I've Got a Secret

Introduction

Wayne and I had a secret club. We decided that we wanted to form an all boys club (this was to keep Wayne’s little sister out). We would meet in his backyard because it was more interesting than mine. Wayne’s dad was always working on something mechanical, so his backyard had “stuff” lying around that made it more interesting. Wayne and I opened a bicycle shop as well. We started by tearing his bike apart and putting it back together again. His dad was pretty mad when we couldn’t quit remember where all the parts went. The point of our secret club was to have something that others couldn’t be a part of. It was fun initially until we realized that no one wanted to be a part of our secret club and that we really didn’t want his sister around and we could manage that by playing football. She had no interest.

Wayne moved away in late childhood. By that time, my take on girls was changing and secret clubs gave way to friendship groups in school. But even in high school there were “clubs” that not everyone could be a part of. Although if you look at my high school annual, I was part of lots of clubs. Club pictures were made at different times during particular times of a day. An announcement would be made that the Science Club needed to meet at a location at school for their picture. I’m in the picture. I wasn’t part of the science club. But I got out of class that day.

It’s hard to imagine that God had a secret. Paul uses the word “mystery” in 1:26 & 27. The word means “something hidden or a secret.” Paul writes about God revealing that mystery at just the right time and that the secret finds its fulfillment in Jesus. All of this may seem strange to us, but it is no longer a secret or a mystery. The mystery has been revealed. And its revelation affects us now and in the future.

False Teaching

False teachers (to be introduced later) had wormed their way into the church. They were trying to convince followers of Jesus that he was not enough. Believing in Jesus was fine but something more had to be added. Followers of Jesus eat the right food, celebrate certain days, worship angels, subject their body to harsh treatment, and keep the Sabbath day. The false teaching resulted in the followers of Jesus questioning their identity, the sufficiency of Jesus, and their salvation. Paul writes this letter to put an end to the false teachers and their teaching. Having never been to Colossae, Paul has a problem with optics. The letter is written by a man who claims to be an apostle but he is in prison. So Paul writes what his apostleship means. His mission as a preacher among the Gentiles meant that for the gospel to be spread, he would have to undergo some tough times (Acts 9:16). Paul suffering is a natural consequence of helping the Gentiles come to know Jesus. Paul defends his imprisonment as a sign of doing God’s will and of helping those who really need to know about God.

The phrase “fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions” is difficult to understand. Without getting into all the different possibilities, Paul is not saying that Christ’s suffering on the cross was not enough. That in some way Paul’s suffering is filling up what Christ didn’t finish. Paul is not saying anything about the insufficiency of Christ. Paul is highlighting his suffering in the absence of Christ’s physical body. In other words, just as Christ suffered Paul is suffering for God’s people as well. The word “lacking” is found in Phil. 2:30 and 1 Cor. 16:17 meaning “to make up for a group’s absence by representing them.” Paul is saying that he is making up for Christ’s physical absence by representing him in his suffering.

Paul goes on to say that his passion is so that the Gentiles can know Christ. He says that his purpose in 2:2 is so that they may know Christ. He doesn’t want anyone to be deceived by arguments which seem reasonable. He has no other motive than for them to know Christ. His only desire is that they can understand the mystery of God as it has been revealed in Jesus. Paul uses all of his mental abilities to make Jesus known. In 1:28, he says that he uses all types of methods in teaching. He wants to be able to have something to show for his effort. He wants to be able to introduce these Colossians as a product of his teaching. Just as he wants them to know Jesus, he doesn’t want them to know anything but the truth about Jesus. His desire is that they be complete in Christ. So Paul is trying to warn the Colossians about false teachers. He wants them to remain committed to Jesus fully and completely. Jesus is the only one in whom they need to have confidence.

God’s Mystery Revealed

Let’s spend a little time discussing this mystery from God. Paul has already written so well about the supremacy of Jesus in 1:15-20. The mystery of God is not merely Jesus. Even in the OT prophecies exist of one who was to come from God to be the Messiah. That this Messiah would save the world was also known. Verse 27 gives us a hint. The mystery includes the Gentiles. To the Jew, the fact that God was going to send the Messiah was well known. The fact that the Gentiles were going to be able to be part of God’s plan was even known. What was not known and what was not revealed until later was that the Gentiles and the Jews would share the same Messiah. That Jews and Gentiles alike would share in the body of Christ. This is very similar to what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:7-13. God’s plan includes bringing all people together in Christ.

Paul emphasizes the fulfillment of this mystery in verse 27 when he says in defining the mystery “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Whether he meant Christ in the Colossian church or Christ in each individual believer is immaterial. Both could be possible and both are possible. Paul says the mystery is that Christ is in Gentiles. Through Christ God brought together those who had been chosen by him and those who by faith have come into his family.

So what you may rightly ask? What does this have to do with us? Ever been on the outside looking in? Ever not been allowed to be part of something because you didn’t fit the criteria? The Jews were God’s chosen people. They were God’s exclusive people. Sure God helped other nations; loved other nations; cared about other nations, but the Jews were number one. Jesus came into this world and lived and ministered in a Jewish culture. He was Jewish. And when he met Gentiles, he reminded them that his work was to be among the Jews. But God had a real secret left to reveal. No longer did you have to become a Jew in order to belong to God. God would let anyone in who came to faith in Jesus. Because Jesus is the complete answer to God’s plan—how was God going to get all people of the world together. Through Jesus. The great mystery is that God brought all people together in one event. And by faith all who want to be a part of this family are welcome.

We take for granted that we can be part of God’s plan. We take for granted that Jesus has brought all people together. But think for a moment of being left out because you weren’t good enough. Remember being chosen last for teams. Remember being too little, too small, too young, too old. Remember what its like to be on the outside looking in. I remember at age 10 being invited to play softball with a bunch of teens. For a while I sat on the sidelines watching because I wasn’t a teenager believing that I could play just as well as any of them out there. And when you are finally given the chance, you are thankful and glad and happy. What all of this means is simply this.

There is only one way to share in God’s plan and it is through Jesus. There is no possibility of coming to the Father in any other way. God’s secret has been revealed in Jesus. He has made it possible for any who seek him to come to him through Jesus. The mystery is no longer hidden. Christ in you means that there is glory to share with the Father. There is no other way by which people can be saved except through Jesus. And all who come to the Father, Jew or Gentile, male or female, free or slave, red, yellow, black or white must come through Jesus. And all together we will share in glory (Col. 3:4). God has described how that faith is expressed in our repentance and baptism. Without these one cannot be in Christ and Christ cannot be in you. Invitation.

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