Colossians 1:27 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.
It is unknown who first preached the Gospel to the people in Colossae, but we know it was not Paul as he had never seen them before. Regardless of who, they HAD heard the Gospel and had become believers, but their theology was a bit confused, thus the letter from Paul. His letter was intended to instruct them on the Truth and to help make the message of Christ better known.
Today’s verse is brought to life more specifically when read in the Message – “God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out of, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message.”
Christ is for everyone, Jew and Gentile alike. All who have Christ in them have hope for the future, for an eternity with God. To these believers in Colossae, it was confusing to understand – a mystery. It was previously only made known to the Jewish people. But this mystery was brought to light through the words of Paul – and it included the Gentiles. When we become believers and accept Christ as our Savior we are made new. We are given a new life and we become destined to eternity with Him. That is the glory spoken of at the end of this verse.
The hope of glory is this – the hope of our salvation is not just for our time on earth, but of the future. We can be confident in our salvation, knowing we have Christ within us. And because we have Christ in us, we have hope for eternity. We know the salvation we receive on earth will be made permanent in heaven.
But as Christians, we need to be sharing this hope with others. We were commissioned to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). We should not hold this mystery inside us, hiding it from the world. Instead we should be ready to give an answer for the reason of our hope (1 Peter 3:15).
Are you sharing the hope of glory with others? It’s time for us to be bold and step out of our comfort zone so that the mystery is revealed to others. If you are not sure how to share your faith, let’s chat. Salvation is available for everyone.
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