this mystery breaks out of the glory of God. It must have been a shock
to these Gentiles that they would possess these prerogatives.
The word "riches" means the abundance of God's wealth that he
gives to his people.
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"among the Gentiles:"
Previously God made his revelation to a theocracy, the nation Israel. Now
God brings the Gentiles into his program by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).
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"which is Christ in you"
Christ now indwells both Gentiles and Jews. They are "in Christ"
and Christ is in them (Rom. 8:10; II Cor 13:5) The "you" here
is the Gentiles.
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"the hope of glory"
Those without Christ are "without hope and without God" (Eph.
2:12). Now believers anticipate a share in the glory of Christ (Col. 3:4;
Gal. 5:5; I Pet. 5:10). This hope is the guarantee that we will be in glory
and glorified. It is as good as done.
PRINCIPLE: Jesus has come to live inside us as a Divine Guest.
APPLICATION: We cannot live the Christian life until we have the Christian
life to live it. We cannot live the Christian life without Christ. Until
we receive Christ by trust in his death to forgive our sins Christ is not
in us (John 1:12). Have you come to the that place in your life where you
have done that?
The Christian has Christ living in him. He or she has a Heavenly Guest
inside. If we invite company to our house we try are on our best behavior.
The more important the company the more we are sure to have clean towels
in the bathroom. We warn the kids to wash down in the basement! We caution
the children, "Don't wear your food on your clothes! The boss is coming
for dinner." When the company arrives, the children do not know what
to make of it! Daddy is so polite! He is so considerate of everyone.
Mother puts out clothe napkins instead of paper napkins. The children say,
"What are these, Mom?" The kids are six and eight years of age
and they have never seen them before!! When we have Christ living inside
us as a Divine Guest, we should be on our best behavior.
Colossians 1:28
"Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all
wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
Paul now describes the purpose of his ministry.
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"Him we preach"
Every thing centers on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is person oriented
(Acts 8:5, 35; 9:20; Gal. 1:16; I Cor. 1:23,24; 2:2; II Cor. 1:19; 4:5).
It is far more than dead doctrine. It is living doctrine because it revolves
around a person.
The word "preach" here is not the ordinary word for "preach."
It means to announce or declare publicly a message under a given standard.
The standard is the Word of God. If it lines up with the Word we preach
it. If it is contrary to the Word we expose it.
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"warning every man"
A warning is necessary because of the heresy in the Lycus Valley. "Every
man" is every Christian person. Paul wanted to correct by warning.
The word "warning" means to put something in the mind, admonish.
It is an unpleasant task to flag people down. Many do not know that they
are in danger but they run pell-mell toward a deep precipice. Many preachers
today are reluctant to warn others of dangerous doctrine lest others view
them as narrow minded or bigoted.
The doctor must both diagnose and cure. This is the diagnosis side of his
task. If the church does not diagnose the sickness that pervades her, she
may have contracted a very serious illness which will ultimately destroy
her.
PRINCIPLE: If Christianity does not expose false teaching it will disappear
in the mush of pluralism and relativism.
APPLICATION: Josh MacDowell's book Right From Wrong warns both young people
and their parents that 57% of evangelical youth no longer affirm that an
objective standard for right and wrong even exists. A national survey of
evangelical youth uncovered some appalling trends:
66 % lied to their parents within the past three months
36 % cheated within the past three months
23% tried to hurt someone within the same period
55 % engaged in sexual activity by age 18
Evangelical Christianity has declined so far that it devalues those who
warn against such decline. We view those who hold standards as bigoted
and narrow. Tolerance is the central truth about which everything else
revolves. Today the average Christian would impeach Paul for violating
their belief of tolerance. They would indict Luke for saying, "Nor
is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). They would
have to do the same with the Lord Jesus Christ because he said that he was
the "only way" (John 14:6).
If we buy into tolerance we will become indifferent to share the gospel
with others. We will no longer love and care for people for that places
us above them. The Bible does not place tolerance as the central value
of God's thinking. It places the truth of Christ central.
Three modes of communication are important for the advancement of Christianity:
preaching, warning and teaching. Now we come to "teaching."
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"and teaching every man"
"Warning" is the negative side; "teaching" is the positive
side. Preaching, warning and teaching must go together. It is not enough
to tell people that they should reject certain teaching without teaching
them what will strengthen their lives. We preach the gospel to those without
Christ and teach the Bible to those who do know him. We should not to mix
the two. We cannot teach the Bible to those without Christ (I Cor. 2:14).
The word "teach" means to systematically present truth so that
people can understand it coherently (2:6,7; Acts 5:41,42; Mt. 28:18-20).
Any pastor worthy of his title will teach as well as preach. Teaching
will help individuals grow at a normal spiritual pace. If they grow, they
will not come down with a case of arrested spiritual development. God's
people need not remain spiritual pygmies all their lives. It is a gratifying
thing to watch Christians grow and develop. To make progress in the things
of God makes the individual believer and the entire Christian community
stronger.
PRINCIPLE: Spiritual growth comes from systematic presentation of the truth
of God's Word.
