Colossians 1:24-29 – “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”  NKJV

In continuing with the thought of GOD’S GLORY, we need to consider an expression of love revealed in the Gospels.  Remember the first miracle in Cana of Galilee?  A wedding feast of a nameless couple and they have run out of wine.  That is bad!  Did you notice how Jesus did the miracle?  He did it quietly without fanfare.  He took approximately 180 gallons of water and no one knew it was happening.  Why?  So that no one would suffer embarrassment.  The host and the couple would have been humiliated with the revelation that they had run out of wine.  John said that when the water was turned into wine this was the FIRST TIME that Jesus had showed forth HIS GLORY!

Now, you might rightly ask, “What is so glorious about turning water into wine at a wedding feast?”  The fact that Jesus had incredible compassion on a couple of young people is amazing.  HE CARED!  When God became flesh and dwelt among us, it broke His heart to see a couple of young people embarking on a life together facing potential humiliation.  When John witnessed what Jesus did I can hear him say, “Now, there is the Glory of God!”  He demonstrated compassion, graciousness and caring in a very powerful manner.  John 17:22 is one of the most amazing verses in the Gospels.  Jesus was praying and it is vital that we hear Him.  “And the Glory which You gave Me I have given to them, that they may be one as We are one.”   It is “I” in them and “You” in Me that they may be perfected in UNITY.  You cannot miss what He said.  Jesus said that THE GLORY He has or is, He has given to all who believe.  The Glory is, “Jesus in us and we live through Him with His love shed abroad in our hearts.” 

Our natural minds have difficulty taking that in.  I am by nature a realist but the HOPE of the believer is not limited to the natural mind. The natural mind does not understand the things of God nor the desire that God has for us.  The natural mind would settle for being a “Good Christian.”  Whereas the mind of the Spirit of God is that THE GLORY that Jesus has is IN US shining forth to the world.  We are those who HOPE!  He declared it, therefore, I long for my life to be a reflection of “Christ in me.”  This is not intended to be a picture of what we will be in heaven but here and now on planet earth.

If you remember back to your childhood Sunday school days when the teacher quoted 1 Corinthians 2:9 and they’d stop the quotation saying, “That is Heaven.”  But in verse 10 we find, “But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit…”  The natural mind, natural eye, the natural ear cannot comprehend but the Spirit of God does and we are spirit beings. He communicates truth to our spirits.  The Amplified reads, “But to us, God has unveiled and revealed them to us by His Spirit.”   That is HOPE!  You and I can go through this day and the rest of our lives expecting the Love of God to be in our lives and radiate out from us.  We can Love as Jesus Loved!  That is a revelation of the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18 is a most interesting passage, “We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the Glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, from Glory to Glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  Another translation renders it, “We are constantly being transfigured into His very own Image, in every increasing splendor from one degree of Glory to another.”   That “IS” happening to us!  Therefore, never get down on yourself or be unfair to yourself. You ARE NOT the person you were or the person you will be.  There are things falling away from your life daily, things you never dreamed would go.  You have loved persons you never thought you could love.  YOU ARE and HAVE FORGIVEN!

The Bible declares that the purpose of God is to conform you to the Image of His Son.  Worldly hope is laced with disappointment but biblical hope has God written in it.  Romans 5:5, “And HOPE does not disappoint, because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.”  Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the Power of God unto Salvation…”  Salvation does not mean simply saved from Hell.  The Greek is [sozo] – To make whole or well.  The Gospel has the Power of God for SOZO – Wholeness.  He is granting us TOTAL HEALING of the Spirit!

I still have some things I’d like to share on this subject so I will hit the pause button and hold my thoughts until tomorrow.  Until that time, it is my genuine prayer and desire that the LORD of Host infuses in your hearts Biblical Hope.  May His Glory be revealed in you powerfully.  BLESSINGS!