“which you heard and which has been preached[as being designed for and offered without restrictions] to every person under heaven, and of which [Gospel] I, Paul, became a minister.” Colossians 1:23b ->me: The ‘hope’ I have is founded in the good news of the gospel. When I heard that message, and God called me; I stopped and took hold of what God through the gospel was offering. This experience is what Paul dedicated his life to in reaching the Gentiles. ‘has been preached to every person under heaven’ -> Paul of course had to know that there were people in the world at that time who didn’t even know who Jesus is…so why would he say this? I think this is anticipatory. If a king makes a proclamation and then sends out his messengers to all of the kingdom to render the news, the fact that he ‘has made a proclamation to the entire kingdom’ stands. God has, in Jesus Christ, proclaimed once and for all that the world which He made has been reconciled to him. His heralds, scurrying off to the ends of the earth with the news, are simply agents, messengers, of this one authoritative proclamation. Am I doing my part as an agent of the Lord to ensure ‘the gospel HAS been preached to every person under heaven’?
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