Christ Preeminence is Detailed to the Colossians Volume 13

Paul Declares his Ministry to these Gentile Colossians Part 1

Colossians 1:24-26 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body’s sake, which is the Church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the Word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints. KJV

At the very end of the last verse written here by the Apostle Paul, we found him declaring his ministry, he even said, he ‘became’ a minister, meaning that this was not by his doing but our Lord Jesus Christ appointed Paul an Apostle and primarily to declare the Gospel of Grace to all the known Gentile world. Therefore, we find Paul now testifying to these Colossian Gentiles how he now ‘rejoices’ in ‘sufferings’ for them. The first word ‘rejoice’ Paul uses here in speaking of his own personal actions is translated by the Greek word chairo which is a primary verb denoting action meaning to be full of cheer, that is, calmly happy or well off. The second word ‘sufferings’ Paul uses here declaring what he rejoices in is translated by the Greek word pathema which means something undergone, that is, hardship or pain. So, in other words, Paul’s proclamation of the true Gospel of Grace was met with much opposition (not only by the Jews he formally served with to destroy the Gospel), but by many Gentile people and nations for many different reasons and this caused Paul actual physical pain being beaten in many of these places and even stoned to actual physical death (Acts 14:19), but these things caused Paul to rejoice over these former Colossian unbelievers seeing now how they have been enabled to believe by the Power of the Gospel worked in them by God the Holy Spirit. When Paul writes “and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body’s sake, which is the Church”, he means that although our Lord Jesus has finished His work of redemption, He has yet to finish His work of protecting, preserving, and persevering the saints which are a part of His Mystical Body (the Church) here on the earth (even as He sits at the Right Hand of the Father), therefore, our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ stills suffers through the suffering’s of His Mystical Body the Church.

When Paul suffers persecution for declaring the true Gospel of Grace, then he is ‘filling up’ the sufferings of Christ in his flesh and so is every true believer everywhere of every generation when they are persecuted for Christ sake and for His Gospel’s sake, as we clearly remember this very same Apostle Paul before he was converted was doing to our Lord Jesus’ Body as recorded for us by Dr. Luke, “Meanwhile Saul, still drawing his breath hard from threatening and murderous desire against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and requested of him letters to the synagogues at Damascus [authorizing him], so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way [of life as determined by faith in Jesus Christ], he might bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem. Now as he traveled on, he came near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]?’ And Saul said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, ‘I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. {It is dangerous and it will turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad [to offer vain and perilous resistance].}’” (Acts 9:1-5) (Amplified Bible). Therefore, we now see that in like manner as Saul/Paul persecuted our Lord Jesus Christ before he was saved, so now Paul himself is suffering persecution from Jews and Gentiles for declaring Jesus Christ to be God and the Gospel of Grace to be the only way to God.

Paul has been constantly and continually attacked by the Jews trying to kill him because he is now declaring to them that God wants these Gentile (Colossians and others) to have the same relationship with Him as the Jews in One Body (the Church) and Paul’s reward for being faithful to his calling has him now imprisoned in Rome, our Lord Jesus wanted him to be in Rome to declare the Gospel there and his declaration of the Gospel has caused him this physical persecution as he declared to the believers in Galatia with these words, “From now on let no person trouble me [by making it necessary for me to vindicate my Apostolic authority and the divine truth of my Gospel], for I bear on my body the [brand] marks of the Lord Jesus [the wounds, scars, and other outward evidence of persecutions--these testify to His ownership of me]!” (Galatians 6:17) (Amplified Bible). Paul again repeats what he said a couple of verses earlier but adds some additional clarifications, “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the Word of God;” (Colossians 1:25) (KJV). Again Paul declares his ministry to be not of his own accord, or assertions, or attempts, but that I ‘am made’ a minister and this English phrase ‘am made’ is translated by the Greek word ginomai which is a prolonged and middle form of a primary verb; to cause to be (generate), that is, (reflexively) to become (come into being), or in other words just as Paul declared to Brother Timothy with these words when he wrote, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” (1 Timothy 1:12-16) (NKJV).

The English word dispensation is translated by the Greek word oikonomia which literally means the economy, administration, or stewardship of a household or estate. In other words, by virtue of God the Father’s design, desire, and determination the man Paul was made/ginomai a minister to handle this great purpose and plan of God the Father here on the earth. Paul was made a steward of the Gospel of Grace by the Designer and Chief Steward Himself, God the Father. Therefore, with such great responsibility given him Paul’s main purpose was to fill up to the rim or to fill the earth with the Word of God or the Gospel of God during his lifetime as he asked the Thessalonian believers to pray for, “Furthermore, Brethren, do pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may speed on (spread rapidly and run its course) and be glorified (extolled) {and} triumph, even as [it has done] with you, And that we may be delivered from perverse (improper, unrighteous) and wicked (actively malicious) men, for not everybody has faith {and} is held by it. Yet the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen [you] {and} set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil [one].” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3) (Amplified Bible). This was a mystery to both Jews and Gentiles that God would bring them together in One Body (the Church) through the Blood Sacrifice or Atonement of Jesus Christ on the Cross. God the Father kept this secret and hidden from mankind until as Paul declared to the Galatian believers these words, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:4-7) (NKJV).  

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…