Tuesday

Related Verses
Col. 1:9, 15-18
9 Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation,
16 Because in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him.
17 And He is before all things, and all things cohere in Him;
18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things;

Col. 2:2, 9
2 That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ,
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,

Col. 3:10-11
10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

Matt. 17:5
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!

Eph. 1:10
10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him;

Related Reading
Colossians is a book concerning God’s will…Wisdom is in our spirit for us to realize, sense, and perceive the spiritual things, and understanding is in our mind to interpret what we perceive [1:9]. We need all spiritual wisdom and understanding in order to have the full knowledge of the will of God…The will of God mentioned here is the eternal will of God, the great will of God. It is related not to the things in our daily life but to God’s purpose, God’s intention. To know this will requires that we have full knowledge and all spiritual wisdom and understanding. What is the will of God according to His desire, His intention, in the whole universe, in creation, in redemption, in the coming age, and in eternity?…If we read [Colossians], we will realize that the answer [to this question] is Christ Himself. The will of God is in Christ, concentrated in Christ, and for Christ. Christ is everything in the will of God. We must know this and realize this with spiritual wisdom and with our understanding in a clear, renewed mind. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 2, “A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, Part 2—Romans through Philemon,” p. 327) 

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In the first chapter [of Colossians] the apostle Paul and his co-workers prayed that the Colossians would know the will of God, and in the last chapter Epaphras as a slave of Christ struggled fervently in prayer on behalf of the church concerning the same thing [4:12]. Therefore, this is a book which reveals to us the eternal will of God in the universe. 

Colossians speaks of the mystery of God in relation to the will of God. In order to speak about a person’s will, we must know what is in his heart…God has a mystery, and He is a mystery. We know that God exists, but apparently it is difficult for anyone to know Him. Not only God Himself is a mystery, but what He desires and intends to do also is a mystery. 

The term the mystery of God is found in Colossians 2:2…Here the apostle uses such spiritual terms as all the riches, full assurance of understanding, and full knowledge. The mystery of God is too mysterious, too profound, and too great. It needs all the riches of the full assurance of understanding…By ourselves we cannot thoroughly explain what God is and what God intends to do; the answer is in the book of Colossians. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 2, “A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, Part 2—Romans through Philemon,” p. 328) 

The will of God is profound in relation to our knowing, experiencing, and living the all-inclusive Christ. In Colossians 1:9 Paul was not praying that the Colossians would know whom to marry, where to live, or what kind of job they should have. His heart was not occupied with such trivial things. In this verse God’s will refers to Christ. It was not God’s will for the Colossians to follow Judaistic observances, Gentile ordinances, or human philosophies. Furthermore, it was not God’s will for them to practice asceticism, to treat the body severely in order to bridle the indulgence of the flesh. God’s will for the Colossians was for them to know Christ, to experience Christ, to enjoy Christ, to live Christ, and to have Christ become their life and their person. God’s will for us today is exactly the same. 

If we know that God’s will is for us to be saturated with Christ, then we have the proper knowledge of God’s will. Whatever we do should be done in the will of God. We should marry in Christ, work in Christ, and move in Christ. Christ should be our life and our person. This is the will of God. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 20-21) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 3