CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY
CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
When Paul came to Athens he found that the city was “full of gods” (Acts 17:16). Even though Athens had a modest population estimated at only 10,000, scholars estimate that they had 30,000 idols. Not one of these “gods”, however, promised to dwell “inside” those who worshiped it. Our God living “within us” is unique in this regard!
Even in Judaism God was seen as separate and apart from mortal man. Isaiah wrote: “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you.” (Isaiah 59:2) When God was on Mt. Sinai, for example, only Moses was permitted to meet with Him. In fact, Mt. Sinai was surrounded by barriers and any man or animal that went beyond those barriers was put to death (Exodus 19:12-13).
When the tabernacle was constructed it was placed in the middle of the Hebrew camp surrounded by the 12 tribes (Numbers 2:1-17). Even though God was near, however, He did not meet with the Israelites individually. He met only with the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34).
When Jesus was born they called Him “Immanuel”, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). John explained: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Because Jesus dwelled “among us” we came to “know” God better than any previous gemneration. “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (John 1:18)
Jesus was “with” His disciples for three years but not “in” them. One primary command of Christ to His disciples was “follow me.” Christ was “with” His disciples giving them an example so they could follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). W. E. Vine in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words states that this command “Is used 77 times in the Gospels of following Christ, and only once otherwise (Mark 14:13). Only later, after returning to His Father, would Jesus make His dwelling “in” His disciples.
On the night before Calvary Jesus told His disciples that now He was going where they could not follow and explained: “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered,“Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” (John 13;36-38)
Even though Jesus was going away He promised not to abandon His disciples or leave them like orphans (John 14:18). While Jesus was in the flesh He could only be one place at a time. When He was with Peter, James, and John on the mountain, for example, He could not be with the other disciples down in the valley. That’s why it was necessary for Jesus to “go away”. He went away in His physical body that He might return in the person of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). As a “Spirit” Jesus could be inside of every believer at the same time.
Jesus also explained that He was going away to prepare a place for them with many “rooms” (John 14:2). The Greek word for “rooms” is “mone”. It is only two times in the Bible – John 14:2 and John 14:23. In John 14:23 “mone” is translated as “home.” “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” How interesting! Jesus was going away to prepare a “home” for us in heaven, and we are to prepare a “home” for Him in our hearts!
While John 14:23 only mentions a home for the “Father” and “Jesus”. It is clear, however, that the Holy Spirit is also included. In fact, our bodies are “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). It is still sufficient to say “Christ in you” for the Scriptures teach that “In Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fulness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” (Colossians 2:9-10) When the Scriptures teaches that God is “One” it uses the Hebrew word “Echad” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This the same word used in Genesis 2:24 to describe how Adam and Eve became “one” in marriage. In a similar way the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are also “one”. The Hebrew word that means “one and only one” is “Yachid” and is never used with reference to God.
So for three years Jesus was “with” His disciples and guided them from “without.” Jesus made it clear, however, that in the future He was going to guide them from “within”! This concept was nothing new. From the beginning of creation God has guided animals, birds, and fish from “within”. Job makes reference to this in Job 12:7-10 and urges us to learn from these lower creatures. The arctic tern, for example, is a tiny bird that only weighs 2/3 of a pound. Yet it flies each year from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic and back. This is a round trip of 22,000 miles. It is not necessary to send an airplane to guide this bird, for God has placed a guidance system within it. This remarkable type of guidance is used with many other animals, birds, and fish. This helps us to understand how God can also give us guidance from within.
It is a fact that Jesus promised to guide His disciples from within!
It is also a fact that Jesus also promises to guide us in the same way!
HERE ARE A FEW SCRIPTURES TO CONSIDER
•
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
•
“But if
Christ is in you,
though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans 8:10)
•
“Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But
we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)
•
“But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called by His grace, to reveal
His Son in me
.” (Galatians 1:15-16)
•
“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is
Christ who lives in me
; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
•
“My children, with whom I travail again in birth until
Christ is formed in you
.” (Galatians 4:19)
•
“That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.” (Ephesians 3:17)
•
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
•
“When He comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed.” (2 Thessalonians 1:10)
•
Etc.
CHRIST IN YOU IS A SOURCE OF POWER
•
Again we emphasize that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are “one” and make their “home” in our hearts. Please consider “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness.” (Romans 8:9-10) Note that this verse uses the “Spirit of God” and the “Spirit of Christ” and “Christ in you” to all mean the same thing:
•
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
•
“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 4:33)
•
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38)
•
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
•
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)
•
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
•
Paul prayed for the Ephesians that the eyes of their understanding would be opened so they could know about the hope to which we are called, the riches of our inheritance, “and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,” (Ephesians 1:19-20)
•
Please prayerfully consider this prayer of Paul: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16-21)
•
The word “power” occurs 119 times in the New Testament Scriptures and it is not practical at this time to list them all.
NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS WHEN THE POWER GOES OFF
When the power goes off at your house the lights go out, the refrigerator stops running, and all of your appliances stop working! Nothing good happens when the power goes off. The same is true if we are separated from the power of Jesus! That’s why we must “remain” in Jesus to receive His power!
On the night before Calvary Jesus said to His disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:1-7)
Nothing good happens if you lose contact with Christ!
In Christ, however, we have more power than we could ask for or imagine!
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)
“TO WILL” and “TO ACT”
In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul encouraged everyone to have the mind of Christ and to do what Christ did. When Christ humbled Himself and was obedient unto death “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Then Paul uses the example of Christ to encourage us to also obey God as Christ did! “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)
Note that when God wants you to do something He gives you both the “desire” and the “ability” to do it!
METAMORPHOSIS
The Greek word for “metamorphosis” is “metamorphoo”. It comes from “meta” (change) and “morphe” (form). We use this word to describe how a “caterpillar” is changed into a “butterfly.” The word is found four times in the Bible. Two times it refers to Jesus when He was changed into another form on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:2). Two times it refers to believers who are changed into another form by the power of Jesus:
•
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2) “Conformation” comes from power from without and “transformation” comes from power within.
•
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Caterpillars can destroy a garden. They have a voracious appetite and can eat 200 times their weight in 10-14 days.
Butterflies do not destroy your garden, they help it. They fly from plant to plant pollinating fruits, vegetables, and flowers to produce new seeds.
Paul beautifully describes the transformation of Christians with these words: “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17-24)
OPEN THE DOOR!
Revelation chapters 2 and 3 contain 7 letters to the 7 churches of Asia. The last letter was to the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22). This church thought they were rich, had acquire wealth and needed nothing. In the eyes of God, however they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”
They had lost their zeal for God to the point that they were neither hot or cold, but lukewarm. This was so repulsive to God that He was about to vomit them out of his mouth.
Here is the divine remedy from God: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:19-22)
Yes! Those who “receive” Christ have the right to become children of God (John 1:12). Remarkably, thought heaven is the throne of God and the earth is His footstool, he wants to dwell in the hearts of those who have a humble and contrite spirit and tremble at His Word (Isaiah 66:1-2)
The “Knowing Jesus” website claims that “power” is mentioned 1,123 times in the Bible. God is “all powerful’ and wants to live within you and share His power with you! Realizing this power is available can transform your life and ministry:
“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)