Moe Bergeron

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh through death, to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence— if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.

I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God, the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

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Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

Paul now turns from cosmic reconciliation to personal redemption. The Colossians are not distant observers of Christ’s supremacy—they are recipients of His reconciling grace. “You, who once were alienated…”—this is the sobering reality of life apart from Christ. Alienation is more than distance; it is enmity. They were hostile in mind and active in evil, not merely victims but rebels (cf. Ephesians 2; Romans 5).

But now, through the body of His flesh through death, they have been reconciled. This is incarnational atonement. Christ did not redeem from afar; He entered flesh and died. And the aim is not just forgiveness, but transformation—“to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence.” This is priestly language, echoing the language of sacrifices—but now fulfilled in persons, not offerings (cf. Romans 12; Hebrews 10).

The “if” that follows is not a threat but an exhortation: continue in the faith, rooted and immovable. The security of the gospel is not grounded in passivity, but in persevering trust in the all-sufficient Christ. The gospel they heard is not one of many—it is the one that has gone out to the whole world and made Paul its servant (cf. Romans 1).

Paul then reveals something deeply personal and deeply theological: his sufferings are for the Church. He does not claim to supplement the atonement but to share in the afflictions that Christ’s body—the Church—still endures. Paul’s apostolic commission is to suffer, preach, and build up the Church in the hope of presenting every believer perfect in Christ (cf. Philippians 3; 2 Timothy 2).

At the heart of this ministry lies a once-hidden truth: the mystery now revealed. This mystery was not disclosed in the Old Covenant, but now, in this age of the Spirit, it is unveiled to the saints. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is New Covenant revelation at its peak. Not merely Christ with us or for us—but in us. This is the miracle of the indwelling Christ through the Spirit, the reality foretold by prophets but fulfilled only in the risen Jesus (cf. Jeremiah 31; John 14; Galatians 2).

Christ in you is the hope of glory—not just future inheritance, but present transformation, sanctification, and assurance. The hope of being with God forever is rooted in the truth that Christ is already within.

And so Paul preaches not a system but a person: “We proclaim Him.” Christ is the center of all true proclamation. Paul’s mission is not moralism or law-keeping, but admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom—the wisdom that comes from God and is found in Christ alone. The goal is nothing less than maturity in Christ, the full formation of the believer into the likeness of the Son.

To this end, Paul labors. But even here, he is not self-sufficient. He strives with all His energy, the power of Christ Himself working within him.

This is New Covenant ministry: Spirit-powered labor, Christ-centered preaching, glory-rooted hope, and the mystery now revealed—Christ in you.