A Minister. Colossians 1:24-25. Christ’s suffering provided salvation for lost sinners. Paul’s sufferings helped deliver that message of salvation to the Gentiles and the world. In fulfilling this mission, he endured suffering and afflictions of many kinds. He was stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned while carrying out what was entrusted to him—to present it fully. Christ suffered on the cross to remove the sins of the world. Paul suffered because he was proclaiming the good news of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. What he “filled up” was not adding to Christ’s completed work of salvation but doing what was necessary to make it available to lost souls.
It wasn't a choice he made; it was a commission he was given. God told him this fact on the day he believed, and as the years went by, God the Spirit revealed to him the marvelous truths of the Gospel of Christ—what it would mean to those who heard it and the consequences it carried. Some people accepted the message and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They yielded to the urging and teaching of the Spirit of God through His servant. Others opposed Paul and the preaching he delivered. He was to preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, and it was God who would save people.
God has the right to expect all His servants to respond to His call. All He saves by His grace are servants, but not all are sent to publicly minister the Gospel to the world. Those He does send to proclaim the word of life publicly carry a serious responsibility. They are to share what God has given them and what they have personally experienced of His grace, and in turn, share it with all people everywhere so that they might turn from their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God uses the preached word to convict people of sin. By preaching Christ crucified on behalf of sinners, the Holy Spirit can reveal the way of salvation, and those He saves, He seals.
A minister of the Gospel is not finished when he has proclaimed the Gospel. He is responsible for presenting the Word in its fullness, which highlights the greater importance of God's Word, and he must see it through to completion. Not only are we saved and justified, but God also intends to sanctify believers so they can participate in the servant's ministry, demonstrating that God is with and near us through life. When pressures arise for God's people to conform to the world, we have resources available, and they are found in God's Word.
The Lord planned to complete the mission through His servants, who made God's word accessible to the Colossians and others around the world. Paul was glad that his suffering helped them, even though he faced opposition and was “afflicted” by the powers of darkness. “All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
The servant of God is called to serve the entire body of Christ. God desires every believer to be faithful and holy. While we may not see the impact of all we do and say, God does, and He might reveal later that our words and actions have had a far-reaching influence on people we didn't even know. Some may have been saved, and others, whom we least expect, are challenged to serve God in their own communities. Ultimately, God will be glorified through the service they provide.
The apostles were sent out into the world with the Gospel—the foundational truth that every child of God has believed. Since then, the hope of the Gospel has been shared through the proclamation given by faithful servants of their Lord. Those with ears to hear and believe the Gospel have been blessed with salvation. The day of the Lord's Coming draws near, and seeing Him will be the culmination of the hope of the Gospel. In God’s grace toward mankind, He has sent those who “minister the Gospel” under the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ into all the world. The twelve were the first sent servants. Paul was a minister of the Gospel and an apostle to the Gentiles. All who proclaim the message of the Gospel in fellowship with the Lord minister the Gospel so people will be saved from wrath through our Lord Jesus Christ.
As servants of the Gospel and the church, we will face suffering that “was given” to help make the Gospel and the message of the commission known. We have been made stewards of our Lord’s message to the world. It is our duty to pass on what is His and to use it to benefit others. The message and work do not belong to us; rather, we are obligated to pass on what we have received to bless the world.
The Lord Jesus Christ died in our place physically. He is not just another intermediary, as the heretics teach. Those who have accepted Him and the forgiveness He offers are rooted in their lives by living out the truth of the Gospel daily. God has forgiven us, and we are declared righteous by His grace alone. We are not swayed by those who hold their own ideas of salvation but are confident in the assurance that when we were saved, we began the journey of hope that guarantees us being with the Lord at the rapture of the church or at death. That Gospel message, the good news, is the same for every man, woman, and child. It was that message that Paul served when he proclaimed it to both Jews and Gentiles, and for that, he suffered.