Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions
for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of
which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God 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 To
them God chose to make known how
great among the Gentiles are the riches
of the glory of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and
teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in
Christ. 29
For this I toil, struggling with
all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and
for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that
their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of
understanding and the knowledge of God's
mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may
delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in
Christ.
From John Kitchen’s commentary: "There appears to be a
well-built and clearly developed chiastic arrangement around which this section
is built."
Brad McCoy provides this definition and purpose of chiasms
in Scripture: “the use of inverted parallelism of form and/or content which
moves toward and away from a strategic central component.” He explains the
importance of these literary devices helping the reader or listener in 3 ways:
delineates the author’s meaning, highlights the central focus of the passage,
and sets the passage in a form that is easier to remember than unstructured
prose. When the Bible was being written, most folk heard rather than read.
Here’s the chiastic structure of our text:
A Rejoice, flesh 1:24
B Make known, riches, mystery 1:27
C Struggling 1:29
C Struggling 2:1
B Knowledge, wealth, mystery 2:2
A Rejoicing, body 2:5
Each layer within this structure has deep meaning; this
structure helps tie it together. Paul opens this passage rejoicing in his
suffering, in his body of flesh; he closes this passage by declaring that even
though his body is not with the saints of Colossi, he rejoices to see the fruit
of the gospel in their lives. This ought to cause us to recall his instructions
to the saints at Philippi (chapter 4 of that letter), as they stand firm in the
Lord (verse 5 of our text) to help the work of the gospel (verse 27 of our
text) Paul tells them to rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, and again, he says,
rejoice! We who have been bought by the blood of Christ ALWAYS have the BEST
reason to rejoice! Our struggles in this age are not worthy to be compared to
the riches of Christ's glory that will be revealed in the age to come.
The center of our passage is Paul's two-fold struggle - to preach the gospel and disciple the saints, to personally insure those at Colossi and Laodicea and everywhere else are built up in the faith of God in Christ.
Rejoice in the Lord as you struggle with all the power God
gives you to spread the gospel, rejoicing in the fruit He grants. This is the
core of Paul's theology.
But what does he mean in saying he "fills up that which
is behind the afflictions of Christ" or "complete what is lacking in
Christ's afflictions"? The papist cult camps out on this phrase to show
they must afflict themselves with barbed underwear, long painful treks, and
crucifixions to fill up Christ's suffering.
The first thing we need to know is that Christ Jesus finished His
atoning work on the cross. Nothing CAN be done to supplement it; it is not
lacking anything; His sacrifice was sufficient. His afflictions were UNLIKE
anything we can suffer - He bore the wrath of God on our account - it was far
worse that the horrendous physical suffering He endured. The Greek word for
Jesus' "afflictions" is not used one time in all of Scripture to
describe His propitiating death. So whatever one imagines Paul to mean, he
could not have intended us to think he or we would make Jesus' death more
effective. In urging the church at Philippi to accept Epaphroditus, Paul said he nearly died for the work of Christ,
risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me (Phil
2:30). Same idea - serving one another in Christ will cause us to suffer, to
work hard, and grow physically and emotionally weary. But our goal is that of
Paul's - to build up the body of Christ so we all achieve maturity and
stability.
And Paul tells us the entity which is being complete by his
sufferings - the body of Christ, which is the church. We see in several places
(Acts 9:16; 14:22; Rom 8:17; 1 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Peter 5:10) that the
church should expect to suffer as it faithfully proclaims His life-giving
gospel. He spoke through James that friendship with the world is hatred, enmity
against God; through Peter that we should be surprised when we face fiery
trials on His account - the world as a system hates God and natural man hates
the gospel. Even so, it is the power of God unto salvation to those who are
being saved.
Paul tells us here, as he has elsewhere, that he is a
servant of the Lord in the service of His people, to make the message or word
of God fully known. This was the charge given Paul and it is the same charge He
gave the church in the Great Commission - to make the message of God, His
gospel, fully known to the people of the world. This gospel, the person of
Christ, was a mystery in ages past but was being revealed to His saints as
Jesus had announced the Kingdom and given His apostles the foundational truths
His people need to rightly comprehend. God has chosen to make the riches of His
glory known to the Gentiles, that all the chosen of God would experience the
fullness of Christ.
While Scripture reveals several Old Covenant saints knew of
the resurrection, Christ being raised from the dead, seated with God, and - by
His Spirit - abiding in the soul of every child brought to glory. When we died
to sin and were made alive in Christ, we experienced the first resurrection.
