Sunday February 5, 2012 | Greg Boyd
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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 Lord’s people. 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 fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
For some Christians, the goal of salvation is escape from Hell. In Colossians, Paul talks about the glorious riches that are available to us in the here and now. And while being in Heaven is a great part of our relationship with God, it is not even close to the fullness that Jesus brings to our lives.
For some Christians, the goal of salvation is escape from Hell. In Colossians, Paul talks about the glorious riches that are available to us in the here and now. And while being in Heaven is a great part of our relationship with God, it is not even close to the fullness that Jesus brings to our lives.
The perichoresis, or the mutually indwelling of the Father, Son and Spirit, is what guides us in our understanding of the fullness that Jesus brings to us. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constantly yearn for each other. They constantly come together, embrace, and fulfill one another, but none of that involves a saving grace from sins. Rather, there is a rich beauty in the interaction of the Trinity in which we get to participate. This is the essence of the glorious riches that Paul is talking about, and we’re going to look at three aspects of this glory in this sermon.
The first richness is that our suffering participates in and fills up Jesus’ suffering. Now, suffering is not fun and does not feel good. It may not even seem like a richness that we would want. It is important to understand that not all suffering is like Jesus’ suffering. There is evil in this world that simply wants to destroy goodness in people’s lives. This is not the suffering that Paul is talking about.
Rather, he is talking about the things that we choose to do to follow Jesus that produces suffering in our lives. Perhaps we decide to not have as nice of a house, but in turn, we participate in the Kingdom work of helping the poor. Or we choose to forgive instead of harboring anger that the world teaches us to do. This type of suffering, where we suffer because we’ve chosen to follow Jesus, is a richness of our relationship because it allows us to join Jesus in his Kingdom work.
The second richness is that our joy participates in and fills up Jesus’ joy. Jesus prayed for us to be filled with his joy here on Earth. It is not some far off fairytale ending for the end of time. Every decision we make that brings God’s Kingdom into this world is a decision that will echo throughout eternity. We will see the impact of our decisions, sacrifices, and choices for all of eternity, and we will get to see how proud God is of our choices. When we share in the joy of Kingdom work, we also share in the glory of the Kingdom.
The third richness is sharing in the glory of God. God’s glory has often portrayed as something that isn’t shared and is for God alone. The trouble with that image is that it makes God look like he needs to be some macho god. We see glory as something that resembles doing everything ourselves. But God’s glory is not found in what he does by himself, but rather in the glory of sharing His work with us. “Sheer might” glory is not as good as “sacrificial love” glory. And we participate in that glory every time we choose others over ourselves, just as Jesus chose us.
We are not worthless creatures meant to cower before some all-mighty God who wants to crush us like a piece of clay. We were, instead, made in the image of God to be his representative and ambassador to the world. When we fulfill that role, we share in the glory, joy, and suffering of Jesus, and we gain the richness of a life that participates in the Trinity. It’s much more than fire insurance. It’s the hope of glory, and what a magnificent glory it is!