Today we come face to face with the false teachers of Colosse who were insisting that in order to be complete Christians, in order to mature, you must become Jewish, observing the various rituals and customs associated with God’s revelation of Himself in the OT. Having believed in Jesus you now need to be circumcised, observe the various food laws and festivals of the OT, demonstrate that you are mature followers of Jesus. Paul’s response is, “Absolutely not! If you have Christ then you have everything that the OT rituals merely anticipated. All the good things to which those rituals and customs pointed, you now possess in Jesus – so don’t be drawn away by those things but understand the mystery of God in Christ!.”

Paul, we have seen, is no fool. Through his leadership the Gospel has come to Colosse in the person of Epaphras. The church has been born. But now there are troubles. The Colossians are being tempted to draw away from Christ. And so Paul is taking the time to write to them in an attempt to raise them to maturity. As we have seen, his desire for the Colossians is not simply that they profess faith in Christ – that they come to birth – but that they grow to maturity, that they be presented “perfect” in Christ – holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. So how did he intend to accomplish that?

Unfortunately when many Christians think of the Great Commission they think exclusively of its call to evangelize the world, to bring men and women and children who do not know Christ into His kingdom. But this does not accurately capture the extent of the commission. For Jesus commissions His Church, commissions the apostles, not only to bring folks into the kingdom – baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – He also commissions them to teach and equip those disciples to serve and obey the risen Lord – teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Evangelism and discipleship are the twin duties of the Christian Church – not simply to make disciples but to equip them to glorify and honor Christ; not simply to give birth to children but to raise them up to serve Christ. And it is this latter duty, the duty not only to propagate children but to train them, that Paul identifies as his burden for the Colossians. My calling is not just to beget children but to raise them to maturity – this is why I preach, this is why I labor, this is why I write.

Thus far in our study of Colossians we have considered the Opening of Paul’s letter. He has greeted them, told them how he is thanking God for them, informed them how he is praying for them and why such prayer makes sense in light of Christ’s identity as Lord of all. Today we begin to read the final section of Paul’s opening where he informs the Colossians what he has been doing for them and why he is writing. And the first thing that he has been doing is rejoicing in his suffering for them – not just suffering but rejoicing in it. How is this possible and how can we learn to  rejoice in suffering?

Paul has just prayed for the Colossians – prayed that they would be filled with a knowledge of God’s will, that they would walk worthy of the Lord – bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened by His glorious might, and giving thanks to the Father for His work of redemption. In our text today Paul reminds them why He prays this way – why is it that He takes these requests to God in Christ? The answer? Because Christ is Lord of all and a true and reliable Savior – not a mere pretender. 

A sign of maturity is the ability to look beyond oneself to the benefit of others, to look beyond one’s own desires and longings and passions to consider the desires of others. Paul models this attitude in the opening of his letter to the Colossians. He thanks God not for gifts that he himself had received but rather for the gifts that God had chosen to give to the Colossians. In so doing he points the way to maturity – maturity is the ability to overflow with thanksgiving for all that God has given us and all that God has given others.

This morning we begin to study the book of Colossians. As we do so it is imperative for us to remember that while Colossians was not written to us, it was written for us. Consequently, many of the specific issues that the Colossian church faced will not be issues we are facing. However, everything that is written to them has application for us, instructing and directing us as the people of God. In order to derive that benefit from the letter, we have to understand its author, its original audience, and its purpose. And it is these three things that the opening words of the epistle help us understand.