SERIES: The Book of Colossians
TEXT: Colossians 1:24-2:5
MESSAGE: “Jesus, Our Anchor”

Q: What would you say is your life’s work?

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” — Colossians 1:28-29

TEXT: Colossians 1:24–2:5

1. Stewardship (vv. 24–27)

“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.”

“It was around this time that I found my heart asking new questions about this faith that I had taken for granted for many years. I wanted to know what the Christian life really looked like if it wasn’t just one of reluctant obedience, as I had previously assumed. In reading books by authors like John Piper, A. W. Tozer, and Andrew Murray, I was surprised to find that life in the gospel, and one of the marks of saving faith, is actually a life of joy and delight in God. I felt myself taking a hard look at my own faith and asking, “Is Christ my treasure, or are Christ’s gifts my treasure?” In this process of learning and reflecting, I felt my heart becoming more and more moved by the beauty of the gospel: how Jesus paid it all to redeem me. I began to feel a “new affection” changing my heart from the inside out.” — Rebecca Ericson-Hua

“The permanent value of this great passage is that it provides the church in every generation with just such a standard.” — Dick Lucas

“Stewardship is the acceptance from God of personal responsibility for all of life and life’s affairs.” — Roswell C. Long

“He was speaking not of salvation but of service…Christ’s suffering alone procures salvation…It is a believer’s privilege to suffer for Christ.” — Norman L. Geisler

“Suffering with Christ is essential if we are to be glorified with him. Through the sufferings he endures in his own flesh, Paul contributes to the sum total, to what is still lacking. The more he suffers the less the Colossians have to.” — Peter O’Brien

2. Strength (v. 28-29)

“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.”

3. Struggle (v. 1-5)

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.

“Here’s the reason the gospel is a power, here’s the reason it’s a joy, and here is the reason why the gospel is simply the grace of God in all of its truth, because Jesus Christ is Christianity. Jesus Christ is the gospel. The gospel is Jesus. The gospel is not about Jesus; the gospel is Jesus…Other religions say, “Here’s the way,” and Jesus says, “No, I’m the way.” Other religions say, “Here’s the truth; follow it,” and Jesus says, “No, I’m the truth.” Other religions say, “Here’s how to be a righteous person,” and Jesus says, “No, I am your righteousness.” If you want to understand the Bible, if you want to understand the book of Galatians, Colossians, Corinthians, for example, this is the way it always works out. Paul talks to somebody who says, “I have Jesus, but I also need circumcision.” “I have Jesus, but I also need righteousness.” “I have Jesus, but I also need this or that.” Paul always comes back and says, “All of your problems come because of the ‘but also.’ Get rid of the ‘but also.’” “I have Jesus, but also.” Then you don’t see the gospel is Jesus. You think the gospel is about Jesus, Jesus and something else, but the gospel is Jesus. There is nothing else. When you become a Christian, he becomes your righteousness. He is your holiness. He is your wisdom. That’s the gospel. Because he came and lived the life you should have lived and died the death you should have died. Now do you see why the gospel is the thing that solves your problems?” — Timothy Keller

TAKEAWAYS:

• Do you see your life as stewardship or ownership?
• Does the work you do call for God’s strength or your strength?

“It is when we ‘toil and strive’ at a God-given task, that we receive God-given energy…As Paul toiled in teaching with strenuous endeavor, God himself granted strength and capacity for the work…God gives his power to workers.” — Dick Lucas

• Do your struggles in life reveal your need for Jesus or a dependence on self?