COLOSSIANS (10) Paul’s Ministry as a Servant of God (1) (Col. 1:24-29)

“Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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 Lord’s people. 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. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Col 1:24-29)

​Review
We’ve been talking about the book of Colossians. In the last sermon, we talked about the change that the gospel of Jesus Christ has brought in our lives, the purpose of salvation, and how we should respond to it.
 
Paul explains the great change we experience in Christ by using three words: “Once… but now.”
 
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death…” (Col 1:21-22)
 
“Once,” which refers to when we were outside of Christ, we were alienated from God because of our sin. Sin not only severed our relationship with God but also turned us against God in our minds and behavior because the nature of sin is to not acknowledge God as the Lord.
 
But, in His mercy, God sent His Son, and Christ came to save us from sin and its terrible results. And by dying and shedding precious blood, He laid a new bridge through which we can have access to God.
 
That’s the change all Christians experience in Christ. We know who we were before we believed in Jesus. And we also know who we have become in Christ. We were once sinners, but now we’re forgiven and justified. We were once enemies of God, but now we’re children of God. We once lived in darkness, but now we walk in the light. That’s the greatest change we can ever experience in our lives.
 
But, that’s not the end, because the purpose of Christ reconciling us with God is to “present [us] holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Col 1:22)
 
The Bible says that there’s a purpose in salvation. It is for us to become God’s people who are able to discern what’s good and holy in His sight and eagerly carry out His will. That’s what we should focus on now. That’s the fight of faith we should continue to fight on earth.
 
But we can’t fight the fight on our own. So, we should “continue in faith” and “not move from the hope held out in the gospel” (Col 1:23). We are to remember the great power in the blood of Jesus Christ that continues to cleanse our consciences, minds, and actions and makes us flawless in our relationships with God and with others.
 
That’s how we should respond to the precious gospel that has been given to us in Christ by the grace of God.
 
Paul’s Ministry as a Servant of God
Now, let’s move on to the last passage of Colossians 1. In this passage, Paul talks about what it means for him to become a servant of God and the main ministries God has given Him.
 
Again, the purpose of Paul writing to the Colossians was because their faith was being shaken by some false teachers who had come from outside of the church. They insisted that there was something lacking in what Epaphras had taught them.
 
The false teachers taught the Christians in the church that they needed more knowledge in addition to the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to reach ‘fullness.’
 
And because the gospel Epaphras taught the Colossian Christians had come from Paul, Paul needed to defend his apostleship so that they had more confidence in the gospel that he had taught, which had been delivered to them through Epaphras.
 
Then, what did Paul suggest to defend the authenticity of his apostleship? What ministry can and should be considered ‘God’s ministry’ that He entrusts His servants with? And what are some characteristics that show the sincerity of true servants of God? These are what Paul covers in this passage.
 
It was important for the Colossian Christians to have such criteria for ‘true’ servants of God so that they wouldn’t be swayed by false teachers. And these conditions have applied to every church through all generations.
 
1. The Characteristics of a Servant of God
Let’s first talk about the important characteristics of servants of God that Paul brings up in this paragraph.
 
We can find two conditions in the first and last verses. Paul said in verses 24 and 29,
 
“Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions… To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Col 1:24, 29)
 
Here, Paul suggests ‘suffering’ and ‘effort’ as important characteristics of servants of God. Through these verses, Paul implies that if someone truly wants to be a servant of God, they should have a desire to join in Christ’s suffering and make every effort to serve Him.
 
(a) Join in Christ’s Suffering (Col 1:24)
First, let’s think about suffering. Paul said “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.” (Col 1:24)
 
The reason this verse seems hard to understand is because it sounds like it implies that there’s something lacking in Christ’s affliction and thus His salvation because it was made through His sacrifice and suffering.
 
But of course, it can’t mean that. In the previous passage, Paul already emphasized that all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, were reconciled to God through Christ’s blood, shed on the cross.
 
The book of Hebrews also emphasizes the completeness and perfection of Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus obtained ‘eternal’ redemption ‘once for all’ by His own blood.
 
So, this idea of lacking in Christ’s suffering can’t mean that there’s anything lacking in His salvation so that we need to meet a certain amount of suffering to make it perfect.
 
Then, what did Paul mean when he said he filled up in his body what’s lacking in Christ’s suffering? We can find a clue from when Paul first met Jesus on the way to Damascus.
 
That day, he learned two important things about suffering that would eventually define his entire ministry.
 
First, Paul realized that he was actually ultimately persecuting Christ, not just some radical followers of Him. The reason Paul was heading to Damascus was that “if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem” (Ac 9:2)
 
Here, the Way refers to the way of the cross. Even though Paul was against the Way at that time, he didn’t think that he was persecuting the founder of the Way, Christ, only followers of it. But, when Jesus appeared to him on the way to Damascus, He said,
 
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”… I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Ac 9:4-5)
 
That was the moment Paul realized that his persecution was ultimately directed toward Jesus.
 
Second, Paul realized that all those who want to be God’s servants who proclaim His name must suffer for the name. This is what the Lord said to Ananias about Paul, who later prayed for him:
 
“This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Ac 9:15-16)
 
These are the two things Paul found about suffering. He realized that without suffering, he couldn’t proclaim the name of Jesus and that in persecuting Christians, he was ultimately persecuting Christ.
 
That’s the reason Paul believed that there was still lacking in Christ’s suffering. That’s not because Jesus’ suffering wasn’t enough for salvation, but because there were still many others who hadn’t heard about the Way of the cross or the name of Jesus, and proclaiming His name had to involve suffering just as he had other Christians to suffer before.
 
