Series: Christ First Week 2: Worth It!
One of the questions Paul addresses in this short letter is the Colossians’ concern about why he is suffering: “Why, Paul, if you really are God’s messenger …” they wondered, “…Why are you in prison? & doesn’t that discourage you?”
Colossians 1:24–29 of chapter 1 is Paul’s answer to that question.
Colossians 1:24a. JOYFUL SACRIFICE IS GIVING UP SOMETHING YOU LOVE FOR SOMETHING YOU LOVE EVEN MORE. To be a Christ-follower means you expect personal sacrifice, not personal comfort, & you rejoice in it because of what you see being produced through it.
Colossians 1:24b. The work of salvation is complete—Jesus has done everything necessary to save us. But the saving act is not complete until we hear about it & respond.
Suffering is the means by which God has ordained bringing salvation to the world. We want it to be through prosperity and blessing.
Is that a price you are willing to pay?
What did it cost you to receive the free gift of salvation?
Colossians 1:25
“Commission:” individual assignment. In Scripture, if you don’t use it for the purposes God gave it to you for, God considers it stealing. Romans 1:14
MICHA 6:8 What am I going to be held accountable for?
- “TO ACT JUSTLY.” In the Bible, to be “just” means using what you have for the reasons God gave it. Lostness in the world requires something of us.
- “TO LOVE MERCY:” Because I’m the recipient of great mercy!
- “TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD”: simply listening to God & obeying him.
Colossians 1:26. Christ is what history has been about. All our unanswered questions & cravings for justice find their fulfillment in Him.
Colossians 1:27. Not only that Christ Himself is the mystery, but that you are the mystery. Our lives should scream, “Worth it—but only because of Jesus!”
Colossians 1:28-29: The warning is, if you’re not putting Jesus in the 1st place, you are destroying your own faith & the faith of your children.
- Do you show in your life the marks of sacrifice?
- Are you fulfilling your commission?
Don’t you want to get to eternity & be able to look back with Paul on a life of sacrifice & say “worth it!”
