Colossians 1:25-29 The Mystery

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. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. [Colossians 1:25-29 NASB]

The word of God is referred to as a mystery. The word "mystery" in biblical usage does not mean "a puzzle to be solved." Instead it means "a truth that can only be known by revelation." This mystery was hidden in ages past.

In the past, the Jews were God's only chosen people. It was to them alone that the word of God came, and it was with them alone that God made a covenant. Even though there were prophecies concerning the mystery, they were never fully understood. Joel prophesied;

“It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. [Joel 2:28 NASB]

God promised Abraham;

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” [Genesis 22:18 NASB]

Israel had the promises and the prophecies, but they didn't understand them, because;

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. [1 Corinthians 2:12-14 NASB]

But now, the mystery has been revealed, which is, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Since Christ's Spirit indwells each of us, we have the hope of eternal salvation - our inheritance - which is an eternity in the presence of God.

Not only do we hope for an inheritance, we have hope of becoming Jesus' inheritance. As Paul says;

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, [Ephesians 1:18 NASB]

We are His inheritance. One day we will meet Him, and our true nature will be revealed;

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. [Romans 8:18-19 NASB]

John describes this scene in heaven;

Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. [Revelation 19:6-8 NASB]

The church is the bride of Christ. The time to make ourselves ready is now, so that when the time comes, we will be clothed in righteous acts.

I am not talking about good deeds done in the flesh, in the hope of winning favor with God. Rather, I am talking about walking in the Spirit, and laboring with Him, according to His power.

Father, I thank you for the hope of glory. I pray for the grace to live a life that is worth of You, so that I will, in that day, wear the robes of righteousness.