Glorious Service Pt3

Well, I trust that you are almost
as eager as I am to return to our study of Colossians 1, and
specifically to our study of verses 25 through 27. Would you
please be turning there? We have spent, as you know, the
last several weeks in this fascinating section of Scripture in which
Paul is focusing on the Christian ministry. magnificent features
of the Christian ministry as I have identified it. It is an
almost expected subject right after the tremendous treatment
of the nature of our Lord Jesus and his work in verses 15 through
23, Paul has moved very seamlessly into this discussion of the solemn
responsibility to proclaim the gospel, the great task of the
Christian ministry. And I have suggested that verses
25 through 27 presents nicely as having three features. these three features are important
because they are timeless. They were true for Paul’s ministry,
but they are still valid and true for ministry today. We immediately discovered that
these three verses are really just one very long, very detailed
section. Sixty-one Greek words in the
original, and the New American Standard translates it with 88
English words, which is actually conservative, because it usually
takes multiple words to translate one Greek word. The only way
to tackle a passage like this is to jump in and to take it
step by step, or in our case, word for word. And we’ve done
that over the past few weeks, handling now two-thirds of Paul’s
outline. We come again to the passage
today to complete our study of this really important section
of Scripture. And so if you would, we’ll tackle
just verses 25 through 27 this morning. First, Colossians, rather, Colossians
chapter one, verse 25. Of this church, I was made a
minister according to the stewardship from God, bestowed on me for
your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching
of the word of God. That is the mystery which has
been hidden from past ages and generations, but has now been
manifested to his saints. whom God willed to make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Last Lord’s Day, we
focused on the second feature of the Christian ministry as
described by Paul here in Colossians 1, not only is the service of
God’s kingdom initiated by a divine commission, Paul, we saw, was
called into service by God himself, quite literally. This will always
be true, though, of anyone in service to Christ. His church,
it’s his kingdom, And so the Christian ministry is his calling,
a privilege bestowed by God himself, a divine commissioning, we’ve
called it. And like it or not, every Christian
has a measure of giftedness. Every Christian has a measure
of responsibility in the service of Christ and his church. And every Christian will give
an account of their stewardship of those gifts for ministry.
And we learned one more important lesson there in verse 25 regarding
Paul’s commissioning to ministry. It wasn’t for him. It wasn’t
for his ego’s sake or that he might develop some great standing
among his peers. Our gifts and our callings are
not for us. They’re not for our own advancement. They’re not for our benefit.
They are for the benefit of Christ’s church only. The last day, the
last Lord’s Day rather, we took up the second magnificent feature
of Christian ministry, that it is imparted by divine revelation. This was gathered from that final
line of verse 25 and all of verse 26. Paul there tells us that he had
a mission to fulfill. He had a divinely given mission. And Paul tells us exactly what
his calling was, to fully carry out the preaching of the Word
of God. That’s a monumental undertaking that he was given. And it only
makes sense that a divine commission would carry a divine message. Paul was not sent to go about
providing his own advice, sage wisdom, well-crafted stories,
or ear-tickling blather. He was to preach, and he was
to preach God’s Word. Paul’s mission was to carry forth
the message of the gospel to the fullest extent, to the ends
of the earth. And we looked more deeply into
Paul’s statement there, We learned that that phrase, the Word of
God, was not a message about God so much as it was a message
from God. It was the message that God wanted
Paul to proclaim. And we saw that this phrase,
the Word of God, could be used interchangeably with another
phrase, the message of the gospel, or more simply, the gospel. Paul
was tasked with preaching the gospel. The gospel was that mystery
that had been hidden for ages and generations, but now had
been revealed to him first and to others through his preaching. The mystery that surrounded God’s
plan of redemption could not be deciphered through human effort. If this mystery were to be made
clear at all, it had to be revealed by God himself, and it was. God
revealed the gospel mysteries in time, first to the apostles,
and then to others, and eventually to Paul, and through Paul to
countless others. Without any doubt, Paul told
the Colossian believers this about his commissioning in the
Word of God, the gospel, a mystery once hidden, now revealed. He
tells them all of this for one reason, to prompt their hearts
to worship, to lead them to praise for the blessing of being informed
of these previously hidden truths. that God would begin to reveal
his plan of redemption through a child, God in human flesh sent
into the world to make an atonement for the sins of all, a sinless
but suffering servant as Messiah. And further, that this good news
should extend even to the heathen nations, to the non-Jewish people,
the Gentiles, mankind, including the Colossians, had never heard
this news. They had never heard these elements
of God’s plan of redemption, and in them they must rejoice. The same is true for us. Ages
and generation after generation did not enjoy the full revelation
of the gospel as we do. This is a blessing for which
we must always give thanks. No wonder Paul wanted to fill
up his mission by preaching the Word of God and to take the gospel
to as many as would hear and believe. Paul knew that no matter
how great the message was, if it were not proclaimed, if it
were not preached, if it were not shared, it was no more beneficial
than it was when it was hidden. The gospel must be declared.
