Photo by Matthew DeVries on Pexels.com

what sharing Christ entails

Colossians 1:24 -2:5 (JDV)

Colossians 1:24 Now I celebrate while I suffer for you, and I am finishing in my flesh the balance of Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the congregation.

Colossians 1:25 I have become its assistant, according to God’s business plan [1] that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

Colossians 1:26 the mystery hidden for ages [2] and generations but now revealed to his devotees.

Colossians 1:27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching every human [3] with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Colossians 1:29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that achieves [4] things powerfully in me.

Colossians 2:1 You see, I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person.

Colossians 2:2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in care, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery – Christ.

Colossians 2:3 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable.

Colossians 2:5 You see, I may be absent in body, but I am with you in breath, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.

What sharing Christ entails

Paul’s understanding of the church is far more organic and intimate than the way we often think about congregations today. For him, each gathering of believers—whether in Colossae, Philippi, Corinth, or a small house church tucked into some forgotten corner of the empire—was not simply a religious community. It was a living extension of Christ’s own body. Wherever believers gathered in his name, Christ was present, embodied, and active. That means the joys and the wounds of each congregation were not contradictions but reflections of Christ himself. The body suffers because Christ suffered; the body rejoices because Christ rose. To share Christ is to share both.

This is why Paul’s missionary impulse was so strong. His desire to proclaim Christ everywhere was not driven by ambition or restlessness but by the conviction that Christ deserved to be embodied in every place. The covenant Christ established was never meant to remain in one city or one culture. It was meant to spread—through proclamation, through teaching, through the planting of new congregations—until the whole world had the opportunity to encounter Jesus through communities shaped by his Spirit. Paul wasn’t just founding churches; he was extending Christ’s presence into new corners of the world.

That impulse creates a bond that geography cannot break. Paul feels connected to the Colossians even though he has never stood among them. He feels responsible for their growth, invested in their endurance, and joyful in their faith. That is the nature of the gospel: it creates a global family whose unity is not based on proximity but on shared life in Christ. Christianity is not a collection of isolated congregations but a worldwide movement in which each local community becomes a lampstand, shining Christ’s light into its own neighborhood.

And that same drive continues today. We may not be apostles crossing seas or planting churches in the shadow of Roman temples, but we are still part of the same mission. Every believer, every congregation, every act of witness extends Christ’s presence into the world. The global church is still a single body, suffering and celebrating, wrestling and rejoicing, carrying Christ into places we ourselves may never see.

Lord, show us how to share you with everyone we can, so that your presence may be known in every place where your people live and serve.

________________________________________
[1] οἰκονομία = business plan.
[2] αἰών = age.
[3] ἄνθρωπος = human. Colossians 1:28; 2:8, 22; 3:9, 23.
[4] ἐνεργέω = achieve.