And, from the moment he met Jesus, Paul’s life was filled with suffering. Right after Ananias prayed for him, Paul began to preach in the synagogues in Damascus that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. It surprised many people there. And Paul’s proclamation of the name of Jesus was immediately followed by persecution.
 
Acts 9:24-25 says,
“Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.” (Ac 9:24-25)
 
Here we see a big change in Paul’s life. Before going to Damascus, he had been a persecutor who had authority to kill Christians.
 
But by the time he left Damascus, he had become a completely different person. The one who had chased others was now being chased himself. The persecutor had become the persecuted.
 
That was how Paul joined in Jesus’ suffering. That was how he filled up ‘what’s still lacking in His suffering’ in his flesh. And, that was what really proved the authenticity of his apostleship.
 
But, what’s more important than the fact that Paul’s life was filled with suffering for Christ is the fact that Paul could rejoice in suffering.
 
Paul said in Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you”. He suffered, but he wasn’t discouraged. We know what he did when he was in prison in Phillip. He prayed and even sang hymns to God. It was so loud that all the other prisoners could hear him.
 
Even when he was under house arrest in Rome, Paul never stopped praising God. Ephesians, one of the letters he wrote during that time, starts like this.
 
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Eph 1:3)
 
Even though his life was always accompanied by hardships, suffering, difficulties, persecution, and death threats, Paul rejoiced in the Lord at all times, even in the most difficult situations.
 
That was because he believed that the name of Jesus was worth all his suffering. It’s very likely that he was pleased to be considered Christ’s servant. To Paul, there was nothing more valuable than that.
 
We see this joy in other apostles too. Acts 5:40-41 says,
“They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Ac 5:40-41)
 
That's the Christian suffering that not only Paul and the other apostles endured, but that all of Christ's followers should also join in. Receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ must involve suffering for the gospel.
 
Even though the salvation Jesus achieved through His sacrifice was perfect, the good news hasn’t yet reached all people. And if we really try to proclaim the gospel to others, we’re guaranteed to suffer.
 
But we don’t have to be afraid because when we suffer for the name of Jesus, He will also fill us up with His unending joy that surpasses any amount of suffering. Because Jesus is always with us even in the midst of suffering, we can overcome every situation.
 
So, we are to remember that we can’t join in His glory without joining in His suffering and that He will reward us for suffering with Him. Joining in Jesus’ remaining suffering is one of the strongest ways to prove that we are His followers.
 
(b) Effort (Col 1:29)
The second element Paul mentions as proof of his apostleship was, “to this end I strenuously contend with all the energy” (Col 1:29).
 
When we closely look at Paul’s mission trips and his ministries, we would wonder whether it was really possible for him to do all those things. He worked that much. Paul never stopped preaching the gospel and teaching the word of God wherever he went. He literally made every effort to proclaim the name of Jesus. That was also proof that he was a genuine servant of God.
 
But we should know that all of this was possible not because he was physically strong enough to do all those things, but because Jesus strengthened him with the energy and power to ‘strenuously contend’.
 
“I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Col 1:29)
 
That was the source of Paul’s every ministry. Because Jesus worked powerfully in Paul’s life, he could proclaim the gospel enthusiastically through Christ’s energy.
 
And again, this power refers to the ‘glorious might’ that had worked in Christ when God raised Him from the dead. That’s the power Paul relied on. And that’s the power we should also experience in our lives.
 
If we serve with our own power, we can only do what our limited energy allows us to do. But, the resurrection power of Christ will allow us to go much further than that. I believe that’s the power God wants us to pray to be filled with.
 
Let’s read Isaiah 40:30-31 together.
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Is 40:30-31)
 
Today, we talked about two important characteristics that Paul demonstrated and that we must also have as servants of God. We’re to be ready to fill what’s lacking in Jesus’ suffering when we proclaim His name to those around us. And we’re to make every effort to do so.
 
I believe these are some of the ways we can check whether we have true faith or not because God calls not only pastors and missionaries, but all people to be His servants who proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
But we don’t have to be afraid of suffering, because when we suffer, Jesus will fill us up with His unending joy and glorious hope. And when we’re tired and weary, He will fill us up with His energy so that we can stand up and fight again.
 
Even though the cross itself looks very heavy, we’ll realize that His yoke is actually easy and light when we find rest in Jesus.
 
I hope and pray that all of us here are filled with the unending joy and glorious power of Christ so that we can serve as true servants of God who make every effort to boldly proclaim the name of Jesus despite all of the difficulties and hardships that we may face.
 
Let’s pray.
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we need Your mercy. Please have mercy on us and hold on to us.
 
We want to take up our crosses and follow You, but sometimes we’re afraid of what others would think of us. We love You, but oftentimes we’re not courageous enough to proclaim the gospel and the name of Jesus Christ.
 
We want to make every effort to serve the people that You have put around us, but we become tired quickly and easily.
 
But Lord, we profess that You are the true source of joy and power. Please fill us up with Your joy and power so that we won’t be afraid, discouraged, or tired and so that we can always follow Your will in our lives.
 
We thank You and love You, Lord.
We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
 
Sharing Questions
Today we talked about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings change into our lives and how we should respond to it.
 
1) Why do you think faith in Jesus and joining in His suffering are inseparable? Do you have a desire to join in His suffering? How can you do so?
 
2) To be a servant of God is to make every effort to do His will. When did you most feel like you worked hard to serve God? What are some ways you can serve God in your life now?