Exalting Christ in Everything

Exalting Christ in Everything

- Walt Beiser

We are going to be continuing our study of Colossians today.

Paul was writing against the backdrop of the false teachers who were trying to infect the Colossian church. They were diminishing the person and work of Christ, so Paul was exalting Christ as preeminent over everything. The false teachers no doubt knew that Paul had trained Epaphras who had brought the gospel to them in Colossae. But to build themselves up, they probably tore Paul down. Perhaps they were saying things like “If Christ is the Sovereign Lord and if Paul is His servant, then why is Paul in jail? Don’t follow a jailbird; follow us!”

in verse 23, Paul mentions that he was made (or became) a minister of the gospel. and he expands on that topic in today’s verses, showing how he exalted Christ in his ministry. In so doing, he shows us how we can serve Christ well in whatever He has given us to do for Him. Paul shows us how we can exalt Christ in trials in our service and in our message.

Read Colossians 1:24-29

Pray

1. (Col. 1:24). Let’s look back at verse 24.

Colossians 1:24: Now ^jI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^kI am filling up ^lwhat is lacking in Christ's afflictions ^mfor the sake of his body, that is, the church

This is a difficult verse for a few reasons: It’s difficult to explain… it’s difficult to apply. And if you read it quickly it sounds like it is saying we can do what Jesus fell short of. “in my filling up what was lacking”….BUT Nothing could be farther from the truth!

John Piper says “When you come to a difficult verse, the principle for interpretation is, always interpret the difficult verse in light of the clear. The difficult verse will never contradict the clear verses”. And it is clear both in Paul’s writings and in the rest of the New Testament that Christ’s suffering on the cross was complete and sufficient for the salvation of all who trust in Him.

Jesus Himself proclaimed just before He died (John 19:30) “It is finished.” The atonement that He paid for us sinners was complete. Paul goes on to show that the death and resurrection of Christ resulted in all our sins being forgiven and in Christ’s complete victory. So this verse does not mean that somehow Christ’s suffering on the cross was insufficient for our salvation so that Paul or anyone else needed to complete it.

Paul isn’t talking about salvation here. Paul does not mean and the New Testament never teaches that in some way we by our suffering must add merit to Christ’s sacrificial death that paid for our sins.

Then what does Paul mean by this statement?.

First, Jesus taught that His followers would suffer because of their identification with Him. He told the disciples in John 15:20-21

²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ^g‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, ^hthey will also persecute you. ⁱIf they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ But ^jall these things they will do to you ^kon account of my name, ^lbecause they do not know him who sent me.

Christ’s sufferings do not need completion in terms of payment, but rather in terms of distribution. Christ’s death provided perfect atonement for all who believe, but people can’t believe unless Christ’s followers go everywhere proclaiming the good news. As Paul put it in Rom 10:14

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him ^uof whom they have never heard?³ And how are they to hear ^vwithout someone preaching?

Hershey’s Distribution issue…

William Barclay offers a helpful illustration quoted in the book Flesh and Spirit. He affirms that the work of Christ is done and completed. No one can add to it. But he supposes a great scientist or surgeon who has spent his life and ruined his health to find some cure for a disease… That discovery remains useless unless it is taken out of the laboratory and made available for people all over the world. Those who distribute it to others may have to sweat and toil and risk their lives to do it. They aren’t adding to the scientist’s work. But it may be rightly said that they are completing the sufferings of the scientist by distributing his discovery to the far corners of the earth. The thing lacking in Christ’s afflictions is not the full salvation He secured on the cross, but the price that we must pay as His followers in the struggle to take the salvation message that Christ offers to every person.

This is difficult to apply to us American Christians because very few of us know what it means to suffer for the gospel. Our brothers and sisters around the world know it very well, as you are aware if you read “Voice of the Martyrs” magazine or hear their short reports on FLN. “Tell Michael Card story” But in addition to praying for those in other countries who are suffering for Christ’s sake, how can we apply this here and now?

First, note that Paul is not only talking about suffering for Christ’s sake, but suffering joyfully. He was in prison and he tells the Colossians (1:24), “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.” Paul rejoiced that his sufferings for Christ would help the new Colossian church to stand firm when they suffered.





