Colossians 1:21-29 God’s Wisdom Makes a Difference

 Mankind’s knowledge and wisdom can accomplish some wonderful and amazing things. Just consider what our modern computers and electronics are able to do. Think about all that medicine and science can accomplish. And people are always looking for better ways; there are always new inventions. Human wisdom and knowledge can accomplish some wonderful and amazing things. But there is one area in which mankind’s wisdom and knowledge fail - that is in spiritual matters. When it comes to the question of how to get right with God and how to obtain eternal life, man’s wisdom fails. We can’t find our own way to God. In fact, man’s wisdom leads away from God. How do I get right with God? Man’s wisdom says, “I need to live a good life; I need to try harder; I need to do more good works; I need to do something to earn God’s favor.” Man’s wisdom fails. But God’s wisdom makes a difference. God’s wisdom makes a difference in our relationship with him. God’s wisdom makes a difference in what we do with our lives.

 The congregation in the city of Colossae was being troubled by false teachers who were interested in knowledge and wisdom. They promoted a wisdom and knowledge to get right with God and to get to heaven. They taught a better way. They denied that Jesus was the all sufficient Savior. They denied that his work alone, his perfect life and sacrificial death, was all that was needed to obtain salvation. They added good works to the requirement to earn heaven. They added things that a person needed to do to contribute to his salvation. Their knowledge and wisdom – as they called it – led away from God and the only way to heaven. Paul point us to the only way to heaven – it isn’t by anything we do, but by what Jesus has already done.

 Paul reminds us what our natural spiritual condition was and what we were able to do. We were alienated from God. We didn’t belong with God. We were outsiders. The blessings that come with being a child of God – every good thing in this life and the next – they didn’t belong to us. We had no right to expect anything good. We had no rights at all. We couldn’t sneak across the border into heaven. We couldn’t hide from God the fact of who we are. God knows. He knew that we are sinful from birth. He knows every sin that we commit every day. We can’t hide anything from him.

 In fact, our situation was even worse than that. We were God’s enemies. Not only couldn’t we make our way to God, we didn’t want to. What we wanted was to do our own thing. What we wanted was to go our own sinful way and satisfy ourselves. By nature, we wanted to get away from God and his rules. As God’s enemies, not only shouldn’t God let us into his heaven, not only shouldn’t we receive any rights of privileges, but God should strike us down. He should punish and destroy us for our opposition. 

 But instead, God in his wisdom and mercy did something we could never dream of. He made a way for us to be reconciled with him. He made a way for us to have peace and eternal life. God’s plan, his wisdom – he sent his only Son into this world to take our place. Jesus lived a perfect life for us. He died on the cross to make payment for all our sins. In Jesus’ body, by his life and death, we are reconciled with God. Jesus’ perfection is credited to us by faith. All our sins were placed on him. So what does God see when he now looks at us? He sees someone without blemish, someone without sin. No one can bring any charge against us. As we stand before God for judgment, the devil and whoever else might want to accuse us can bring whatever charges they want. The verdict will be the same. In Christ Jesus, the verdict is not guilty. 

 That is the gospel message of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone. That is God’s wisdom. But this is a mystery as Paul says. The gospel message is something beyond the intellectual powers of mankind. It’s not something that we can fathom. It’s not a conclusion that we would come up with on our own. And so that message of the gospel was “hidden for ages and generations.” That was not God’s intent. He tried to reveal it through Old Testament Israel and her prophets. But because of Israel’s sin and rejection, that mystery of the gospel remained in many ways hidden until God revealed it completely and clearly, fulfilling it in the person of his only Son, Jesus Christ.

 In Jesus, God cleared up the mystery - he revealed the way of salvation to all people. In Jesus’ incarnation, mankind could begin to fathom the glory of God. Of course, this glory was not at all what people expected. Again, that’s a part of the mystery. God’s glory is hidden. It is hidden in a lowly manager. God’s glory is hidden as Jesus came to serve and to give his life on the cross. Mankind’s wisdom thinks that God “lords” it over others. Heathen gods are often picture as mean and vindicative. Mankind’s wisdom pictures God doing whatever he wants and taking pleasure in our trouble. But God reveals that he glories in saving and serving. God’s wisdom is revealed in his love and mercy for us. God’s wisdom changes our relationship to him - from enemies to children, from death to life, from hell to heaven. What a great difference God’s wisdom makes.

