Colossians 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. (NASB95)
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, the hope of glory. (KJV)
Is glory, the second glory, here to be considered Heaven with all its benefits? We shall there be made perfect even as He is perfect for we shall be changed to be like Him (Matthew 5:48; 1John 3:2). Consider the glory and benefits of Heaven in Revelation 21 &22. It is for this we hope. Not the hope of which we commonly speak--a desire accompanied with a measure of doubt--but an expectation accompanied with a full assurance of its future realization. Such hope is the wind that fills the sails to the full, the sails that direct the ship to its appointed harbor in good speed. Hope is the great motivator of our lives to press us on at all times and under all circumstances toward that heavenly prize in Christ Jesus, to be like Christ Himself--the prize of perfect purity and its accompanying bliss. Bliss is the natural result of purity. Where there is no sin there is no curse. And where there is no curse there is no sorrow or hardship or pain. Fear of death, Be gone! For in Christ death is swallowed up in victory. Death, to the Christian. is no longer the dreaded passage way to eternal judgment, but the wondrous portal to eternal glory in the very presence of God Himself.
This being true, what can keep the hopeful Christian from fulfilling his duties, yea, even his true desires to be as Jesus was on this earth, to glorify the Father in holy living and to seek and save the lost. What is to cause us to fear? The face of man? His taunts and threats? His abuses against us? Death? For the Christian, the threat of death is but the welcome mat in front of the door of God's eternal home. Death itself is the entry way to this glory for which we delightfully hope. Hope on!
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, the hope of glory. (KJV)
Is glory, the second glory, here to be considered Heaven with all its benefits? We shall there be made perfect even as He is perfect for we shall be changed to be like Him (Matthew 5:48; 1John 3:2). Consider the glory and benefits of Heaven in Revelation 21 &22. It is for this we hope. Not the hope of which we commonly speak--a desire accompanied with a measure of doubt--but an expectation accompanied with a full assurance of its future realization. Such hope is the wind that fills the sails to the full, the sails that direct the ship to its appointed harbor in good speed. Hope is the great motivator of our lives to press us on at all times and under all circumstances toward that heavenly prize in Christ Jesus, to be like Christ Himself--the prize of perfect purity and its accompanying bliss. Bliss is the natural result of purity. Where there is no sin there is no curse. And where there is no curse there is no sorrow or hardship or pain. Fear of death, Be gone! For in Christ death is swallowed up in victory. Death, to the Christian. is no longer the dreaded passage way to eternal judgment, but the wondrous portal to eternal glory in the very presence of God Himself.
This being true, what can keep the hopeful Christian from fulfilling his duties, yea, even his true desires to be as Jesus was on this earth, to glorify the Father in holy living and to seek and save the lost. What is to cause us to fear? The face of man? His taunts and threats? His abuses against us? Death? For the Christian, the threat of death is but the welcome mat in front of the door of God's eternal home. Death itself is the entry way to this glory for which we delightfully hope. Hope on!
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