The Church, Part 3

Revelation 19:7 informs us that Christ’s intention is to present His bride to Himself “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle . . . holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). Such work can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit, but what does that work look like?

Paul wrote, “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” (Colossians 1:24–26).

Observe three powerful truths in this statement: (1) Paul was Christ’s instrument for the sake of His body. This service involved suffering, which one can easily determine about Paul from reading Acts and his letters. Nevertheless, Paul rejoiced in his hardships because he recognized that his service was Christ’s means to advance His goals for the church.

(2) Advancing these goals was seen as “filling up” what was “lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body.” This must not be regarded as an insufficiency in Christ’s cross work; there was nothing lacking in His substitutionary suffering for His own. This lacking refers to what believers understood of their participation—what they would endure until Christ’s return. This was how the church’s claims would be fully vindicated. They would suffer, not to contribute anything to their redemption, but because of it. This transformational process (becoming holy and without blemish) requires this. Sufferings complete what is lacking in the sense that Christ’s body shares His suffering (2 Corinthians 1:5; note also 4:10).

(3) Paul saw himself as a minister (diaconos, a royal servant, an errand boy) with a stewardship to be fulfilled in behalf of the King. To be effective, Paul gave up everything he previously valued (Philippians 3:8–9) so that “I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10, 11). Again, Paul was not worried about his spot in the resurrection. Rather, he understood that suffering like Christ now in His service was the spiritual evidence that he would be raised like Christ at His coming.

Paul informed the church that his suffering and service was God’s means to benefit them. They would understand the glorious mystery of the ages, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). In this way, understanding and evidencing this truth, the church would be presented mature in Christ. That is goal of Christ’s suffering, as noted above. For this goal, Paul states “I toil [laboring to exhaustion] with all his energy that he powerfully works with me” (v. 29). Again, it was not Paul but the Spirit working through him. He did not tell them his experience to brag, but to illustrate what they also would experience, if they truly belonged to Christ.