Does Understanding Matter?
My wife homeschooled our kids until they graduated from High School. One important area of their studies was reading comprehension. It wasn’t enough that they could read words proficiently; we also wanted them to understand what was being communicated accurately. To read and not understand what one is reading is still illiterate. Understanding what one reads is of great importance.
In the Bible, there was a church Paul had never met in person. Epaphras, his gospel coworker, planted it, and Paul had never been to it. But that didn’t stop Paul from caring for and being concerned for them.
As a true apostle of Jesus, Paul’s motivation to ensure the right gospel understanding was being achieved led him to write a letter that was also to be distributed to Laodicea. Just as reading comprehension was important to us regarding our children’s education, this church’s understanding was important to Paul.
Colossians 2:1 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Have you ever found yourself caring about the well-being of someone you’d never met in person?
Paul’s motivation is made clear here. He wants them to be encouraged in their hearts. He wants them to be knit together in love, and he wants them to attain to all riches of the full assurance of understanding.
Rightly understanding can bring full assurance into a person’s life, and as Paul puts it, that is akin to riches. The full assurance of understanding unlocks a treasure chest of riches in spiritual matters.
I want to stop there for a moment and consider how this one statement reveals the importance of understanding. Paul is not concerned with their ability to parrot information; he is concerned about their actual understanding. Another way to think about this is to consider taking ownership, receiving, embracing, and embodying. This is the kind of understanding that fuels faith.
What is it he wants them to possess the full assurance of understanding about?
The knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ. Why?
Because in them are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This, in a sense, is saying you don’t really know anything or possess real wisdom until you come into full assurance of understanding the mystery of God—both of the Father and the Son. What’s more than that is the fact that real faith is rooted in a person, not things. The more you truly know the Father and Christ, the more active the mustard seed of faith you were given becomes.
In other words, you can have full assurance of understanding the New Covenant Gospel, which reveals the plan that was hidden throughout the ages until Christ appeared and accomplished His mission. It reveals the love of the Father, the love of the Son, and the work of Christ. When the title Christ is used, it describes function and purpose with a real depth of significance.
Paul wants us to know 1) Who Christ is, 2) What Christ accomplished, and 3) How that applies to us.
Why was this so important to Paul?
Colossians 2:4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Not knowing the depth of the effect of who Christ is, what Christ did, and how it can leave a person in a vulnerable and unprotected state. It makes persuasive words a danger and threatens one’s freedom in Christ. Understanding matters, and it matters even more so when it comes to the New Covenant Gospel.
