Talk

Life Worth Living

Ben Stuart
February, 21, 2021

“It’s not just an altar call. It’s an altered life.”

As we continue in our collection, Above All Earthly Powers, Ben Stuart breaks down Paul’s message in the book of Colossians and shows us how the power that works in us through Jesus changes the course of our lives.

Key Takeaway

God gives us a purpose, and He will empower us to take it on. We have to fully understand the cost of the pursuit and believe that no matter what, it will be worth it. Proclaiming Christ, His death and resurrection, will always be worth it.

The key text is Colossians 1:24-29

Paul will suffer for years to give a message to the people who persecute him, yet he helps change the course of the planet through his letters. Paul's life meant something.

  1. Source of Paul's power. Colossians 1:29

    • He toils- the language is that of a beating or execution

    • Struggling/striving/straining- conveys using all his energy, working hard

    • God is fueling Paul's mission. How did he get the power?

2) His purpose. Colossians 1:28

    • God empowers the proclamation of His Son. He releases His power for His purposes. So, if you want God's power to flow through your life, you need your life to be aimed through God's purposes. You need to be careful when you are asking God to empower your pursuits if they have nothing to do with Him. See Acts 8:9-25.

    • God strongly supports those whose eyes are fixed on Him. Paul is warning them that their thinking about how they conduct life and what their motives need to be corrected. He's also instructing them how to accomplish this - it's all through Jesus.

    • Jesus is a holistic ministry meant to change your life, so we proclaim; warning everyone, admonishing everyone, and teaching everyone in all wisdom so we might present everyone complete in Christ. We are complete and whole. That's the integrated life. That's the goal. It's not an alter call. It's an altered life.

    • What motivates Paul? What mystery drove Paul's mission? What mission had the power of God behind it? Colossians 1:26-27. Every time Paul uses the word "mystery," it's connected to words like "revealed" and "made known." It means that it is not a mystery to us. His mission was to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery: Christ in us, the hope of glory. Paul doesn't just give facts about Jesus; he wants to share the riches of the glory of who Jesus is. Jesus wants to be in you, to give you the hope of glory.

    • God has always wanted to bless the nations. In the Old Testament, there was knowledge of it, but there was a mystery around the mechanics of it. See Isaiah 49:6, 11:10. We didn't understand it until we saw the face of Jesus. He has broken every chain and made a way for us to be with Him. See Philippians 2:6-11, Romans 8:22, and Revelation 21:3

    • Colossians 1:25. Paul understood he was chosen to help people understand this message. God's Will determines your work. Everything in Paul's life went towards that end, his words, his letters, his tent-making skills, it all went towards proclaiming Jesus.

3) The nature of the pursuit. Colossians 1:24

    • It's hard. The proclamation involves persecution.

    • What does it mean that Christ's afflictions were lacking? There's similar language in Philippians 2:25-27, 29-30. Verse 30 is key. His service is what is lacking in the gift, namely the delivery of the gift. Christ purchased our salvation. Now we proclaim that salvation. Christ suffered to purchase it, so I will suffer to proclaim it. To proclaim Jesus is costly. It's difficult. The entire book of Acts is proclaiming, suffering, and the gospel spreading.

    • Blood makes the grass grow. Suffering brings victory. Suffer: it's worth it.

    • Paul embraced his suffering and took on the difficulties.

Learn how to approach the inconvenience.

Rejoice in the suffering because the reward is so great.

Jesus atoned, I announce.

“
"The blood of the martyrs are the seeds of the Church."
”
Tertullian

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the language that Paul uses in Colossians 1:29 that suggests he needs supernatural empowerment to continue?

  2. When you ask God to empower your purpose, what is the motive behind it?

  3. Paul is warning them and instructing them on how to correct their thinking and conduct. What was going on culturally that Paul needed to address this?

  4. Ben said that it's not an alter call. It's an altered life. What did he mean by this?

  5. What is the mystery that Paul is talking about in Colossians 1:26-27? How is the mystery not really a mystery?

  6. Read Isaiah 49:6. How to this verse of the Old Testament speak to God's plan for all the nations?

  7. God's Will determines your work. How did Paul leverage everything for the proclamation of Christ? How do you?

  8. What was meant by "blood makes the grass grow"? What does suffering accomplish?

  9. What did Paul mean when he said Christ's afflictions were lacking? See Philippians 2:25-27, 29-30 for similar language and help understanding.

  10. How can you learn to approach inconvenience for the cause of Christ and rejoice because of the great reward?

Scripture References

24Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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.
25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—
26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
29To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
6he says:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant

to restore the tribes of Jacob

and bring back those of Israel I have kept.

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
25But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
26For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.
27Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
29So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him,
30because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
Ben Stuart
Ben Stuart
Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime.