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“Hope of Glory”

Col. 1:26-28

7-26-2009

“the mystery…kept hidden…now disclosed…Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

          Paul speaks to the church at Rome and so to us also that all mankind has come up short in the “glory” department. (Rom.3:23) There is no thing created with greater and with more glory than God. There is nothing that exists, has ever existed or will exist, that was not created except God and it is God who did the creating because He was before there was anything.

          When He created, He assigned the levels of glory for each thing and even angels who are glorious creatures do not have the same level of glory as God. Only to mankind did God impart a glory like Himself. (Ex.15:11; 1Cor.11:7a; 1Cor.15:35-41)

          Angels in there glory are less than God, even the Morning Star who rebelled was created less glorious than the Creator. (Isa.14:12; Eze.28:13-18; Heb.1:3-4, 2:7)  The Glory that belongs to God, that same Glory residing in Jesus who is above the whole of creation, that glory is offered to humanity. Out of all creation only to mankind is this glory offered. (2Cor.3:18, 2Thes.2:14)

          This “glory”, what ever it is, is found in you who are God’s children. The redeemed of the earth are given this most precious thing. Satan rebelled because he became puffed up with his own radiance and now is destroyed because of it. Satan is not happy about that either and that is understandable. In his anger he seeks to rob men and woman of their chance of having a greater glory than what he once possessed.  (2Cor.4:3-6)

          From this passage we can see that there are forces at work in the world that labor to keep men and woman in the dark. They are kept in the dark as far as their understanding is concerned and in the dark as far as their glory is concerned. The God of Glory seeks to elevate the position of His creation from the fallen object of wrath to the cherished position of His love. Like satan who lost his own glory when he rebelled, we human also lost our glory, the glory that God gave us before we sinned. Now Paul is telling us there is a greater glory than that which we had lost in the fall that is now made available to us through the Gospel.

          The struggle for us is this blinding caused by the evil one, the father of deceptions. He would keep all of humanity under his control if he could and in doing so keep us doomed for the same fate as his – fire and destruction. What are the deceptions that keep men and woman trapped in slavery and death? You name it and that would be likely right. Any thing, any notion, any belief or view that keeps a person from accepting the truth. What ever that thing may be that keeps a person from believing in Jesus, keeps them from repenting, keeps them from confessing, keeps them from being baptized, what ever that thing is, it is that that is the tool of deception that the god of the this world is using to keep control over the person.

          My prayer for anyone who might hear or read this message is this: Lord Jesus remove the blinders and let us see so that we might escape the devil’s plan. Let it be so in your name, in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen, come Lord Jesus.

My suggestion or recommendation for anyone, pray to Jesus that you may see.