Matt 5:11-12 tells us

^11 g“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ^hon my account. ^12 iRejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for ^jso they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus’s words give us a hint for how we can apply this short of being imprisoned or beaten or dying for our faith. we should rejoice when people insult us or falsely say all kinds of evil against us because we are followers of Christ.

 Twice Paul says in Col 1 Verses 23 & 25 that he was made or became a minister.

How did this happen? Did Paul go to his guidance counselor and take an aptitude test where the results came back, “You’d be good as a minister”? No!

In Acts 9 we read how it happened. As Paul approached Damascus where he planned to persecute and imprison Christians, a light from heaven flashed around him, he fell to the ground was blinded and heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul asked, “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, get up and enter the city, and you will be told what to do.” Then the Lord told Ananias to go and lay hands on Paul so that he might regain his sight. When Ananias expressed concerns about doing that for a known Christian persecutor, the Lord replied

“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

That’s how Paul became a minister of the gospel: he was not a volunteer for Jesus; It wasn’t Paul’s chosen career path. Rather, the crucified and risen Lord laid His hand on Paul and said, like the old Army posters, “I want you!” Paul didn’t join God’s army; he was drafted! but once drafted…he proclaimed earnestly!

In verses 23&25 the word “minister” means “servant”. Once we except Jesus as our Lord and savior we become his servant. Every Christian has been given spiritual gifts to use in serving Him. “Church benchwarmer” is not one of the gifts! Every member of the body has a ministry to fulfill.

But maybe you’re thinking, “Okay, but I’ve never been to seminary and I’m not a full time Christian worker. I can’t devote the time to serving the Lord that others do.” the apostle Paul never went to seminary. And he made tents to support his ministry. But he saw his ministry as a stewardship given to him by God. He knew that he would give an account to God for the ministry that God had entrusted to him. And so he worked hard to be a good minister. He wanted to serve Christ well. Just as I know we all want to.

. Perhaps you’ve never thought about it before, but the question, “How can I be a good minister (servant) of Jesus?” should be on our mind often…daily…constantly.

But perhaps you’re still thinking, But my gifts are pretty insignificant. I never could prepare and share a message. I’m not gifted as an evangelist. I don’t have millions of dollars to give to the Lord’s work. I don’t know the Bible as well as so and so does. So I don’t have an important role in the Lord’s work.

If that describes you, think back to Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matt 25 the master gave five talents to one servant, two to another, and one to the third. The man with five invested them and made five more. The man with two made two more. But the man with one hid it and gave it back. The master called him wicked, lazy and worthless and threw him into the outer darkness, where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The clear warning of that parable is that the servant with one talent is in the greatest danger of not using it for the master’s purpose. So even “one-talent Christians” should be vitally interested in the question, “How can I be a good minister or servant of Jesus?” How can I serve Christ well? Paul’s answer here is:

We serve Christ well by exalting Him in every way.

So the idea is, however God has gifted you, you will only fulfill your calling if you rely on the power of the Spirit and trust the Lord to accomplish His work through you. As Jesus said in John 15:4-5

^4 yAbide ^zin me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; ^ayou are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^bbears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

it is only when we abide in Him as branches in the vine that we can bear much fruit. So view yourself as a steward appointed by Christ to do whatever He’s given you to do. Then do it joyfully in reliance on His Spirit, seeking to glorify Him who bought you and rescued you. our ministry is not about fulfilling us, but about exalting Jesus. And it doesn’t have to be an organinzed ministry. I was standing around a camp fire with a friend the other evening and we had had a good conversation…some light hearted and humorous… and some spiritually focused. Good connecting conversation….then he told me about how he had shared the Gospel with a young man quite some time ago and the young man came to Christ. Then he said he hadn’t really had much contact with him afterwords and didn’t know how things turned out…if he was still walking with the Lord or not…He then had the oputunity to speak with him several years later and learned that he was attending a Bible college and was studying to be a youth pastor This made the hole rest of our conversation just fade away. To God be the glory…when a servant of the Lord stepped out and followed the Holy Spirits leading a soul was saved and is now studying to spread the Gospel! We have all heard things like this and its good to share them because God is getting the glory and it is encouraging to others to hear about it.

See we serve Christ well by exalting Him in every way. We exalt Him in our trials by enduring them joyfully for His sake. We exalt Him in our service by doing it in the power of His Spirit as His stewards because He appointed us. And we exalt him by proclaiming and sharing his word and what he has done for us.

