Christ’s Afflictions

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Good morning!

On Sunday we are going to be looking at Colossians 1:21-2:5 for our teaching time.  I wanted to touch on a verse in this passage that we just won’t have time to focus on during the message.  In Colossians 1:24 Paul says this:

Now I rejoice in what was suffered 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. (NIV 84)

This verse is troubling to some because at first glance it seems like Paul is suggesting that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (His afflictions) wasn’t sufficient.  So what is going on here?

There is a lot of scholarly debate regarding Colossians 1:24, so I’ll just summarize the different views of this verse.  The first view is that “Christ’s afflictions” is referring to a sort of quota of sufferings of the church that must be reached before Jesus can return.  So the more the church as a whole and individuals suffer for the sake of the Gospel, the closer to the end times we get.  The view further suggests that Paul is saying that he is willingly suffering more than his fair share so that others can suffer less.  I do not believe that God is waiting on the church to help Him usher in the 2nd Coming and the New Kingdom.  He will do that according to His will and in His timing.

Another view is that Paul is teaching that Christians must suffer to accomplish their own atonement for sins.  I hope that you can see that this is a “Jesus Plus” gospel that cannot be supported by Scripture.

A third view sees Paul teaching that when believers suffer Christ also suffers with them because He dwells within them through the work of the Holy Spirit.  This view has some merit, although I’m not convinced that is what Paul had in mind.

In a fourth view (there are others…I’m mentioning the main ones), what Paul is saying is that it is his sufferings for Christ’s sake that are still lacking. Paul suffered intense persecution for the Gospel, was nearly killed for it several times (this is eventually how he died – he was martyred) and was currently in prison for the Gospel as he wrote this very letter!   Yet, Paul is saying that his sufferings still do not compare to Jesus’ sufferings.

I think that this fourth view is probably the best one.  Here is how this verse reads in the New Living Translation:

I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. (NLT)

So, just to be clear, Paul was not suffering to merit grace or earn his salvation.  He certainly wasn’t completing the sufferings of Jesus either.  What Paul was saying was that his sufferings were helping him to become more and more like Jesus.  We can also view our sufferings (our hurts, our heartaches, our hangups, our fears, our failures) through that lens as well.   Until we join Christ on the other side of eternity, we will experience some of the same suffering that Jesus Christ did as part of God’s sanctifying process.

What I think that gets lost in all of the debate about this verse is what Paul says in the very beginning – “Now I rejoice!”  We don’t often think of rejoicing or being joyful when we are suffering, yet the Bible repeatedly calls on us to do it.  Consider Philippians 4:4:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Paul doesn’t tell us that we are to rejoice only during the good times.  We are to always rejoice!  Why?  Why does Paul consistently teach that our joy should be connected to our suffering?

Well, let’s look at Romans 5:3-4:

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, (ESV)

It is during our times of suffering that we often grow in our faith and our love for God and for others.  It is also during those times that we perhaps hold onto the hope of eternity with God the most.

Here’s what’s happening:

  1. Men’s Breakfast is this Saturday at 8 am at Hometown Kitchen.
  2. On Sunday we are welcoming J.C. and Lois Ebersole to the Bridge!  J.C. will be giving an update on his work as Executive Director for the Africa Association of Bible Schools during the morning worship service.  If you would like to contribute to AABS’s printing project that I mentioned in last week’s Check In, there is a basket by the offering box for you to put your gifts in.  Please make out checks to AABS, not the church.
  3. Fellowship meal this Sunday after the worship service on Sunday.  If you are able, please bring a hot and a cold dish to share.
  4. Next Sunday, May 7th will be Devon Clemmer’s last Sunday with us.  Devon has done a great job working with our Senior High youth.  If you won’t be able to be with us on the 7th, please take a moment to greet Devon and thank him!
  5. Junior Youth meet on Sunday, May 7th after church.

This week we are going to look at Paul’s encouragement to the Colossians to stand firm in their faith.  Although Paul is separated from the Colossians physically, he is convinced that they will reject false teaching.  Paul says the source of this conviction is a “mystery.”  We’ll look at this mystery and what it means for us today!

Looks like April showers are in store for us this weekend.  It will be dry and warm in our church on Sunday morning!  Can’t wait to see you then.

Scott