Christ in You, The Hope of Glory

"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." (Colossians 1:27 ESV)

What a glorious truth that Paul is sharing with these mostly gentile believers. God had chosen this time in human history to reveal his marvelous plan of salvation to mankind through His Son, Jesus, the promised Messiah. 

God’s plan of salvation has always been by faith, not by works of the Law, and His plan has always included both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus’ death on the cross was never God’s plan B. It was never if the Jews would only keep the 613 Mosaic Laws as Plan A. God knew that "as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one:" (Rom. 3:10, Psalm 14:3, 53:3). God knew that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9), and that, left to our own devices, we would try to work our way into God’s good graces.

God knew we would devise a method by which God would owe us eternal life because of the good deeds we did in His name. But humanity has always failed miserably, we found that as a race of people and as individuals we could not overcome the power of sin on our own. God knew we needed a Savior, someone who had the power over sin to free us from that power and to provide the one and only way to eternal life with God the Father.

That original plan was the promised Messiah. The Old Testament Saints had faith that God would provide a redeemer, and they looked forward to God keeping His promise and providing a sinless offering for all of our sins, by providing freedom from the power of sin, by providing His only Son that could deliver them to the promise maker, God the Father.

We, as New Testament (Post Resurrection) believers, look back and see that God did indeed keep His promise of delivering to the World the Messiah, Jesus the Promised One, Jesus the Anointed One, Jesus the Christ. Jesus was always God’s plan to rescue His people from the power of sin. And Jesus is the only way to the Father; “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  (John 14:6).

Now to us, some two thousand years after the resurrection of Jesus, two thousand years after this mystery of God’s plan of salvation to both Jews and Gentiles had been revealed, this plan doesn’t seem to be such a big revelation. But to these new Christians in Colossae in 62 AD, it was a very big deal; it was and is a foundational doctrine that everyone who comes to the Father in faith must understand.

Now, this mystery “among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” is what changes our lives at the moment of salvation and throughout eternity. This was God’s plan all along “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son," (v13). We have no confidence in our own works and faith; we only have confidence in Jesus’ works and the faith that God has given us to believe and accept his gift of Grace. Our hope (confidence) is not in ourselves but in the fact that it is Jesus Christ who lives in each of us.

How does this amazing truth change our life? It should make a difference every day. Knowing that my only hope in the presence of God’s glory is the fact that Jesus lives inside of me, that has to make a difference in my life. It has to affect my decisions on what I do, where I go, and how I conduct my interactions with people. It has to matter.

God’s grace wasn’t just a once-and-done transaction at the moment of Salvation. God’s grace continues to be given to us on a day-by-day basis. His grace allows us to be in the presence of Jesus as He presents us “... holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (1:22).

Paul wonderfully presents foundational truths about the mystery of Christ throughout this letter and how they make a difference in our lives. Let’s allow these truths to change our lives as we live to bring honor and glory to Jesus, the promised Messiah. Remember, it is “Christ in you” that really should change everything.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"