And Paul did that with great zeal, as if he alone were tasked
with this overwhelming responsibility. Paul knew that this message was
the means of salvation for sinners. This was their only hope. And
so he preached to any and all that he could find in order to
fill up the word of God. And in that way, the Word of
God was made manifest, not just to Paul, but to all who hear
it and believe, including us. Paul says at the end of verse
26 that it has been revealed to his saints, his set-apart ones, as we were
reminded last week, including right down to you and I. If we
are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, We have been let in on
what was previously a mystery, a secret, but now it’s been revealed. And to us, too, this responsibility
to continue the pattern of fulfilling the word of God, it falls to
us as well to preach the gospel. And so our simple outline, the
Christian ministry is initiated by a divine commissioning. It
is imparted by divine revelation. And thirdly, for this morning,
it is instituted by divine intention. This was God’s doing. And we
pick up in verse 27. So we’re led to this third magnificent
feature of the Christian ministry, as detailed here in these verses
by the great Christian minister himself, the Apostle Paul. The
third magnificent feature is, as I said, it’s instituted by
divine intention. The gospel ministry didn’t just
develop. It didn’t just happen over time. It didn’t evolve. It came about
by God’s intention and design. And this is declared forcefully
there in verse 27, when Paul says that God willed it so. God willed that his plan of redemption
in its completeness should be revealed. And in his sovereign
mercy, God did just that. He revealed it in his own time
and for his own glory. the ministry of the gospel was
something desired and planned and designed and ultimately implemented
by God himself. This third point is really just
a logical extension of the previous two. It’s a well-reasoned explanation
of the first two points. Just as God had commissioned
Paul and everyone else who serves in the gospel ministry, and just
as God himself is the one who revealed or manifested all of
the intricate details of his plan of redemption, so also it is God himself who
instituted the Christian ministry. And I’d like you to notice, first
of all, to whom this wonderful news is revealed. Paul introduces
it with these very words, to whom, in the New American Standard. And those words, a simple pronoun
in the original, point us back to the saints of the previous
verse. It’s to the saints that God revealed
this, to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their eyes are
opened, what the Puritans used to refer to as the spectacles
of faith. They’re able to see now what
previously they could not see. Verse 27 then functions really
as an expansion of this truth that Paul declares. that the
word of God, God’s mystery, hidden for many ages and generations,
but now revealed, made manifest to his saints. And it’s here
that Paul expands upon that thought, informing us of the breadth to
which the glorious gospel was revealed. God willed to make
it known to his saints. This is an echo of what Paul
just previously said, that God’s hidden mystery has now been revealed.
Except that here, Paul uses a different word. To make known, this is
a much more intimate word. One is as if we’re shouting on
the mountaintop. This is if we’re sitting next
to a beloved friend who is sharing this information. Here he tells
us that making this mystery known was God’s doing. It’s as if God
himself draws near and pulls us close and whispers these things
to us. God’s redemptive plan through
Christ was not leaked. Mankind did not figure it out
through the study of scripture. No one pried out the plan of
redemption out of God’s mind, nor was he tricked or pressured
or coerced into sharing it. God didn’t have any sense of
obligation to anyone to share this information. God willed
it. He desired to reveal it. And
when he chose to make it known, neither was he obligated to share
his divine insights with everyone, and he didn’t. It was only to his saints. It
was only to those set apart for his service to his saints. Paul’s
emphasis here is on the divine prerogative of God. It wasn’t
merely His desire to make His full plan of redemption known,
it was according to His sovereign will to make it known to His
saints. Paul says it this way in Ephesians
1, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His
kind intention. It was purely God’s mercy. to open up his mental vault,
if you will, and to give us this plan. What was it that God so
earnestly desired to make known? Paul has already explained what
was revealed. It was the word of God, God’s
great plan of redemption through his son, Jesus. And what Paul
does here in verse 27 is to describe what is almost indescribable.
