The Apostle Paul wrote:
God chose to make known
how great among the Gentiles are
the riches of the glory of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
It is he whom we proclaim.
I love mysteries. A riddle. A puzzle. A mental challenge. So did the Apostle Paul. In fact, “mystery” is a favorite word of his. In his letter to the Ephesians, for example, he hints at a great “mystery” in his opening words (1:9). Nevertheless, he waits until chapter 3 to unveil the secret.
What is this “5 mystery” that “5 in former generations was not made known to humankind”? “6 That … the Gentiles have become fellow heirs [with the Jews], members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel”! (The Apostle Peter reiterates this wonder, saying, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” – 1 Pet 2:10.)
Today, in Colossians, Paul reiterates this message … and adds to it! He says, “how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery.”
Yes, it’s a gift and a wonder that Gentiles have been grafted onto the family tree, that they too can be people of God. But its bigger than that!
Read it. What is “the glory of this mystery”? It is “Christ in you”!
When Jesus says in John 15 that he is the vine and we are the branches, he is saying that we are grafted in to something that is living. Think what happens in a literal gardening graft. A branch is cut from a previous plant. (Cut plants are dead … or at least dying. They are dead, they just don’t know it yet.) Nevertheless, before all their life leaks out, they are grafted onto a fully living plant. And the life of the living plant begins to flow in and through the dead and dying branch, restoring it to life.
The mystery that Paul is talking about is that the Gentiles were dead. They were detached from God – his kingdom and his covenants. For maybe ninety years of life, one can pull off the illusion of life – just like a cut flower can look pretty in a vase for a few days – nevertheless, that flower will inevitably droop and wither and decay. Our lives are like cut flowers … unless and until we are attached to a living vine.
And Paul says, “the glory of this mystery [is that] Christ [is] in you.” When you submit your life to him, he lives in you. You are grafted in and his power flows through you. His forgiveness regenerates your dying heart. His grace sets your feet to dancing.
In Christ’s Love,
a poison ivy vine who has
been grafted onto The Grape Vine
and somehow (mysteriously)
I’m bearing good fruit
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