Over such the second death holds no power. He is our hope of eternal glory. He
is the message we proclaim - Christ suffering the wrath of God to save poor
helpless sinners. As Kitchen reminds us, this exalted One resides within each
and every saint. This should be a staggering thought, breathtaking - if we
rightly see Him for Who He is. Psalm 24:8 & 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD,
mighty in battle. Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD of Hosts, He is the
King of glory. This is the Lord we proclaim, the only One Who can do poor
helpless sinners any good.
As we proclaim Christ, we warn everyone to flee from the
wrath to come, discipling all who believe to bring them to maturity. This
should call to memory the Great Commission and Eph 4:10-16. Paul said that he
struggled mightily to make this happen - but that it was God's power that
worked in him to cause the growth he desired. How often do we wear ourselves
out, thinking we must be strong enough, disciplined enough, and so on, in order
to be useful to God? Yes we should discipline ourselves! But let us never think
we are sufficient for the task laid out before us!
Right after telling them how he had struggled and labored to
make the gospel know, Paul tells of the burden he has for people he has never
met, beginning with Colossi, Laodicea, and the rest of the world - to encourage
them. This is not simple emotional support, but a deliberate desire to see the
saints grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ Jesus - Him we proclaim, to
make Him fully known, joined together with the other saints by the love He shed
abroad in our hearts. The goal in this is so we will have all the riches that
come with full assurance in the knowledge of God's mystery - Christ Himself!
Two things to bear in mind here: the "heart" does
not refer to the blood pumping muscle in our chests. Our problem isn't one of
"head knowledge" vs "heart knowledge." The Hebrew and Greek
words behind "heart" described the seat or core of the mind,
emotions, and will (emotions and will are functions or aspects of our mind, not
things separate from it). The Second thing is God's mystery. Paul wants us to
have knowledge of God's mystery - which is Christ. We don't make Him known by
fancy programs or expensive audio/video systems; we make Him known by the
proper preaching and teaching of His Word.
It's important to get these things, and the truth of God's
mystery, straight. If we don't, if we are not sure of the message of
reconciliation given to us in Scripture, we will be vulnerable to being led
astray by the plausible arguments of men. Let's consider a lesser issue - water
baptism. The only examples and references to water baptism in Scripture show
being immersed into water and being brought up out of it. Our Presbyterian
brothers have plausible arguments based on Old Covenant circumcision and household
baptisms that have convinced many people that infants should be sprinkled with
water, calling that baptism. This is not an essential doctrine unless one
follows the argument for infant baptism to its logical conclusion and people
start believing water baptism covers sin or regenerates the soul. Such thoughts
are behind the beginning of "infant baptism" and pose an alluring
reason for this doctrine.
On the most important doctrine - how are sinners saved - man
have plausible arguments that convince many that Christ died for everyone and
has given everyone the grace to choose to be saved. Free will is the clarion
call to men who cannot stand the thought of a sovereign God Who has chosen who
He will save. No, this is too important not to allow the creature the right to
tell the Creator who He must save!
If we are not grounded in Scripture, such tales can cause
confusion or error in our thinking. So Paul has said everything up chapter 2:4
to make sure the saints have full assurance of the knowledge of Christ so we
will not be deluded by men with plausible arguments. Again to his letter to Philippi, we see how
small things mark those who are enemies of God and should be marked so all will
know to be on guard.
Philippians 3:17-21 Brothers,
join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the
example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell
you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is
destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with
minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we
await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be
like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all
things to himself.
Note the contrast - people who have their minds focused on
earthly things (what they eat, the lust of the flesh) compared with people who
have their minds set on heavenly things (citizenship in heaven, looking for
Christ to return). Those who say some folks are too heavenly minded to be any
earthly good are actually aligned with the enemies of the cross of Christ. In
fact, we have to be heavenly minded to be of any earthly good. For those who
are perishing need what they either do not know or hate. They need the gospel -
and that is God's wisdom!
Paul concludes this passage by telling the saints at Colossi
that he was present in spirit with these dear saints that he had never met,
rejoicing at their good order and the firmness of their faith in Christ Jesus.
I cannot help but take note of something. Rick Warren is loved by many and has
been called "America's Pastor." He has built his organization by
seeking to find out what unconverted people want in a local "church"
and giving it to them. In his book, The
Purpose Driven Life, Warren tells us (pg 105) that we are lying when we
tell someone, “I’ll be there in spirit.” He claims we can only be where our
physical body is. I wonder which of the myriad translations he used in the book
did not have this statement by Paul. Any teacher that cannot embrace all the
God has given us in His Word should not be highly regarded. The apostle
rejoiced to see firmness of faith in Christ and stability in Colossi - our
ambition ought to be to possess the same attributes they did. We should not be
led astray by those who are careless with the Scripture or focused on earthly
things.
We have the gospel. We have Christ. Let us be firm in our faith
and immoveable on the truths given to us by our great and holy Creator.
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