Christmas Treasures

All of us have treasures. Children treasure their toys. A special object handed down from one generation to another becomes a family treasure. What are your treasures? What is considered to be of greatest value to you? Shortly after my wife and I were married, our house was burned. Nearly every earthly possession we had was destroyed or damaged. That event caused us to recognize again what held greatest value in our lives. What holds the greatest value in your life?

As we think of Christmas treasures, the Word of God reveals to us some of the treasures we find in the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote of these treasures in the New Testament book of Colossians.

“For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:1-3

The wise men brought their treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to present to Him. When Christ Jesus came, He brought His treasures with Him. The Bible says, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” What does this mean? It means that when we have Christ, we have in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. As a believer, are you discovering more and more of what we have in Jesus Christ? Are you understanding that there is no limit and no end to our discovery? If we were trying to measure the depth, no bottom can be found. Neither can we find the height or the breadth. We cannot measure and say, “That is all there is!” There are no limits because in Him are found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In Him we find “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). What a statement!

Think of what treasures we have in Christ— “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” The Bible tells us so much of what we have in Him in Colossians 1:12-22. Think of this as one of God’s great lists of treasures in Christ. Take time to read this Scripture passage and ask the Lord to speak to you. By no means are all the treasures listed here. They are innumerable!

Review This List of Treasures in Christ

• We are partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light
• He hath delivered us from the power of darkness
• He translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son
• In Him we have redemption through His blood
• We have forgiveness of sins
• In Him we find the image of the invisible God
• He is before all things
• By Him all things consist
• He is the head of the body, the church
• He is the firstborn from the dead
• It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell
• He has made peace through the blood of His cross
• He reconciles all things unto Himself
• He presents us holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight

All we look for, long for, and need for our souls, we find in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are unblameable and unreprovable in Him! We are holy in His sight! The Bible says, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” If you are looking for peace, it is in Christ. If you are looking for happiness, it is in Christ. If you are looking for satisfaction, for fulfillment, for joy, for purpose, for answers to life, it is all in Christ. In other words, He is all in all. He is everything. He is everything from A to Z. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. In Him are hid all the treasures. Not one treasure is left outside Him. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Christ is the answer to the millions of questions of mankind.

The treasures of the wise men were something to behold, and they have a message for us; but think of the treasures of the God-Man! You have a need at this moment. Is it for salvation? You will find it in Him. He paid your sin-debt. He bled and died for your sin. He was buried, and He rose from the dead. If you ask Him to forgive your sin and by faith trust Him as your Saviour, you are going to find in Him salvation–full, free, and forever. If you have guilt and a sense of remorse over your sins, you find in Him forgiveness. You may say, “I have no peace in my heart.” Wait a minute! You will find in Christ all you need for that! He said, “My peace I give unto you” (John 14:27).

We search the world over, and we try every imaginable way to find what can be found nowhere else except in the Person of Jesus Christ. “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” A well-known preacher of the past by the name of Vance Havner said one day in my presence, “We sing ‘Christ is all I Need,’ but we do not believe that until He is all we have. When He brings us to the place where He is all we have, then we know that He is truly all we need.”

I know you have troubles and heartaches and sorrows, and I know there are people who are used of the Devil at times to cause you grief. But if you are a Christian—if you truly know Jesus Christ as your Saviour—what you need is not out there somewhere; what you need is in Him. What has God done recently in your life to cause you to stop looking everywhere else for what you need and start looking only to Him? By His grace and mercy, what has God allowed into your life to bring you to the end of your searching and to discern that all you need is in Him? The treasures of Christmas, you might imagine, are the gold, the frankincense, and the myrrh; but let us move beyond that and see that the real treasures of Christmas are in Christ.

Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash