GlobalChristians

Eternity 23 - Christ In You The Hope Of Glory

(Colossians 1:26-29 NKJV) the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. {27} To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. {28} Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. {29} To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

Most Christians have heard the phrase "Christ in you the hope of glory" - but what does it mean to "hope for glory"? Does it mean that I hope I will be called President, or that I will be a billionaire, or be famous or win a Nobel prize? Is this the sort of glory I get by hoping in Christ? Yes - but later.

We will indeed reign with Christ, as sons of God, as co-regents of the courts of heaven and we will be eternal magnificent beings of great glory. But for now our glory is a daily increase in personal character and Christ-likeness, the glory of grace and truth.

When the life of God enters the soul of the believer it produces glory there. It produces a new person - Christ in you, and this person becomes increasingly glorious with the glory of Christ Jesus. You become a person that shines, a person of love, joy, peace and patience, a person who is kind in all their ways and gentle in all their days, a good person and a faithful and wise person.

As the mind is renewed it becomes responsible, mature, decisive and morally attuned reaching decisions that are like those that Jesus Himself would make. You are gradually transformed into a person fit to reign with Christ. You become a person worthy of an eternal reward and filled with eternal life.

This connection to the life of Jesus means your soul is always growing, always receiving more and more glory, always becoming better as the Holy Spirit works in you mightily. As you maintain your connection to Christ Jesus through prayer, worship and obedient living you are filled with grace. You are changed in new and surprising ways.

You are not changed by your own efforts but by the life of God within your soul. You are changed by growing from within through the energizing work of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures have various terms for this "abiding in Christ", "walking in the Spirit", "setting the mind on the Spirit" etc.

They all mean staying connected to God. In the end this connection makes you not only a good person but a person worthy of glory a person to whom God can say "Well done good and faithful servant..have charge of ten cities". (Luke 19:17)

God does not just want to save you from Hell, He also wants to make you magnificent.

God does not just want you delivered from drugs, He wants you able to rule and to make wise and deep and moral decisions.

God wants His children to "achieve glory", He wants them strong and wise and noble and good and able to be comfortable among the mighty, holy angels in heaven. We will end today's study with a well-known passage from Romans:

(Romans 8:28-30 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. {29} For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. {30} Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Blessings,

John Edmiston