What was lacking?
Colossians 1:24-26
Paul's Ministry to the Church
"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, 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, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints."
Paul says in vs. 24 "I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions".
What does he mean by this?
In John 19:30 Jesus says, "It is finished," just before he died.
Growing up in the Christian faith we are taught about the finished work of the cross. Jesus did everything that was needed to redeem us, He paid the price in full upon the cross.
So what is Paul talking about?
Romans 10: 11-17
"For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!' But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."
The only thing that was lacking in the afflictions of Christ was the message being carried to all nations. This is why when before Christ ascended into heaven after the resurrection, He gave the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:18-20
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"
This is also the commission that God gave to Saul/Paul in Acts 9.
There is nothing lacking in the Power of the Cross! But God has chosen to use us to spread the Good News that we can come into a right relationship with Him through Jesus!
"What are we here for, to have a good time with Christians or to save sinners?"
- Malla Moe
"I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages - villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world."
- Robert Moffat
"The command has been to "go," but we have stayed - in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth But 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland."
- Robert Savage
"We talk of the second coming, half the world has never heard of the first."
- Oswald J. Smith
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd
"A tiny group of believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story."
- K.P. Yohannan
"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."
- Count Zinzindorf
"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity."
- Mike Stachura
"Answering a student's question, 'Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?' thus, 'It is more a question with me whether we who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved.'"
- C.H. Spurgeon.
"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."
- John Piper
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
- Jesus
I really like John Piper's quote, "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."
Louie Giglio talks about this in his series For the Glory. We head out into the missions field with the mindset, "I am going to save someone from going to hell." But we should really be going out saying, "I am going to give God back the Glory that everyone is stealing from Him." God deserves all the Glory, for Everything! If it is not going to him, then it is being stolen by someone else.
Acts 12:20-24
The Death of Herod
"Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, 'The voice of a god, and not of a man!' Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied."
It is all about God's Glory, His Glory is manifest in Jesus Christ, and the only way that we can make sure that God receives all of His Glory is to tell people of Jesus Christ!
In Christ,
David
Paul's Ministry to the Church
"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, 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, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints."
Paul says in vs. 24 "I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions".
What does he mean by this?
In John 19:30 Jesus says, "It is finished," just before he died.
Growing up in the Christian faith we are taught about the finished work of the cross. Jesus did everything that was needed to redeem us, He paid the price in full upon the cross.
So what is Paul talking about?
Romans 10: 11-17
"For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!' But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."
The only thing that was lacking in the afflictions of Christ was the message being carried to all nations. This is why when before Christ ascended into heaven after the resurrection, He gave the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:18-20
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"
This is also the commission that God gave to Saul/Paul in Acts 9.
There is nothing lacking in the Power of the Cross! But God has chosen to use us to spread the Good News that we can come into a right relationship with Him through Jesus!
"What are we here for, to have a good time with Christians or to save sinners?"
- Malla Moe
"I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages - villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world."
- Robert Moffat
"The command has been to "go," but we have stayed - in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth But 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland."
- Robert Savage
"We talk of the second coming, half the world has never heard of the first."
- Oswald J. Smith
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd
"A tiny group of believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story."
- K.P. Yohannan
"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."
- Count Zinzindorf
"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity."
- Mike Stachura
"Answering a student's question, 'Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?' thus, 'It is more a question with me whether we who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved.'"
- C.H. Spurgeon.
"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."
- John Piper
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
- Jesus
I really like John Piper's quote, "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."
Louie Giglio talks about this in his series For the Glory. We head out into the missions field with the mindset, "I am going to save someone from going to hell." But we should really be going out saying, "I am going to give God back the Glory that everyone is stealing from Him." God deserves all the Glory, for Everything! If it is not going to him, then it is being stolen by someone else.
Acts 12:20-24
The Death of Herod
"Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, 'The voice of a god, and not of a man!' Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied."
It is all about God's Glory, His Glory is manifest in Jesus Christ, and the only way that we can make sure that God receives all of His Glory is to tell people of Jesus Christ!
In Christ,
David
posted by Mark 1:17 at 4:06 PM
2 Comments:
From your list of quotes, it sounds like you went through my Bible College's missions program, too!
I love the Piper quote. Have you read "Let the Nations be Glad"?
I do have to suggest that something more is going on here than merely preaching, when it comes to filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, though, because the specific context is the suffering Paul endured while preaching, and it was that suffering that filled up what was lacking, not the preaching itself--though that certainly was part of it.
in Colossians 1:24, St. Paul writes, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church."
At first glance, this might appear to be saying that Christ's work on the Cross was somehow lacking, but that isn't what Paul is saying. But no hardship suffered for God's sake goes unrewarded in heaven, not even the smallest. So as long as you suffer for the right reasons, you can't go wrong. Jesus carried a cross to save others, we are expected to be willing to do the same.
Willingness is the key. We all suffer in this life. But how we suffer, and what we do with those sufferings, is what makes the difference.
Just like when you give money into the Collection at church, you give that money as an offering, as a gift to God. You don't know where that money will go: Pastor's salary? Help the poor? New church building? But wherever that money goes, because it was given to God, God will use it for His glory.
Think of the spiritual world as having a large bank. When Jesus died for us, we received a "line of credit" of merit. Our salvation and our righteousness were origninally His, and He makes us righteous. But as we live for Him, our own righteousness is added to the account.
One of the most righteous things we can do is to suffer willingly, and offer that to God. This is the notion of taking up our cross and following Christ. Imagine yourself with Christ carrying your own cross, nailed to your own cross alongside Christ.
In some mysterious way, our righteous acts are added to this heavenly bank account (I say mysterious because in a real sense, it is our own righteousness, and yet, in another real sense, that righteousness itself is a gift of God!). We participate in Christ's salvation--and since this Christian life isn't a "me and God" thing, but a whole family of believers, we all dip into the family's bank account from time to time.
God distributes grace to us, and calls us to participate with Him in the distribution of His grace to others.
I agree that this passage is about more than just preaching. We will suffer, but we shouldn't seek out suffering. Jesus told us that we would suffer for Him. I think when you said that we must endure it willingly, that is correct. Willingly and without complaint!
However, I don't agree with the example you used. A spiritual Bank that others can draw from? And we add our righteousness to this account?
We have no righteousness apart from Christ. Any righteousness that we may see as human righteousness, is nothing. All righteousness is from God.
We are covered by the Blood of the lamb. When the Father looks at us, all he sees is Christ. Christ's blood is our righteousness, nothing more and nothing less. We have no righteousness but that of Jesus Christ.
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