Colossians 1:26-27
...the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Happy New Year everybody. Thank God we made it!!
One of the common things to do as we move into a new year is to take inventory of the things we have, and the impact they’ve made over the last year or so. We check our bank accounts, reconcile our deposits and expenditures. Get pay stubs and receipts for filing taxes and (for those of us that have made them) take a look at our long term investments. This morning I want to talk a few minutes about those investments.
In terms of value, there are two ways to look at investments. You have perceived value and intrinsic value. Perceived value is the common or agreed value that folk in a particular setting all believe something is worth. Intrinsic value however, is the value something has in and of itself, without consideration of market fluctuation, supply or demand. It just is!
An example of both would be to compare gold, silver and dollar bills, to a plate of food. Gold, silver and dollar bills all have perceived value. Each fluctuate with market demand and supply. But a plate of food, while not viewed as valuable as the other commodities, has intrinsic value and great significance when you’re starving. Imagine being stranded on a deserted island for the next year and you had to choose between a million dollars in gold, silver or cash or a plate of food every day. I think you’d take the food, right? Because it has intrinsic value.
The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Colossae to commend them on their faithfulness, steadfastness and devotion to the things of Christ. This is not one of the churches he started, but he was asked to help counsel them on issues they were having. The issues boiled down to two main concerns. Something called Mystical Polytheism and the other, strict adherence to Old Testament Jewish law. In both cases this church was being bombarded with concepts and ideas that reduced the work of Jesus Christ at Calvary: challenging it, and in effect, making it less relevant or “valuable”.
As you can imagine, Paul was livid. All his ministry he fought against any notion that the saving grace of Jesus required assistance to be fully affective. Mystical Polytheism didn’t deny Christ, but suggested that he was one of many deities that should be celebrated. And Old Testament law required physical circumcising, special days and restrictive diets. In either case, the absolute value of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross at Calvary was diminished. Jesus was not central to their expression of faith. He was minimized, and thereby reduced in power, purpose and prestige.
But I love Paul’s retort. To those that might wonder about the whereabouts of the investment of God in humanity, Paul illuminates the subject for us. Read from the first verse and you will find that he explains the excellency of Christ as the incarnate and magnificent expression of the Almighty God. He explains that Christ was with God and in God from the very beginning of time. He further explained his great power and authority as ruler of everything on the earth, under the earth and in heaven above.
But now with all that said, as we myopically look at our verse this morning, he pivots from simply talking about the grandness of Jesus and makes the boldest proclamation ever. He reveals that the actual plan of God, which was secret before, is now being revealed to us. In so many words, what Paul was saying is the most valuable thing in all the universe, of all time, that was first placed in the hands of Jesus Christ, has now been placed inside of you and I. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
You may not be given to a whole lot of exuberant expression and loud outburst, but that revelation right there is a perfect reason to stop and give God some ‘right-now’ praise.
Dear Child of God, while folk have spent incalculable hours, money, resources and energy trying to discover the true nature of God and where his power is stored, you and I have been secretly selected to be the vessel of honor and glory. The investment is in you. The investment is in me. Now that the secret is out...let’s share it with the world.
God bless
