Colossians 1:24... some thoughts.

[Carl Emerson]

Colossians 1:24
English Standard Version

Paul's Ministry to the Church
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...

==================================

Here is an insight into what Paul is meaning here.

How can Christs afflictions be lacking ???

Paul was deeply into intercession and understood the centrality of the Cross in all his effort to serve His Saviour and share in His sufferings.

What happened on the Cross was very profound, impacting all of creation and humanity.

Paul realised that the ministers of Christ have a calling and purpose to enter into the the work of the Cross with Christ, sharing in His sufferings for the sake of His Body the Church...

Jesus carried all our sickness, cares and burdens but the healing comes as we share with Jesus on behalf of the suffering, reaching out with His Love and healing.

So the grace to meet the healing needs of his brothers and sisters, although complete on the Cross, was yet to be appropriated and completed by those reach out with healing love in His name.

So reaching out in full confidence in what is completed on the Cross is central to healing ministry. This ministry will not be complete until He returns.

I also think this verse should be central in understanding the Ministry of Intercession.

Your thoughts appreciated.

 

[Minister Monardo]

Excellent topic to discuss!

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...

What Paul says is in accordance with the word
of the Lord.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

I also think this verse should be central in understanding the Ministry of Intercession.

The afflictions of "the spirit of our minds" in intercession was expressed in the Garden of Gethsemane when the Lord stated:
Matthew 26:
40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter:
What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

 

[Minister Monardo]

I also think this verse should be central in understanding the Ministry of Intercession.

To elaborate further, tarrying "with the Lord' in
intercession is the Ministry you are quite accurately
presenting here, but is usually referenced by the word
supplications. To pray with a burden for others,
as opposed to presenting a "wish list' to the Lord.
1 Timothy 2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men.

As the Lord's praying in Gethsemane is described.
Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Further to this is the realisation that the Cross is a timeless event yet anchored at a particular point in history.

When we are reaching out to the suffering then and sharing in His sufferings for the infirm, we have confidence from the realisation that the Cross event is occurring as we pray.

I feel that the resource of the Cross is little understood or taught.

 

[Minister Monardo]

I feel that the resource of the Cross is little understood or taught.

By the authority we receive from the Cross,
we present our supplications before the Throne.

 

[Carl Emerson]

So in some way we 'fill up in our flesh' Christs suffering for the individual, partnering in His compassion for them.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I think the danger is that in our churches we can 'formulate' these matters and loose the reality and potency of them.

 

[Minister Monardo]

So in some way we 'fill up in our flesh' Christs suffering for the individual, partnering in His compassion for them.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

 

[d taylor]

-
​

What this verse is saying, is that each believer when they suffer for The Messiah. That is still, The Messiah receiving suffering, because it is because the believer has the Spirit of God in them, that they suffer.

So some believers are not committed and do not suffer for the sake of The Messiah so there is lacking in some believers Christ suffering, who are members in The Church of The Messiah.

 

[dqhall]

Colossians 1:24
English Standard Version

Paul's Ministry to the Church
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...

==================================

Here is an insight into what Paul is meaning here.

How can Christs afflictions be lacking ???

Paul was deeply into intercession and understood the centrality of the Cross in all his effort to serve His Saviour and share in His sufferings.

What happened on the Cross was very profound, impacting all of creation and humanity.

Paul realised that the ministers of Christ have a calling and purpose to enter into the the work of the Cross with Christ, sharing in His sufferings for the sake of His Body the Church...

Jesus carried all our sickness, cares and burdens but the healing comes as we share with Jesus on behalf of the suffering reaching out with His Love and healing.

So the grace to meet the healing needs of his brothers and sisters, although complete on the Cross, was yet to be appropriated and completed by those reach out with healing love in His name.

So reaching out in full confidence in what is completed on the Cross is central to healing ministry. This ministry will not be complete until He returns.

I also think this verse should be central in understanding the Ministry of Intercession.

Your thoughts appreciated.

I read a book about faith healing.

There is a book by Craig S. Keener, “Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World.”

I was reminded of it after reading your post. Keener documented miraculous healing. I opened this Kindle book for the first time in a long while. I turned to a chapter about a man who fell and was paralyzed on one side. His wife was pregnant at the time. He was paralyzed for 10.5 yrs when he attended some church service. There was a call for laying on of hands and prayers for those who needed healing. The paralyzed man had a bionic brace that helped him walk. He went forward. A group of students was there to pray for people. He asked a student to put her hand on his neck and pray. She did. He started to be able to feel his previously paralyzed hand. He took his $100,000 brace off and was able to walk.

Praise the Lord.

 

[Minister Monardo]

I feel that the resource of the Cross is little understood or taught.

Why are you trying to impart some mystical,
spiritual power to a cursed thing?
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse
of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”.

Life is found at the Throne
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Romans 5:10 For when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
He is Alive!
The cross is empty, and has become like the brazen serpent, that the children of Israel turned into an idol.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Hezekiah's Revival
2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

 

[Minister Monardo]

What this verse is saying, is that each believer when they suffer for The Messiah. That is still, The Messiah receiving suffering, because it is because the believer has the Spirit of God in them, that they suffer.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction He was afflicted,
And the Angel of His Presence saved them;
In His love and in His pity He redeemed them;
And He bore them and carried them all the days of old.

