- Lesson 5 from the BaptistWay Press Connect 360 unit “The Fullness of Christ” focuses on Colossians 1:24-29.
What comes to mind when you hear that something is a mystery? Typically, we think of a mystery as something that’s hard to understand or a puzzle that remains unsolved. If you have 500 puzzle pieces with no photo to refer to, you have a mystery—and you are clueless about what the assembled puzzle will reveal. It’s no mystery that it’s a jigsaw puzzle, but the completed picture remains an enigma.
In this lesson, we will explore a Bible mystery, the meaning of which was hidden for ages. However, the use of the word “mystery” in the New Testament describes something that once was undisclosed, but now is understood because the answer has been revealed. Christ’s redemptive work assembled the puzzle pieces for us, so we can now see the whole picture. As we begin, we must realize that, in Christ, we have the explanation of a previous mystery, and the solutions to many formerly unanswered questions.
‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’
The real power of this mystery is found in the phrase in Colossians 1:26, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The world changed on Pentecost when Jesus came to live within every believer through the Holy Spirit. Salvation no longer came from following rules, but from being inhabited by Jesus (cf. 1 John 5:11–12). Christ is the perfection of God, along with his righteousness, wisdom, power, love, glory, beauty, peace, comfort, forgiveness and patience. Jesus and all God’s resources now live within us.
When Moses wanted to see God’s glory, God told him that he would let “all my goodness pass before you” (Exodus 33:18–19). The hope of ever being good and ever being comfortable in the presence of the total holiness of God, is Christ—the holiness of God—living inside us. Christ in you is the hope of glory—that which used to be hidden is now freely available to anyone who will turn to Jesus and surrender one’s life to him. That is the best truth in the world!
Compiled by Stan Granberry, marketing coordinator for BaptistWay Press.
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