1:3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
 

1:4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus,
and of the love which you have toward all the saints,
 

1:5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens,
whereof you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
 

1:6 which has come to you; even as it is in all the world
and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also,
since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;

1:7 even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant,
who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
1:8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

1:9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don't cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

1:10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects,

• bearing fruit in every good work,
• and increasing in the knowledge of God;
• 1:11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory,

for all endurance and perseverance with joy;
• 1:12 giving thanks to the Father,

who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;

1:13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness,
and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;

1:14 in whom we have our redemption,{TR adds "through his blood,"}
the forgiveness of our sins;
1:15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

1:16 For by him were all things created, in the heavens and on the earth,
things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things have been created through him, and for him.
1:17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

1:18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

1:19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him;

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth,
or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

1:21 You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,
1:22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death,
to present you holy and without blemish and blameless before him,

1:23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast,
and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard,
which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven;
of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the assembly;
 

1:25 of which I was made a servant,
according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you,
to fulfill the word of God,
1:26 the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations.
But now it has been revealed to his saints,

1:27 to whom God was pleased 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;

1:28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom,
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;
 

1:29 for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

1John 3:23 "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

vs 6 And this kind of fruitfulness is to be expected of those who truly understand the gospel.

vs 7 Philemon 1:23 "There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus:"

vs 9 One is reminded of the prophet Samuel's promise to his people

"Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:" 1Sa 12:23

Paul not only prays for them, but also gives them some of the knowledge of God's will.

vs 13-23 Paul now digresses into a meditation on the person and work of Christ. Why does he do this? Because the knowledge of Christ is central to the Christian life. To know God's will, we must know Christ.

vs 14 We must remember that redemption is not simply being freed from our afflictions and our sinfulness, but being forgiven of sin. It was the guilt of sin (not the feeling of guilt, but the actual guilt) that separated us from God. Having been reconciled through forgiveness of our sins, God can now heals us from our sinfulness.

Paul goes on to present Jesus as Savior and Lord.

• Jesus as Savior - He Redeemed Us (vs 14)
• Jesus as Lord over Creation (vs 15-17)
• Jesus as Lord over the Church (vs 18-19)
• Jesus as Savior - He Reconciled Us (vs 20-22)

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."1John 2:19

(It often has a limited meaning like "every sort of". Evidence can be seen of this in Acts 2:5 "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." Obviously this cannot mean every nation in a literal sense. Or were there Jews living in Alaska at the time?)

This gospel was preached to every (sort of) person, whether Jew or Gentile. In other words as Paul said in Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

And while modern evangelicalism has trivialized the task of preaching the gospel, Paul would devote years of his life teaching and discipling groups to bring them to the revelation of the truth of the gospel and to maturity in Christ. These days, who disciples as Paul did? It seems that such discipling can only be found in para-church ministries, the institutional churches having abandoned such a task in their laziness.

And as for the term "the church", historic post-Biblical Christianity has left the impression that such is simply membership in a local institutional church. But one cannot become a child of God by joining an institutional church. It is not the institution which is the church, it is the individuals who have put their faith in Christ. "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Eph 5:30 Institutions come and go. They give themselves names and end up as lifeless buildings. Monuments to nominalism. But individuals who have faith in Christ live forever.

Paul did not set out to build a corporation as many modern "church builders" strive to achieve. He was not a politician flattering people to enlarge his constituency. He came to deliver a message and committed himself not to programs but to people; to individuals who would become the body of Christ. These were the "saints" and Paul recognized that God didn't view them as a bunch of stupid sheep as many pastor today view their congregation. But rather that God was revealing to them a mystery that had been hidden for ages.

vs 25-27 What is the mystery? That under the New Covenant, Christ dwells in his saints in the form of the Holy Spirit. He not only justifies us by his blood, but also transforms us into his own image by dwelling in us and finishing the work of the gospel through us. This is the fullness of the gospel - not only justification, but sanctification. Also, Christ does not dwell in institutions. He dwells in individuals, working through our various spiritual gifts and ministries so that corporately we encompass the body of Christ.

"I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Gal 2:20

"For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,"Ro 15:18

vs 28 I believe Paul is referring to presenting people to God as complete Christians. This as opposed to nominal Christians whose faith is deficient in some way. It often takes years of exhortation and teaching before a Christian's faith is complete. Only then is it of salvific value.

And whereas institutional Christianity tends to devalue individuals, Paul is concerned for "everyone". He wants to make sure that every individual understands the gospel. Often institutional preachers simply spew out information seemingly neither caring whether it is appropriate for the people nor caring whether the people understand it. Feed back is generally not allowed in institutional Christianity. Thus pastor don't know their congregation, nor care to know them. They have little idea as to what the state of their flock is in.

vs 29 Most Christians are simply lazy when it comes to living the Christian life. But I am particulary appalled at the laziness of professional Christians. Paul was not even pay for his ministry. He would not even be considered a full-time minister today. Yet it seems he did much more then what many professional Christians do today even with all the conveniences available.

And who today can say that "I have labored, teaching every individual who listens so that their faith may be complete, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."? Today we live in an age of convenient Christianity. We are taught not to struggle, as if it were heretical legalism. We are taught to rest in Christ and be lazy. Just take it easy and don't worry about a thing. Thus for many a Christian, they are taught that living the Christian life is simply going to church on Sunday, listening for a hour and going home.

Christ only works powerfully through us in the context of ministry. We must see ourselves as laborers. We must not simply be satisfied as considering ourselves servants of God nor simply being called servants of God, but actually serving God struggling with all Christ's energy which so powerfully works in us in the context of ministry. Have you served Christ today?