The Bible, the greatest book on earth, is the most complete book, revealing many things concerning God, the universe, and man. A person today can learn more than the greatest philosophers of the past simply by reading the Bible. However, there is one thing in the Bible called a mystery, which is something that is hidden and difficult to comprehend. An example of a mystery is the physical human life. We know that we have something called life, but no one has ever seen it. We recognize that a machine does not have life, and we know that death is the absence of life. However, we still cannot exactly define life. A medical examination cannot locate life within a person. This indicates that life is a mystery. It is unquestionably real, yet it is hidden, invisible, and beyond understanding. Just as there is a mystery in our physical body called life, there is also a mystery in the Bible. Many great teachers have read and thought that they understood the Bible, yet they never saw the mystery in the Bible.
Colossians 1:24-25 says, “The church; of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God.” Minister means “one who serves.” Attendants on an airplane meet the needs of the passengers, serving them with food and drink. Paul was a minister because he served the churches with Christ. Paul’s stewardship was to complete the word of God. Before Paul’s writing, much of the Bible already existed, but without Paul’s writing, the word of God would not be complete. Paul’s fourteen Epistles are the completion of the word of God. Many Bible translations, including the King James Version, do not adequately translate to complete the word of God in verse 25. Paul’s books are as crucial to the Bible as our heart is to our body. A person’s heart is not easy to see. Many Bible readers do not know that the heart of the Bible is Paul’s writings.
Verses 26 through 27 say, “The mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints; to whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles.” According to the Greek grammar, the word of God at the end of verse 25 is the mystery at the beginning of verse 26. The completion of God’s word in Paul’s fourteen Epistles reveals the mystery, that which is hidden and beyond understanding.
Verse 27 goes on to reveal that the mystery is Christ in us. Christ in us is the mystery, the completion of the word of God. In today’s age people reject superstition and demand scientific explanations. However, Christ being in us is a mystery. It is not something that we can substantiate by our physical senses or mental comprehension, yet we believe it. It is not superstitious or scientific, but it is real.
For nearly two thousand years countless Christians have read the Bible but have not seen the mystery revealed in Colossians 1:26-27. When most people read the Bible, they see only outward rules and regulations. These things are easy to see, like a person’s nose, ears, and arms. However, like a person’s heart, the mystery in the Bible, which is Christ in us, is real and living but difficult to perceive. This mystery was “hidden from the ages and from the generations.” Even the Old Testament patriarchs, kings, and prophets did not know the mystery of God. Eventually, God raised up Paul and sent him to complete the word of God.
Christ in us is the heart of the Bible, and it is also the heart of our being. Before we believed in Christ, we were lifeless corpses. When we repented, believed in the Lord, and called upon His name, a heart was transplanted into us. That heart is Christ in us.
When I first came to the United States, I found that the Christians were not aware of two crucial things. First, very few knew that they had a human spirit, and hardly anyone talked about the human spirit. Second, I discovered that most Christians in the United States did not believe that Christ is in the believers. When I began to teach that Christ is in us, some began to publish books to oppose this teaching. They said that I made Christ small by saying that He is in us. They believed that because Christ is unlimited and great, man is too small to contain Him. Romans 8:34 says that Christ is at the right hand of God, but verse 10 of the same chapter says that Christ is in us. This is a mystery. Moreover, Ephesians 4:6 says that the Father is in all, which means that the Father is in us. John 14:23 indicates that the Father and the Son make a mutual abode with us. Finally, in John 15:4 the Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you.” Christ abides in us, and we abide in Him. The meaning of abide implies that Christ is not only in us but also remains and makes His dwelling in us.
Christ being in us is the mystery and the completion of the word of God, the heart of the Bible. Christ is in every believer. Colossians 1:27 says that Christ in us is the hope of glory. We can express Christ because He is in us.