Question: This quote is from one of your booklets:

Paul said, "This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant" (Colossians 1:21-23).

In what way is it true that the gospel "has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven"?

Eileen

Answer: Dear Eileen,

The passage you quote is part of an early Christian hymn that appears in this section of Colossians. Hymns/songs – like poetry – make use of metaphor and are not often meant literally – if it were in this passage, as you note, Paul would be making an obvious overstatement – that the gospel had already been preached to every creature.

Instead, the point is simply that the gospel is inclusive. The gospel is for everyone. No one is excluded – not on the basis of social/economic standing, not on race or on gender (see Galatians 3:28). Of course, the old covenant would have been in mind here, where only the Jews could be the people of God – but the cross of Christ changed all of that (see 2 Corinthians, chapter 3). In addition, Paul probably had in mind some of the pagan heresies and sects, like Gnosticism, that claimed that only those who possessed secret knowledge could be saved. Once again, the passage eloquently and poetically, in a hymn that early Christians sang, simply says that Christ died for us all – and everyone is welcome to be a child of God.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht