Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you… This strange thing once startled an emperor. Ignatius, who had assumed the name Theophorus to express this gospel truth, stood before him to vindicate his profession of Christianity. "Who is Theophorus?" haughtity asked the heathen monarch. "He who has Christ in his breast," said the martyr. "Dost thou, then, carry Him, who was crucified, within thee?" Raising his voice with holy animation, while an almost heavenly brightness played upon his pallid countenance, the Christian hero replied, "I do — I do; for it is written, 'I dwell in them, and walk in them!'" (W. H. Luckenbach.) 1. Glory is the greatest word in our language. It is one of God's most magnificent titles. It is the object of the true believer's hope, and whatever else he relinquishes he will not part with this. He lives and dies in hope. 2. This hope arises from the indwelling of the Saviour. He is in us as the source of life and the principle of action. 3. This union is not essential like that which subsists between the sacred Three; nor is it personal like that between the Divine and human natures of our Lord, nor merely an operative or influential union like that between God and His creatures; but a mystical and spiritual union, a union of affection, interest, and design. It is also mutual and reciprocal. He dwells in us, and we dwell in Him (John 14:23; Galatians 2:20; Revelation 3:20). I. EXPLAIN AND ILLUSTRATE THE TRUTH OF THE TEXT. 1. Christ is revealed in the gospel as the hope of glory. In order that He may be received He must be outwardly proposed by the ministration of the Word (Romans 10:14; Revelation 1:2). By the discovery the gospel makes of Christ's ability and willingness to save, it opens a door of hope to the vilest (Romans 15:4; Colossians 1:23; Hebrews 6:18). 2. Christ crucified is the foundation of our hope, by becoming the meritorious cause of it. 3. Christ is the hope of glory efficiently by the operation of His Spirit in our hearts (Romans 8:9). Without that any hope of salvation is visionary. 4. Christ dwelling in the heart is the evidence that He is to us the hope of glory, and by no other means can that hope be ascertained. He is our life; but in order to this He must live in us. After all that He has done and is doing for us, there is something continually to be done within (Romans 10:6-9). II. ESTABLISH AND CONFIRM THE LEADING SENTIMENT. 1. Christ being in us is the best evidence of our being in Him, and the testimony of an angel could not make it more satisfactory (1 John 5:11-12; Ephesians 1:3-4; 1 Timothy 1:9). 2. Christ in us is the nourishment of our hope. "Greater is He that is in you," etc. 3. Christ in us is the pledge and earnest of our hope. To have Christ in us is the life of grace; to be with Christ is the hope of glory; and the two go together. (B. Beddome, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: |
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