APPLICATION: The threefold ministry of preaching, warning and teaching keeps
the church from becoming sidetracked. When the church stops these three
functions she gets off track. No other organization will give the gospel
other than the church and her paramission ministries. Public schools, universities,
political institutions, fraternities or lodges will not do it. God does
not want us to duplicate what other institutions can do better.
A preacher is not to become a psychiatrist or psychologist. His role is
to preach, warn and teach. He should not trade in his pulpit for a couch.
The trend in our day is for preachers to become amateur psychologists.
God's primary commission for them is to preach Christ. Their first call
is not to fight the social ills of society. We expose error by preaching
the truth. The church loses its message by dabbling in politics. The greatest
hope for society is a maximum number of people turning to Jesus Christ.
"in all wisdom"
It takes "wisdom" to handle false teaching. Some people emotionally
attach themselves to false doctrine. Each person views truth from their
individual grid. He did not propel them into the opposite camp by unnecessarily
violating their viewpoints. However, on the other hand, it also does not
mean that we sacrifice truth for feelings. Spiritual surgery requires delicate
precision.
"Wisdom" is the ability to apply what we know to our personal
experience. It is the application of knowledge. It is one thing to preach,
warn and teach; it is another thing to do it with "wisdom."
PRINCIPLE: Wisdom is the ability to apply divine truth to a situation.
APPLICATION: How do you handle delicate doctrinal situations? Do you attack
it with a sledge hammer? God does not want us to polarize those Christians
to fall into error. He wants us to help them out of it by using wisdom.
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"that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus"
"Perfect" is a term of maturity (Heb. 5:11-14). The word "perfect"
means someone who has reached the end God intends for them. It does not
lack the end for which it was intended. This believer is spiritually fully
grown (I Cor. 2:6; 14:20; Eph. 4:13; Phil. 3:15; 4:12; Heb. 5:14).
New Christians and believers who grow very little are spiritual babes (I
Pet. 2:2; I Cor. 3:1-2). Paul's interest is in believers not remaining
spiritual babies (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1-2) but in their becoming spiritually mature
(cf. Heb. 5:11-14).
The word "present" means to stand before God. Paul wanted to
present people under his charge to figuratively stand before God mature
in their daily walk. He consecrated them to God to become mature. A person
reaches spiritual maturity when they can independently apply the truth of
God's Word to meet any spiritual battle they might face.
PRINCIPLE: Spiritual maturity is the ability to independently apply truth
to experience.
APPLICATION: A spiritually mature believer can discern whether something
is from the Lord or from the flesh. He can detect the working of the flesh
and judges it immediately. He refuses to allow it to get a grip on him.
An immature Christian will not recognize the flesh when it presents itself.
He is not aware of the spiritual equipment God provides to combat the flesh.
As he grows in grace he will be able to identify the dangers that lurk
in his life and know the principles which will deal with them. If he does
not know the dangers he is in serious trouble. If he does not know God's
principles for dealing with them he is in trouble.
Have you reached the end for which God intended you?
Colossians 1:29
"To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which
works in me mightily."
Paul labored and so does God. Because God gave Paul power, this does not
mean that he would not labored to the point of exhaustion.
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"To this end"
The word "end" refers to "maturity" in verse 28. Paul
made one of his personal goals in life to develop mature believers.
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"I also labor"
The word "labor" means to work to the point of exhaustion. Paul
expended his strength to make believers mature in Christ. He knew something
about how to work hard.
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"striving according to His working"
Paul's labors involved "striving" or struggling (2:1; 4:12).
This word means to agonize like an athlete in the heat of competition (I
Cor 9:25; I Tim. 6:12). He viewed ministry like an athletic contest that
required great exertion. He strove like a marathon runner who sprints to
the finish line with great agony. It means to compete with every ounce
of energy we possess. Paul contended with many difficulties in his work.
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"which works in me mightily"
God works in the apostle "mightily" to enable him to facilitate
the maturity of believers. If we are to mature believers in ministry it
will require the power of God. God will have to provide the operating power.
Paul did not use his own natural power in ministry. It was not his talent,
gift, education (considerable though it may have been) or his methodology
(he was a master strategist). His power lay in drawing upon God's strength.
Note these passages where God works in people:
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was
not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but
the grace of God which was with me" (I Cor. 15:10).
"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good
pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory
in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen"
(Eph. 3:20,21).
"Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead,
that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what
is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever
and ever. Amen" (Heb. 13:20,21).
PRINCIPLE: God expects us to work hard but not in our own strength. We
are thereby not susceptible to burnout.
APPLICATION: God does not call upon us to use our own puny power. The robust
words "labor" and "striving" require God's "working"
and that "mightily." Paul gave himself to a ministry whereby
he put his trust in God's power. So many authors today would claim that
Paul was a workaholic. Here is a man who did not spare himself. He never
reached a point of burn out because he rested on the power of God. The more
we labor for the Lord the greater measure of help God gives us. We can
expect it from him (Eph. 3:7).
Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved.
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