21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight — 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. 24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 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, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 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. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:23-29 NKJV).
We begin today with verses 21-22, so we have context for verse 23. Verse 23 is a qualification for verses 21-22, and the point Paul is making. The Father, through Christ’s sacrifice, has brought us from a place of being alienated and an enemy of God through the sinful activity of the mind. The sin nature which we were all born with develops and causes our minds to think wickedly. You might say I am not so bad; I have not done wicked things. The question that I must ask is what standard I am comparing myself? If it is other human beings, then it is a flawed standard because every human has the same sin nature. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Paul nailed it in Romans. The standard is “THE GLORY OF GOD!” The Prophet Isaiah declared in Isa 64:6, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away” (NKJV). Only His righteousness holds up. The Father has brought us into His righteousness, His glory! We are “blameless and above reproach” in His sight because the Father sees us through the “righteousness of Christ.”
That being said, verse 23 is not speaking to the loss of one’s salvation in terms of redemption, but an understanding that “FAITH” becomes our lifestyle, consistent grounding, and steadfastness in Christ is the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer. “Not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
If one professes Christ, but then moves away from the hope of the gospel, they have not truly believed what was “preached.” Many within the organized church have joined a church organization, became members of a congregation, put on the appearance of being a Christian, but have never come into the biblical hope of the gospel. They think that church membership is enough, baptism, and taking the cup and the bread. The doctrine that Paul preached was about surrender to Christ and receiving identity in His death and resurrection that gives “NEW LIFE.”
Paul instructs us how we are to grow in the hope we have received. As we covered in the previous teaching, it is through being grounded and steadfast; it is through our consistent devotion to His love and faithfulness. We must feed upon His word daily through reading and meditation by application in everyday circumstances, especially as it relates to relationships with others. These disciplines will not allow anything to move you away from the hope of the gospel. In understanding, “this hope” translates to the “the blessed hope” of the glorious return of our great God and King (see Titus 2:13). Also, 2 Timothy 1 is a great study as it relates to the life of Paul and his commitment to Christ and the call he received. This gospel was being preached then, and it is still being preached throughout the whole world. Just as Paul became a minister of God and God’s gospel, may we also be a minister of our Lord by living and sharing the good news of the gospel with those who do not yet know what Christ has done for them.
Verse 24, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” We read in this verse what made Paul so different. He truly rejoiced in tribulation, in his sufferings for the body of Christ. It is most difficult to rejoice in suffering for any of us, but to rejoice in those sufferings for others is another level of ministry and service.
Here we find an understanding of Paul’s next statement, “and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.” Consider for a moment with me Jesus instruction to Ananias in Acts 9, “So the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold he is praying.’” “Go for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My namesake.”
With Paul, he was uniquely chosen for suffering. He was called in his apostleship to bear Christ’s name before the “Gentiles, kings, and the Jews. We have all been chosen to bear His name and to suffer, perhaps not at the same level as Paul, but at some level. We are His body and so we too experience the hatred of this world against us. As the body of Christ, that affliction is directly related to the cross and its humiliation before the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Paul became a minister to the body of Christ. He was given a “stewardship,” in other words, responsibilities to represent Christ well to the body and fulfill the word of God to his life. We are all called to be ministers or stewards of Christ. It is our responsibility to seek the Lord for our particular calling and role. The Holy Spirit will give us grace in our calling. It is not by our own will, strength, or power, but His giving of His power and strength because of His will. Whatever the call is in your life, it is to “fulfill the word of God.”
Verse 26-29 Unfolds one of the “mysteries” of His will. Paul had the most significant understanding of this mystery that had been hidden from ages and generations but now has been revealed to the saints of God. Here it is, verse 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.” Through the Old Testament, God always planned to join the Gentiles to His Covenant people Israel. One of the callings and responsibilities that Israel had been given was to “light the Gentiles” with God’s goodness so that the nations would also believe. “ I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;” This scripture, in fact the 42nd Chapter of Isaiah, speaks of Messiah and His coming, but it also is revealing God’s love for the nations and Israel’s stewardship in preparing for Messiah’s coming so that the nations might partake in the glory of God.
MYSTERY:
Deuteronomy 32:43 Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people. NKJV
2 Samuel 22:50 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. NKJV
Psalm 117:1-2 Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! 2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! NKJV
Isaiah 11:10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.” NKJV
Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.” NKJV
Isaiah 60:3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. NKJV
Verse 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. The wisdom of which Paul speaks is the unfolding of the mystery, Christ in every man and woman that trusts in Christ, Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female. The Spirit has made us one new man in Christ, The redeemed Israel of God. Mystery Revealed!
Verse 29 “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.” Here is our goal too. Believers need to see beyond going to heaven someday. Believers must see their individual responsibilities to live a “kingdom of God life style” which includes speaking to others of their need of repentance and turning to Christ, receiving His forgiveness, and His empowerment to live a life of victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
We must, like Paul, “labor” in the Lord’s vineyard, labor in the Word of God and prayer, labor in living for Christ in our sphere of influence. Also, we need to strive as Paul says he did. The dictionary definition of strive is: “make great efforts to achieve or obtain something.” IE: “national movements were striving for independence,” struggle or fighting vigorously, “scholars must strive against bias”
Our striving is “according to His working which works in me mightily.” We too must have Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit working in us mightily. That is why the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. God the Father knew that all that Christ accomplished would be for nothing if the Holy Spirit did not come and put in us the life of Christ, where it is no longer me, but Christ in me the hope of glory. (see Galatians 2:20).