that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, (2:2-3).
Treasure Trove: a hidden treasure, subsequently discovered; a valuable discovery; an abundant source of something.
Everything we need is abundantly provided in Jesus Christ; but it had all remained a valuable mystery, hidden from past ages and generations, to be subsequently discovered in Christ.
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).
that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, (Colossians 1:26-27).
And when God had determined it was time, He fully disclosed and made known His mystery in His Son, Our Only Hope of Glory.
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth, (Ephesians 1:9-10).
so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him, (Ephesians 3:10-11).
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons, (Galatians 4:4-5).
However, God’s Treasure is not what the world treasures, for His ways are unfathomable!
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33).
God provides His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge… In Christ, that all who place their faith in Him would know Him, love Him, serve Him and walk in Him with gratitude.
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude, (2:6-7).
Seven times in this chapter, Paul references our position In Him, In Christ, “in whom are hidden all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge.”
Consider His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge… In Him
- His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge, is all encompassing and all is hidden… In Him.
- …Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, (2:2-3).
- His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge enlightens us in discipline and stability through faith… In Him.
- For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ, (2:5).
- His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge is His gift to be received and applied as we walk… In Him.
- Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, (2:6).
- His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge firmly roots, builds and establishes our faith… In Him.
- having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude, (2:7).
- His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge reveals the deception and erroneous traditions of the world, to liberate us through all the fullness of Deity that dwells… In Him.
- See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, (2:8-9).
- His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge makes us complete… In Him.
- and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; (2:10).
- His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge removes the desires of our dead flesh and replaces them with new life… In Him.
- and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead, (2:11-12).
How do we respond to His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge… In Him?
We know we need to apply His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge by faith. But as Paul wrote, it is not faith in what we know; it is not faith in what we do, or even in what we study. It is faith… In Him.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me, (Galatians 2:20).
Oh that we would live by faith In Christ; faith In Him to live a life surrendered to His will; faith In Him that chooses the crucified life of self-sacrifice; and faith In Him that recognizes our inadequacy in ourselves and our desperation to discover His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge… In Him.
Let us ask Him to fuel our faith in fear, a holy reverence and awe that seeks His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge… In Him; and as we do, let us take Him at His Word that He will reveal His secret, profound and hidden things to us.
The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His covenant, (Psalm 25:14).
“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to men of understanding.
22 “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him, (Daniel 2:20-21).
As we seek Him, and as He reveals His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge that are In Him and belong to Him, let us pray that we would so cherish and value His Treasure entrusted to us, that by faith In Him, we would obey all that He makes known to us.
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law, (Deuteronomy 29:29).
It is His Wisdom and His Knowledge alone that we must commit to seek. Oh, that we would hold fast to Him Who holds fast to us, as we walk In Christ with overflowing gratitude and find all our delight in the truth of His Treasure Trove of Wisdom and Knowledge… In Him.
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude… 16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God, (2:6-7, 16-19).