Paul the apostle cared
deeply for the church located in Colosse, and because there were
false teachers among them, he desired to bring them to the truth and
care for their spiritual needs. He wanted them to be “comforted,
knit together in love” and to have “all riches of the full
assurance of understanding” to the “mystery of God, and of
the Father, and of Christ”. In chapter two and verse three of
his letter to them, Paul acknowledges “treasure” which is
hidden in Christ where we read:
In whom are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The
verse begins, “In whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom...” Because Paul was
contending against the heresies of the Gnostics who denied the deity
of Jesus Christ, he told the Colossians about Jesus as he wrote, “In
whom”, speaking of Jesus, “are
hid” or “secret or stored
up” “all the treasures”
which means “good and precious things which are collected and laid
up” “of wisdom”
or “broad and full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very
diverse matters, and supreme intelligence such as belongs to God”.
Jesus, like a treasure box filled with valuables, secretly held “all
the treasures wisdom”
of God concerning the “good news” of the Almighty.
The verse goes on to say,
“...and knowledge.” In
addition to the “wisdom”
of God, Jesus also contained “all the treasures” of
the “knowledge” which
is the Greek word “gnosis” and means “general intelligence,
understanding, moral wisdom, and such as is seen in right living”
of God. It is interesting to note that Paul employed the word
“gnosis”, which was where the “Gnostics” derived their name,
to show Jesus having “all the treasures” of
“knowledge”. No
doubt this was a direct defense against the false teaching of this
heretical group, and because Jesus held within Him all the “wisdom
and knowledge” the Colossians
would ever need, the “Gnostic's” false-teaching was squelched.
As
we ponder these words, let us allow our minds to attempt to perceive
what “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”
of God are. How wise is He? How much does He know, and how well does
he know what to do with what He knows? Let us be assured, we will
never be able to expand our minds enough to encase “all
the treasure of wisdom and knowledge”
of God, however, we may know that whatsoever that amount is, Jesus
has it all hidden within Him. Jesus is not only Lord and Savior to
those who rely upon, trust in and cling to Him, but He also
encompasses all the “wisdom and knowledge” we
shall ever need to live our lives. So, what was it that we were
worried about? May the Lord Jesus make these truths hold firm within
our hearts.
Next
time Paul writes about people
beguiling the Colossians,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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