Colossians 1.27-The Mystery is Christ Indwelling Each and Every Jewish And Gentile Church Age Believer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday August 2, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:27-The Mystery is Christ Indwelling Each and Every Jewish and Gentile Church Age Believer
Lesson # 35
Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (NASB95)
“To whom” is pointing back to the adjective hagios, “to saints” which appears at the end of Colossians 1:26 and so therefore, it is referring to the church, the body of Christ.
“The riches of the glory of this mystery” is composed of the following: (1) noun ploutos (πλοῦτος), “the riches” (2) noun doxa (δόξα), “of the glory” (3) noun mustērion (μυστήριον), “the mystery” (3) demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), “this.”
The noun ploutos is asserting that this indwelling of Jesus Christ is of “infinite value” because it speaks of an infinite being, the Son of God whose indwelling of the church age believer is of immeasurable value to the church age believer.
The noun doxa means “the glorious revelation” since it pertains to the manifestation of the Father’s will in eternity past for His Son to indwell both Jewish and Gentile church age believers.
The word speaks of “revelation” because it is used in relation to the mystery which is described by ploutos as being of infinite value to the church and was communicated by the apostles to the church.
It is a “glorious” revelation since it manifests the Shekinah Glory who is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God who Himself manifests perfectly the character and nature of the Father.
As was the case in Colossians 1:26, the noun mustērion here in Colossians 1:27 means “mystery” which speaks of a truth which was not known to Old Testament saints but has now been revealed by the Father through the Spirit during the church age to the apostles who communicated it to the church.
“The hope of glory” is composed of the following: (1) noun elpis (ἐλπίς), “the hope” (2) noun doxa (δόξα), “of glory.”
The noun elpis means “confident expectation (of blessing)” and is used to describe Jesus Christ in relation to each and every church age believer’s present and future.
It speaks of the church age believer’s “confident expectation” of being blessed in the present through fellowship with God and in the future with a resurrection body and rewards for enduring undeserved suffering and faithful service.
Colossians 1:24 I am presently rejoicing because of my sufferings on behalf of each and every one of you. In fact, I am supplementing that which remains of the one and only Christ’s intense sufferings by means of my physical body on behalf of His body which is, as an eternal spiritual truth, the church. 25 Of which I myself became a servant because of the stewardship which is from God (the Father) which was given to me on behalf of each and every one of you in order to fulfill the task of communicating the message originating from God (the Father). 26 Specifically, the mystery which has been concealed from past ages, in other words from past generations but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 For the benefit of whom, God (the Father) wanted to make known what is of infinite value, namely the glorious revelation of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is, as an eternal spiritual truth Christ in each and every one of you, who is the confident expectation of glory. (My translation)
In Colossians 1:27, the apostle Paul continues his discussion from Colossians 1:26 regarding “the mystery.”
First of all, he asserts that for the benefit of the saints, God the Father desired to make known to them what is of infinite value, which he defines as the glorious revelation of this mystery among the Gentiles.
Then, he identifies for the Colossians the content of this glorious revelation of this mystery which is Christ indwelling each and every Gentile church age believer and not just Jewish church age believers like himself.
Thus, Paul is teaching that this mystery which was not known to Old Testament saints prior to the church age is Jesus Christ indwelling not only Jewish church age believers like himself but also Gentile church age believers.
This glorious revelation was made known to the church by the Holy Spirit through the apostles of Jesus Christ who communicated it publicly to the church by the power of the Holy Spirit and which glorious revelation the Father concealed from both men and angels prior to the church age.
The apostle Paul describes this glorious revelation of this mystery of Jesus Christ indwelling both Jewish and Gentile church age believers as having “infinite value” because it gives the church age believer the omnipotence they need to overcome sin and Satan.
This “glorious revelation” pertains to the manifestation of the Father’s will in eternity past for His Son to indwell both Jewish and Gentile church age believers.
“This mystery” speaks of a truth which was not known to Old Testament saints but has now been revealed by the Father through the Spirit during the church age to the apostles who communicated it to the church.
In the New Testament, the church is never actually called a mystery but we know it is a mystery because its major elements are specifically designated as mysteries.
For example, the first major element is the body concept of Jewish and Gentile believers united into one body to form one “new man” or “new humanity” which is described a mystery in Ephesians 3:1-12.
The second major element is that the church is the Bride of Jesus Christ which is taught in Ephesians 5:22-32.
The third element is the rapture or resurrection of the church which is described as a mystery as well in First Corinthians 15:51-52.
Lastly, the fourth and final major element is the concept of Jesus Christ indwelling each and every church age believer which is taught here in Colossians 1:24-27 and also in 2:10-19; 3:4 and 11.
The prepositional phrase “among the Gentiles” indicates that this glorious revelation of Jesus Christ indwelling each and every church age believer, both Jew and Gentile and which revelation was not known by Old Testament saints was communicated to the Gentiles by Paul.
Although the prophets of Israel predicted the Gentiles would exercise faith in the Messiah and receive eternal salvation, Old Testament saints were totally unaware that Gentile believers would be fellow heirs with Jewish believers (cf. Eph. 3:1-13).
The apostle then goes on to describe Jesus Christ as “the confident expectation of glory,” since each and every church age believer will in the future receive a resurrection body from the Lord Jesus Christ as well as rewards if they remain faithful to Him.
He is describing Jesus Christ as being the confident expectation of glory for the Christian in the sense that He will give each and every church age believer a resurrection body just like His at the rapture or resurrection of the church which is imminent.
Also, they will receive from Him rewards at the Bema Seat for faithful service.
Furthermore, this “confident expectation of glory” is also used in relation to the church age believer experiencing fellowship with the Trinity and is related to the blessing of having the character of Christ being formed in them by the Spirit through fellowship and various adversities and undeserved suffering.
So in Colossians 1:27, Paul is asserting with these faithful Christians in Colossae that each and every one of them is indwelt by Jesus Christ permanently and this glorious revelation was a mystery which was not known prior to the church age.
The indwelling of Jesus Christ is therefore totally unique to the church age since it has never taken place prior to the church age and serves as a sign that the Christian is a child of God.
The indwelling of Jesus Christ serves as assurance for the Christian that he or she is eternally secure and also serves as encouragement to the Christian when he or she endures underserved suffering.
The indwelling of Jesus Christ serves as a reminder to the Christian that they have divine omnipotence available to them to grow to maturity and to endure undeserved suffering and also a guarantee that the Christian possesses eternal life and will live with God forever and that they will receive a resurrection body.
The body of the church age believer is now a temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16).
The first time that the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples that they would be indwelt by Him was in His Upper Room Discourse recorded in John 14:20 and 17:23 and 26.
Paul mentions the indwelling of Christ in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Galatians 2:20 and now in Colossians 1:26-27.
The indwelling of Jesus Christ is presented from three perspectives: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Perfective.
First of all, the Christian is indwelt by Christ in a “positional” sense meaning that it is an eternal spiritual truth and objective fact of bible doctrine that the Christian is indwelt by Christ.
Secondly, the indwelling of Christ is to be “experiential” in the sense that God desires that the Christian “experience” the indwelling of Christ and this is accomplished by faith in the Word of God.
Lastly, the indwelling of Christ is viewed in a “perfective” sense in that Christ will indwell the Christian’s resurrection body forever throughout eternity.
In Colossians 1:27, Paul speaks of the indwelling of Christ in a “positional” and “perfective” sense and he also speaks of Christ indwelling him in an “experiential” sense in Galatians 2:20.
The apostle Paul speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ indwelling each and every church age believer in Romans 8:10-11.