Becoming the Message Part 2

Check out part 1 here.

Here are some more ways that Paul became the message of the gospel to the lost:

4. In the urgency with which he proclaimed the message.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor. 5:20)

Had Paul tried to communicate the gospel in the same way that many Christians today (myself included) do the gospel may not have may not have spread as wide as it did. Paul didn’t merely communicate the gospel as if he had all the time in the world to convert them, he became the message by demonstrating the urgency of the gospel.

5. In his suffering.

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… (Col. 1:24)

John Piper can be credited for great insight on the meaning of this strange phrase Paul uses. He uses the exact same terminology in Philippians 2:29-30:

So receive [Epaphroditus] in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

In the same way that we would certainly say that nothing is lacking in the sufficiency of the atonement of Christ we can say that there was nothing lacking in the value of the gifts of the Philippians. Epaphroditus, however, became a presentation of the Philippians love for Paul in that he was willing to suffer to bring the gift to him on the Philippians behalf.

Likewise, Paul’s suffering completed what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions in that the lost cannot see Christ’s willingness to suffer for their salvation. They can, however, see Paul’s willingness to suffer in order to bring the message of Christ’s suffering to them.

Part 3 is still to come.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen