Q. Colossians 1:24. Are the “sufferings” and “afflictions” of this verse the common privilege of all saints, or only peculiar to the apostle Paul?
R. M.
A.—To the devout Ananias it was declared by the Lord Jesus that Saul was “a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before Gentiles and kings and sons of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.” Taken out from among the people and the Gentiles, Paul was pre-eminently the suffering apostle of the nations.
He here rejoices in his sufferings for them (Gentiles even whom he had never seen!), and fills up that which is behind (or, lacking) of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh, “for his body's sake which is the church.” What these afflictions were we may learn in part from such scriptures as 1 Corinthians 4:9-13; 2 Corinthians 11:23-28; 2 Timothy 3:10, 11.
For our sins the Lord Jesus suffered once for all on the cross, and in this He is alone, in which none can share. But if Isaiah 63:9 reveals the divine sympathy for His earthly people, how much more does Acts 9:4, 5 tell out His identification with the persecuted confessors of His name, the partakers of a heavenly calling. And as every Christian now suffers with Christ, if not indeed for Him, so should he take his share in affliction as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. We are called to be followers of the blessed apostle, as he was of Christ, and to “endure all things for the sake of the elect” (2 Timothy 2:3, 9, 10).