Recently—while conducting a funeral before a group consisting mostly of members of a prominent Southern Protestant denomination—it occurred to me as I spoke that most of the audience had no clue as to what I was talking about. The strange part was that they thought they knew the subject better than I did, believing I was the one who did not know what I was talking about. There was a nagging feeling deep within me, difficult to identify, as I looked out over the obviously hostile gathering.
At this service in a small, secluded, backwoods church building, I stood in front of a group of people who had sorrow in their hearts because of the loss of a dear loved one. To them, I delivered the wonderful scriptural truths of life, death and the resurrection that we in God’s Church often take for granted. I tried to make those truths real to my audience—backed with emotion and concern—but from their facial expressions alone it was a bit unsettling to recognize that these people simply did not understand.
This was one of those moments that makes plain to true Christians the wide gulf between us and the rest of the world, and which reveals the monumental task facing God and His future Family in implementing the plan of salvation—reconciling mankind back to Him.
Pondering that rather surreal experience reminded me of a sermon on Colossians I had recently given, in which I talked about our deliverance from the world’s ways and our former ignorance of God’s word. In that sermon, I quoted the Apostle Paul describing what Christ has done: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-–14).
To emphasize this deliverance, Paul stated: “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (vv. 9–10).
Reaching Out
This is what was nagging me, while giving that funeral message in front of a mostly unconverted audience. I did not want just to bring words to them; I wanted to reach out and help them to understand. We are not isolationists as Christians; we are called to proclaim the truth, to witness with our very lives, lifting up our voices in preaching God’s soon-coming Kingdom, witnessing to and warning others. What came back starkly, from their expressions, was confusion and no small amount of hostility. Many in that room did not want to hear the truth, read right from the Bible.
I was not delivering a message about going to heaven, which is what most in that audience wanted to hear. As Christians, we preach the truth. That is what Paul reminded the Colossian Christians: “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (vv. 27–28). Did you notice verse 28? We are to “preach Jesus”—the same Jesus mentioned in verse 27. Later in this article we will look at this a bit more closely.
Reading Paul’s letter to the Colossians, one gets the definite feeling that Paul was passionately concerned that these former ascetic pagans—now Christians—understood what he was talking about. These people, recently converted, were being troubled by their family and friends and, even worse than that, the Hellenistic Jewish community and their version of Christianity. He was talking about the truth, not pagan beliefs or Messianic Jewish superstition.
To get the full impact of what Paul was saying, it is necessary to put it into context, as he wrote in verses3–6:“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.”
These Colossian Christians heard and reacted to Paul’s preaching the gospel message and became converted. Paul’s letter to them was to encourage them to grow in that understanding. It will be helpful for you to go back and put it all in context, reading verses 4–14.
Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding
We need to understand what Paul presented to the Colossians. Please excuse my brief trip into the technical, but we need to consider the meanings of words—the words that my audience at the funeral did not understand, but that we must understand.
Note Paul’s special concern for his audience: “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (v. 9). Paul’s earlier reference (v. 3) to praying for them appears to grow in urgency as he progresses in the letter.
He uses three vital aspects of human existence: “knowledge,” “wisdom” and “understanding.” All three are connected to God’s will. The Greek word for “knowledge” is epignōsis (ip-ig’-no-sis) meaning precise recognition, or full discernment of His will. The word “wisdom” is sophia (sof-ee’-ah) the skill of using or managing this knowledge of His will. Now “understanding” in the Greek is sunesis (soon’-es-is) meaning flowing together, or full comprehension of His will; the reasons behind it. Paul is saying that Christians should have precise knowledge, put it into practice, and know why they know and why they are doing it.
All three are qualified with the word “spiritual,” and we need to look at that aspect, because it is key for us to understand our mission to this world today. The word “spiritual” is pneumatikos (pnyoo-mat-ik-os’), belonging to the Spirit, higher than man—of God. Without God’s Spirit in us, we cannot fully discern, apply or comprehend His will.
But what is His will? The Greek word is thelēma (thel’-ay-mah), which can mean commands and precepts, but it can also mean the purpose of His good pleasure. Paul clarifies this in his letter to the Ephesians: “having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on the earth—in Him” (Ephesians 1:9–10). God has made known His will. He has declared it to us, but to the world it is a mystery.
It is necessary to explore this mystery a bit more. Just what is that mystery? The word is mustērion (moos-tay’-ree-on); hidden, not obvious to understanding. Paul develops this truth throughout his epistles: “and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19). “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began…” (Romans 16:25).
