Colossians 2:1-7
The Sufficiency of God’s Mystery
At some level Paul had experienced the peace that surpasses all comprehension but when it came to his family in Christ, he struggled. Matters effecting their spiritual health weighed on him heavily. Paul was aware of Satan’s schemes to use so-called christians to delude tender young hearts with persuasive arguments. This passage is what a spiritual father has to say to his children so that they can combat the threat he has identified among them.
Paul is very keen that his spiritual charges maintain a watchful rest, sustaining both encouragement and gratitude. How are they to do this? First of all he wants them to acknowledge that they are a body, one that has been intentionally knit together by love. There is a good deal of protection in the body of Christ in and of itself. The next thing Paul wants to get across though is so simple that most miss it. It is simply a true knowledge of God’s mystery – Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Paul knew that with Jesus alone as the core of our theology, we have a full assurance of understanding. He knew that the discipline of keeping this mystery at the core of our belief system is the source of our stability. The thing that troubled Paul was that the sheep are not content with a mystery. They tend to gravitate toward the principles of the world that appear more concrete, ideas that derive from human tradition that appeal to the natural and un-renewed mind instead of toward Christ Himself. Anything added to this simple theology was to Paul a danger. Spiritual fathers suffer when they see us attempting to accessorize the mystery.
What Paul is continually trying to say is that, in Christ, heaven has already come down to earth. Jesus said it was expedient that He leave but that he would send us The Helper which he has done with the Holy Spirit. When the battle is hot and we feel that we need reserve power from heaven, The Counselor says…
……the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. 1 Jn 4:4 …….His divine power has granted to you everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence…… 2 Peter 1:3 The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple Col 1:27 …….. Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed. Col 2:6-7
Spiritual fathers, those who take responsibility for the potential and processes underway in the people around them, labor as did Paul, even struggle to admonish and teach every man with all wisdom so that he can present them to God complete in Christ – the mystery in us which is the hope of glory.
It seems God has worked overtime in my heart to loosen the nuts to my bolt-on theologies so that he could detach them and help me to see that He alone is my Life. He knows in that simple and mysterious truth is hidden the abundance of all and more than I will ever need. What you will frequently find in my posts have to do with my account of the unbolting process that God has underwritten in my life. As I have found myself more recently gratefully standing with my bolt-ons lying on either side of me, it seemed appropriate to name this blog in the middlewithmystery.com.
Father, life seems as though its is a process. Help us to understand these ways in our hearts so that we may all find ourselves utterly content with You alone… our Rock, our Fortress, our Savior, our Advocate, our Intercessor, our Peace, our Joy, our Strength, our Origin, our Destiny, our Glory, our Wisdom, our Way, our Truth, our Victory, our Sufficiency, our All-In-All, our very Life. Truly Lord our cup is running over if only we could see it. Open our hearts to the beauty and simplicity of this mystery. For our joy and your name’s sake. So be it.