Christ in You, the Hope of Glory
Our title for today’s blog is taken from Colossians 1:27: “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. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” The Apostle Paul, speaking of his calling and ministry to the church, to the saints of God, is making known to them the mystery of God that was hidden for generations. Paul tells the recipients of his letter that God chose to make known to them how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of God, which is Christ in us. When was the last time you pondered the incredible truth that Christ dwells in us by the Holy Spirit? The truth of this mystery is so profound that we struggle to grasp the immensity of its meaning.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that he will soon be returning to the Father in heaven. This news troubled them greatly. Christ then encourages them with the following promise in John 14:15-17: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” Christ told them that when he returned to the Father, he would send them the third person of the triune Godhead, the Holy Spirit. Notice these disciples had witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit, for He had dwelt among them, but the promise of Christ was that the Holy Spirit would be in them in the near future. What an amazing promise, that God by His Spirit would not just be with them, but would take up residence in each of the disciples. This miraculous event took place fifty days after Passover, following his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension during the Feast of Weeks on Pentecost. Scripture records it in Acts 2:1-4: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Since that moment, all who are born again of the Spirit by faith in Christ are filled with the Holy Spirit. Read what Paul writes in Ephesians 1:13-14: “In him (Christ) you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him(Christ), were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Finally, read the words of Paul to the believers in Rome. Romans 8:9-11: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
What an amazing truth for us to ponder on and study to learn more about, as God has revealed to us through His Word!
We will close this blog with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. Ephesians 3:14-21:” For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
In Christ,
Pastor John
In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that he will soon be returning to the Father in heaven. This news troubled them greatly. Christ then encourages them with the following promise in John 14:15-17: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” Christ told them that when he returned to the Father, he would send them the third person of the triune Godhead, the Holy Spirit. Notice these disciples had witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit, for He had dwelt among them, but the promise of Christ was that the Holy Spirit would be in them in the near future. What an amazing promise, that God by His Spirit would not just be with them, but would take up residence in each of the disciples. This miraculous event took place fifty days after Passover, following his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension during the Feast of Weeks on Pentecost. Scripture records it in Acts 2:1-4: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Since that moment, all who are born again of the Spirit by faith in Christ are filled with the Holy Spirit. Read what Paul writes in Ephesians 1:13-14: “In him (Christ) you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him(Christ), were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Finally, read the words of Paul to the believers in Rome. Romans 8:9-11: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
What an amazing truth for us to ponder on and study to learn more about, as God has revealed to us through His Word!
We will close this blog with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. Ephesians 3:14-21:” For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
In Christ,
Pastor John
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