Tuesday, October 24th, 2023

Scripture: I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Teaching: In speaking about his own work for the Church at large in Colossians 1:24-27, Paul presents here the key reason he has been commissioned by the Lord as an apostle: to make Christ known to the Gentiles. Gentiles are any people that are not Jewish, and up to this point in history, God had only been working through Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just as promised to Eve in Genesis 3, that a messiah would come from her seed, and again to Abraham in Gen. 22:18, Jesus was brought into the world through Israel, as a Jew. However, after his resurrection, the way God blessed the world changed, allowing salvation to be for all in Christ and through the Church.

In Scripture, a “mystery” is any truth that was revealed in the Old Testament but its meaning was hidden until a later time, and high among these mysteries, especially to Israel was how God would bless all nations by grace. Paul says here that he has been chosen to reveal this mystery to the Gentile church of Colossae and all the world, because in Christ, the mystery of how God will bless all nations, as He promised Abraham He would, has come to fruition. The revelation of this mystery is, as Paul says in verse 27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” By faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, by means of the Holy Spirit, we have Christ living within us.

Takeaway: Contrary to the afflictions that come from following Christ that Paul certainly had his share of (verse 25), Paul is decidedly joyful in these sufferings. It is good news that he is speaking to Colossae, and joy he is proclaiming even in suffering. Why? Because Christ now lives in all who know him in faith. What was once unattainable for Gentiles, and a mystery to Israel, has now been made known by God in Christ. What’s more, this Christ, the one who is proclaimed in verses 15-23 in magnificent detail, now lives in us. Paul is rejoicing even in his suffering that God would choose him to proclaim this good news, and he can see that this has always been God’s plan to bless all nations in Christ. We each have the same call, to share the good news of the Gospel because by God’s grace through faith, Christ lives in us.