Over the past three weeks, we have considered Paul’s words in Colossians 1:24-2:5 under the theme, “Ministry of the Mystery.” In this passage, Paul reveals the heart of Christian ministry and the heart of the Christian life. The mystery once hidden for ages and generations has now been revealed: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Christianity is not merely a moral system, a religious tradition, or a church program. At its center is a living Person: Jesus Christ dwelling in His people.
The first principle of the series was Paul’s declaration: “Him we proclaim” (Colossians 1:28). The church’s message is not tradition, psychology, or our philosophy, or entertainment. The message is Christ. Every sermon, class, act of service, and work of the church must find its center in Him. We proclaim Christ because He is the mystery revealed, the hope of glory, and the One in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).
The second principle was seen in Paul as a minister. Paul had received a stewardship from God to make the Word of God fully known. He was not the owner of the message, the author of the ministry, or the center of the church. He was a servant entrusted with the mystery of Christ. Paul proclaimed Christ, warned and taught with wisdom, and toiled with God’s power so that every believer might be presented mature in Christ. This remains the pattern for faithful ministry: entrusted with the Word, centered on Christ, laboring for maturity, and depending on God’s strength.
The final principle is the maturity produced by the mystery of Christ in us. Paul struggled so that believers would be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, assured in understanding, guarded from deception, and firm in faith. This is the goal of our ministry, and what Christ seeks to develop within us. The mystery is not merely Christ in isolated individuals; it is Christ forming a mature church.
Paul wrote, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all” (Colossians 3:11).
-Jacob Brunjes
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