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SUPREME – The Christ of Colossians
Colossians 1:24 -2:5
Maturity
Rev’d Chris Johnson
I'm sure you've all heard of the book of by Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, or of more recent
vintage the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.
These stories both involve the mystery of hidden buried
treasure and the adventure of finding it.
There is first of all the mystery of finding the map and then the mystery of being able to interpret the
map so that it leads you to the treasure.
Of course along the way there are many dangers and pitfalls
that have to be avoided.
You have to work out the mystery of the map.
You have to persevere in the
face opposition trying to stop you getting the treasure.
He who dares wins the prize of the treasure.
We are now in our third week in Colossians and today looking at Chapter 1 verse 24 through to
Chapter 2 verse 5.
If you don't have your own Bible with you, it is on page 1,183 in your Pew Bible.
Paul talks here in a couple of places about mystery.
Ch1 v26 “The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the
Lord’s people.”
Ch 2 v2 “My goal is that they may be encouraged...
In order that they may know the mystery of God,
namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
In terms of our analogy it seems to me these passages are saying that Christ is both the map and the
treasure.
Firstly The Map
The ‘ages and the generations’ in v26 are the Old Testament story.
This is like the map leading us to
Christ.
There is a mystery about the map.
Some parts of it clearly point to Christ others are more
obscure.
And Christ is The Treasure.
2:2 The mystery of God is Christ, and in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
He is the prize, he is the goal, he is the treasure.
Life is a mystery isn't it.
There are some things which are straightforward,
-If you eat the right foods you've got a better chance of staying healthy,
-If you put money into savings rather than spend it all immediately you will have a much better longterm future,
-Be kind to others and there is more chance they'll be kind to you.
Yet there are some things which are a great mystery and very difficult to fathom.
-People on very healthy diets can still get cancer.
-The righteous can suffer great injustice and the wicked can prosper.
-Relationships in general can be confusing, why do some close friends have a falling out and end up
bitter enemies, and at other times people work through their differences and become even closer
friends.
1
Life has the potential for great joy and happiness but also the possibility of agonising pain and
disappointment.
There is a great mystery about life.
In the midst of life's unanswerable questions the only thing that in the end makes sense is Christ.
The teaching of Christ provides keys that unlock this mystery.
-There are the parables which tease us to look beyond immediate problems and consider Godly
options.
-There is the dogmatic teaching of Christ which assures us that he has come from the Father and he is
making known to us what the Father wants us to know.
-There is the life of Christ which doesn't just teach about loving and serving but takes a towel and
washes his disciples feet.
He doesn't just teach that “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone, but
if it dies it bears much fruit.”
Wonderful teaching; but Jesus puts it into practice at the cross, where
his death will be the seed that produces much Godly fruit in all who will follow him down through the
centuries.
The answer to the mystery is Christ.
Ch2 v2 My goal is … that they may know the mystery of God,
namely Christ!
Christ is the treasure.
What about the map.
The Bible is the map.
Look at v25.
Paul says he has been given “a Commission
by God to present the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and
generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people.”
The ‘ages and generations’ here are the Israelites - the People of God in the
Old Testament.
They received the word of God, over many ages and generations.
And there was
always a great mystery about how it would unfold and where it was leading.
Paul is saying that his
commission is to help people see, that the mystery which has been kept hidden for ages and
generations, was all leading to Christ.
In some parts of the Old Testament Christ leaps off every page and it is obviously about him.
In other
parts the meaning is more difficult to see.
Nevertheless, the whole of the Bible is a coherent story
which is pointing to Christ.
Let me recall for you just a few of the great Old Testament characters.
There is Abraham the father of the Israelite nation.
In Genesis 12:1-3 when he is called he is told that
through him all peoples on earth will be blessed.
He is the father of the chosen nation Israel but it is
for the purpose of blessing all the nations.
This is what Paul picks up in the New Testament time and again, and here in Colossians he does it in
1:27; he is saying that God has chosen the Israelite nation, “to make known among the Gentiles the
glorious riches of this mystery which is, Christ in you the hope of glory.”
Then there is Moses.
There is so much in Moses and the Exodus which points us to Christ, but think
about Moses call at the burning bush.
God identifies himself there as “I am who I am”.
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