PAUL'S GOALS WERE ON TARGET
FRIDAY 06 MAY 2022
Apostle Paul always had a specified goal for the saints in the churches he ministered to and by the way he addressed them, you could tell that he was always able to follow and account for their spiritual growth, even in his absence. He mastered the habit of using the goal concept as a tool in his ministry to build up the saints. He set them to help God's people attain a positive and divinely-inspired changes, and this denotes that Paul showed no lack of attention in addressing the issues pertaining their spiritual experiences.
Reference: Colossians 2:2-3 New International Version (NIV) "My goal 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."
Here is Paul's goal for the Colossians: He wants them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. He wants them to have a complete confidence in understanding God's mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself. He wants them to keep in touch with every reality about Christ. When Christians are encouraged by the right leaders or people, like Paul did to the Christians in Colossae, they can have a settled mind to gain the full riches of complete understanding of the accurate knowledge of Christ, God's great mystery. So being encouraged in heart suggests having an inner awareness that we are one with Christ, and such that even if difficulties and trials come, they come for Christ to handle them through His expressed form in us.
Knowing the mystery of God, namely Christ, is progressive, and it indicates that Christ is a divine plan devised by God and this plan is mysterious. In other words, Christ is the atmosphere of divine mystery. As we live a godly life and invest the knowledge of Christ in our spirit, our spiritual growth becomes predictable and inevitable which is a mystery. Another mystery about Christ is that the more we know and understand Him, the more He becomes formed and magnified in us, thereby manifesting Himself through us - more and more.
The Scripture is replete with benefits of knowing Christ, meaning that as we continually go for the full riches of His complete understanding, we position and set ourselves up for good success. For instance, Colossians 2:10 reads, "So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority" (NLT). Now this is another mystery we understand by knowing Christ. Imagine seeing yourself this way over time or as years go by - Christ has become your completion and fulfilment. What a mystery at work in you! You are already complete in Him, which implies - no room for worries. Even if diverse problems come your way or you find yourself in seemingly negative circumstance, you can rest assured that you are complete in Christ and one with Him. And guess what! This mystery emboldens your attitude, changes everything and effects your desired change.
No wonder Paul urged the Colossian Christians to be encouraged in heart, which to us, means to be strengthened and to cultivate the soil of our hearts to grasp more of the Christ. He is simply telling us, just as he wrote to the Colossians, that as we have received a mystery - in all of His fullness, we should also walk in Him fully by knowing and understanding who we've received. Simply put, we should know Him and let Him be in us "all" that He represents because that is what He is - a mystery. Shalom!
Scripture Reading - Proverbs 9:10; Ephesians 1:18; Proverbs 3:13; 2 Peter 3:18; 1 John 5:20.
Exuberant Declaration: I advance in spiritual knowledge of Christ beyond the norm. I'm dedicated to the mystery at work in my life. Therefore, by having the full riches of complete understanding regarding Christ, I function in boundless grace and I experience growth far above the infancy of spiritual development.
