As we read the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the church at Colosse, there are some interesting things to note about His work to preach the gospel to the lost. In looking at just a few verses from the letter, we can learn a great deal about our responsibility to share our faith with others, and of the extent to which God’s people can affect the world, if we would do as God commands.
Every Creature Under Heaven
The extent of the work of the early church as recorded in Colossians 1:23 is simply wonderful! Paul wrote:
…if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:23)
I am in awe at what Paul said in this text. A little over thirty years after the gospel was first preached to a crowd in Jerusalem, the apostle affirmed that the gospel had been spread through the entire world! Some read this and conclude that he spoke of the “known world” (ie. that which belonged to the Roman empire). If this is what the apostle desired to say, he certainly could have said so. He did not. He said plainly that the gospel had been preached to the entire world. In fact, Paul takes a phrase used by Jesus,
…preach the gospel to every creature… (Mark 16:16)
and amplifies it. Paul and his contemporaries were involved in a great work of evangelism! The gospel went throughout the land of Palestine, into Asia and beyond. It also went to Peru, Australia, and any other place on the face of the earth – any place that could be described as “under heaven.”
This agrees with the word of Christ, who said that before Jerusalem would be destroyed,
…the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations (Matthew 24:14)
If in the span of about 30 years, the Christians of the first century were able to take the gospel to every corner of the earth, what’s our excuse? They didn’t have cars, or planes, or trains to take them from place to place. More times than not, they were likely on foot (though it appears the Spirit would at times transport them from one place to another, see Acts 8:39-40). They did not have photocopiers, printers, computers, web sites, e-mail or such to facilitate communication. With all these modern conveniences, one would think that our generation could accomplish the same in a fraction of the time. And yet despite all these conveniences, I don’t believe we’ve been able to duplicate their achievement.
Why not? The message has not changed. The need of the world has not changed. Is it possible that our zeal is not equal to the zeal of the early disciples? Is it possible that we are distracted with too many other things? Is it possible that we fail to realize the value of souls?
Friend, you and I need to set our hands to the work of sharing the gospel to the people of the world. You don’t need to go to India or Jamaica to do so, go to the segment of the world which is around you. Got e-mail? Do you have contacts who are not Christians? Why not invite them to worship? Join a chat room online and share the gospel with folks here and there. We can affect people for the good of their souls if we will make the effort.
Warning And Teaching
Paul goes on to write:
…Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Colossians 1:28)
This is a great summary of our goal in evangelistic work. We want to preach Christ! When Philip went to the Ethiopian eunuch, he preached Christ to him (Acts 8:35). We have no right to preach anything but Christ. The apostles said that no other name has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Thus, if we have an opportunity to speak to someone – let us preach Christ to them.
In teaching about Christ, we will certainly address the love of God, but if that is all we discuss, we have done our hearer a dis-service, and in fact not preached Christ as Philip did. In preaching Christ, he told the eunuch about the need for him to be baptized for the remission of sins. How do I know that? Immediately after we are told that Philip began to preach Christ to this man, we find him asking to be baptized (Acts 8:36). How did he hear about baptism? Philip told him of the necessity of baptism as he preached Christ.
If we do not speak about the need for salvation, and the means whereby we can obey God’s command, we have not preached Christ. To the Ephesian elders, the apostle Paul stated,
I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:27)
May that be true of us also; that we will declare all of what God has given on a topic. If a person is told to believe in Christ, but nothing more, he is not equipped to be added to the body of the saved. Indeed, it is important that we believe – without faith, one cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6); but faith by itself will not affect salvation (James 2:14-26).
Finally, notice the apostle does not teach just a few men; he doesn’t hand pick some and disregard the rest – he wanted to teach every man. We are not soil inspectors – we are seed sowers. It is our duty before God and to our fellow man to take the gospel message to all without partiality. It is not our place to decide who is a good candidate for the gospel. God be thanked that someone didn’t look at us and think we might not accept the message. Let us take the gospel to every creature under heaven!
Links: YouVersion | GROW magazine
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