“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.” Colossians 1:27 NIV
Paul is writing a letter to brothers and sisters in Christ who he has never met. The church at Colossae was found by those Paul sent there but not by Paul himself. However, Paul had a sincere concern for all Christians and wanted all to be fruitful in living a life dedicated to Christ. Throughout the book of Colossians, Paul is encouraging the followers of Christ to maintain their relationship with Jesus and to not give into the cultural pressures surrounding them.
The city of Colossae had a mixture of religious practices and therefore any individual who was beginning to follow a new way of life could become influenced into believing what some false teachers were preaching. In this verse, Paul is making it clear to everyone that to follow Christ they did not need to be Jewish, either by faith or heritage. He wanted all to understand that if they chose to follow Christ that they would become aware of the glorious riches of the mystery of ‘Christ in you’.
That sounds wonderful, ‘glorious riches’ and ‘Christ in you’, but what exactly does that mean? Christ came from His throne in heaven, where He was king, to become a human baby that was vulnerable and poor by the societal standards of His time. He did this to save mankind so that mankind could be given a chance to have everlasting life, the glorious riches of living in the kingdom of heaven.
Christ in you means just that, Christ lives in us once we accept Him as Lord and Savior. He is there from that moment forward. He is there to give us His strength to do what we could not otherwise do, He is there to give us His peace which we would otherwise not be able to feel. Can you feel the difference in your life from when you were not a Christian and lived by the standards of this world? If you have not accepted Christ yet, do you want to feel that difference?
Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing those of us who are not Jewish by faith or birth to be recipients of the glorious riches of the mystery of Christ in us. You are so loving that You want to be involved in our lives and let us experience heaven for all of eternity. I pray that if there is anyone reading this that has not accepted You as their Lord and Savior, that they stop where they are and do that now. That they bow their heads and talk to You, listen to You, accept You and become Your child so Christ can live in them as well. Thank You for Your love. In Jesus’s precious name, Amen.