Christ in you the hope of glory!

As I have been reading Colossians for personal study time, I have come to one of my favorite verses (1:27) "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." This is truly an amazing verse when you connect it with other verses throughout the New Testament like Romans 8:19 "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God." These are just a few of the amazing verses that tie God's manifest glory as coming through these very earthen vessels. St. Ignacius said, "The glory of God is man fully alive." So much of religion, the culture, and even well-meaning believers reduce us to "sinners saved by grace", nothing special, a person striving for holiness, or just plain failures. It is amazing to me that God has done such a work through Jesus Christ that He is delighted in who we are. You doubt that God could enjoy who you are, then you have been lied to. Scripture over and over again recounts God's being pleased with those who rely solely on the finished work of Christ. We often follow the latest self-improvement trends, diets, exercise programs, motivational speaker, or even religious re commitments to be better. It may surprise you but I believe God finds these detestable because they are not presenting yourself as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1). Could it be that receiving God's amazing grace is how God transforms us into sons and daughters of God who contain His glory. Why is it we look at some saints and think we can never be like them, when Scripture clearly says each of us have the right to become sons and daughters of God (John 1:12). Children of God look like their Father and are like Him, thus things that are normal for God (the supernatural) then become normal for us. I have been so stuck by the revelation that the glory is going to come from Christ in us, the location is not God revealing His glory independent of us but through us. This is a huge problem if you basically see yourself as worthless, not very special, or trying to get your own glory. All of these hide the treasure that is in you. We have whole systems in our society which are not based on a believers true identity but one that is tied to the worldly system. It seems instead of celebrating our true identity we are often put on a performance track to earn a hoped for identity that will give us value, blessing, fame, or material wealth. As a new creation you cannot earn what God has already bestowed on you but you can delight in His grace. I sat across from a client and asked her what her dreams were, she told me a nice office job like data entry. It is sad that her sights are set so low, Christ in her is the hope of glory. Glory does not necessarily mean some high paying fancy job, but it does mean displaying the love, life, and essence of who God is. God is special, so are we because we are in Him. My challenge to you is what would you look like with Christ in you the hope of glory coming out of your life. Resurrection life flowing through every part of your being body, soul, and spirit. God does not do things part way as we do, His New Covenant transforms the whole person (this was before Eastern Holistic Healing). Recently at our church a man got up to give a testimony of being diagnosed with cancer, having the elders pray over him, and then recently his doctor saying he was cancer free. Can you see the glory, the resurrection life where the world pronounced death. So often we in the Christian crowd (religious) can be just like the world labeling other people as hopeless, rather than speaking life into a place of death. We may say nice things like they are "in sin" or "backslidden". Tell me how this brings life into a situation of death. We may even put spiritual terms on suffering, "I'm sure they are learning a lot about God in being poor." Yes, I understand Jesus said "Blessed are the poor in spirit" but He doesn't leave them there. Jesus says, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." If you have big dreams for yourself, I can tell you that God's is bigger. I am very encouraged that what God says He will do, He will do often despite our fumblings. Dream big, it is God who put those dreams in you.

In His Grace,
Bret