Read Colossians 1:24, 25. What does Paul say about his suffering for Christ’s sake?
Though Paul wrote Colossians while under house arrest in Rome, perhaps his greatest suffering came from not being able to labor intensively from place to place and house to house, as he had done previously (Acts 20:20). These afflictions (or tribulations), which Christ forewarned of (Matt. 24:9, John 16:33), “are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). This is the bigger picture. As Paul had written to the Christians in Philippi, so now to the Colossians he rejoices over his sufferings, which are for their benefit (Col. 1:24).
Paul may be in prison, but “the word of God is not bound” (2 Tim. 2:9). While Paul was in this confinement, Philippians, Ephesians, and Philemon were also written. After his release, God inspired him to write the important counsels found in 1 Timothy and Titus. Then, during his final imprisonment in a Roman jail, he wrote 2 Timothy. In short, these final years provided Paul the opportunity to write a significant portion of the New Testament, which probably included Hebrews.
God’s eternal plan envisioned all of this and more. The Greek word Paul uses in Colossians 1:25, generally translated “stewardship,” is oikonomia. Used in a limited sense (as, for example, in 1 Tim. 1:4), it refers to “God’s way of ordering things.”—Luke Timothy Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy (New York: Doubleday, 2001), p. 164. That would include Paul’s apostleship. But in a broader sense, it includes all the provisions God has made in the plan of salvation. The ministry of Paul, the other apostles, and even the prophets of the Old Testament (Eph. 2:20, Eph. 3:5), including Moses, were designed “to fulfill the word of God” (Col. 1:25), all in connection with this divine plan.
Although we will look more closely at this topic in tomorrow’s study, it is helpful at this point to notice that Paul recognized his ministry as just one small part of a much larger, long-range divine plan that began being implemented “from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 13:35, Eph. 1:4).
Think about your own life. How might the decisions you make (big and small) fit within God’s larger plan? Can we really know whether a decision is actually “small”? How might it have larger ramifications that will become apparent only later?
Supplemental EGW Notes
Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven. He sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their Creator, and to win their homage to himself. Therefore he misrepresented God, attributing to Him the desire for self-exaltation. With his own evil characteristics he sought to invest the loving Creator. Thus he deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. He led them to doubt the word of God, and to distrust His goodness. Because God is a God of justice and terrible majesty, Satan caused them to look upon Him as severe and unforgiving. Thus he drew men to join him in rebellion against God, and the night of woe settled down upon the world.
The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan’s deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2).
The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of “the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal” (Romans 16:25, R.V.). It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. . . .
Since Jesus came to dwell with us, we know that God is acquainted with our trials, and sympathizes with our griefs. Every son and daughter of Adam may understand that our Creator is the friend of sinners. For in every doctrine of grace, every promise of joy, every deed of love, every divine attraction presented in the Saviour’s life on earth, we see “God with us.”—Reflecting Christ, p. 23.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.