Colossians 1:29 - Sustainable (and clean!) energy - for real!

"...unto which also I am toiling, striving according to His energy [which is] energizing in me in power."  

-And so we have a nice little biopic of Paul here, where he has mentioned himself fully 9 times in just 6 verses.  He says he is a servant.  Think, ‘waiter’ - he is pretty much focused on taking care of the needs of others, and it can be a tiresome, thankless task.  He is also suffering.  These go hand in hand, because he is suffering for the sake of Christ and His ‘body’ - these others who follow (or will follow) Him.  There is no hint of self-seeking here, no mention of what he is going to get out of it.  He is a steward, literally a house-manager whose chief role is to work to benefit the occupants of said house, in this case the ones who are following Christ, God’s chosen-people, those He has called out and separated unto Himself, those in whom dwells the living, hope-giving Christ of glory.  Paul is also a preacher/teacher/admonisher, a man with a mysterious marvelous message and a clear vision, a stated goal of presenting Christ to every man so that he can present every man to Christ.  And he is hard-working, which is actually an understatement, as he is working - literally agonizing - to (and past) the point of exhaustion in order to help people know and fully follow Christ. 

-A brief note about power.  The sad commentary on the modern western church with all our education and technology and strategies is that too often there is much knowledge and pomp but little power.  Not enough power apparently to save our marriages and be patient with our kids and say no to temptation and to move mountains and to be God’s martyrs to the ends of the earth.  God’s kingdom comes not in words but rather in power (1Corinthians 4.20)!  Jesus said we would receive power (Acts 1.8).  Paul prayed for us to know and experience this power (Ephesians 1.19, 3.16).  The unbelieving world doesn’t need to see me living a life almost identical to theirs save for the words I don’t say and what I do on Sunday mornings (or most of them at least).  Paul tells us that his ability to live into all that God has for him comes not from inside but from above, a limitless source of supernatural energy which energizes him with the very power of Almighty God, the same power that created and sustains a biliion trillion suns and which raised God’s Son from the dead.  This same power is now fully available to each and every person who trusts in Christ (Ephesians 3.20).  One must ask, what then is too difficult or impossible for those who believe?  The way I read it, the answer is... nothing.  All things are possible... (Mark 9.23, Matthew 17.40).  Nothing is too difficult for God.  You will never ever in a billion lifetimes find yourself in a situation where you will be able to affirm that, this is too difficult for God.  No.  This is not ever too difficult for God (Genesis 18.14, Jeremiah 32.17, 32.27).

-One could safely say Paul is fully committed to this work, to this cause, to these people and to all people, to his Savior, his Lord, his God.  But then even that would be a gross understatement, wouldn't it?  His attitude - inexpressible, irrepressible joy.  His perspective - doing it (suffering) all for Christ.  His mindset - the preeminent servant.  His sense of responsibility - sobered and focused.  The scope of his commitment - boundless.  It encompasses the entire world, every soul in it, and every ounce of divine power he can tap into.  He is all in for Christ Who has entrusted him with a glorious treasure, and he will give every last drop of blood and energy and every last breath to extend this treasure to the entire world.

Colossians 1:28 - Don't stop short

"...Who we ourselves are proclaiming, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, in order that we should present every man complete in Christ."  

-We proclaim Christ.  That’s it.  When all is said and done, He is our message, Paul says.  There are many good things to talk about.  Many good things to discuss with our friends or to address from the pulpit, but at the end of the day, there is only one crucial core component of our message - it is He.  In the words of Count Zinzendorf, “I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.”  If we give the nations water and food and roofs over their heads and medicine and education and technology and jobs and justice and freedom from slavery and trafficking and yet fail to give them Jesus, we have sold them short and have stopped short on our mission.  We must give them Living Water, the Bread of Life, Messiah.  The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world - Christ alone is the Way and the Truth and the Life - no one comes to the Father except thru Him.

-To this end Paul is proclaiming and admonishing and teaching.  The first word means to declare, announce, make known publicly.  And it is tempting to avoid doing that with the name of Jesus, because talking about Him runs the risk of putting you in the crosshairs of disagreement and rejection.  The second means to put in mind, to exhort, to warn.  It is something you do for children (1Corinthians 4.14) and for those who are ‘unruly’ (1Thessalonians 5.14).  It is exerting influence upon the mind of another, implying that there is resistance.  It is redirecting a person from their wrong ways of thinking and doing, but the target of your words is their will and feelings.  They may know the truth, the right thing to do, the right way to go, but for some reason are unwilling or somehow unable to follow it.  The third word is teaching, which is directed at the intellect, developing and guiding and helping someone learn truth about Jesus.  This is what we (should) do - help people learn about Jesus such that we help them identify and overcome whatever barriers are keeping them from trusting in and following Him.

-And this Paul is doing with all wisdom.  Wisdom is skill with knowledge and the ability to apply it.  Paul not only knows truth about Jesus but is able to apply it in whatever context he may find himself, to the hearts and minds of his hearers.  It may sound arrogant to talk about having ‘all wisdom’ the way he does, but Scripture is clear that God does not hesitate to give wisdom generously to those who ask (James 1.5).  Look what He did for Solomon (1Kings 3.9-12, 4.29-30, 10.23).  How will He not also give us the very wisdom and discernment we need to be able to help others come to believe in His Son?  