He wants the reader to know, he wants us to know, how wonderful
this gospel is that has been made known to us. Paul gets very explicit here,
but first he declares its relative value. Would you just glance
down at that verse? He says, to whom God willed to
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery.
among the Gentiles. That’s a long string of words.
And while it’s possible, we’ll do some of this, to separate
out all of those individual elements and examine them individually,
Paul compiled this string of words intentionally. so that we might better understand
the whole, let’s briefly consider the several elements. Look first
at the glory. When Paul speaks of the glory,
he’s speaking metaphorically of the spectacular nature of
this revealed mystery. Typically in the Old Testament,
when you think of God’s glory, you think of the Shekinah glory,
a bright light, like that on the Mount of Transfiguration
or what Moses faced when he met with God. It is as if there were an actual
light emanating from this revelation. That’s the metaphor that Paul
is utilizing here. If there were an actual light
emanating from the revelation of the gospel, the word of God,
it would be impossible to look directly at it. That’s kind of
the metaphor that Paul is employing. And this is the reason that he
precedes these words, the glory, with the words, the riches. With
those words, he’s speaking of the overwhelming and stupendous
value of the glory of this message, the gospel. The word riches, too, is metaphorical. There’s no dollar value associated
with this good news of the gospel. This word riches is used in this
way in other passages with which we are familiar. You might remember
Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, by faith Moses, when he had grown
up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing
rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to
enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach
of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. there
was no actual money exchanged. Moses didn’t enjoy some kind
of a payoff. It’s a metaphor for the great
value of The gospel, Ephesians 3.16 says essentially the same
thing. Paul is praying for the Ephesian
believers, listen to this, for this reason I bow my knees before
the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives
its name that he would grant you according to the riches of
his glory to be strengthened with power through his spirit
in the inner man. He’s talking about the great
value of this glorious revelation. And here Paul uses the word as
if he’s referring to a vault full of inexhaustible wealth
according to God’s stupendous nature. Paul uses the same thought
in Romans 9.23, addressing essentially the same thought that he does
here in 1 Corinthians, the incredible truth that the gospel had been
opened to of all people, the Gentiles. Romans 9.23, he did
so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy,
which he prepared beforehand for glory. Paul is picturing God’s incredible,
merciful nature in expanding the gospel’s reach even to the
heathen world, of which you and I were much apart. Now, wouldn’t
you know it, Paul also uses this exact same phrase, the riches
of his glory, in that parallel letter of Ephesians. We read
one, but this one is a precise equivalent. And this phrase is
found in one of three incredible things that Paul is asking the
Heavenly Father to provide for the Ephesian believers. In Ephesians
1.18, he prays that God would open their hearts to understand
the riches of his glory, of his inheritance in the saints. In
the end, it’s the same exact encouragement here, to properly
esteem the salvation that has been granted to us as undeserving
sinners. It’s absolutely amazing. Let’s
consider the third element, the mystery. This is a good thing
that we’ve already done our study of this word. We know what Paul
is referring to here when he repeats this word. It’s a matter
that was hidden for a time, but now has been revealed. And Paul
distinctly narrows it down there by specifically linking the mystery
in verse 26 to the word of God. As we saw there, it was divine
revelation. The mystery of God’s plan of
redemption had been revealed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There’s one final group of words
in this lengthy string that we would look at briefly. We have
to give notice to this. It’s the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles. And simply put, this amazing
blessing of salvation in Christ has been extended even to the
ungodly heathen, the non-Jews. He shouldn’t need to say another
word after that stunning thought is revealed, but he does. He basically wants to tell his
readers, including us, just how marvelous, how utterly stupendous
is this revelation by God. I hope it was beneficial to consider
the elements of that statement one at a time. And while it’s
possible to separate them out and look at them individually,
Paul compiled this string of words intentionally. Paul boldly declares that God
himself had decided of his own accord to reveal the spectacular
nature of God’s redemptive plan. That even the heathen were now
extended the free offer of the gospel. Or as Paul so beautifully
says it, God willed to make known what is the riches of his glory,
of this mystery, even among the Gentiles. And in our study of
these verses 25 through 27, we’ve come to a reasonable conclusion
here. about what Paul is referring
to by this word mystery. It’s pointing out God’s design
in the salvation that he’s provided through his son Jesus. Paul is
referring generally here to the gospel. We’ve already identified
that. It was for the gospel that Paul
had been made a minister, remember? A servant to the church. It was
for the gospel to which Paul was entrusted. and for which
he would one day give an account as a steward. It was the gospel,
the word of God, that he was tasked with carrying out fully. It was the gospel that had been
hidden, but now had been completely manifested. But what Paul allows
the reader to glean and for which to draw conclusions, he now provides
the exquisite details of God’s plan of redemption. What he has only alluded to up
to this point, he now states in completely unambiguous terms.
