My purpose is . . . that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.
(Colossians 2:2)
 

    There's something tantalizing about a secret.
    Secrets have an almost irresistible power to arouse our curiosity, to whet our thirst for a bit of information no one else has.
    Do you remember how as a child, one of the most irritating taunts anyone could flip your way was - in that awful sing-song voice - "I know something you don= t know!@
  Many cults use the lure of secrets to charm the unwary into their web of lies. "We know the hidden way to God,@ they whisper. "Join us and learn the secret. Nobody else can help you. Nobody else knows what it is. We alone have the answer. Come on inside. We can't talk out here.@
  Something just like that was going on in Paul's time. In those days "mystery religions@ were sprouting up all over. People outside their cliques hadn't a clue what went on inside. People on the inside believed they understood the secrets of the universe; its mysteries were no mystery to them.
    Paul borrows that little word mystery here and uses it for his own purposes. When he writes about a mystery, he= s not talking about Agatha Christie-style mystery, where God is sitting up there spinning a tale intended to confuse. What he's saying is, "Look, do you really want to understand how the universe is put together? Do you really want to know the mystery of God? Then come to Christ. Christ is the mystery of God; Christ is the one who unveils God. Commit yourself to Christ, and you'll begin to understand what you never understood before - who God really is.@
  Is that something you= d like? Would getting a clearer vision of God meet a desperate need in your life? If so, you need to know Christ more fully.
    You needn't join some secretive, select clique huddled off in some corner to do so. You don't need some secret initiation rite or a specially trained tutor to learn about Jesus. The Christ you need to know was crucified publicly, was resurrected in power and written about in the Gospels, and is available to anyone who calls upon him. The mystery of God has been openly revealed in Jesus. Paul said as much in Colossians 1:28: "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.@
    Why do you think Christ is described here as "the mystery of God"?
 

Heavenly Father, thank you for the beauty and the simplicity of the fact that all your mystery is summed up in Christ. Please help me to come to know him better, and thus to know you better, Amen.
 

~Stuart Briscoe~