I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians2:1-3
Paul wants, no, he struggles, for three things for the congregations at Colosse and Laodicea:
That they will be:
- encouraged in heart (1)
- united in love (2)
- so to have a complete understanding of Christ. (3)
1. In Hebrew and Greco-Roman culture the heart was a place of conviction and not emotion. The heart was at the core of life and Paul wanted their devotion to Christ to be at the centre of their lives.
2. He longed for them to be united or knit together in love. The word he uses for "united" also implies coalescing, coming to the same conclusion and concluding together. Paul wanted them to conclude that they belonged together in the love of Christ.
3. For Paul the wonder of the gospel was that the mystery of God was made plain in the mystery of Christ. Christ is the fullness of God clothed in flesh. Once we wrap our heads around the idea that Jesus is Emmanuel (GOD: WITH us!), there are great riches available to us.
This is what Paul wanted for the church: Christ at the centre, Christ's love knitting us together, Christ's truth (mystery revealed) understood by us. In the Greek there is a sense that each step builds on the previous one...
The sad thing is that this doesn't just happen. We must respond to the message. Some 30-40 years later John would write down a letter from Jesus to the church in Laodicea: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!" (Rev3:15)
It seems the church in Laodicea didn't get it... Not even step 1...
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