I have heard it asked, "how could God let the Jews
go through the Holocaust?" The accurate question
would be, "how could He put Himself through that?"
He suffered 6 million times more than any one person.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I read a book about faith healing.

There is a book by Craig S. Keener, “Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World.”

I was reminded of it after reading your post. Keener documented miraculous healing. I opened this Kindle book for the first time in a long while. I turned to a chapter about a man who fell and was paralyzed on one side. His wife was pregnant at the time. He was paralyzed for 10.5 yrs when he attended some church service. There was a call for laying on of hands and prayers for those who needed healing. The paralyzed man had a bionic brace that helped him walk. He went forward. A group of students was there to pray for people. He asked a student to put her hand on his neck and pray. She did. He started to be able to feel his previously paralyzed hand. He took his $100,000 brace off and was able to walk.

Praise the Lord.

Yes - he is a great encouragement and outstanding author.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Why are you trying to impart some mystical,
spiritual power to a cursed thing?

Please explain what you mean...

 

[Minister Monardo]

Please explain what you mean...

I already did. I did not post that in a vacuum.

Why are you trying to impart some mystical,
spiritual power to a cursed thing?
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse
of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”.

Life is found at the Throne
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Romans 5:10 For when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
He is Alive!
The cross is empty, and has become like the brazen serpent, that the children of Israel turned into an idol.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Hezekiah's Revival
2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

 

[Minister Monardo]

Paul's Ministry to the Church

2 Timothy 1:11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
An Anointed Evangelist preaches the Cross.
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
An Anointed teacher for the Body of Christ leads the Saints directly to the Throne, where Christ sits,
at the right hand of God
Colossians 3:
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I am not sure what your issue is, maybe other readers could comment...

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Your thoughts appreciated.

Well my first instincts waking up getting the email and drinking my morning coffee which I really need today.....


I don't see things as much about intercession as other theological stuff. I would probably compare it to passages like 2 Corinthians 12:6-7, the famous "thorn in the flesh" passage. That verse speaks as a the sufferings as a "dona" the Greek word for "gift" it is where we get the word "donation" from.

If you look in that passage Paul speaks about the horrible trials he went through where he sometimes despaired of life aka hoped for his death, that things were too much etc. Only to hear "My grace is sufficient for you" and that Christ's power or strength is made perfect "in weakness".

So this kind of thing brings up some different issues where some of the Eastern Orthodox Church and some of the other ancient Churches have some interesting and useful ideas.


Well the first of these is something called theosis aka "being conformed into the image of Christ", and suffering done in faith can be something that helps in that way.

And this also reminds me of other things like this saying from the Roman poet Ovid

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Their is a related concept to theosis called Kenosis, mostly related to Christ that during the Incarnation he surrendered or emptied/ gave up most of his divine privilege's to take on the role of a servant when it came to being the messiah. But this kind of thing also is true of his followers too.


A lot of this sort of thing fits under the basic heading of The Divine Economy.

The divine economy, in Eastern Orthodoxy, not only refers to God's actions to bring about the world's salvation and redemption, but to all of God's dealings with, and interactions with, the world, including the Creation.[3][ver

Economy (religion) - Wikipedia.


In terms of practical examples Bible concepts this is aspects of things like "being a disciple" of Christ. But you have also think of it as God teaching you his ways, kind of like a parent teaches a child something like cooking or gardening, where the parent does it with the kid. And the event of making cookies or whatever is not as important as the lessons itself, basically the kid is probably pretty slow at making the cookies or maybe makes them badly but that is OK. Because you learn by doing..... Knowledge in Hebrew and Greek can refer to things related to experiential knowledge that comes by doing or experience (like how it is somethings used as a idiom for sexual intimacy in the Bible).


OK now finally, back to the theosis end of things there is an energy metaphor in regards to faith, and if you are into Biblical literalism the new testament does use the literal words of energia.

Anyway suffering is useful for things like the spiritual gifts and generally being used by God in terms of ministry stuff. Abstractly you might think of this as "resistance" in terms of things like electrical conductivity etc. And this is indeed has other kinds of Biblical parallels like the refinement of silver is the exact metaphor used in passages relating to theosis. In the passages and ancient times silver was used especially for mirrors, and that relates to others "seeing Christ in us". But in the more recent era, we use silver because of it's electrical conductivity in our devices like smart phones, computers and various electronics etc. But anyway the less resistance the more power and the less heat is wasted, and this relates to conquering the flesh etc. Basically your flesh does not get in the way of God, if you are conformed into the Divine Image etc.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

A meme ran cross on Facebook and saved

"There was once a group of women studying the book of Malachi in the Old Testament. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot – then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered “Yes”, and explained that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”
He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy. When I see my image in it.”
If today you are feeling the heat of this world’s fire, just remember that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ have Their eyes on you.
- Unknown"


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