“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.”
Paul here introduces the idea Jesus comes to indwell each person who places their faith in the death of Christ for the forgiveness of their sin.
“To them”
The antecedent here is the “saints” of verse 26.
“God willed to make known”
God chose to make known the “mystery” (Col 1:26) to the saints. From eternity, God determined to make known this mystery.
“what are the riches of the glory of this mystery”
God’s “glory” is the shining forth of his attributes and character. The disclosure of the mystery of the church comes out of the glory of God. It must have been a shock to these Gentiles that they would possess these prerogatives. The word “riches” means the abundance of God’s wealth that he gives to his people.
“among the Gentiles:”
Previously God made his revelation to a theocracy, the nation Israel or the Jews. Now God brings the Gentiles into his program by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).
“which is Christ in you”
Christ now indwells both Gentiles and Jews. They are “in Christ,” and Christ is in them (Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor 13:5). The “you” here is the Gentiles.
“the hope of glory”
Those without Christ are “without hope and without God” (Eph. 2:12). On the other hand, believers anticipate a share in the glory of Christ (Col. 3:4; Gal. 5:5; 1 Pet. 5:10). This hope is the guarantee that we will be in glory and glorified. It is as good as done.
Principle:
Jesus has come to live inside believers as a Divine Guest.
Application:
We cannot live the Christian life until we have the Christian life to live. We cannot live the Christian life without Christ. Until we receive Christ by trust in his death to forgive our sins, Christ is not in us (John 1:12). Have you come to the place in your life where you have done that?
The Christian has Christ living in him. They have a Heavenly Guest inside. If we invite company to our house, we are on our best behavior. The more critical the company, the more we are sure to have clean towels in the bathroom. We caution the children, “Don’t wear your food on your clothes! The boss is coming for dinner.” When the company arrives, the children do not know what to make of it! Daddy is so polite! He is so considerate of everyone. The mother puts out cloth napkins instead of paper napkins. The children say, “What are these, Mom?” The kids are six and eight years of age, and they have never seen them before!! When we have Christ living inside us as a Divine Guest, we should be on our best behavior.
