Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness– the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (Colossians 1:24-29)

You were not saved to sit. We all have gifts according to God’s stewardship. It involves a sacrifice, but some things are more important than our comfort.

It is a great mystery how God saves sinners. Not in the sense that it is unknowable, because we can understand the process. Although we will never understand it perfectly. But rather in the sense that it is a great wonder. It is awe inspiring. The entire scope of God’s eternal plan is so massive that we cannot comprehend it. And the person of Christ Himself is a great mystery, being God, and the Son of God, and a man. We will never understand this completely. Yet Jesus was revealed to us so that we might know God.

Jesus is for everyone. There are two everyone’s mentioned. “Warning everyone” applies primarily to unbelievers. “Teaching everyone” applies primarily to believers. We serve and preach so that both “everyones” might be mature in Christ.

We don’t do this by our strength, but by God’s power. We do this by realizing that our greatest works are like filthy rags in light of God’s perfection. We do this by trusting in Christ. We do this by leaving the results up to God.