Expressing the Truth - Colossians 1:21–2:7

In the recent previous lesions we have revisited the empty tomb and studied about the complete plan of salvation in its three simple steps, knowing the truth, believing the truth and accepting or acting upon the truth. Now think about this. If you will be satisfied in remaining a babe in Christ, ‘being saved only as by fire,’ you may stop here; but if you want to please Christ, live for Him, and obey Him you must complete your journey by serving Him daily. Obedience to Jesus comes through a Christian’s growth and service. It is difficult to understand any Christian that can enjoy the assurance of salvation and be unwilling, or neglect, to share it with others. The last command given to the church was for all members to go into the entire world and “Express the Truth; we were instructed to go, witness, teach, preach and baptize new believers. This is known to be the great commission and applies to all believers.

Salvation is the greatest gift of all times but Jesus never intended that anyone selfishly keep and enjoy the benefits of salvation and not be willing to share it with others in order that they too may me saved. New Christians are expected to grow in grace; and one of the greatest ways to grow is to share the truth with others and plant the seed that will grow the Kingdom of God. I try to practice what I teach, so please allow me to insert two paragraphs to this lesson parenthetically, [insert a brief change in the subject.]

I realize that Easter 4/24/11, has already come and gone; however in order for me to share one more important message about the resurrection, I would like to add other thoughts for you to ponder. Why did Jesus wait three days to visit a distressed family when their brother Lazarus died? Here is what I believe. Jesus was only about on day’s journey away from the ill man, and He loved the family and could have gone there immediately, but He chose to wait until the man’s body had the look and smell of death. There could be no doubt; the Romans in control of government and the Jewish opposition would both know that He resurrected Lazarus after everyone realized that he was definitely dead. He wanted to infuriate the Jewish leaders; and give them a final and vital reason to condemn Him—and it worked. The hostility that grew during the remaining days, of His life before the cross, drove the Jewish Sanhedrin opposition into a maddening furry and they chose to do everything possible and necessary to bring about His destruction. Roman leaders desperately tried to convince them that Jesus had done nothing legally wrong, but the Jews refused to listen. They did not realize that He would be dead and in the tomb for three days and then arise—and I believe the story of Lazarus was to be a picture of Christ’s successful resurrection after the third day. Raising Lazarus was the final straw that guaranteed his death, burial and resurrection—and it was not ‘just another miracle’ along His life’s way as a human being. Thank you, and now the rest of the lesson.

In verse 15, we read that Jesus Christ is the visible image of our Spiritual God, whom we cannot see. While on earth Christ could be seen, walking and talking, eating and sleeping as any other man; but he was also God. The word image has two possible meanings. 1. It can mean a ‘representation’ of something such as the Indian’s head on a nickel; or your reflection that you see in the mirror. 2. It also can mean the ‘manifestation’ of anything or anyone you see with your eyes and mind and know it to have a vital connection with a subject, thing, or person. In this letter, Paul probably has the second meaning in mind; he tells us that Christ, in human flesh, manifested God to us so that we could see him with our physical eyes and accept him with our human, spiritual understanding. Therefore God became visible to all who have spiritual faith. As I have told you before; I see him every day, all the time in and through His total and wonderful creation. The expressed truth is; we see God through Christ. They are one and the same. Christ said, “I and my father are one.”

In verse 21, Paul says that man is alienated from Jesus and hostile toward Him in his mind because of evil. That was the condition of the Colossian church [any church or any person] before they believed. However, hope looms brightly in verse 22, when he tells us that Christ reconciled us by his physical body through His death on the cross. Christians are reconciled, which means that they are now fully pleasing and accepted by God as being holy, faultless, and blameless. The bible does not say sinless, because we still sin, but our sins are now covered by the physical blood shed by Christ on the cross; covered only when we earnestly repent and try not to sin. We will sin; but if we intentionally sin it is as if we are crucifying Christ anew. If you can sin and enjoy it, thinking that you only have to ask for forgiveness, then you should re-examine your conversion.

In verse 23, Paul gets to the point that introduces our subject for this lesson today. If you are saved and are grounded in the gospel—it is the same gospel that has been proclaimed to all creation. He does not say that every creature has heard it yet…but it is meant for all—which means that every Christian is obligated to tell anyone who has not already heard. [Remember the parting words of Jesus, “Go into the entire world—and tell.” Then you will be “Expressing the Truth,” as you obey the ‘great commission.’ Paul says that he is a servant of the gospel, which means that he is ‘expressing the truth,’ and I hope that I can be just a bit like Paul.

After reading verse 24, I can not believe that Paul indicates in any way that the death of Jesus did not fully pay for our sins; the plan of salvation was made complete on the cross—and He told us that the plan was complete when he said “It” [the plan of salvation] “is finished.” The thing that was lacking was the witnessing that would be necessary for all posterity. Christ paid the price; however his witnesses would now be responsible for telling all who did not know Him. Paul did not rejoice because Christ had to suffer; Paul rejoiced because Christ chose to suffer. No other man has ever suffered more for the cause of Christ than did Paul. Paul was not happy that he had suffered because of his stand for Christ, but he was happy that he chose to suffer if necessary to be able to preach to others. In the term, “For the sake of his body”—“his body” is the church.

In verse 25, Paul said “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me. The word “its” refers to the church; and the word “commission” refers to the great commission given by Christ just prior to His ascension. Jesus suffered in securing our salvation, and Christians suffer at times in order to proclaim the gospel. We can be assured that when we are made to suffer because of our stand for Christ—He knows about it and is with us in our suffering. He will never will forsake us or leave us; neither will He place more on us than we are able to endure.

Jesus did not desire to suffer and die; in his prayer in the Garden just before He was arrested, He prayed that the Father would “take the cup from him” [meaning that He would prefer some other way]. After the ordeal was over [God’s will was accomplished] He was and will forever be happy that He was able to fulfill his mission. Christ rejoices daily that he was able to complete all that He had predicted which includes his death, resurrection, and ascension.

Paul calls the ‘good news’ a mystery that had been hidden from all until Christ came on the scene. However, now through Christ, all can know, understand and be saved. However, they must first hear the truth and the bible says that someone must be sent to witness. Who has this responsibility? The body of Christ. The Church. Are you a member of His church? If so, your responsibility is to “Express the Truth.” And that is the title of your lesson for today.