Every Good and Perfect Gift - a 5-Day Advent DevotionalNäide

Christ in Us

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Colossians 1:27 ESV

When the angel appeared to Mary, she was deeply troubled. “‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34 NIV). The message made no earthly sense. Yet the will of God was unfolding within her, quite literally. Christ would be formed in her, a miracle of both wonder and mystery.

Joseph, too, wrestled with the tension between what made sense and what God was doing. Learning of Mary’s pregnancy, he quietly planned to end their engagement. But an angel intervened with a greater revelation: this child was from the Holy Spirit. Joseph was invited to embrace not only Mary but also the mystery of God’s will.

This is the miracle of Advent: God with us. But even more astonishing is the mystery Paul describes: Christ in us. Because of His birth, death, and resurrection, the very life of Christ now lives within every believer. As Galatians 2:20 (ESV) says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

There are moments in our own lives that don’t make sense—circumstances we wouldn’t choose or don’t understand. But in hindsight, we see the evidence of God’s goodness. Like Mary and Joseph, we’re invited to trust Him, even when the way is unclear. The mystery of His will is not always revealed immediately, but the gift of His presence, Christ in us, is constant.

Reflect

Where have you seen the mystery of God’s will unfold in your life? What would it look like to embrace His presence in you in every moment of every day?

Pray

Lord, thank You for the gift of Christ in me. Help me trust You when I don’t understand and receive with joy the mystery of Your will. In Jesus’s name, Amen.