What is this mystery? What is the gospel? What is the
word of God that Paul was to fully preach? Glance please at
the end of verse 27. where Paul declares it in arguably
the most beautiful terms in scripture. What is the good news? What is
the gospel? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now the first portion of that
phrase, Christ in you, the order is somewhat different from what
we usually hear in the New Testament. We typically hear of believers
in Jesus Christ as being in Christ. You can think of many phrases
where that occurs. In Christ or in Christ Jesus
or in Him or in the Lord. That’s what we usually hear.
That’s the formula, if you will, I did a study one time of all
of these prepositional phrases that identify these spiritual
blessings. I called it, The Benefits We
Enjoy As Christians Because of Our Union In, With, By, From,
or Through Our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s a catchy title, isn’t
it? I printed some of these and I’ll provide you a copy at the
end if you wish. But listen to these things. This
is not insignificant. Everything that we enjoy, spiritually
speaking, is because of our union with Christ. And there are almost
70 blessings that I identify in well over 100 verses or passages
directly tied to that phraseology in Paul’s writings. Let me give
you just a couple of examples. Or do you want all 70? A couple
of examples. Our redemption is in Christ Jesus,
Romans 3.24. We have peace through our Lord
Jesus Christ, Romans 5.1. In the Lord, and I might add
only in the Lord, we have cause to boast, 1 Corinthians 1.30. God, Paul says in 2 Corinthians
2.14, leads us in triumph in Christ. In Ephesians 2.5, Paul
says that we are made alive, raised up, with Christ. I think you get the point. It’s
overwhelming in scripture how many spiritual blessings are
tied to our union with Christ. But that’s not the way Paul says
it here. Paul doesn’t talk about us being in Christ here. He flips the standard order of
words and instead of stating that we are in Christ, he speaks
of Christ as being in us. This is an amazing turn here. Christ in you, he says. And here’s
a detail to God’s redemption that not even the most scholarly
Jewish rabbi ever grasped. That God would indwell his children. That’s what it says. And the
language makes it clear here that Jesus Christ is not said
to be merely among them as believers, but that he is in them in some
supernatural sense. Even though Christ in you is
a rarer statement than the one that we are in Christ, the idea
is certainly found throughout the scriptures We see this thought
in John’s gospel in Christ’s own words. Listen to this. John 15.4, a passage you’re certainly
familiar with, abide in me and I in you. Paul himself says essentially
the same thing in 2 Corinthians 13.5. in giving the caution to
check the genuineness of their profession of faith, Paul says
this, test yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you
are in the faith, examine yourselves, or do you not recognize this
about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed
you fail the test. Likewise, To the Ephesians in
317, just a verse beyond the one we considered a moment ago,
he concludes his prayer there by saying, so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith. Christ in you. Paul points out something very
important here in 3.17, that this indwelling of Christ is
by faith, it’s through faith, and Paul states that definitively
in Romans 8. Romans 8.10, if Christ is in
you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet in the spirit
is alive because of righteousness. And he proceeds there in verse
11, Romans 8, 10, and 11, to specify the great means of Christ
indwelling believers. If the Spirit of Him who raised
Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from
the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit who dwells in you. It is by the agency of the Holy
Spirit that Christ is said to dwell in us as Christians. And given the context of all
these things, Christ would not be found to dwell only or exclusively
in the Jewish people, but also in the Gentiles. And to the average
Jewish person, this was an astounding turn of events. It’s sad because
scripture had always held forth the idea that the Gentiles in
some measure would be saved. God made a promise to Abraham,
remember? Genesis 22, in your seed, all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed. The promise ratified to Isaac,
Genesis 26, four, I will multiply your descendants as the stars
of heaven. I will give your descendants
all these lands and by your descendants, all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed. prophesied in Isaiah chapter
60. Arise, shine, for your light
has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For
behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the
peoples. But the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will
appear before you. Nations will come to your light,
the Gentiles and kings to the brightness of your rising. Micah. This beautiful passage, many
nations will come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord and to the house of God of Jacob, that he may
teach us about his ways and that we may walk in his paths. Even
the Gentiles, even the heathen, the Jewish people were called
to be a light to the nations. This was supposed to be matter
of fact, that they too would come to know God’s salvation.
But it’s another thing entirely to speak of Christ indwelling
the believer, let alone Gentile believers. So Jesus Christ dwelling in these
believers, Gentile and Jewish, was perhaps the most amazing
thing about this previous spiritual mystery that now had been made
known. several commentaries raise a question that I at least thought
was just hair splitting. Is Christ’s indwelling of believers the answer to the mystery? And the answer to that question
is most certainly yes, of course Jesus was that, but he’s more
than that. It’s not just that Jesus was
the last piece of God’s redemptive puzzle, but that in providing
the answer to that mystery, Christ’s role was far more wonderful than
anyone ever believed possible. He wasn’t just a conquering king
like the Jews were expecting, nor did he merely die on the
cross for sinners. Jesus is the riches of the glory
of the mystery among the Gentiles. Jesus did not just live and move
among the people of this world, but ultimately he would dwell
in every kind of person in this world, even the heathen. It was
not just that Jesus would converse with such people and instruct
such people, and even that he would die for such people, but
ultimately that he would dwell in their hearts by faith. And
that’s what makes his fulfillment of the mystery of God’s plan
of redemption so rich in glory. To close this remarkable section
on the magnificent features of the Christian ministry, Paul
ends with this final thought. An accompanying thought to the
previous statement. It’s a parallel. It’s a further
explanation of what Christ in you means. Not only is this once
hidden, now revealed mystery about Christ, the indwelling
of believers, Christ in you, but Paul adds Christ in you,
the hope of glory. I want you to observe this. Paul
does not say that Christ is our hope. Although in a very real
sense that ultimately is true, here Paul is very explicit. The surest means of the hope
of the glory is not merely Christ, not just to know about Christ,
not just to have met Christ, but Christ in you is the hope
of glory. That’s the difference. One faithful
shepherd put it this way, Christ in the soul is the hope of heaven. We have to catch ourselves and
correct our thinking about this word hope. We tend to think of
hope in terms of wishes or desires or aspirations that may or may
not come true. I hope it doesn’t snow again. I hope I get an A. I hope my
team wins. It’s not the idea of biblical
hope. Hope, as it is expressed in scripture,
is an assured, settled confidence. It’s not wishful thinking. Think
of it. The scriptures paint a powerful
image of the believer’s assurance. The hope of the glory of God,
Romans 5.2. The hope of righteousness, Galatians
5.5. The hope of salvation, 1 Thessalonians
5.8. The hope of eternal life, Titus
1.2 and 3.7. And we come to possess this hope
only by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul goes so far as to
say that Christ Jesus is our hope. Christian’s hope is not
based on self-confidence but confidence in our God. And the really great thing about
biblical hope, you cannot, as a Christian, you cannot truly
hope for anything that will not certainly come to pass. That’s
the difference between our measly understanding of hope and a biblical
example of hope. Now, given who Paul is talking
about here, this is an even more amazing thing, and it touches
each one of us. The Colossians are among those people, the Gentiles,
to whom Paul says in Ephesians 2.12 are without hope and without
God in the world. The Gentiles had no hope. They
had no assurance. They had no settled confidence
in God. And Paul likewise encourages
the Thessalonian believers that we, even as Christians, do not
grieve as the rest who have no hope. It’s sad to watch a funeral
sometimes and to see people broken and torn over sin and the effects
of it. So when Paul says here, that
the Colossian believers, having placed their faith in Jesus Christ
for salvation, already possessed the hope of glory, the settled
confidence, the assurance that one day they would enjoy eternal
glory. And so we note finally that when
Paul speaks of the hope of glory here, he’s using this word in
a very different sense than he did earlier in this verse. Earlier,
when he spoke of the riches of glory, he’s using the word in
a very different sense than here. He spoke there of the glorious
nature of the spectacular mystery that had been revealed. That’s
not Paul’s focus here. Here, speaking of glory, he’s
speaking of future that is eternal glory, eternal happiness in heaven. It’s the glory that is to be
revealed to us, as Paul says in Romans 8. The hope of glory
is that same joyful thought that flooded Paul’s mind when he said
in Romans 5-2, we exult in the hope of the glory of God. Let’s do that before him. Our gracious God.