MORNING MANNA 1-15-23
THE HOPE OF GLORY” To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: ” – Col. 1:27
Reading this verse leaves me spell bound! It’s like opening a door that leaves you looking out on a vast expanse with no end in sight. It leave you speechless, yet you feel that you ought to spend the rest of your life talking about it. Here we find God answer to history’s greatest mystery – “Christ in you, the hope of glory“. I want you to examine every part of that statement like you would look at the facets of a diamond and see how they beautify the whole.
– Vs. 13 God’s “dear Son“- Vs. 14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins”.- Vs. 15 “the image of the invisible God“.- Vs. 16 “… all things were created by him, and for him: “– Vs. 17 “ before all things and by him all things consist“- Vs. 18 “the head of the body, the church” “the beginning” “the firstborn from the dead” “that in all things he might have the preeminence“- Vs. 19 “in him should all fulness dwell”– Vs. 20-22 Speaks of what He did. If we just stopped with the word “Christ” it would be wonderful, but there is more. Next he says —
II. “Christ in you”He isn’t speaking about Christ in general, but “Christ in you”. There are not enough hours in the day to say all that could be said about this. Christ became Immanuel, God with us, that He might be God in us. Let that sink in! God whom the heavens cannot contain lives in us. That is amazing! That’s profoundly simple, but it is simply profound. As Jesus said, “the Kingdom of God is within you“.I’ll never forget when I first learned this great truth. To think about Christ actually living in us blows my mind. it doesn’t seem possible, but it is true and that’s not all. There is more —
III. “Christ in you, the hope…”
I stopped here on purpose. I want you to think about hope in general before the point made in our text. It would be awful to live without hope. Thank God we don’t have to. Christ gives us hope. Christ is our hope. Notice, it says Christ is “the hope“, not “a” or “one” hope. He is man’s only hope and it is a hope that is both “sure and stedfast” ( Heb.6:18-19). Because Christ dwells within us we have hope in several ways other than what is mentioned here. For example, He is our hope of —
— SalvationSalvation isn’t a matter of you trying to live for Jesus. It is Jesus living in you. Your heart is His home. he is your life, not just a part of your life.
— SecurityWhen Christ takes up residence in your heart He never changes His address. he is there to stay. We have eternal security. Since he is our life the only way we could lose our salvation is for Him to die or leave and that’s not going to happen.
— StrengthTo live the Christian life we need God’s strength and Christ provides it. Paul said, “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.” vs.29. That’s why he said in Phil. 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” As Christians we need strength for many things. We need strength to obey God’s commands, resist temptation, endure trials, and to do our work. Life is difficult and none of us can succeed on our own. We need the kind of help that God alone can provide, and with Christ we have it.–
IV. “Christ in you the hope of glory”We hope for a lot of things, but this is better than being healthy, wealthy, wise, or anything else that the mind can imagine. Have you ever given much thought to the word “glory”? It comes from the Greek word “doxa” which speaks of brightness, splendor, excellence, magnificence. For example – when you speak of the glory of God you are talking about the manifestation of any or all of His attributes. His glory is that which reveals His characteristics.
When we speak of the “hope of glory” it has to do with what we receive in Christ. As Spurgeon said, “Christ in you means you in glory”. Amen! We are as sure of heaven as if we were already there. Whatever it entails we are assured of a perfected state in heaven where all is glory. Entering glory will be the conclusion of all our conflicts, the consummation of God’s promises and purpose, and the commencement of eternal glory! That’s why we sing, “What a day that will be”. For the Christian the best is yet to come. We shall go from grief to glory, from pain to pleasure, from heartache to happiness. There are no words to describe the glory that awaits God’s children.
But it isn’t that way for everyone.Sadly many are without God and without hope (Eph. 2:12). They have no hope of glory and that is awful – worse than the mind can imagine. The good news is that their situation could change today. As Paul said, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” ( Eph. 2:13). Peter said He has given us a “lively hope” ( 1 Pet. 1:3). Since Jesus came into our hearts we have “the hope of glory”. That’s glorious! – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
