The Nature of the Struggle and Who It’s For (Colossians 2:1-5).

Thursday October 29, 2026

Intro: 

Paul continues in this new paragraph to talk about his ministry. This paragraph is closely related to the one before it. but his attention shifts a bit from General discussion of himself and his ministry to the significance of his ministry for the Colossians and for the threat of false teaching they are facing. 

The path that Paul chose was not the easy one. Why does he strive or struggle? When we understand we will see why we do as well.

Col 2:1-5

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself,  3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

Part 1: The nature of the great struggle: 

“For I want you to know” - knowing the struggles of someone who cares for Christ and for you. 

“For” vv. 1:24-29, I want you to know my own struggle. The struggle I have.

“The unveiling of his own throbbing heart was sure to work on the affections of his readers into incline them to listen.” Maclaren.

The struggle belongs to him as yours does to you.

 It is your mantle or yoke - cross.

Christ’s cross was not any Roman cross. It was His. 

1Co 1:17

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. 

Luk 9:23-24

And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.  24 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

By showing his cross, Paul was revealing how Christ had gripped him.

“I never cease to be amazed by the ingenuity of those who are capable of taking the powerful, life-changing text of Scripture and communicating it with the passion of someone reading aloud from the Yellow Pages!” Alistair Begg.

Part 2: The persons for whom the conflict was waged.

Something is vicarious (Latin for substitute) when one person experiences, suffers, or acts on behalf of or in the place of another.

Here, Paul’s struggle is “on your behalf,” repeated from the prior sentence: 

Col 1:24

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake …

Others may participate in Paul's missionary activity. Not everyone’s struggle is the same, but it is in every steward’s life, and vicariously so.  

Col 4:12-13

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for [huper] you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 

Paul did not have to see in order to love.

He would send them ammunition, an arsenal in their own struggle – this letter!

He prays, he writes. In spirit he takes his place among the combatants, though they are far away.

“No man is ever able to lift a burden from another’s shoulders except on condition of bearing the burden himself.” Maclaren

So Paul found a way to assist those far away engaged in their own conflict; and his prayer and teaching had precise objectives.

Part 3: The objectives of the conflict.

There are four listed here: We will summarize and in our next classes unpack them.

Encouragement / strengthening of the heart.

Unity of love.

Full assurance through understanding.

True knowledge of God’s mystery.

Each pair support and strengthen one another and both pairs are united in Christ (vs. 3).

Conclusion:

Your cross: The idea of losing your life is to lose your will and give it to Him. Your life is not forfeit, rather, it is truly yours for the first time.

This is the whole point of suffering and pain; it leads to submission to the will of God.

This life, the life from Christ is yours as a gift from Him. It is not motivated by self-desire, by what other people want of you, by your hungers, by your lusts, by your dreams, all of which are outside your heart. Christ dwells in you and His life becomes yours. Thus He rightly said that His yoke, on you, is light and easy. He did all the heavy lifting. 

So why does it feel like striving? Your old nature is not going to take it lying down. The world is not into it. The devil hates it and nothing motivates him more than to destroy it.