Of this church I was made a minister according
to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might
fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which
has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested
to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory.
Colossians 1:25-27 NASB
Colossians 1:25-27 NASB
Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae
about a secret. They were all about
secrets because of the influence of the Gnostics who sought for God through
enlightenment or the discovery of the secret.
Those who discovered this were thought to be the elect or chosen apart
from those to whom the secret was not revealed.
Paul probably shocked the believers when he
told them of a secret that was in them.
He first explained that this was not something new but ancient. Paul tells us, “This message was kept secret for centuries
and generations past...” You see, it
was a secret that God foreknew before the foundation of the world, that his Son Jesus would be our pathway to
salvation and oneness with God.
Even though God’s plan of salvation was
secret, there were hints of it throughout the Old Testament from Genesis
through Malachi. This secret was referred to as the Star of Jacob (Num. 24:17),
the Root of Jesse (Isa. 11:10), the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6), the Mighty God
(Isa. 9:6), the Branch (Isa. 11:1), the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9), the Son of
Man (Dan. 7:13) and many other metaphors. But this ancient secret is no longer
a secret and that brings us to his second observation.
Paul writes, but has now been
manifested to His saints.
Paul said in Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God
sent forth his Son...” (Gal. 4:4) That
phrase “fullness of time” means literally, “at just the right time.” In other
words, when the time was just right, God sent Jesus into the world for our
salvation. At just the right moment in history, God revealed the great secret
of salvation God had planned for humanity in Jesus Christ.
Paul’s telling the Colossians that their
salvation isn’t found in some secret knowledge the Gnostics possessed. No, not
at all! The secret’s not in a
philosophy, but in a person…the person of Jesus Christ. And the
secret of secrets is that Christ can dwell in you and me. Which leads to the
last observation.
Finally, Paul shares the secret: which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory. The creator
of the universe has made His house and home within your life! And because Christ lives in us, we have the
assurance that we’ll share in Christ’s glory.
Don’t settle for some inferior substitutes. Don’t buy into the new age
gurus who promise you wealth and success while they enrich themselves from the
money you spend on their books and videos. There’s
no philosophy, no new age secret or law that can substitute for the fullness of
God revealed in Jesus Christ. In Christ, we find all the treasures of
knowledge and wisdom that we need, to lead us through life into His kingdom.
Scripture to Claim:
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB
