Christ in you, the hope of glory

Is it just assumed that Christ is "in" you or do some of you have to think about it? For me, it was a conundrum that had to be sorted out. I knew intellectually that when I was saved that Christ indwelt me but after that tidbit of information, I was lost on understanding it. As I study Scripture, though, I am seeing more and more that His life is actually in me, not like "possession" (like demon possession) but rather like His spirit made my spirit alive (which was dead in sins) and with His life in me, I can now think like Him and be what He is.

Now I'm thinking through the appropriation of that life and how to explain all that Scripture and experience has revealed to me over the last couple of decades. The central verse for this is Galatians 2:20 - "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I love by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

More to come..

The Hope of Glory

Do you care if you bring "glory" to God? We know that we have fallen short of it according to Romans 3:23. I always "hope" I do. But what is it and how do you really know if you do?

The formal Bible definition is "opinion, judgment, view" and "splendour, brightness" but that's not real clear to me. I can definitely give my opinion, judgment and view of God's splendour and brightness with my mouth but can you know for sure that people see the glory of God in you?

This post is not a theological discussion of glory per se, but rather what I'm studying right now about God and His glory. Colossians 1:27 gives the foundation of our hope of glory - which is Christ in you. Christ is the express image of God and as He lives His life out through us, the glory of God is seen. So much of what we do is "trying" to show God's glory by our actions and works, but our self works do not bring glory to anyone other than our self. In the grand scheme of things, if you want to bring glory to God, you must have Christ in you. More on this later.

Study of the Book of Micah

We just finished a study of Micah - one of the minor prophets in the Old Testament. We saw a picture of God that we rarely hear about these days. I remember in my childhood, preachers would talk about the wrath of God and the reality of hell. It was one of my foundational beliefs and even though I strayed from the Lord later in life, I never doubted for a minute that God would not tolerate sin. This study reminded me that God will judge my sin - just as He did and is going to judge the national sin of Israel. We in America will also be judged with all the nations of the world. My hope is that in that national judgment (because of abortion, gay rights, and other laws passed that are out and out sins against God) I personally will remain close and obedient to Him, bearing the reproach of my people in America, just as Micah did in Israel.

How abou you? Do you think America deserves the judgment of God? The judgment He passed on Israel was captivity by other nations and being scattered throughout all the world - losing its identity and becoming a joke to all the world. It wasn't just a threat - it actually happened. I hope we don't think America can escape judgment if Israel didn't, and what form that will take will be an interesting thing to see. Will another nation come over and take us over? A very real possibility today.

If so, how will you react? Will you be angry with your fellow Americans? Will you be sad that they sinned and pray for God's forgiveness for them? I hope we don't wait until it happenes to begin caring about our fellow Americans. Let this care and conern begin in the house of God - the church.