Colossians 1:24-29 “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church; Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. “ KJV
These five verses are loaded with mysterious thoughts. How can he fill up what is behind (lacking) in the sufferings of Christ? Did Jesus miss something? Certainly not. I believe what St. Paul means is that he, himself, is proving that what Jesus suffered for all people for all time can be lived by a human being for the sake of the Church; that it is possible to live like Jesus did, to forestall erroneous thinking that Jesus only was able to do it because He was more than a man, He did it as God. Jesus, being fully and truly man, and fully and truly God, was able to live, die, and be raised again to eternal life. St. Paul is stressing this truth in order to combat heresies in the church that stated that Jesus was not really a flesh and blood human being, but some kind of Greek or Roman god or angel that was not subject to suffering in His flesh.
The powerful mystery, the secret of success, that Paul was preaching, warning and teaching people was that we are actually be capable of living, suffering, dying and being raised from the dead, which would make us perfect just like Jesus. We are not Jesus, of course, but we identify ourselves with Him in how we live and conduct ourselves. Impossible for ordinary unsaved, un-born-again people. But for us, the mystery is filled with the riches of the glory of Christ in us, the hope of glory.
The born-again believer is filled with the presence and the power of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. We have the hope, the expectation of glory. It motivates us to embrace the life that God our Father has planned for us. We are not our own. We are bought with a price! 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” KJV
Colossians 2:9-10 “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” KJV in Him. There it is again, that phrase that means that we have been born again and are no longer out there in the world without God and without hope. (Ephesians 2:11-13 KJV). It is the Holy Blessed Trinity that is in us that makes us complete in Him. What glorious riches! If we don’t “feel” that way, if the world doesn’t see us that way, whose fault can it be? They have to see us that way if we are going to have the nerve to tell them that the Godhead of the universe dwells in each of us. We are required to “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: live in a manner worthy of the Lord” (Colossians 1:10-14.KJV) Don’t forget the joyfulness!
Thank You, Lord, for this gracious mystery, the secret of victorious life in Christ. Amen.
Restoration Ministries 