«　WEEK 1　DAY 2　»

　　Col. 1:9 ...We also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

　　4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

　　Wisdom is in our spirit for us to realize, sense, and perceive the spiritual things, and understanding is in our mind to interpret what we perceive. We need all spiritual wisdom and understanding in order to have the full knowledge of the will of God. The will of God mentioned in Colossians 1:9 is not His will in small matters. It is not merely for us to know what school to go to, what house to buy, or whether or not to marry. These things are too minor. The will of God mentioned here is the eternal will of God, the great will of God. It is related not to the things in our daily life but to God’s purpose, God’s intention. To know this will requires that we have full knowledge and all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 2, “A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, Part 2—Romans through Philemon,” p. 327)

　　Spiritual wisdom and understanding are of the Spirit of God in our spirit, in contrast to Gnostic philosophy, which is merely in the darkened human mind. (Col. 1:9, footnote 2)

　　What is the will of God according to His desire, His intention, in the whole universe, in creation, in redemption, in the coming age, and in eternity? The entire book of Colossians is the answer to this question. If we read this book, we will realize that the answer is Christ Himself. The will of God is in Christ, concentrated in Christ, and for Christ. Christ is everything in the will of God. We must know this and realize this with spiritual wisdom and with our understanding in a clear, renewed mind.

　　[In Colossians 1] the apostle Paul and his co-workers prayed that the Colossians would know the will of God, and in chapter 4 Epaphras as a slave of Christ struggled fervently in prayer on behalf of the church concerning the same thing [v. 12]. Therefore, this is a book which reveals to us the eternal will of God in the universe. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 2, “A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, Part 2—Romans through Philemon,” pp. 327-328)

　　To be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will simply means to have the revelation of God’s plan so that through this revelation we know what God plans to do in this universe.... What did God plan in eternity past to do in time throughout all the generations? We need such a revelation so that we can have the full knowledge of God’s eternal plan.

　　The revelation of God’s plan opens the way for us to have more experience of Christ.... Thus, we need to spend more time to learn about Christ in the plan of God. This is one of the most important reasons why we have to read the Scriptures. We read the Scriptures not to receive doctrine or teachings but to receive the revelation of Christ and the full knowledge of God’s eternal plan.

　　The Bible is a book of revelation. The Bible opens the universal curtain, the universal veil, to show what is in the mind of God and what it is that God plans to do in this universe. This plan is to make His Son everything. God’s desire, plan, and mind is to make Christ everything. This is the content of the entire Scriptures. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The Mystery of God and the Mystery of Christ,” pp. 129-130)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1964, vol. 2, “A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, Part 2—Romans through Philemon,” ch. 19; CWWL, 1973- 1974, vol. 1, “The Indwelling Christ in the Canon of the New Testament,” ch. 16