The glorious wealth of this mystery
That God would one day reconcile the world through the Jewish people was something that God had foretold all the way back at the Garden of Eden. However, once Jesus paid the penalty for our sins when He willingly died on the cross, the implications of our restored relationship with God were revealed.
Paul explained this to the believers at Colossae:
Colossians 1:22-23
But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him…This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I Paul, have become a minister of it.
As Paul explained the good news of the gospel – that we have been reconciled to God through Jesus’ death – he also had the privilege of explaining the full effect of Christ’s resurrection. Since we were unaware of these relational benefits…Paul refers to them as a mystery. This term in Scripture refers to a truth previously unknown, but now revealed by God.
Colossians 1:25-27
I have become its minister, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The mystery was that the Gentiles could also believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins – which means they (and us!) are equally included in God’s family. The ultimate benefit, though, goes even further.
Beyond being forgiven for the guilt and penalty from our sin and rebellion…
Beyond being part of the family…
Beyond having a relationship with our Creator…
What Paul points out in verse 27 goes even further. It goes above and beyond anything we could have imagined. It is the glorious wealth of this mystery, the greatest implication of our restored relationship with our Creator.
It is Christ in you.
The one Paul earlier described as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…by Him everything was created, in heaven and on earth…He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…
The most magnificent, the most valuable, the greatest person in the Universe has taken up residence within each believer. Regardless of background. Regardless of nationality.
He’s with you every moment, because He’s in you.
Meditate on this today. Spend time thinking about the glorious wealth of this mystery.
Keep Pressing,
Ken