Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

By Joe Slater

    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 (Colossians 1:27).
    Glory refers to a state of being exalted. When God created man in the beginning, He “crowned him with glory and honor” by making man “a little lower than the angels” and setting him over the whole material creation (Hebrews 2:7). An infinitely greater glory, however, awaits those who trust and obey Jesus.
    God called us by means of Christ’s gospel for this very reason: “for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14). When we obey the gospel and begin to become more like Jesus, we are “transformed from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
    But there is more! Salvation in Christ is “with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10). Therefore Paul says the same body that is “sown (buried) in weakness” will be “raised in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:43).
    Our hope of glory rests on the fact that Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27). The late brother Burton Coffman observed that there are eight New Testament expressions referring to the state of the saved: Christ is in you; you are in Christ; God is in you; you are in God; the Holy Spirit is in you; you are in the Holy Spirit; the mind of Christ is in you; and the word of Christ is in you (commentary on Colossians 1:27, at studylight.org).
    Since our hope of eternal glory is Christ in us, Paul preached Christ, “warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect (mature, complete) in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28).
    Is Christ in you? Are you in Christ?

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com