CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Colossians 1:25-27. See notes on Ephesians 3:7 ff.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Colossians 1:25-27
The Pre-eminent Honour and Sublime Theme of the Christian Ministry.
The highest dignity and most solemn responsibility are conferred on man when he is entrusted with the ministration of God’s word. It is the infinite condescension of God that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. He who, in the exercise of His unchallengeable wisdom, calls man to this work, can alone inspire and endow him with the necessary intellectual and moral fitness for the awful charge. In these verses we learn that the apostle was appointed a minister of the Church—a steward in God’s household—charged to preach without reserve the whole gospel of God, to dispense to the Gentiles the stores which His bountiful grace provided. Note:—
I. The Christian ministry is a divine institution.—
1. The true minister is divinely commissioned. “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you” (Colossians 1:25). The word “dispensation” involves the idea of stewardship. God governs His Church, not as a tyrant, who rules what is not his own, not as a monarch, who knows not a thousandth part of his subjects; but as a father, who knows, loves, and provides for his own children. The apostle was entrusted with a stewardship in God’s household; he was “a steward of the mysteries of God.” He received the office from God. This invested it with the highest dignity; yet he was the minister of the Church, and it was his joy to serve it, whatever might be the labour, sacrifice, or suffering entailed. The Christian ministry is not a lordship, but a stewardship; the minister is solemnly commissioned of God to maintain, defend, and dispense the truth that saves and edifies. There are moments when the minister can derive stimulus and courage for his work only by falling back upon the irrefutable fact of his divine call.
2. The true minister is charged with the most complete proclamation of the divine word.—“To fulfil the word of God” (Colossians 1:25)—to preach fully, to give its most complete development to. The apostle had declared the gospel in all its depth and breadth of meaning, its wealth of blessing, and amplitude of revelation. He had proclaimed it in every direction, in harmony with his insight into its universal fitness and sufficiency. Fulfil implies the figure of a measure to be filled. The true minister is empowered to preach the word of God in all the fulness of its internal import, and in accord with the universality of its outward purpose. Whether palatable or unpalatable, he must not shun to declare everywhere the whole counsel of God. The fulness there is in Christ and the urgent needs of humanity alike demand this.
II. The Christian ministry deals with a theme of profound significance and ineffable worth.—
1. It is designated a mystery. “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations” (Colossians 1:26). Mystery in the Scripture sense does not mean something actually incomprehensible, but something concealed or unknown until it please God to reveal it; something beyond the human mind to discover for itself, and which can only be attained by divine aid. The mystery comprehended two leading features—the divine purpose in saving man through a suffering and crucified Saviour, and the free admission of the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews to the privileges of the covenant. Unlike the heathen mysteries, which were confined to a narrow circle, the Christian mystery is freely communicated to all. The mystery was concealed from the ages, which may be referred to the angels; and from the generations, which may be referred to men. Though faintly shadowed in types and figures, the truth would never have been discovered by man. In the revelation of the mystery the apostle applauded the lavish wealth of the divine goodness. The gospel is still a mystery to the unconverted.
2. It is a mystery unveiled to those who are morally fitted to understand it.—“But now is made manifest to His saints” (Colossians 1:26). God chose His own time for making known the mystery of the gospel. Like all the divine procedures, the development was gradual, increasing in clearness and completeness as the fulness of time approached; that time embraced the advent of the incarnate Son of God, His ascension and enthronement in heaven, and the descent of the revealing Spirit. It is an axiom in optics that the eye only sees what it brings with it the power to see; and it is equally true in spiritual things that the soul comprehends the revelation of God only as it is prepared and fitted by the good Spirit. The holier the organ of divine revelation, the clearer the vision. It was not to the dignitaries of imperial Rome or the ruling powers of Judea, but to humble shepherds that the tidings of the Saviour’s advent were first announced; not to the aristocracy of Pharisaic or Sadducean intellect, but to the plain, unlettered, believing fishermen of Galilee that the full glory of salvation by Christ was disclosed. Augustine has said, “Illiterate men rise and seize heaven, while we, with all our learning, are rolling in the filth of sin.”
3. The revelation of the mystery was an act of the divine will.—“To whom God would make known” (Colossians 1:27). There was nothing impelling Him to unfold this mystery but His own good pleasure. It was His sovereign will to disclose to the humble and devout, rather than to the proud and self-sufficient, the wondrous grace and glory of the gospel. The most sincere seeker after holiness could not of himself discover the mystery. But though made known in its richer spiritual developments only to the good, the good pleasure of God has put the knowledge of it within the reach of all.
4. The revelation of the mystery endowed humanity with a vast inheritance of moral wealth.—“What is the riches of the glory of this mystery” (Colossians 1:27). The terms employed seem inadequate to convey the meaning intended. It is impossible fully to explain or illustrate the sublime truths they indicate. The gospel is a mystery full of glory—a glory unique, resplendent, unsurpassable; and this glory is dowered with riches, abundant, inexhaustible, and divine. The riches of the glory appear in the manifestation of the nature and attributes of God which the mystery supplies, and also in the moral wealth that has descended upon man. Here is the most lavish provision for the salvation of sinful and perishing humanity—an inheritance of imperishable bliss.
(1) This inheritance enriched the most needy. It was exhibited “among the Gentiles” (Colossians 1:27). The Jews were the children of promise and possessed every religious privilege; the Gentiles were the children of mercy, and had never dared to dream of enjoying the blessings of the gospel. In the revelation of the mystery to them, the dispensation of grace achieved its greatest triumphs and displayed its transcendent glory. Here, too, was its wealth, for it overflowed all barriers of caste or race. Judaism was “beggarly” in comparison, since its treasures sufficed only for a few. The glory of the gospel was never so brilliant as in the moral transformations it effected among the degraded Gentiles.
(2) This inheritance includes the hope inspired by the indwelling Christ. “Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The mystery of the gospel begins and ends in Christ, and Christ is in every believer the hope of glory. Only in Christ can we hope for the highest glory, and in Him we infallibly find all the blessedness we can enjoy in this world or expect in the future. In Him we have here as seed what we shall have in Him there as harvest. “Even now we sit there in Him, and shall sit with Him in the end.”
Lessons.—
1. The Christian ministry involves solemn responsibilities.
2. The transcendent theme of the Christian ministry is divinely revealed.
3. Personal experience of the grace of God endows man with the clearest insight into its mystery, and the most satisfying possession of its spiritual riches.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Colossians 1:25-27. The Glory of the Gospel—
I. A mystery once hidden, but now revealed (Colossians 1:26-27).
II. Enriches all nations with moral blessings.
III. Is entrusted to divinely authorised messengers to make known (Colossians 1:25; Colossians 1:27).
Colossians 1:27. Christ in you the Hope of Glory.
I. What it implies of present experience.—
1. Generally—Christ among you.
2. Personally—Christ in you.
II. What it presages.—“The hope of glory.”
1. Personal glory—in the perfection of being where the servant is like his Lord.
2. Relative glory—sharing the throne with Jesus, and sharing in His triumph and glory.—Preacher’s Magazine.