 That mystery of the gospel, God’s wisdom is for everyone. But for others to know that mystery, it must be revealed to them. There are a number of groups which to an outsider may appear to be a mystery. They might have their secret rites or special ceremonies or special handshake. To those on the outside, those things may seem very strange and unknown. But to someone who is a member of such a group - those things are not a mystery. Those things are often very clear and easy for them to understand.

 It is similar with Christianity.  The mystery is made clear by the Lord in his word. We are to share that message with others. Jesus has given to us the command, “Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all things.” God is at work through our witness to produce a change and to make a difference in others just as has happened in us. But remember, it is a mystery to those who do not know. How easy for us to think, “Well, people know where are church is, if they want to know they can come to listen. They’re welcome to join us.” But they have no reason to, no desire to. We need to take that message to them. We must be those witnesses so that they might learn the simple truth of the mystery of the gospel - that in Christ Jesus we have eternal life in heaven.

 That truth not only changes our relationship with God, but it changes our very lives and affects what we do with them. It changes the way that we live. Note the change in Paul’s life. Paul had been a persecutor of the church. Now he himself was willing to suffer for the sake of that gospel message. Paul spent his life sharing that message with others. He devoted himself completely to the ministry of the gospel. 

 But maybe even more amazing was the suffering that Paul was willing to endure and to rejoice in. Paul says in our text, “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.” Paul was imprisoned, beaten and even stoned. He faced the difficulties and dangers of travel. He suffered from a “thorn in the flesh” as he calls it. We don’t know exactly what Paul’s thorn was, but it troubled him and he prayed earnestly for God to take it away. Yet in all his suffering, Paul also rejoiced because he knew that through his suffering God was at work. Paul confesses, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul knew that the strength that he had was God’s strength and his weakness only made him rely on the Lord more and to trust the Lord more. That is why Paul could also write, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

 Our situation isn’t much different. We also face trouble and sorrow. And we really should expect that. The devil and his allies direct their attacks against God’s people on earth, since that is the only way they can now strike out against Christ. Jesus warns us that as his disciples we should expect no better treatment from the world than what he received. He suffered and was crucified.

But as Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” Our lives have been changed by the gospel’s power. The gospel puts the suffering of this life into perspective. Heaven’s glory is ours. Whatever we might face, we can do it without complaining because we know that God will see us safely through to himself in heaven. 

 Two people suffering very similar problems might react very differently. The person without the knowledge of Jesus’ and salvation will no doubt complain bitterly, doubt the justice or even the existence of God and may be led to despair. But the person who understands God’s mystery, the person who knows the comfort of the gospel can react quite differently. He leaves everything in God’s hand and trusts God’s care and protection. He can suffer and even rejoice in that suffering. He will pray and he will even long for the resurrection and rejoice that his road to glory is little different from the Lord’s.

 Our lives have been changed by the gospel – that also gives purpose to our lives here on earth. We will serve others. It may not mean a full time position in the ministry of the gospel, but we will take the opportunities we have to witness to our Savior and his work. In everything we do, we will display a loving, servant’s attitude. We will seek to win others for the Lord, not only with our words but also with our lives and actions as we let the light of our faith shine.

 How important for us to grow in wisdom and knowledge. What a wonderful example in our gospel lesson this morning. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening and learning from him. She knew the importance of his words. She knew the difference the gospel made for her and she wanted to learn more. How important for us to make the study and learning of God’s word an important priority in our lives. The gospel message of salvation in Jesus may be simple and easy once we have come to know God’s mystery, his wisdom. But we can never know well enough the mystery of God’s plan of salvation. We can never have too much of God’s wisdom. God will continue to make his grace and knowledge grow in us as we study his word.

 Finally as Paul points out in the final verse of our text, it is not our doing; it is not our power to face suffering, to witness for the Lord and to serve the Lord and others. It is God’s power. It is God, working in us who gives us the strength and the ability to accomplish these things. Without his help, we would fail. Just as we could never come to him on our own, but he had to seek us. He had to provide salvation and create faith in our hearts and so he is also the one who works in us to produce good works in our lives. Without our Savior Jesus in us, we are powerless.

Thanks be to God. He has revealed his wisdom to us. That wisdom of God makes a tremendous difference in our lives. It takes us dead, blind enemies of God and makes us his children. It gives us eternal life in heaven. That does indeed make a great difference - in this life and in eternity.