I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
Colossians 1:25,26
Whenever we go on vacation to the beach, we rent a house of condo. We’ve stayed at all sorts of beaches. From St. Augustine to the Florida Keys, we’ve been to lots of places. They’ve all be places and they had everything we could want.
But they all had one thing in common, there was someone in charge. A manager that was responsible to take care of the place. They were commissioned, it was their job to make sure that everyone enjoyed themselves and knew how things worked.
There were check-in and check-out times. Keys to be picked up and returned. Parking slips to be displayed in the cars. They also told us about any local customs or rules that would be important to know. They shared brochures and information about local attractions and restaurants to visit.
One thing that all these managers had in common is that they didn’t own the property. The house or condo was owned by someone else. Someone else’s name was on the deed and insurance policies. When it came time to pay the bills for the property, someone else had to supply the money.
When Paul was commissioned, it’s like he was made a manager by God. He was put in charge of preaching and teaching the word of God. He was responsible before God to communicate four things for God to people throughout the Roman Empire.
Who God is.
How people are separated from God.
God’s great salvation provided in Jesus.
How that impacts people’s lives.
And how was Paul to present all this? Through a life that demonstrated these truths. Paul was responsible before God to “Walk the walk” and “Talk the talk” when it came to what God’s role was for him.
Yes, Paul was to share with the people in Colossae about Jesus and his salvation. But Paul was to do it in a certain way. When God commissioned Paul, there were specific conditions and rules on the way that he was to tell people.
Paul wasn’t to just give part of it, he was to give everyone all of it. The word of God was to be given out in fullness. Completeness. Totally given out. Nothing was to be left out. Not a single part was to be overlooked.
When God says to do something fully, he means fully. God’s word was to be totally shared and communicated. Nothing was to be left out. Nothing was to be hidden. There are no more mysteries. No secrets.
God didn’t tell Paul to only give out the parts that people would easily agree with. Paul wasn’t to hold back on things that some people might find offensive. Now, he wasn’t to go looking for a fight or to tell people in such a way to intentionally tick people off either.
And part of that fullness thing is the who was to receive God’s word. Everybody, and God means everybody is to be told. Paul wasn’t to hold anything back from anyone. He wasn’t to only tell certain kinds of people. From certain countries. With certain ethnic backgrounds. With certain amounts of money.
God’s not a kind of God to hide his loving compassion from anyone. He’s only interested in saving everyone. Regardless of who they are or what they’ve done, Jesus’ death can cover all their sins.
As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:11,13
Part of that fullness that God told Paul to share his word about comes down through the ages to you and me. Think about this for a minute, someone that Paul told shared it with someone else, And that person shared it with someone else. On and on throughout the years this happened over and over until we were told.
Now that we’ve heard, we have a choice about it. Will we receive this good news that God has paid for all our sins through Jesus? Will we give up our own goodness and receive what God’s given?
And then, will we grow in that good news? Will we give God all our attention so that we don’t miss anything that he’s trying to tell us? Will we put aside our rights to run our life by ourself and live the good and glorious life that he’s given.
Oh, by the way, there’s one more thing. Just like someone told us, we are to tell others. It not something that we’re suppose to hide. Just the opposite, we’re commissioned like the Apostle Paul to share Jesus with the people around us.
That’s our job too. If you believe in Jesus as God, they you’re commissioned to do what Paul did. Tell everyone. Tell it all. Live what you tell. It’s the greatest life. It’s the only life worth living.
If Jesus was willing to come and die for us, why can’t we follow him? Do what Paul did?
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