Foundations for the Bride: Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

“Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

(Colossians 1:25-27)

Paul stands on God’s calling on him to preach the gospel, and on the gospel as a wondrous mystery hidden for generations, now revealed as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Our only hope is that Christ lives in us. Does that strike you that if you are in Christ, the God and creator of the universe lives in you with all of His glory! Are there places in your heart, possibly many, where you don’t believe it, or have you lost the wonder of having the God take up residence in you? Does the idea of “Christ in you” just wash over you, uneffected, much like singing in a worship service out of routine, being void of life? Can you find the awe of God in your heart?

God’s satisfaction with us, all because of the work of Jesus Christ, is summed up in His glory. Imagine God being pleased with us to such an extent, by such marvelous grace, that he makes His home in us. He has made us a temple of the Holy Spirit, God Himself.

“that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

(John 17:21-23)

When Jesus speaks of “I in them and You in Me” we see a beautiful revelation of the Father in us through Jesus Christ. It is the revelation of Jesus in us, our only hope of God’s satisfaction, that is the glory of the Father living in our very souls. There is no greater revelation and no other hope we can have.

“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

(John 14:11-17)

Of all that God did to glorify Himself in Jesus, He gave us the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter to abide in us. There’s a mystery of that Comforter that so easily gets lost in our routines of Christianity or over-doctrinalizing something so wondrous. Don’t lose the mystery of God glorifying Himself through Christ in you. The Holy Spirit will not focus us on anything but the glory of Jesus. He serves no other purpose. Have you lost the wonder of Jesus? Are there other things in your heart that have taken your foundation off of just knowing Jesus and enjoying Him? Oftentimes, like the Pharisees, we can get taken away from that focus by burdens of religion and a slavery to the law, even searching the scriptures, when Jesus is standing right in front of us waiting to heal our hearts. Don’t fail to see Jesus. He is always standing right in front of you.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”

(John 5:39-40)

There can be no other substitute in our hearts but Jesus! Not ministry. Not family. Not security. Not religion. Not intellectualism or psychology. Nothing will heal our hearts and bring us into life with God except Jesus, glorified, living in us. In one respect, it’s a terrifying proposition to expose yourself to Jesus and really let Him in. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, He lives in us. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter and brings Jesus, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). But that is how the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. He brings us into the presence of the One full of grace and truth. There is nothing that can be hidden when we open ourselves to Him. There’s none of our blindness that will survive when the person of Jesus is done with us. We must deny Him nothing. But that is terrifying because our flesh has to die. The cross has to come so that death can give way to life. We cannot be afraid of the death of the flesh when we know there’s life in the Spirit waiting right in front of us! God wants us filled with the Spirit. God wants His presence to burn away all of the old self in the flesh. God will shake away all that is not of Him.

“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”

(Hebrews 12:25-29)

But this consuming fire of Christ in me is our hope! Our “hope of glory”! We all face testing and stress, and trials. Whether self-inflicted by our sin and blindness, or attacks from the enemy coming against us, our hope has to be the same! Because Jesus is full of the truth of the conviction of sin, but He is also full of the unending grace and love that wraps us in the Father’s arms in a tearful embrace, where all the burdens of slavery we impose on ourselves fall to Him. Drink from Him! He is the only hope! God did not ask you to carry the heavy burdens of slavery to the law that you impose on yourself. He just wants you to drink from Him.

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

(2 Corinthians 12:9-1)