By: Pastor Rick Smith

“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…”.(Colossians 1:27).

Focus your attention of these seven words: “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. What is the hope of glory? The answer is simple. Christ in you, is the hope of glory. Jesus is the Lord of glory. Jesus came from the Father above so save sinners. When Jesus was in heaven with the Father He shared the full glory of His Father. God’s glory is such that He told Moses that no man could see Him and live (Exodus 33:20). When Jesus came He veiled His glory and emptied Himself to take on the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6-8). His purpose in this was to die on the cross as the Lamb of God to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

I want you to consider the phrase “the hope of glory”. If you are a Christian, then you have Jesus in your soul. You may have prayed a prayer inviting Jesus into your life or just repented and believed in Him. It doesn’t matter really. What matters is you put your trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Read Romans 10:9-10 and you will see that if you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you are saved. It is my observation in the gospels that more often than not it was Jesus that invited Himself to come into the life of the sinner. Consider Zacchaeus, who was up a tree, Jesus said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.” (Luke 19:1-10). When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, He saved you and came into your life. Jesus saved you from hell and for heaven, but also much more. The hope of glory is Christ in you.

The hope of glory is Christ in you to conquer sin in you. You can have no victory over sin by trying not to sin. You have to surrender to Jesus and He will crush sin in you. Why don’t you have victory over that sin that overcomes you again and again? It is because you are trying to do in the flesh what Christ alone can do. Is Jesus the Lord of your life as well as its Savior? Our victory over sin is not in our selves, but in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus is never far from us, because He lives in us as Christians. How can we continue in sin in our body when Christ is in us. Jesus told His disciples, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” (John 14:20).

How does Jesus dwell in us? By His Holy Spirit. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ and God cannot be divided. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:16-17). “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). There are two reasons that we do not have victory over sin. One, we don’t have Christ – Christ is not in us. Two, we aren’t walking, living by the Spirit, but by the flesh. This is Satan’s trick to keep us from living gloriously in Christ. Satan can defeat us when we depend on our own strength, on the flesh, instead of Jesus Christ. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Are you in Christ? Is Christ in you? Jesus is the Lord of glory! To have the hope of glory (victory over sin and eternal life in heaven) you must possess Jesus. The mystery of the gospel is that Christ comes to live in the believer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and He will come and live in you forever.

If you have any questions, we invite you to visit with us this Sunday. Worship at 10:50 A.M. We are located at 711 West Washington Ave. Check our sermon videos on YouTube @ricksmith2541. Send comments and prayer requests to prayerlinecmbc@gmail.com.

Rick Smith is the Pastor at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Artesia.