“In it [the church, Christ’s body] I [Paul] became a minister in accordance with the divine stewardship which was entrusted to me for you [as its object and for your benefit], to make the Word of God fully known [among you]—The mystery of which was hidden for ages and generations [from angels and men], but is now revealed to His holy people (the saints),” Colossians 1:25-26 ->me: Paul, not only a servant of the gospel (vs 23) but a servant of the church. For Paul the word of God is a power let loose in the world embodied in the true gospel message. The big ‘Aha!’ for me in this passage was that little bit of research I did on ‘Mystery’. The word of God is the ‘Mystery’ that been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to the saints…namely Christ IN us…the hope of glory. In the old testament, when the Jews looked forward to a time when God would act in history to restore the fortunes of His people. Some Jewish seers expressed their hopes in terms of the ‘Secret Plans’ that God was reserving for the last great day. Mystery, in the way Paul is using it should not be mistranslated as English might…it is a secret, not an illusion, puzzling, or paradoxical. It is God’s secret plan…not a time table but a person…the person of Jesus Christ. All that God has from the beginning, planned to do, He has done, is doing in Christ, for the sake of His people (you and me). A great support of this is found in 1 Corinthians 2:6-7 “We speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.”
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