Nov 4

Colossians 2:2-3
Memorise Matthew 13:44
“…the acknowledgement of the mystery…”

Paul continues with “… to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Do recall the meaning of “mystery” from our earlier study of Colossians 1:26-27. God has already revealed Himself and His salvation plan concerning Christ to everyone, and such attacks against Christ and His Word only seek to make this revelation even clearer to His elect. The word “acknowledgement” implies full recognition and accurate discernment of this revelation by God, so that the elect can defend the faith against false teachers (Ephesians 4:14), to whom this mystery is not revealed.

One such false teaching was Gnosticism, which teaches that salvation is gained by attaining knowledge that is hidden or secret, similar to today’s Hindu practice of meditation to discover ‘secret’ knowledge within one’s soul. In contrast, Paul uses the word “hid” to tell us the key to revealing God’s redemptive plan is Christ; there is no other hidden knowledge relating to salvation to be discovered. In other words, God’s knowledge is meant to be revealed. Paul then uses the word “treasures” to remind us of Matthew 13:44, where the knowledge of Christ is likened to a hid treasure which a man would sell all that he had just to acquire. Christ not only brings salvation, which is in itself treasure beyond compare, but He is also the omniscient God who is in heaven, and in whom all wisdom and knowledge dwells, ready to be revealed to all who believe in Christ. We have no true wisdom if we do not know Christ, and why should we desire any other source of spiritual knowledge if we already have Christ?

Today many teens are fascinated by hidden mysteries. Do you look at Gnostic thriller novels by authors like Dan Brown with fascination and interest, but have no desire to read of Christ in His Word? Dear teen, realise you have a treasure house of absolute truths waiting to be revealed to you? How can this ever be compared to works of fiction that make use of half-truths and falsehoods to weave a tale that is full of “enticing words” (Colossians 2:4). You may argue that you won’t be so easily fooled by reading such novels, but how would you be able to discern truth from error if you have not studied the whole truth in the first place? Do come to “…the acknowledgement of the mystery…” and truly know Christ.

Thought: If you say you want to know Christ, do you understand what this means?
Prayer: May I come to a full knowledge of Christ.