The Mystery of Christ in You: Part 2

Colossians 1:21-29

I am so glad to be with you for part two of “The Mystery of Christ in You.” Take some time to put yourself back to when Colossians was written. How would you share this unusual message of Jesus who died, was resurrected, and ascended into heaven? Would the people of Colosse think you were crazy for talking about God who will live in you? This teaching was new and unusual, and as Paul mentions, it was hidden for a long time. This was a significant change from the Old Testament way of living; this was a considerable shift in thinking, and Paul is doing his best to explain it clearly.  

Please turn to Colossians 1 if you can, and J Mark will help us understand the processes by which we can understand the mystery of Christ in us.  

Last week, we began exploring Paul’s teaching in Colossians 1:15 to 20, “The Mystery of Christ In You.” As we resume our study, here is the Scripture text. 

²¹And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 

²²he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 

²³if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 

²⁵of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 

 ²⁶the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 

 ²⁷To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

²⁸Him, we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 

 ²⁹For this, I toil, struggling with all his energy, which he powerfully works within me.  

The Second PROCESS (in understanding the mystery of Christ in us) is, 

Sanctification 

As I said earlier, reconciliation (through the blood of Jesus) makes us holy and unblameable in God’s sight. That is positional holiness. It gives us standing before the Father. In His eyes, we are sinless.  

At the same time, our practical holiness and daily choices are a journey. Our desires and choices hinder our attempts to let Christ live His life through us. Christ is on the throne of my heart and life, but I still allow myself to become irritated with my children. I still get frustrated by people who are habitually late for meetings or appointments. But those incidents will enable me to grow in sanctification and practical holiness.  

We are indeed new creatures in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17), and our lives’ trajectory is different than before reconciliation. But the sinful nature with which we were born is not automatically eradicated at conversion. Later, in chapter 3 of this same letter, Paul tells us as followers of Christ to put those evil desires to death.   

Let’s look more closely at verses 23 to 25 in exploring this process of sanctification. In several translations of the Scripture, verse 23 begins with the word if. In our minds, the word if conveys something conditional. “If it rains, the picnic tomorrow will be cancelled.” But Paul doesn’t use the word like that; he uses it as an assumption. We could read it like this: “…assuming that you continue in the faith…” Paul is focusing on their possession of genuine reconciliation. “Since you are continuing in the faith…” 

He’s talking about persisting in or abiding in the initial faith mentioned in verse 4. He had heard of their faith and urged them to remain grounded and settled. Continuing, grounded, settled, and not moving away reinforce this emphasis on staying put. And what were they not to move away from? The hope given to them by the Gospel and by the Gospel alone. You and I are called to the same kind of steadfast faith. 

And then Paul engages in a bit of hyperbole. He says that this Gospel has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. Really?  

One of the most common temptations Satan uses to discourage followers of Jesus is the feeling of being alone: alone in my struggle against my flesh, alone in my suffering for the sake of Jesus, alone in my _______, you fill in the blank. But Paul says, no, the Gospel has spread more widely over the Roman Empire than you can imagine. There are lots of people standing with you and sharing your experience.  

The next part of the process of sanctification is one most of us want to avoid – suffering. Paul has his sufferings in view as he writes to these Believers. He rejoices in what his sufferings have accomplished for them. Suffering provides us with many opportunities to progress in sanctification and to grow in Christlikeness.  

Some may wonder what Paul means by his statement, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church…” One thing it cannot mean is that Christ’s suffering was not sufficient. That would fly in the face of many other portions of Scripture.  

The word Paul uses here is never used of Christ’s vicarious sufferings, the things He suffered on our behalf to secure our reconciliation. It refers to the trials Jesus underwent during His earthly life and the same kinds of trials that all His faithful followers will experience.  

Paul understood that his sufferings were for his sanctification and the sake of the Church. We should cultivate that same understanding. Without suffering, there will be little sanctification. Suffering is the fire that refines the gold and removes the dross. 

The Final PROCESS is, 

Glorification 

 Here, in verse 26, is Paul’s use of the word mystery. The original word implies something obscure or hidden in the past. But now it’s being revealed. In light of this meaning, it’s often used with words that denote revelation or knowledge.  

And what was the reason for the unveiling of this mystery? So that His saints, including you and me, would know God’s personal, indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit! “Christ in you; the hope of glory.” 

Under the Old Covenant, God lived among His people in the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle or Temple. But the purpose of the New Covenant was to make our bodies a Most Holy Place where God’s presence could live within us! If we could fully grasp the magnitude of this reality, there would be no more half-hearted religion.   

This indwelling presence of God through Jesus is our hope of glory for the present. Second Corinthians 3:18 states, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” That’s happening right now as we allow the Holy Spirit to continue the process of sanctification in our lives. This is something in which we can rejoice!  

The indwelling presence of Christ is also our hope for the future. Paul writes in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” In the current limitations of an earthbound body and a world dominated by evil, we cannot fully fathom what that future glory will be like. But we can get a glimpse of what it will be like.  

One more Scripture yet before we move on; I John 3:2. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM! In our future state, we will be able to gaze upon the full glory of God and Christ with unveiled faces. Imagine! 

Even as Paul spoke to the Colossian believers about this mystery of Christ in them, he warned them about proper doctrine and practice. His teaching was filled with God’s wisdom as he refuted the heresies of both the Gnostics and the Judaizers. Much like the elite of our day, these people had their own vocabulary and projected an attitude of intellectual and religious superiority. But they were lost, and without repentance, there would be no glory for them! 

Paul’s greatest desire in his teaching and preaching was to “present every person perfect (mature, complete) in Christ Jesus.” He exerted all his efforts, using the energy given him by the Holy Spirit, to ensure that those to whom he preached would fully experience the mystery of Christ in them.  

He put it like this in Ephesians 4:14 to 16. “That we should no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” 

Have you experienced the mystery of Christ in you? Have you experienced the process of reconciliation? Have you accepted by faith the sacrifice of Jesus as the only acceptable payment for your sin so that your estrangement from God is ended? Do you still marvel that the all holy, all powerful Creator God would offer you His forgiveness, even when you were still in your sins?  

Are you experiencing the daily process of sanctification as God, through His Holy Spirit and your obedience, brings your practice into line with your position in Christ? Are you becoming, in the words of the apostle, “complete in Christ Jesus?”  

Are you being changed into His image from glory to glory, “Christ in you, the hope of glory?” Are you rejoicing in the present glory of Christ working in your life each day? And are you anticipating the future glory when you and I will enter His presence fully redeemed, wholly sanctified, and able with unveiled faces to gaze on His glorious majesty and holiness? What a day that will be! And I want you to be there with me. But that is your choice.  

So, I urge you today to begin the journey to understanding the mystery of Christ in you! 

Thanks, J Mark, for this explanation of Christ in you. He brought this teaching to an end with a lot of good questions to think about. You know our journey with Christ is a relationship. In this relationship, Christ has done His part, and our response is on us. This is a sobering reality, and we encourage you to consider your choice carefully.  

If you have any questions or if you want to contact us for any reason, here are a few ways you can reach us. An easy way is email; our email is [email protected]. Or you can message us online; our website is heraldsofhope.org. Once there, click “Contact Us” at the top right. And of course, you can write to us. Our address is Hope for Today, Box 3 Breezewood, PA 15533. We look forward to hearing from you soon.  

Thanks again for being with us today. Till next time, we hope you will grow in your understanding of the mystery of Christ in you. I leave you with this encouraging thought from I Peter 1, “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” God Bless.  

*This episode is an exposition by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.