-Complete in Christ - something which has reached its desired destination and having been completed successfully is by extension perfect.  This is the end game.  This is the goal.  Our job is not done until they are fully (and perfectly) following Christ with faith that does not fizzle before the finish (cf James 1.4, Hebrews 6.1, Philippians 3.12).  Look further down and you will see what Paul has in mind - his job is never finished this side of heaven, as long as there is some possibility of someone coming up short of the grace of God.  His goal is to see people not only professing Christ as well as baptized, but also loving one another and living a life characterized by discipline, stable faith, walking and growing in their knowledge in Him, overflowing with gratitude, not deceived by false teaching in any way.  There are actually two kinds of complete - Paul says later that all believers are already having been made complete in Christ (Colossians 2.10, cf Hebrews 10.14, Philippians 3.15) - this second different kind of complete speaks to a positional perfection which accompanies salvation and which while true will nonetheless never be fully realized this side of heaven.  And in this sense, the scope and vision driving Paul forward is both - to see each and every person not only profess saving faith in Christ which will render them complete and perfect in eternity but also to see them growing in their faith in this life, in their knowledge of Christ and love for Him and in the consistency and completeness and maturity of their faith.

-And finally, every man.  Every man.  Every man.  He says it three times - this was indeed the broad scope of Paul’s vision and calling.  And while the word anthropos is usually rendered as ‘man’, it of course encompasses each and every person on planet earth.  Each and every man, woman and child into whom God has breathed the breath of life is someone for whom Christ died and who needs to know Him, who desperately needs to hear this message which Paul was proclaiming.  we all need Jesus, He is our only hope of glory.

Colossians 1:26-27 - The glorious mystery...

’...the mystery having been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now it was manifested to His holy ones...to whom God wanted to make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery in the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ 

-Something new and wonderful, something glorious has now been revealed for all to see, a marvelous mystery that was hidden for ages.  Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Who?  Two who’s (and a what) actually.  We’re talking about Jesus Christ.  Messiah.  Savior.  Lord.  Almighty God, Creator and sovereign King of the universe.  And you.  You and I, any and all who trust in and follow Him in every nation, not just the Jewish nation.  We’re talking about this Christ actually IN you, living inside you, in the hearts and lives of people from every nation and people on planet earth.  The mystery was twofold actually, first that God Himself planned to make Himself permanently at home in the hearts of finite (and fallen) human beings, and second that He would do so among every nation, that He would gather and assemble to and for Himself (for His Son) a new assembly, a throng of worshippers from every tribe and tongue.  This was the new covenant, the new arrangement, not simply with the nation of Israel, but now among all nations, the ultimate blessing issuing forth from the seed of Abraham.  And for those thus indwelt, there is a new and living hope, one made sure and steadfast by the death and resurrection of Christ and by the constant indwelling presence of His Spirit.  Day in and day out, each moment of every day, the Spirit of Christ assures and reassures the hearts of His people that they are forgiven and fully right in God’s eyes (not thru their own efforts to obtain or maintain it but rather thru the finished work of Christ), definitely destined for glory, a confident expectation that this journey on which they have embarked, with all its peaks and valleys, is the guaranteed path to paradise, and one day soon they will be in glory, forever in the presence of Breathtaking Goodness.  It is a bonafide living hope, neither false nor dead.  Life is no longer ever hopeless for those who are in Christ.

-This was indeed a mystery, a new revelation to God's first chosen people, not to mention the rest of the world, because prior to Pentecost God's home was either in heaven, somewhere away up there out of sight and definitely nowhere close to people, or else within the holy of holies, the inner sanctum of the sacred temple/tabernacle, off limits to all but a few, accessible at first only by Moses and then once a year by the one person who had been specifically set apart as high priest and specially prepared to enter within the veil.  This idea that the infinite and infinitely holy almighty God would now actually deign to make His home in a heart of flesh, to squeeze Himself into my finite fallen mess would be way out of left field for anyone who had even the slightest notion of Who is the great I AM, completely unexpected.  And truly glorious.

Colossians 1:25 - Meet Paul, the waiter...

’...of which I myself came to be a servant according to the stewardship of God having been given to me unto you [all] to fill up the Word of God...”  

-Paul is a servant.  Think ‘waiter’ - his was to take care of the needs of others, many of whom would take him for granted, all too ready to criticize (that's how fallen selfish people roll with servants).  It was in many ways humbling, dirty, thankless work, low pay and long hours, work to which very few would aspire and which few others would even consider.  Yes, God had (hard) work for Paul to do, He trusted Paul with it, calling him to labor on behalf of others, to do what needed to be done in order to help others truly follow Jesus.  This is the same calling that Jesus had, Who came not to be served but to serve (Luke 22.27, Matthew 20.28), and it is the exact same calling He gives to each of His people (Luke 22.26, Galatians 5.13, 1Peter 4.10).  He has work that He wants to entrust to each one of those who follow Christ.  There is every likelihood that this work will be thankless and dirty, and will be something that a lot of other people don’t want to do.  It will probably be quite tiring and may seem 'beneath you'.  And there will be critics, folks who are hard to please.  But in embracing this service, this stewardship, each of us, we find wings.  Not some humdrum day job, some mundane monotony, this.  No, you and I, like Paul and countless other heroes of faith who have finished the race before us, we were made for this. 

-For his part, Paul was specifically made for ‘filling up the Word of God’.  His was to verbally teach and preach and otherwise get the Word of God into the lives of others.  Get it out there and let it do what it do, this Word which always succeeds in accomplishing what God wants (Isaiah 55.11), which is living and active and more powerful than any weapon known to man (Hebrews 4.12), able to break through the hardest of hearts and heal the most broken of lives (1Thessalonians 2.13).