#6 Colossians 2:1-5 "He Knows Everything"
2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery — Christ. 3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him. 4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. 5 For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ. HCSB
Read v3 again. Read it one more time. God has revealed to you his secret, who is the Lord Jesus, and in him are the richest treasures of wisdom and understanding. Try not to have an aneurism over this reality. Jesus knows everything about everything and everyone. He knows all the details of your life and everything that has happened, is happening and – get this – is going to happen to you. Multiply that by the billions of people that are alive today! Jesus owns all the storehouses of wisdom and insights in our world and in the spirit world. That’s a lot of data! And he knows all that we don’t yet know. Therefore, everything you need to know to live a full and fulfilled life is known by Christ. So tap into that vast treasury of rich knowledge and wisdom.
The radical mind renewal that you need is to realize how Jesus knows more about life than the world does. Think about this example. Do you try to eat healthy? It’s a big deal now. The food industry has created all kinds of new revenue opportunities through the desire to eat healthy: organic, all natural, gluten free, grass fed, free range, whole grain, and the categories go on and on. Why do you want to eat healthy? What is healthy for you? How can you know the labels are accurate? More importantly, do you worry about eating healthy because you are afraid of getting cancer or some other disease?
You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out the best foods to eat. You can easily get off-balance by focusing too much on healthy eating. Who really knows how you should eat and exercise? Jesus does. He is the only one who knows everything about your past, present and future. Your health food store clerk has no idea of your metabolic make-up. The internet certainly doesn’t. Your trainer is clueless about your specific muscle, tendon and cartilage condition. But Jesus knows it all.
Imagine if you begin to rely on Jesus' vast treasure of wisdom and knowledge to guide your every decision. That’s right, every decision. Jesus can give you all the wisdom you need to do your job well, raise your children, to make the best investments, to know who to date, who not to date, where to go to school and what to study. How do you tap into this treasury of wisdom and knowledge? Ask! Then ask again. Don’t ever stop asking. Build into your daily routine the habit of relying on the Spirit of Jesus to guide your spirit with his wisdom so that you can make the wisest decisions in every area of your life.
Ask according to God's Word in 1:9. “Father in the heavens, I ask you to fill me with the full knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding about how I should respond to this email.” Flare prayers like this one are the key to you learning the wisdom of Christ. The results of this kind of praying to the Father are spelled out in 1:10. You will live your life each day in such a way that it will be worthy of a person who has been shown the mystery of Jesus. You will fully please your Father, who cares about every detail of your day. You will make wise choices and do the kinds of good deeds that will produce lasting results, delicious fruit. And most importantly, you will increase in your full knowledge and understanding of God.
Paul reminded the believers in the church in Colossae that he was struggling for their faith and suffering in countless ways. But for him, it was all worth it because he was convinced that his teaching and writing would bind them all together in love, deepen their understanding of God’s glorious grace (v2) and strengthen their faith (v5). God’s purpose for you reading this same, 2,000 year-old letter is no different. He preserved it so that you, and all of his adopted children, could read it and understand his truth. He longs for you and your church family, your small group and all of your believing friends to have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery – Christ.
You are doing the very thing that will make all of this happen in you. You are feeding your soul on God’s Word. Since Jesus is the treasure chest of all wisdom and knowledge, every word he spoke and every word he inspired others to write are the primary outlet for you to grow in the assurance of your understanding of how to apply God's truths to your circumstances. You will not gain this assurance by osmosis. He gave you his Word for you to read it and think about it and strive to understand it so that you can live it out each day. You are doing his very will by taking time to read his Word so that you can better understand it and more faithfully apply it. Congratulations!
This is what is going to happen as you continue (menó) in Jesus' teaching. Your understanding about God will be enriched, which will make your love for his people deepen, which will strengthen your faith in Christ. You will not be persuaded to believe things that are not true about God, even though they sound compelling. You will be able to discern what is true as you continue to feed your mind and soul and as you commit to living in desperate dependence on the Father, the Son and the Spirit. You will be able to recognize God's values and ethics that are counter to the world's. You will live a life that is pleasing to the Father and inspiring to everyone you know.
Everyone in your network of influence will see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ (v5). Make that one of your life's goals, to live a strong and orderly life in Christ, by his grace and strength. Not so you can beat your chest and declare, "Look at me! I’m holy!" Your motivation comes from your gratefulness to God. He revealed his mystery to you! Cultivate within your inner most being an attitude of gratitude and you will leave a legacy that will produce eternal results that will make you and your Father smile.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, HCSB)
Take Action:
- Before you ask God to fill you according to 1:9, think about the results of this request in v10 and how you will apply those today.
- How might you encourage other believers to take at least 10 minutes each day to feed their soul and renew their mind? Consider asking God, at the beginning of each day, to direct you to one person that you can encourage by sharing what you are learning.
- As you face decisions about your work, finances, relationships, school and life in general, ask the Father to fill your mind with his wisdom. Build this practice into your normal routine and keep a record of how he answers those requests.