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

Let’s take another step in our consideration of THE GLORY of God that is revealed to and lives in our hearts.  The question that needs to be addressed is, “What is sin?”  A very simplistic answer is UNLOVE.  It is the disobedience that issues forth from that UNLOVE.  What happens when we sin?  What does sin do to us?  It blows us apart!  That is why sinners are so tragic, they are blown apart on the inside.  The Good News is that when we receive Jesus who is the Love and Glory of God we are made WHOLE.  Deep down at the foundation of our beings we are made WELL.  God’s kind of Love inside us is making us well, together and whole.  Therefore, we are not ashamed because it is the power to make people whole that has come to us.  The Gospel works!  This is the Good News that puts people back together again.

I have had Christians tell of their frustration in taking one step forward and two back or two forward and one back in their walk.  Do not allow frustration to overtake you for it is “from GLORY to GLORY.”  This is a process and the process is not over.  We being changed from Glory to Glory, but never forget we are being changed!  Please hear me!  It is not that we are trying to get the Glory or trying to Love like God Loves.  The Bible does not teach that one day you will have arrived and made it to spiritual perfection here on earth.  That is the idea presented in some teaching I have heard.  You tried and tried, struggled, prayed and worked and with a little help you have finally achieved perfection.  NO!  It is “Christ IN YOU, the Hope of Glory.”   It is not you.  It is not your struggle that somehow, someway, someday you reached the pinnacle.  It is HIM!  It is Christ IN us.  It is Jesus living His life through us.  It is not us trying to be like Him it is Him being Himself in us.  Can you see the problem in the idea of trying to be like Jesus?  That puts Him on the outside as the ultimate example and leaves us in hopeless despair trying to be like Him.  That is not GOOD NEWS!  The Good News declares, “God not only says that I have sinned and He has forgiven me, but He tells me that I am helpless but He has come to LIVE His Life IN ME and THROUGH ME!”  

Philippians 2:12, “Work out your own salvation…” has become a major stumbling block for much of the church world today.  This verse simply says, “Go out there and LOVE as Jesus loved.  Work out your [sozo]. Love, forgive and put aside resentment anger while allowing compassion and tenderness to live in your heart.  God and be like Jesus.  Work out your own salvation!”  HOW?  I am not kidding, HOW?  This verse declares, “With fear and trembling.”  That is very interesting.  What does that mean?  It is a Greek expression meaning:  “Work out your own salvation, with no trust whatsoever in your own ability.”  So, how do we do that?  The apostle told us to go do it and we understand that we are not to trust in ourselves…  The problem is most do not finish the verse.  The rest of the verse declares, “…for it is God, who works IN YOU to will and do of His Good Pleasure.”  That’s the picture.  He is INSIDE of us and brings a WANT TO and the POWER to do it.  God doesn’t obliterate me as the old song “all of Him, and none of me” suggests.

Let me give you an example that might help.  If someone sings a solo in church and you say to them, “That really ministered to me.  It was a tremendous blessing.”  But they say, in intended humility, “It wasn’t me, it was the LORD.”  My thought is, “I could have sworn it was you on the platform.”  You were, at least, a participant in the song!  “For I live…”  We are never more alive than when we are IN CHRIST.  Do not trust yourself, it is CHRIST IN YOU.  That means we can celebrate our uniqueness, I live, yet not I…

Are you following me?  We are working out our own salvation with no trust in ourselves but in Him who lives in and through us.  It is not trying to be LIKE HIM.  It is Him being HIMSELF in us.  That causes me to remember the teaching of Jesus on the Vine and Branches.  Remember He said, “I am the true vine and you are the branches.  Abide in Me and you will bring forth much fruit.”   A Vine Branch is the most useless branch in the world.  If a vine branch isn’t producing grapes it is totally useless.  Jesus choose this illustration purposefully.  The Vine itself is invisible.  It is an invisible life that comes through a trunk and will inevitably produce a leaf which produces a flower which results in Grapes.  I have never seen a VINE.  I have seen it expressed in a leaf, flower, grape or branch.  That is the only way I can touch the Vine.  It comes through a branch and is expressed.  The branch of the vine will do that.  All it has to do is be in the main trunk.  It simply has to be in a position to receive.  The branch does nothing!  It is not the life but the life flows through it.

Jesus is that invisible life that is flowing through us!  Remember the words of our Lord in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest…”  The word “rest” means recreation or vacation.  Jesus declares, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heaven laden and I will give you a vacation.”  What is a vacation?  When you cease working!   Jesus was not addressing the group we would call sinners, He is speaking to believers!  He is saying if you are tired of working and working trying to be good and be like Me, STOP just come to Me and I will be that in and through you!  Being a Christian means you get to quit working trying to be like Him you simply begin allowing Him to be Himself through you.

I know that is super simplistic but I hope you understand that your willpower will not make you like Him.  Only Him living His life through you can do that.  We need to learn to be Human Beings, not simply Human Doings.  Lord, I pray that You help us grasp the truth that it is, “Christ in us, the hope of glory” and not of works that we have or will do.  It is you being you in our lives and in that position and condition we radiate the Love of God to the world.

            Blessings as you go through this day!