1 25 I became a servant of the church by God’s commission, which was given to me for you, in order to complete God’s word. 26 I’m completing it with a secret plan that has been hidden for ages and generations but which has now been revealed to his holy people. 27 God wanted to make the glorious riches of this secret plan known among the Gentiles, which is Christ living in you, the hope of glory. 28 This is what we preach as we warn and teach every person with all wisdom so that we might present each one mature in Christ. 29 I work hard and struggle for this goal with his energy, which works in me powerfully.
2 I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who haven’t known me personally. 2 My goal is that their hearts would be encouraged and united together in love so that they might have all the riches of assurance that come with understanding, so that they might have the knowledge of the secret plan of God, namely Christ. 3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. 4 I’m telling you this so that no one deceives you with convincing arguments, 5 because even though I am absent physically, I’m with you in spirit. I’m happy to see the discipline and stability of your faith in Christ.
6 So live in Christ Jesus the Lord in the same way as you received him. 7 Be rooted and built up in him, be established in faith, and overflow with thanksgiving just as you were taught.
Reflection
Whenever we read Colossians, we read it through the lens of time. Scholars now agree that this document was written and edited by a follower or followers of Paul years after his imprisonment and death. The letter was likely written to the church in Colossae (a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor) to address false teachings that minimized the role and deity of Jesus the
Christ. In today’s reading I was drawn to the phrase “God’s secret plan” mentioned repeatedly. God’s secret plan is “Christ living in you” as declared in verse 1:27. This secret is that God intended ALL people, both Jews and Gentiles, to welcome Christ into their lives. Christ dwells in all God’s people and waits only to be acknowledged. ALL means ALL.
“Christ living in you” is the belief that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, influencing our thoughts, actions and desires. People have struggled for years to explain this “mystery” of “God’s secret plan.” As a United Methodist, I understand this as a transformational process leading to a life lived by God’s grace rather than one’s own strength or power. God’s Grace is with us on our journey through life if we welcome it.
by Kathleen Stolz
For Pondering and Prayer
People have been wrestling with Jesus the Christ as both fully divine and fully human for centuries. It is very personal journey often beginning in the teenage years with the questions continuing throughout life. The phrase “God’s secret plan” is one way to describe this struggle. I think that is why “secret plan” is also translated as “mystery” in this letter to the Colossians.
How or when have you experienced God’s “secret plan” in your life?
Prayer: Most gracious and loving God, I welcome you into my life and give thanks for your presence within me every day. Open my senses to your inner promptings that I may give voice to what I hear in my soul and be changed for the healing of the world. Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.