Lets look at verses 26-27(Col. 1:26-27).

^26 pthe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. ^27 qTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ^rthe riches of the glory of ^pthis mystery, which is Christ in you, ^sthe hope of glory





Paul calls his message “the mystery.” Many scholars think he was playing upon a term which the false teachers used. They taught that you had to be initiated into their inner circle to understand the mysteries or secret truths which they would reveal to you. Paul says that the gospel message, especially that the Gentiles could be full partners along with the Jews, is a mystery; not in the sense that it is known only by a select few, but in the sense that it was formerly unknown, but now God has revealed it.

John Phillips defines “mystery” in his commentary on Colossians by saying“In the New testament, the word denotes a truth that cannot be discovered by human reasoning but only by divine revelation, regardless of whether it is hard to understand”… “The Christian faith includes secrets great and glorious, but they are open secrets. They are available to everyone, not just to a special class of initiates.”

The Old Testament predicted salvation for the Gentiles. But God had to reveal the previously unknown truth that the Gentiles would be fellow-heirs with the Jews, one body in Christ with them.

Now lets look at verse 28 

²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^twe may present everyone ^umature in Christ. 

In our text, Paul shares the purpose for working hard, was, to present every person “mature” (ESV) in Christ, or “complete” (NASB) or “perfect” (NIV, NKJV). We all should aim at becoming mature in Christ And we should help others grow to spiritual maturity also. How do we do that?

Well back… In verse 25, Paul talked about “fulfilling the word of God.” And Verse 28 elaborates on how he did this: …..“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 

What does “To present” mean…Well picture a father giving away his daughter as a bride…Paul wanted to present the church as holy and blameless and beyond reproach to Christ as His bride. What does this entail?

• To present others mature in Christ, we’ve got to be growing to maturity in Him ourselves.

Dallas seminary professor, Dr. Howard Hendricks, said, “You cannot impart what you do not possess! If you’re not making a concerted effort to grow in Christ, then we can’t help someone else in that process. But the Lord wants all of His disciples to help in the cause of making other disciples. That’s at the heart of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19), “… make disciples of all the nations.””

We also hear this in Paul’s command to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:2-3): ² and ^ywhat you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses ^zentrust to faithful men,^1 awho will be able to teach others also. ^3 bShare in suffering as ^ca good soldier of Christ Jesus.

(there is that suffering again also)…

You may be thinking, …That’s kind of intimidating! I don’t feel adequate to help others grow in Christ. I don’t think I’ll ever be at the point where I could tell others to be imitators of me as I am of Christ. I know I feel that way………………but, I’ve got news for you: If you’ve got kids, they are learning from your example! You may be a good example to them of someone who is growing in Christ, or you may be a poor example. 

But you are an example! Just ask your spouse…..I don’t know about you but I hear from Annessa all the time… “they act just like you” when the kids are causing trouble…..and If you have a spouse…your being an example to them, a younger sibling…an older sibling… friends…your being an example to someone. Think about all those athletes or actors that…after their mug shot shows up all over the internet and papers says “I never asked to be a roll model or and example” Well….they are and we are whether we want to be or not. But we are not just role models we are modeling Christ. I have heard the saying before “you maybe the only Jesus someone sees today when I think about that and keep that in mind it helps me to try to hold my tongue or be more patient or uplifting. I may be the only example of Christ that person sees today and I want it to be a good example…not leaving them thinking…”wow he’s a Christian”?

if you’ve only been a Christian for a month, you can impart the gospel that changed your life to someone who doesn’t yet know the Savior. If you’ve been walking with the Lord for five years, you’ve got five years of experience with the Lord that a newer believer doesn’t have. So wherever you’re at in the process, God can use you to help others grow to maturity in Christ. But to do that we’ve got to be growing to maturity in Christ ourselves. We’ve got to be walking with the Lord each day. Like Dr. Hendricks said “We cannot impart what we do not possess!”

But, what does maturity in Christ look like?

Maturity in Christ means developing Christlike character and conduct.

Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Mark. 12:29-31). These are relational commands. You can measure how mature in Christ you are by assessing your relationships with God and with others.

