in us

Have you ever pondered this phrase "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."

Earlier in the book of Colossians (where that sentence comes from) we read that there is a "hope laid up for you in heaven" and that this is where the strength to act according to the Gospel comes from. It is a future hope in the glories of heaven.

But it is also present now. We have the hope of glory presently in our bodies. Christ is in us. We contain in our flesh some sort of manifestation of the spirit of God so that we can "fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions," that is, to make Christ visibly seen in the flesh through our own bodies.

This is meant to encourage each other, by visibly seeing that Christ was human, and for our own selves when we see the hope of glory springing out of us. This should propel us forward to good works. This future hope of glory is here presently abiding so that we can taste of it and be assured of its culmination.

It also means that the future hope of heaven is Christ himself. Yes, it is a physical creation and yes we will have physical bodies with which to work and enjoy it, but the main hope is that of Christ himself who is the temple and the light. And when we come into that final place of rest we will bringing with us the glory of God that was present here on earth (Revelation 21:23-25).

Praise God that He has not left us alone to hope without knowing.

-joe