Did Christ not pay for everything? Then why fill up what is still lacking? Because Jesus suffered as part of redeeming people, we suffer as we strive to bring people into the redemption and into the gracious reign of God that have not yet experienced this life with God, this Kingdom.

What Paul will do, even if it means suffering for the purpose of bringing people to Christ, is presenting the word to fulfill his commission. What Paul will actually tell them is the word of God in its fullness, that has been a mystery: Christ in you, the hope of glory.

This message, or more likely the experience it makes available, brings people to perfection in Christ, to wholeness, to full maturity.

What Paul is doing in Laodicea is an example of what he just described, and so a restatement or a further description of it. He works among them and proclaims his message to them so they may be 1) encouraged in heart, 2) united in love, which will enable them to 3) know Christ (and so know the mystery of God, he has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.)

Colossians 1:24-29 and Colossians 2:1-5