The mystery made known
Read: Colossians 1:24-2:5
This passage is about Paul’s ministry, its content, method and goal.
1) How did Paul describe his sufferings? What did he suffer for?
- In what sense could Paul say that he was filling up…?
- Did he say that Christ’s suffering was incomplete? =>
- Whose ‘measure of sufferings’ did Paul regard as incomplete: His own, or that of Christ? =>
- Is suffering for Christ and the gospel an inevitable part of Christian discipleship?
- Why? cf 2Cor 4:10
- In what ways do Christians suffer for the gospel today?
2) What are different ways how people respond when they face suffering? =>
- Why could Paul rejoice in his sufferings? cf 2Cor 4:16-18.
- What impact did an eternal perspective have on his suffering?
- How can we get such a perspective?
3) vv24-25: What did Paul mean by ‘making the word of God fully known’?
- For Paul, proclaiming Christ included to ‘warn and teach everyone’. Why did he highlight these two? In particular, why ‘warn’? cf Col 1:23
- Why teach everyone? Why not just teach a few leaders or clerics?
- What was he striving to achieve in all of his ministry?
4) In v26-27, and 2:2 Paul talks of ‘the mystery’. What is a mysterion?
- Merriam-Webster: A religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand => What mystery did Paul have in mind?
- Why was or is this a mystery ? =>
- If it were inexplicable, how can it be made known? [v27 by God himself; cf Col 2:3
- Is the dictionary wrong? Or does ‘fully understand’ mean something other than ‘fully know’?
5) Read v4: What sort of ‘plausible arguments’ might draw someone away from the ‘truth in Christ’?
- Fascination by mysterious cults:
- What was Paul’s antidote against that?
- What do you think this means if ‘all wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ’?
- Accordingly, why would anyone be fascinated more by the mysteries of a cult than by the gospel?
6) In 1:28-29, and 2:1, Paul mentioned his ‘struggling’. The word means to fight, wrestle, or contend with. What does v29 say about doing this in our own strength, or finding God’s?
- In what ways was Paul struggling for them (imprisoned)? cf Col 2:5
- What was he struggling for? What was his aim for the believers? (teleios)
7) Personal & application
- What are the implications of Col 2:2-3 for someone who wants to grow in wisdom and knowledge in life?
- What do you find inspiring about Paul’s examle how to help one another to strive for maturity?
- Discuss in smaller groups how you feel you are doing in growing in Christian maturity.
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