Scripture Reading: Col. 2:2-3, 9-13; 3:1; 4:3; Eph. 3:8-9; John 1:1, 14, 16; 1 Cor. 6:17
Ⅰ
In the Bible a mystery refers not only to things that are hidden and unknown but also to things that are hidden in God’s heart; this is the principle concerning the mysteries mentioned in the Bible—Mark 4:11; Rom. 16:25-26; Col. 1:26-27; 2:2; 4:3; Eph. 1:9; 3:3-4, 9; 5:32; 6:19.
Ⅱ
Colossians 2:2 says, “The mystery of God, Christ”; the mystery of God is manifested in Christ, so Christ is the mystery of God.
Ⅲ
There are five great mysteries in the Bible:
A
The mystery of the universe is God, who is the meaning and purpose of the universe—Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11; Eph. 3:9.
B
The mystery of man is also God—Gen. 1:26; Zech. 12:1; 1 Cor. 2:11.
C
The mystery of God is Christ—Col. 2:2.
D
The mystery of Christ is the church—Eph. 3:4; Col. 4:3.
E
The mystery of the church is the organism of Christ, the Body of Christ as the enlargement of Christ—Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4, 16; 5:30, 32.
Ⅳ
In Ephesians mystery is a crucial word:
A
In eternity God planned a will, but it was hidden in Him; it was a mystery—1:9.
B
God’s hidden purpose is the mystery, and the unveiling of this mystery in the mingled spirit is the revelation of the mystery—3:3, 5.
C
God’s mystery is His hidden purpose, and with this mystery there is an economy—the economy of the mystery—v. 9.
D
Christ is a mystery, and the church, as the Body of Christ to express Him, is the mystery of Christ—v. 4; Col. 4:3.
E
Christ and the church as one spirit are the great mystery—1 Cor. 6:17; Eph. 5:32.
Ⅴ
The all-inclusive Christ is the mystery of God—Col. 2:2:
A
God Himself is a mystery, and Christ is the mystery of this mystery
B
The mystery of God indicates something incomprehensible and inexplicable.
C
As the mystery of God, the all-inclusive, extensive Christ is the definition, explanation, and expression of God—the Word of God—John 1:1, 14:
１
Although God is infinite and eternal, without beginning or ending, He also has a history, a story—Rom. 16:26; Psa. 90:2.
２
The all-inclusive, extensive Christ—the mystery of God, the mysterious story of God—is the history of God.
３
God’s history refers to the process through which He passed in Christ so that He may enter into us, and we may be brought into Him; this process includes incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, glorification, and enthronement—John 1:12-14, 29; 3:14; 12:24; 14:20.
D
In this all-inclusive, extensive Christ as the mystery of God, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden—Col. 2:3:
１
Wisdom is related to our spirit, and knowledge is related to our mind—Eph. 1:8, 17.
２
God is the unique source of wisdom and knowledge—Rom. 16:27; 11:33.
３
This is the spiritual wisdom and knowledge of the divine economy concerning Christ and the church—Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 5:32.
４
Wisdom and knowledge also refer to all the “stories” of God.
５
All the wisdom and knowledge pertaining to God’s stories are hidden in Christ, who is the mystery of God—Col. 2:2-3.
Ⅵ
As the mystery of God, Christ is the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead—v. 9:
A
All the fullness of the Godhead refers to the entire Godhead, the complete God—v. 9:
１
The word Godhead refers to deity and strongly indicates the deity of Christ.
２
Since the Godhead comprises the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead must be the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14.
３
For Christ to be the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead means that the fullness of the Triune God dwells in Christ in a bodily form—Col. 2:9:
ａ
This implies the physical body that Christ put on in His humanity, and it indicates that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ as the One who has a human body—John 1:14; Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14.
ｂ
Before His incarnation the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ as the eternal Word, but it did not dwell in Him bodily—John 1:1.
ｃ
After He became incarnate, clothed with a human body, the fullness of the Godhead began to dwell in Him in a bodily way, and in His glorified body (Phil. 3:21) now and forever it dwells.
B
Fullness in Colossians 2:9 refers not to the riches of God but to the expression of the riches of God:
１
The riches are the quantity of an object, whereas the fullness is the flowing out, the overflow, of the object to become the expression of the object.
２
What dwells in Christ is not only the riches of the Godhead but also the expression of the riches of what God is:
ａ
God’s fullness is the overflow of His riches, and this overflow is God’s expression.
ｂ
The fullness of the Godhead is the expression of the Godhead, the expression of what God is—v. 9.
３
The Godhead is expressed both in the old creation, the universe, and in the new creation, the church—1:15, 18.
C
When the Son of God was incarnated as a man, with Him was the fullness of God, and of this fullness we have all received—John 1:14, 16:
１
In John 1:16 grace does not refer to the riches of grace but to the fullness of grace; the riches of grace are in God, but the fullness of grace is in Christ Jesus—Col. 2:9.
２
The grace we receive is the fullness of grace; beginning from the time we are saved, we may receive grace upon grace.
３
The phrase grace upon grace in John 1:16 can be compared to the rolling waves of the sea that come in wave upon wave without ceasing.
Ⅶ
As believers in Christ, we are made full in Christ, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily—Col. 2:9-10:
A
The Greek word translated “full” in verse 10 implies completion, perfection.
B
Because all the fullness dwells in Christ and because we have been put into Him, we have been made full, filled with the divine riches—1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 3:8:
１
All those who believe in Christ have been put into Christ; therefore, we are identified with Him and are one with Him—Gal. 3:27; 2 Cor. 5:17.
２
We the believers have been put into the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, identified with Him, and joined to Him as our Husband; hence, we are one with Him—Col. 1:28; Rom. 7:2-4; 1 Cor. 6:17.
３
Because we are one with Christ, we partake of all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained; we inherit all that Christ has experienced and passed through, receiving all that He is and has.
４
All that He has passed through is now our history, and all that He has obtained and attained is our inheritance.
５
The result is that all that He is and all that He has belong to us, and all that He has experienced has become our history—Col. 2:11-13; 3:1.
C
We need to have a full realization of what we have in Christ and to exercise faith to partake of all that is ours in Christ—Eph. 3:17.
D
Because this fullness is all-inclusive, it accomplishes everything for us, it fully satisfies and supplies us, and it makes us full, perfect, and complete—Col. 2:9.
E
We have the all-inclusive, inexhaustible fullness that dwells in Christ bodily, and in Him we are made full—Eph. 3:8; Col. 2:9-10.