Love for God is more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling that you may get when you sit in a church service or listen to Christian music. Love for God, like love for any person, begins at a point in time when you enter a personal relationship with Him. But there’s a problem, namely, our sin. God is holy and cannot fellowship with us when we are in our sins. That’s why He sent Jesus , to pay the death penalty that we deserve for our sins. The good news is that if we turn from our sins and trust in Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross, God will forgive all our sins and give us eternal life as a free and complete gift. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” At the point you put your trust in Christ, you begin a relationship with God.

But like all relationships, we have to spend time together if we want to grow in that relationship….CONNECTING… As we spend time in God’s Word, we get to know Him more deeply. As we spend time in prayer, we draw nearer to Him and open our hearts to Him.

Christlikeness at its core involves the transformation and renewing of our mind in conforming to God’s Word. Since all sin begins in the mind, we have to defeat it on that level. As Psalm 119:11 states, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

The root sin of just about every other sin that we’ve got to battle on the thought level is pride. “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. Selfishness, anger, jealousy, greed, lust, and many other sins stem from exalting self above God and others. These are all forms of pride…I’m most important… so God works on us…How does he do this…

HE grows Christlike character and conduct in us by refining us through trials. As James 1:2-4 commands, ^2 eCount it all joy, my brothers,² when you meet trials ^fof various kinds, ³ for you know that ^gthe testing of your faith ^hproduces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be ⁱperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.





remember “Perfect” is the same word translated “mature”…

Committing verses like these to memory is great…I wish I was better at it . And that’s even a cop out…I just need to work harder at it. If they aren’t in our mind, we’re not likely to work on expressing them in our behavior. And remember “We can’t impart what we don’t possess”.

The New Testament is filled with other lists of godly character qualities. For example, Ephesians 4:25-32 tells us to put aside lying and speak truth; not to sin with anger; to stop stealing and start working; to use our tongues to build up, not to tear down; to clean out all bitterness, wrath, anger, yelling, and slander, along with all malice; and, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

So as we put God’s Word into our heart and mind and learn to obey it, we will steadily be transformed into the image of Christ. we will grow toward maturity in Him. While we’ll never arrive until we see Jesus (“perfect” doesn’t happen in this life), we should be making progress. To help others grow in Christ, we don’t have to be perfect, but we do need to be walking in the Spirit, growing to maturity in Him. So how do we help others grow to maturity in Christ?

2. WE PROCLAIM HIM!

Remember that “ministry” of yours that I spoke about earlier…thats how we proclaim Him!

Kent Hughes in Preaching the Word: Colossians & Philemon relates the story of a 70-year-old, blind, uneducated African woman who got saved. Filled with gratitude to the Savior, she wanted to do something for Christ. So she went to the missionary with her French Bible and asked him to underline John 3:16 in red. The missionary wondered what she was doing, he watched as she took her Bible and sat in front of a boys’ school in the afternoon. When school dismissed, she would call a boy or two and ask them if they knew French. When they proudly said that they did, she would say, “Please read the passage underlined in red.” When they did, she would ask, “Do you know what this means?” And she would “proclaim Christ” to them. Over the years, 24 young men became pastors due to her work.

24 became Pastor’s…not just saved…how many must have come to know the Lord and were saved because of her…she started at age 70 and 24 became Pastors…she PROCLAIMED! A new Christian, uneducated, poor, blind…dare we say “suffering”…she proclaimed, she ministered with what God had given her with the power of the Holy Spirit…what an encouragement…

So the first thing to understand is that proclaiming Christ is a job for all of God’s people. Like I said earlier, we can’t be a church benchwarmer….we can’t just get our participation trophy… We need to take the opportunities to proclaim Him.

Proclaiming Christ means that we do not proclaim human wisdom or short change the Gospel.

Our message should center on the person and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. We should not veer from this message, supplement it, or mix it up with worldly wisdom. I emphasize this because the enemy quietly undermines the message of the cross that confronts sinners with their guilt with a more user-friendly message that doesn’t offend.

Sam Storms writes , “If one were to look closely at many churches today and assess the shape and form of ministry, verse 28 would likely need to be rewritten as follows: ‘Him we mention only in passing, lest we offend seekers or sound excessively religious. We seek to please and entertain everyone so that they might feel good about themselves and be reassured that all is well in the world.’”

Pause….mention him only in passing…not wanting to offend.

