The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Pastor Kevin Harris
The Book of Colossians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
Good morning and welcome. It is good to see you all and it is good to be seen. I was out for a week recovering from COVID and I have been back in the office this week, still recovering from COVID. It does take some time to get over and, from what I understand, I will be feeling it for a while.
I am glad to be back. My wife and I thank you all for your prayers and the meals, as well as the text messages and blessings that you all provided while I was at home recovering.
We are continuing our series on the book of Colossians this week.
Earlier in the chapter we read Paul’s encouragement and prayer for the believers. He also reminded them that they were continuing to experience God’s grace, that they were rescued from the dark and brought into the light through their reconciliation with Christ.
We talked this past Wednesday night about reconciliation and how it basically means ‘change’.
When you reconcile your books in a business, you are looking for errors and making corrections to invalid entries.
In Paul’s writing reconciliation means:
what was bad was changed to be something good.
What was hostile and at war was brought into peace with God.
Those who were lost have been saved into the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We pick up in verse 24 of Colossians 1 this morning...
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.
[pray]
I. Rejoicing in Suffering
I. Rejoicing in Suffering
Paul opens this section talking about his suffering, which is a repeated theme in Paul’s letters.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
Why does Paul talk about his own suffering so much? Is he bragging or is there something else?
Paul is teaching the early Christians that they, just like he and the other apostles, will suffer for their faith. Jesus also taught this to his disciples.
Most of us are ashamed when we are going through a difficult time. We look at the difficulties in our lives and begin complaining when we have relationship troubles, financial troubles, job troubles, family troubles, health troubles.
Paul looks at these things differently. He might have written to the early churches and said “I am so ashamed of my suffering!” But Paul doesn’t do that. He writes to Colossae and others and says “I rejoice in my sufferings for you.”
Paul’s suffering is not for some moral failure that he has committed. He has commited no crime other than proclaiming the name of Christ in a place where the government decided that it would be against the law to practice Christianity.
Paul’s suffering was not for some wrong that someone had committed against him.
Paul’s suffering was not due to some transient thing.
It was not that he had trouble with his business or lost his job.
Paul was imprisoned in Ephesus for practicing his faith and telling others about Christ—and you’ll notice that this is the very thing that Paul is asking of the believers in the early church. He is asking them to be Ambassadors for Christ, the very ones who carry the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ into the world connecting with people and helping people connect with God through Jesus Christ.
27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Paul chose to suffer for the thing that was the most important thing in his life: the gospel of Christ.
He is not suffering for his retirement account.
He is not suffering so that he can have a bigger house, for a nicer pickup truck, for private school for his kids.
Paul isn’t interested in vacations or luxury cruises to Alaska.
Paul wants to advance the good news of Jesus Christ wherever he is and wherever he can go to tell others what he knows.
Paul considers himself, above all, a servant of the Gospel. Paul understood the assignment that he received from Christ.
As I said, we can see this message throughout Paul’s writings. And in the writings of the other apostles...
Paul wrote to the Roman church telling them that suffering should be a reason for boasting because our suffering makes us stronger in Christ.
3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
He wrote the Philippian church saying that our afflictions that we endure for Christ lead to our salvation. It was as though the end was the only thing that mattered to Paul...
18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice 19 because I know this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 20 My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Paul was not alone. The Apostle James taught us that our trials experienced for Christ should give us cause for joy...
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
Peter said that our suffering gives us reason to rejoice because this is how Christ’s glory is revealed in us...
13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.
And where did the apostles get this idea? From Jesus Christ, himself, who told his disciples as they were preparing for their first missionary journey...
11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. 12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
How many of us understand the assignment and make the changes necessary in our lives to sell ourselves out 100% for the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Paul clearly saw this process of becoming more like Christ to be something that others should pursue and that suffering should be considered a normal part of the active and engaged Christian’s everyday life. In fact, Paul seemed to think that Christians should suffer for Christ, just as Christ suffered for their salvation.
Christ held servanthood in high esteem...
11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
How are you serving Christ as a servant?
This is an important aspect of our Christian life. Though in our modern world, we often let distractions rob us of the blessing that we can get by serving others.
II. Making the Mystery of the Word of God Fully Known
II. Making the Mystery of the Word of God Fully Known
Paul and the other disciples are most interested in making the word of God fully known...
25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
Paul speaks about his calling here. Paul is called to be a servant with the sole purpose of promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ among the Gentile people. He mentions “the mystery of the word of God” and making it “fully known.”
This mystery is something that the Jews could not understand before Christ and the Gentiles (or those who were not Jewish) had no exposure to before someone brought the message to them.
The reason that none could understand the mystery is because it had not yet been revealed...
6 We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived— God has prepared these things for those who love him.
God prepared these mysteries for us. Beloved, you might come to scripture and think it mysterious. Yet the mystery is no longer hidden from us, but revealed. We have been brought into the mystery of Christ… “God has prepared these things for those who love him.” And it is our task to reveal the mystery to others who are ready to receive it.
Paul claimed that the mystery had been “hidden for ages and generations but now had been revealed to his saints.” That is, the truth had been passed to the believers, directly from Christ through his apostles.
In fact, Paul is actually saying here that God had hidden the truth of the gospel prior to the arrival of Christ, but with Jesus Christ being revealed as the Messiah, the truth was out and now it was time for the truth to be revealed to all the world.
III. Taking the Gospel Beyond These Walls
III. Taking the Gospel Beyond These Walls
Our job is not to take these revelations, these mysteries and keep them for ourselves. We are not intended to come and hide in these walls to entertain ourselves and take in a good show, Sunday after Sunday.
That’s a consumer mentality that has crept into the church in recent years.
With the proliferation of new churches, we are seeing many churches that cater to the visitor and treat them like a spectator at a sporting event or a patron of the theatrical arts. I have know churches that have valet parking and one can attend without really connecting in a deep and meaningful way. Sometimes we hear of church members who have grown tired of serving say that they can go to these churches and disappear.
Some people look for a church that does not require them to volunteer. These churches are staffed to the nines and all one has to do is show up and give generously.
I probably don’t have to tell you that this church is not like that.
We believe that volunteer service is core to the church experience and we want for you to connect with us deeply and to grow in your faith in a way that, perhaps you have never experienced before.
We don’t expect Sunday morning to be a place where you can dip your toes in the water and go away feeling full. We know that a fully involved Christian walk involves more than just a Sunday morning experience. This is why we offer Wednesday night Bible study. If you’re not joining us in that, you’re missing out on the best night of the week.
We know that the Christian life is lived out daily. This happens with Bible study, prayer, serving others, volunteering at church, and connecting with others in a meaningful and lasting way.
It also means sharing your faith with others.
I guarantee you that there are people in your life that either do not know Christ, have not accepted him as their Lord, or have a weak and meaningless relationship with God that fails to bring them hope and draw them closer to him.
Paul told the Colossian church that...
27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
If it were not for someone in your life who cared enough to open up the mystery and reveal it to you, where would you be? Would you be here today? Would you count yourself a believer, a Christian?
I often hear people say, “I’d like to see more people at church.”
However, many of those people:
never talk to others about church
They don’t know if the people they know in life go to a church.
They don’t invite them to church.
They don’t ever have spiritual conversations with anyone outside of their church.
They don’t even consider the spiritual state of the people that they meet and engage on a daily basis.
Let me ask you this. If...
27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
How do you think people are going to hear about this mystery?
It is our job to take the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, beyond these walls into the world.
Paul sums up the compulsion that he feels to do everything within his power to bring the gospel to the world...
28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.