https://youtu.be/GFCXSFZdm-4

aColossians 1:24-29 Christ in You: the Hope of Glory

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, 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, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 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. 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.

It’s so easy to read this text and then realize .. you haven’t understood a thing about it. Theres this huge run-on sentence right at the beginning and its full of weird phrases and its not clear how they’re connected. It’s a real doozy of a text.

but for all it’s difficulty and strangeness, the real doozy of it all, is it’s profoundly radical summons to live out the Hero’s story.

This word is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for those who aren’t all in, not for the fence sitters, for the lukewarm, for the wishy-washy. The message of this text, in the power and spirit of God-Almighty, beckons you come and disregard your own life that you might participate in a far greater one.

It’s an incredible thing.

so get ready.

Paul says, I now rejoice in my sufferings for you.

You suffer. You struggle. You know pain. But why do you suffer? Is it just because you’re in this cursed world? because you are sinful and your neighbors are sinful?  

You have aches and pains and you make stupid decisions and hurt people and people hurt you. That’s life, and in Jesus, praise God, you’re able to find peace and happiness despite your pain.

But what if you could, not just patiently bear your sufferings, but actually embrace them with gladness? What if you could join Paul in saying, I now rejoice in my sufferings for you. That’s a whole other question. That sounds so strange, so foreign. It’s probably not what your parents hoped for you. it’s not what you learned in school. It doesn’t sound like the life you aspired to.

Paul goes on to say, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body which is the church.

Did he just say that he fills up in his flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ?

yeah, Theres definitely something going on here that we don’t quite get. … and we need to get it.

If it sounds strange, that something would be lacking in Jesus’ afflictions, that's a good thing. It should sound strange. If your pastor started teaching that somehow, Jesus didn’t suffer enough for you, that his humiliation and punishment didn’t quite pay the full price, didn’t actually satisfy God’s holy justice, the red flags should be going off all of the place.

Your Jesus suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, (1 peter 3:18)

being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3)

The work is over. its ended. it’s completed. its the most glorious thing in the whole universe. that jesus christ is completely pleased with his...