Saturday, February 18, 2017

Interwoven in Christ

Col 2:2-3 Paul’s outlining the priorities for what he wants to see in every believer and every church here in this verse and it’s staggering and incredible.
…that their hearts may be encouraged…
When you face loss or disappointment it’s called “hope deferred”. The result is that it makes the heart sick. But Paul is stating the clarity of focus here is that you would have an encouraged heart. A heart filled with courage stands in the present with confidence and looks toward the future with bold expectancy. Whatever circumstances lie between you and your destiny, we are continually strengthened by the knowledge that the end of this journey is a joy that nothing can take away.
…having been knit together in love… 
Jesus declared that we would know that we are one with Him in John 14. Then He prayed that we would be one with each other in John 17. In Christ we have been interwoven into a tapestry of Love Himself. The Holy Spirit has a high value for union and unity. The declaration itself doesn’t make it reality without our willful alignment to the desire of His heart.
…and attaining to all the wealth that comes from full assurance of understanding that results in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The boundless riches of the Gospel are accessed when you have settled on this singularity as the foundation of every moment and movement of your being. Christ. So then when Paul makes statements about Christ in the rest of the letter, He is unveiling that wealth with statements like “Christ is all and in all” and “in Him you have been made complete”. Our union with Him is the source of all wisdom.