Worldly psychology has infiltrated the church in many ways, blending “insights” from godless men with Bible verses taken out of context or misinterpreted. Or just flat out skipped or softened. In short, Christ and worldly wisdom don’t mix…just as the Gnostics were altering the Gospel in Colossae it is happening in churches in America today. We need to share the full, true Gospel. We don’t need to be rude or obnoxious about it but we must not alter the Gospel. 

We need to be doctrinally sound…we don’t want to offer a false sense of hope-we don’t need to because we have the Truth…The Gospel straight from the Bible.

And verse 28 tells us that Proclaiming Christ requires both admonishing or warning and teaching every person.

Paul emphasizes “every man’ (or, “person”) three times in verse 28…remember repetition is how they showed emphasis. Scholars believe he was countering the false teachers, who emphasized the exclusivity of their teaching for the elite insiders only. Paul is saying, proclaim to every person no matter their unique situation.

“Teaching” is the positive side of imparting truth. While only some are gifted to teach publicly, every believer has a teaching role in some capacity. Parents must teach their children (Eph. 6:4; 2 Tim. 1:5). Older women are to teach younger women (Titus 2:3-5). More mature believers are to teach younger believers (Acts 18:24-26; Titus 1:9). Let’s see parents teach children…older women teach younger women…mature believers teach younger believers…yup that covers all of us. We are all to teach .

How about…Admonishing/warning. Paul spent much of his time warning believers. … verse 28 says “warning everyone”. It is good to proclaim positive truth, it is also necessary to warn God’s people against the lies of the enemy. We should be alert to warn one another, it is our duty to do so as servants of Christ.

To present every person mature in Christ we must work hard as we rely on His power working in us.

Verse 29 tells us: ²⁹ For this ^vI toil, ^wstruggling ^xwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Note the paradox and balance of this verse: Paul labors and strives, but he does it according to God’s power, which works within in him.

People tend to go to either extreme. Some kick back, and say, “Let go and let God.” They don’t get too worked up about reaching others for Christ or discipling younger believers in the faith.. To put it nicely, they’re “laid back…or…benchwarmers” To be more blunt, they’re just lazy when it comes to working for the Lord.

On the other hand, you have people who burn out because they’re laboring and striving, but not according to God’s power working in and through them. But often these people work so hard because they’re trying to earn God’s favor, rather than working hard through His grace and power (1 Cor. 15:10).

There’s no excuse for being lazy in the Lord’s work. But at the same time, we must do that work in His strength. As Paul said in Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Paul did it, but he did it through Christ’s power .





Conclusion:

When I was in college I was always continuously looked over the syllabus or assignment list to be sure I hadn’t missed anything. I was always worried that I would miss an assignment or not be prepared for an exam.

If you know Christ, you’re enrolled in the course called “ministry.” There are assignments and there will be a final exam! Maybe before this message, you didn’t even know you were enrolled in the course. But now you know. Your grade will be based on, “Did you serve Christ well by exalting Him in every way?” Did you exalt Him in your trials by enduring them joyfully for His sake? Did you exalt Him in your service by doing it in the power of His Spirit as a steward appointed by Him? Remember, you’re in the ministry now! The good thing is that its not like college if we mess up, if we miss an opportunity to proclaim Christ…He will give us another opportunity…isn’t he good…In that way…When we fall short he gives us another chance and helps us succeed in bringing glory to Him.

Paul says that the riches of the glory of the gospel is, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”. But with the busyness of the world or whatever reason we let this slip from the forefront of our thoughts. 

If we focused on this fact that Christ is in us… and that we will be with Him in glory, would things have gone any differently this past week for you? I know it would have for me…Would we have been impatient, frustrated, angry, grumbling, or depressed. if we had stopped to consider that Christ is living in us and we’re destined to share His glory? Would we have spent our time as we spent it…. Would we have grown cold in our devotion to Him and lacked the motivation to read His Word and to pray….. if we had felt the reality of Christ dwelling in our hearts and had our hope set on the glory ahead? OR would we have proclaimed him more…pursued him more…We will be given many more opportunities this week to do just that…let’s pray together and ask the Lord and Holy Spirit for the strength to be joyful in suffering for him, pursuing him, proclaiming Him and with his strength becoming more mature in Him.

Pray…