Colossians 1:5b-8

There are a couple of points in this passage that stuck out to me when studying it. The first is that the gospel is growing and bearing fruit throughout the world (verse 6). It was true then that the gospel was not just growing among the Colossians but the whole world and it is true today as well. The gospel is still growing and bearing fruit. Everyday hundreds of people become Christians in China. This is also the case in Iran, which has one of the fastest growing Christians populations. I tend to think of the gospel and how it is relating to my life, my geographical region, my campus at Western. But the gospel is so much bigger and throughout the world God is bringing people to himself daily. God is a global God who has a global mission and this was being evidenced both then and today.
The second point that is important in this passage and can be applied to us today is also in verse 6. “Since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.” There is a distinction between hearing and understanding. A Christian is one who has not just heard the gospel, but who understands it and the understanding changes the Christians’ life. This principal is highlighted in verse 7 when Paul and Timothy say, “just as you learned from Epaphras.” The Colossians had to be taught the gospel from Epaphras. Teaching is explaining until people understand the subject or until it is grasped by one’s mind.
The last point I studied in this passage is what it means to be a faithful minister of Christ. In verse 7 Paul and Timothy refer to Epaphras as a faithful minister of Christ. What are the characteristics of a faithful minister of Christ and who is a faithful minister of Christ? Is a minister of Christ pastors, teachers in the church, deacons, and missionaries or are lay people also ministers of Christ? God is a mission minded God, who invites us to participate in his mission and purposes of redeeming the world. Therefore, one who is a minister of Christ is anyone who associates with him because to know him as your Savior is to receive an invitation to minister alongside him in completing his work of salvation. But what does it mean to be a faithful minister of Christ? It is one who understands God’s purpose for his or her own life. It is one who places the responsibility of fulfilling the mission above his or her own life. This reminds me of Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, how they where faithful ministers of Christ. A faithful minister is a Servant Leader, following Christ’s example of servant hood, (Philippians 2). It requires love. It requires a passionate love for God to endure sufferings and pain. It requires an unselfish love for others that allows one to sacrifice his or her own time and agenda for the maturing of others in Christ. It requires diligence, patience, faith, trust, study, and grace.