September
23rd
24:
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: 25: Whereof I am made a minister, according to
the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the
word of God; 26: Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and
from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27: 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: 28:
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all
wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29:
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which
worketh in me mightily.
Paul
says he rejoices in his sufferings on their behalf and he wants to
fill up what was lacking of the sufferings of Christ in his flesh for
the sake of the church which is his body. What Paul is saying is that
the church takes a certain amount of flak for Christ and he wants to
draw as much of it as he can so that others might be alleviated. This
is courage and devotion of the highest order. This is the sort of
courage that is awarded on the battlefield with a Victoria Cross.
Paul draws the fire of the enemy so that others might escape and
sacrifices himself in the process. And he does not see this as a
hardship but as a great privilege and a joy. What mother would not
take a bullet for her child and what shepherd would not suffer on
behalf of his flock? Christ said I am the good shepherd; the good
shepherd lays down his life for the flock. Paul refers to himself as
a minister of God specifically in relation to the stewardship which
he has received from God for them. Then he goes on to explain what
this message was that he was to bring to the church. It was a mystery
which was hidden in God from previous ages and generations but which
is now revealed to his church. This mystery is that Christ is in you
- the hope of glory. So the presence of Christ in the NT believer is
the basis of the hope that the believer has of resurrection and
glorification. Paul says, we preach Christ, warning every believer so
that we might present every believer complete in Christ Jesus. Paul
says it is for this purpose that l work to exhaustion – striving
according to the almighty power of God which works mightily in me.
Paul’s work which was exhausting was not in his own strength but in
the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in his weak body. We all need
to learn to work in the empowering of the Holy Spirit. So that we
might say with Paul, when l am weak - then l am strong.
- How does Paul describe his ministry?
- What was ‘the mystery’ here?
- What was the aim of Paul’s ministry?
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