You will note that the mystery is linked to the gospel, the Kingdom of God, in, and through, Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. That is what Paul was reminding the Colossians about “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26–27).
But notice, again, Paul’s declaration in v. 28: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” We are to preach, or proclaim, this message and give “warning” to noutheteō(noo-thet-eh’-o), or reprove gently: every man; “teaching” didaskō(did-as’-ko), imparting instruction to: every man; that we may then “present” paristēmi (par-is’-tay-mee), meaning to substantiate, exhibit, to: every man. What is the reason for this? That they may “become perfect” teleios (tel’-i-os), complete in Christ—every man!
And, as Paul said in verse 9, all this is done in “wisdom,” sophia, which is the skill of using or managing this knowledge of His will, so all men will—someday—be delivered back to God. God’s Work is not just all about us, brethren. It is all about what we must be doing for them. That is what Paul meant by making known the “mystery among the Gentiles” (v. 27).
To the World
Christians do not preach the gospel to one another; they preach it to the world: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18–19). That is the message we must preach to the world: it involves the life, death and resurrection of not only Jesus, but of every human being who has lived, is living and will live on this planet. It is the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Was Paul simply “talking down” to the Colossians, as many over the years have believed? No! Notice that while gently correcting them—reminding them that the gospel had to be preached to the Gentiles—he was also co-opting them in the preaching of that gospel. To understand this, return to Colossians 1:26–27, and examine “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The context of this thought begins in verses 24–25: “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God.” Paul clearly shows that preaching the gospel to the Gentiles fulfills God’s word.
His preaching also had another motive. Ancient Israel had rejected God’s desire that they demonstrate His plan to the world; the Jewish establishment of Christ’s time compounded the error by rejecting Him. But God wanted the Colossians—and the rest of the Church, Jew and Gentile alike—to become that demonstration, by preaching the gospel to the world. This is what Paul wanted the Colossians to understand.
Therefore, Paul said God’s purpose would be demonstrated through the Gentiles. We see this in Paul’s words to the Church of God in Rome, to whom he expressed his hope “that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:16). This inclusion of the Gentiles was accounted an “offering” to God. The word “offering” is prosphora (pros-for-ah’); bringing to or presenting, such as a gift. It signifies every man brought back, returned to God, as a sweet-smelling savor made acceptable to God through Christ’s sacrifice and the giving of His Holy Spirit.
The Right Approach
So what has this to do with us, here, today—those of you who are reading this article? It has to do with knowledge, wisdom and understanding that we examined back in Colossians 1:9–10. Paul prayed for this to become part of every Christian’s mental approach in regard to the worship of God. God’s Work is not just for or about us—it is for a far bigger purpose that includes all of mankind. Christians must become more focused on the around, not just the within.
Paul preached the gospel message of hope to all the Gentile congregations, and to the entire world through those congregations. He was energizing these Christians, stressing the importance of their involvement in the message, both then and for a future time, as he stated to the Gentile Corinthians: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself though Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17–19).
The conclusion here is that Christians can succeed in this purpose. If we can yield to the Spirit of God, then we will fulfill Paul’s prayer, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (Colossians 1:10–11) and fulfill the reason for our calling. God wants us to do this and He wants us to succeed in doing it; He gives us His strength so we may be able to do it.
Three words in verse 11 need to be defined here: “strengthened,” “might” and “power.” The word “strengthened” is dunamoō (doo-nam-o’-o), meaning to make strong or to enable. The word “might” is dunamis (doo’-nam-is), inherent power, which one puts forth by virtue of one’s nature. Now notice “power” or kratos (krat’-os), meaning “dominion”—a position of power referring to God.
The word “glorious,” doxa—majesty—makes it God’s power, His Holy Spirit. However, please understand that it is “according” to His power that we are able to do this. The Greek is kata (kat-ah’) meaning down from God and through us. “According” implies that we are to do it through the Holy Spirit; Christ living in us. The individual Christian is now a vital part of the process: “…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might though His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love…” (Ephesians 3:16–17). Is there an expected result from this? “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (v. 20).
Paul is simply saying, we can do this task—help these people return to God—because we ourselves have been returned to Him. He has empowered us through His Holy Spirit to go into the entire world and preach the gospel. We must cast off the restraints of our own prejudices, and fully realize the absolutely amazing responsibility we have to help God get the job done.
Why is it doable, for us, not only as a Church, but individually? “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Jesus is the reason for our being filled with knowledge, all wisdom and spiritual understanding of God’s will for us to preach a message of hope to this world. This is the message I wanted my funeral audience to understand—a message of “every man perfect…”