The Great Mystery

…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. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Colossians 1:26-29

There is the great mystery. This is the missing element in many churches today. Most Christians in our churches understand that Christ died for the forgiveness of their sins, but that is where most of them stop. Relatively few go on to grasp the fact that Jesus died for them that he might live in them. It is his life in them that is the source of power, change and the ability to resist temptation. It is not enough to know that Christ died in order that we might go to heaven. We are also to know, understand, and practice Christ actually living in us now!

That is the most astounding truth in the Bible. It is a mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to his saints. Think of that! There are great promises in the Old Testament, such as Isaiah's word at the end of chapter 40, verse 31, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Old Testament saints understood and believed that promise. They waited on the Lord, and they were strengthened; they were lifted up, comforted and helped. All that is clear as you read the Old Testament. But what was never told them was the means by which God would do this.

It was not until Jesus came and taught his disciples that we learn at last what means God would employ. Gradually he sought to impart to the disciples this amazing truth: through his death and resurrection, and through the coming of the Holy Spirit, they would be indwelt by Jesus himself. In the Upper Room, just before the cross, Jesus uttered these words, If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home in him (John 14:23). This is the mystery, hidden from the foundation of the world but now made known to us.

Paul himself lived this way. That is what he is telling us in the last verse of this chapter: To this end I labor, striving with all the energy he [Jesus] so powerfully works in me. There is a new power at work. When you understand that you possess the Lord Jesus, that he is in you, you have a totally new source of power. You also have a new desire, a new motive: you long to see change take place and you are motivated to take the steps that will bring it into being. You have a new Companion along the way. The problem of loneliness is ended because you are never alone when Jesus is present in your life. What a mighty truth this is! It is what delivers people. It is more than the fact that Jesus died on a cross. He died that he might live in us!

Jesus, thank you for dying for me that you might live in me. Help me to grow deeper in my understanding of this great mystery.