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, (25) 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, (26) the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.  (27) 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. (28) Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

The letter to the Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul.  In our verses today, Paul is saying that his resolve and actions, labors and sufferings, were all by and for the divine power mightily at work in him – human influence cannot reach a man the way Paul was touched; only divine power.

Todays verses concern effective Christian leadership, which is characterized by a servant mentality; compassion, humility, gentleness, generosity, patience and service. Some are reluctant to preach God’s word in the face of hostility, abuse and scorn but Paul defines the role of a minister of God as steward and servant. God is the sovereign source of ministry – it is His strength, not mans.  The minister is the conduit for the gospel but the gospel comes in power only to some – God is the potter, man is the clay.

Paul tells ls us that the mystery of the riches of glory, the hope of glory,  is revealed to us as Christ in us. That is the object of his every waking moment – “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Glory was not an abstraction to the Apostle Paul.  C.s. Lewis writes about this idea in his sermon, The Weight of Glory in which he explores our innate longing for a transtemporal  good which could be our real destiny. As for the idea of glory, Lewis writes. “It is written that we shall stand before Him, shall appear, shall be inspected.  The promise of glory, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God.  To please God….to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a son – it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain.  But so it is.”