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

Biblical HOPE is incredibly powerful and vital to those seeking to Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk and Live the Life in Christ.  It grips my heart each time I read, “Christ in you, the HOPE of Glory.”  Immediately, I contemplate the question, “What is Glory?”  I have previously given a definition of Glory as LOVE but a complete definition would be – “The Outshining of God.”  In that, it is WHO GOD IS and who God is, shines forth reaching and blessing man.  God is Love so Glory is Love but it is more it is WHO GOD IS shining forth.

In the Old Testament they “saw” the presence of God.  It came forth as a light or brightness that was virtually indescribable.  Remember Paul on the Road to Damascus and the Light (Christ) he encountered?  The Glory of God means the very heart of God.  It is Him shining forth to man.  Moses appeared to be fascinated with that and from the time God revealed Himself at the burning bush, Moses could not live with what He had seen of God, He was driven to know more.  Remember in Exodus 33:18 he prayed, “…Please show me Your Glory.”  God’s response was, “I Myself will make all My Goodness pass before you.  I will proclaim the Name of the LORD before you…”  That is important!

WHAT IS IN A NAME?  A name in the Bible didn’t simply mean the identifier by which you were called.  It always reflected CHARACTER or who you were or would be.  Therefore, God said, “I will reveal my Glory/Name” and in the next chapter, we read, “The LORD passed in front of Moses and proclaimed…”  (34:6). In that moment, a shimmering outshining uncreated light who is God passed before Moses and in the midst of it Moses heard, “This is Who I am.”  Moses saw the LORD, who is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness pass before him.

Lovingkindness is an interesting word.  There is a passage in the Bible that sums it up neatly, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  It means, “I will love you, love you, love you and never let you go!”  It is the idea that no matter where we go God is going to cling to us because He loves us.  That is Lovingkindness.  I can almost hear the conversation between God and Moses.  God saying, “Moses, you want to know what this Radiant Light is.  You want to know Who I am, My Glory.  I am Graciousness and Compassion.  I deal with people in a manner they do not deserve because I LOVE THEM.  I am slow to anger, abounding in a love that will never let you go.  This is who I am.”  That is the nature of God.

Romans 3:23 declares, “For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.”  Interesting!  One definition of SIN is, “man has come short of loving as God loves.”  The Glory of God is His LOVE!  That truly is the essence of sin for out of love comes obedience and in the Garden disobedience plunged the human race into darkness but at the Cross love lifted the race out of the miry clay and offers a rock to stand on in the Light of God’s Love.  Jesus comes as the revelation of God’s Glory.  In John 1:14, “…we beheld His glory, the Glory of the Only Begotten of the Father…”  John declared that as He walked with Him, the Word, the Eternal Out-speaking of God, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His Glory.  WE SAW LOVE!  We witnessed in Jesus a Love that was unearthly and beyond this planet.  We saw THE GLORY OF GOD!

There is much more to say but I will pause here and wait until tomorrow to proceed.  Until then I pray the LORD of Hosts shed His love abroad in your hearts and you walk as demonstrations of God’s Glory in your present world.  BLESSINGS!