Christ in You

Read Colossians 1:24-29

Reading this passage is a little like peeling an onion. As each layer is removed another is revealed until the very heart of the text is laid bare before us. Paul leads us from one level to the next.

First Layer: Paul is suffering as a prisoner, but he knows how to rejoice (v.24).

Second Layer: in some mysterious way, Paul's suffering is part of the total of Christ's suffering for His people (v.24).

Third Layer: Christ's people are so closely related to Him tht they can be described as His "Body" (v.24).

Fourth Layer: Paul had been set apart to serve that Body (v.24).

Fifth Layer: The way Paul serves the Body of Christ is by proclaiming the Word of God (v.25).

Sixth Layer: That Word concerned something that had only recently been made known (v.26).

Seventh Layer: this new development, recently revealed, was that the Gentiles (the non-Jews) had been brought into the circle of God's grace (v.27).

Eighth Layer: the very heart of the matter - this, Word of God, was all about "Christ in you..." (v.27); not simply about Jesus as some far-off or theoretical person, but "Christ in you," that is, the tremendous truth that the Savior actually lives in every person who truly believes and trusts in Him.

This was Paul's message. It involved "warning", teaching", "toil", and "striving" (vs. 28, 29), so it wasn't likely to make Paul very popular, neither did it describe an easy life for those who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. But, what a gift, to have Him living within you! That alone makes it possible for us to live as Christ's disciples.

Prayer: "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Lord Jesus, make Yourself so real to me today that the light of hope may shine out through all I do or say. Amen.