The Gospel Embodied: Messengers Who Are the Message Text: Colossians 4:7-9
Introduction: The Tangible Kingdom
As we come to the end of this magnificent letter, it would be easy for our modern, individualistic minds to treat these closing remarks as little more than personal shout-outs, the first-century equivalent of a postscript. We read the high, cosmic theology of Christ's supremacy in chapter 1, the warnings against hollow philosophy in chapter 2, and the glorious ethical commands in chapter 3, and then we get to the end and think we are just tidying up. But this is a grave mistake. The end of this letter is not an appendix to the theology; it is the theology with skin on. It is the doctrine made visible. Paul does not simply send a letter with ideas; he sends men who embody those ideas. The men he sends are the living, breathing illustration of everything he has just written.
Our world is starving for genuine community but chokes on every counterfeit it tries to swallow. We have social media, which creates the illusion of connection while breeding isolation and envy. We have political tribes that demand total allegiance but offer no grace. We have corporate mission statements about "family" that last exactly as long as you are profitable. The world talks a great deal about love, faithfulness, and brotherhood, but it cannot produce the genuine article. Why? Because it has rejected the only possible foundation for such things: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In these three short verses, Paul introduces us to two men, Tychicus and Onesimus. They are not just mail carriers. They are the sermon in motion. They are the proof that the gospel Paul preaches actually works. It takes disparate individuals, a free man and a former runaway slave, and welds them into something entirely new: a family. It creates a new kind of loyalty, a new definition of service, and a new quality of love. What Paul does here is show the Colossians, and us, that the cosmic Christ who holds all things together is also the Christ who holds us together in a fellowship so robust it can turn a slave into a beloved brother. This is not just a closing; it is the grand finale.
The Text
Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you all my affairs, whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will inform you about the whole situation here.
(Colossians 4:7-9 LSB)
The Character of a Christian Messenger (v. 7)
Paul begins by describing the first messenger, Tychicus, and in doing so, he gives us a portrait of Christian maturity.
"Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you all my affairs..." (Colossians 4:7)
Notice the three titles Paul bestows on him. These are not empty compliments; they are precise, theological descriptions of a man who has been remade by the gospel. First, he is a "beloved brother." This is the language of family, of kinship. In the Roman world, you had your blood family, and everyone else was a stranger or a rival. But in the church, the blood of Christ creates a new and more profound family tie. Tychicus is not just an associate; he is family. This brotherhood is not based on shared ethnicity, social standing, or personal chemistry. It is based on a shared Father. Because we are in Christ, we are in His family. This is the foundation of all Christian community. We are brothers and sisters before we are anything else.
Second, he is a "faithful servant." The word here is diakonos, the same word for deacon. It means a minister, a servant who attends to the needs of others. This speaks to his work. Tychicus is not just a brother in status; he is a servant in action. He is reliable. He is trustworthy. He gets the job done. Faithfulness is one of the great, underrated Christian virtues in our flashy, results-driven age. God does not call us to be successful in the world's eyes; He calls us to be faithful. Tychicus has proven himself to be a man who can be counted on to carry out the Lord's business, which is why Paul entrusts him with this crucial mission.
Third, he is a "fellow slave." The word is sundoulos. This is the most humbling and yet the most glorious title. While he is a servant (diakonos) to the church, he is a slave (doulos) to the Lord, right alongside Paul. This demolishes all hierarchy in the ultimate sense. Paul, the apostle, and Tychicus, the messenger, both stand on level ground at the foot of the cross. They both have the same Master. They are both owned, bought with a price. This is the secret to Christian leadership. A true leader in the church does not lord it over others; he understands that he is a slave of Christ, and therefore he can be a true servant to his brothers. Tychicus's identity is found first in his relationship (brother), then in his work (servant), and ultimately in his absolute submission to his Master (slave).
The Purpose of Christian Fellowship (v. 8)
Paul then explains why he is sending Tychicus. The mission has two distinct but related purposes.
"whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts;" (Colossians 4:8)
The first purpose is informational: "that you may know about our circumstances." Paul is in prison. The Colossians, who love him, are naturally anxious. They want to know how he is faring. This is not idle gossip. This is the sharing of burdens that is essential to true fellowship, or koinonia. In the body of Christ, we are members of one another. When one part suffers, every part suffers with it (1 Cor. 12:26). Sharing the details of our lives, our struggles, and our needs is not a distraction from the spiritual life; it is a fundamental expression of it. It is how we bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
But information is never the final goal. The second purpose is pastoral: "that he may encourage your hearts." The goal of sharing information is to lead to encouragement. The word "encourage" here is parakaleo, which has a rich range of meaning: to comfort, to exhort, to strengthen. Tychicus is being sent to put steel into their spines. Hearing about Paul's faithfulness in prison was not meant to make them feel sorry for him, but to embolden them. If Paul can stand firm in chains, then they can stand firm against the false teachers plaguing their church. This is the economy of the church. God allows one saint to go through a trial so that their testimony can become the fuel for another's perseverance. Encouragement is not fluffy sentiment. It is the lifeblood of the church, the ministry of reminding one another of the truth and sufficiency of Christ, especially when things are hard.
The Proof of Gospel Transformation (v. 9)
And now we come to the master stroke. Tychicus is not traveling alone. Paul sends a second man, and his very presence is a bombshell of gospel reality.
"and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will inform you about the whole situation here." (Colossians 4:9)
To understand the explosive power of this verse, we must read it alongside the letter to Philemon. Onesimus was a slave who belonged to Philemon, a leader in the Colossian church. Onesimus had stolen from his master and run away, a crime punishable by severe beating or even death. By providence, he ran into the Apostle Paul and was converted to Christ. He went from being a useless, thieving runaway to a son in the faith. His name means "useful," and Paul plays on this in Philemon, saying that he was formerly "useless" (achrestos) but is now "useful" (euchrestos) both to Paul and to Philemon.
Now, Paul sends him back. But look how he sends him back. He is not sent back in chains as a criminal. He is sent back with Tychicus as "our faithful and beloved brother." Paul applies the very same adjectives to the former slave that he applied to his trusted apostolic delegate. This is a radical, world-altering statement. The gospel has completely redefined Onesimus. His primary identity is no longer "Philemon's runaway slave." His primary identity is "faithful and beloved brother."
And then Paul twists the knife of grace just a little deeper. He adds, "who is one of you." This is a gentle but firm command. Paul is not just informing them of a change; he is telling them how they must now receive this man. You cannot welcome Tychicus as a brother and reject Onesimus as a slave. He is one of you. He is part of your church, your family. You must receive him not as a slave, but as more than a slave, as a beloved brother in the Lord (Philemon 16). This is reconciliation in action. The wall of hostility between master and slave has been demolished by the cross. They are now one in Christ.
Conclusion: The Gospel with Feet
So you see, these verses are not a mere postscript. They are the gospel in shoe leather. The entire letter to the Colossians is about the supremacy of Christ over all things, and His power to reconcile all things to Himself. And here, at the end, Paul presents Exhibit A and Exhibit B: Tychicus and Onesimus.
Tychicus shows us the character the gospel creates: a beloved brother, a faithful servant, a fellow slave. He is the picture of mature, humble, steadfast service. He is the kind of man a healthy church produces.
Onesimus shows us the transformation the gospel accomplishes. It takes a broken, sinful, useless man and makes him a faithful, beloved brother. It erases the world's categories of slave and free and replaces them with the single, glorious category of "in Christ." It doesn't just forgive sin; it creates a new man and a new community where that forgiveness can be lived out.
These men were sent to tell the Colossians the news, but they were the news. The news is that the gospel creates a tangible, visible, real-world fellowship that is unlike anything else on earth. It creates a family where brothers serve faithfully, where hearts are encouraged, and where runaway slaves are welcomed home as beloved sons. This is our calling. We are to be the kind of community that, when the world looks at us, they see the doctrine of the Trinity and the atonement of Christ being lived out in the way we love, serve, and receive one another.