by Paul D. Fisher
In the apostle Paul's letter to the church at Colossians are many pearls of great knowledge; the greatest of these, I believe, is found in Colossians 2:3, quoted in the title of this article. "In whom...," refers to Jesus Christ. The apostle John quoted Jesus in John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by the ' By this verse we can understand that the only way to truth and knowledge about God and eternal life is through Jesus Christ and His teachings. In Jesus Christ is this treasure, which was once hidden from the world, but is now revealed in the New Testament.
Wisdom is defined by the Webster Dictionary as "the
faculty to discern right and truth and to judge or act accordingly." The
wise man Solomon said of wisdom in Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is the principal
thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
' It does no one any good to have knowledge if that person does not know
how to use it properly. Solomon also stated in Proverbs 16:22, "Understanding
is a wellspring of life unto him that bath it: but the instruction of fools
is folly. ' For this life to be eternal life, it must come from Jesus Christ,
for He is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
This is why John, by inspiration of God, called
Jesus the Word in John 1:1-4, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God The same was in the beginning with God
All things were made by him,' and without him was not any thing made that
was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men" When we hear
this Word, either through preaching of the gospel or through Bible study,
we are given the power to become sons of God by faithful obedience to His
plan of salvation.
Sadly, there are many people in our world for whom this wisdom and knowledge is still hidden. Sadder still is the fact that many of these very people have the opportunity to seek and find this great treasure. They have a copy of the Bible, but do not seek within its pages for this greatest of all truths! Rather than seeking for this great treasure many are staking their eternal destiny on what someone has told them the Bible says. How very, very sad! They need to read Matthew 7:21-23, and understand that it takes more than just calling God Lord to be saved!