Jesus was the hope of glory

JESUS WAS THE HOPE OF GLORY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Colossians1:27 27To them God has chosen to make
known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this
mystery, which is Christin you, the hope of glory.
GreatTexts of the Bible
Christ in You the Hope of Glory
To whom God was pleasedto 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.
1. The word “mystery” is one which has acquired in modern Englisha sense
remote from its original signification. No one who recalls the original sense of
the word—the sense which it bore for pagan ears—willsuppose that when St.
Paul talks of the mystery of the Gospelhe means a doctrine which it is
difficult or impossible to understand, and which has just to be acceptedon
authority. When an ancient Greek was initiated into the mysteries at Eleusis
or Samothrace, he was not told something which he could not understand.
The rites were calledmysteries because they had a secretmeaning—not
known indeed to the world at large, but quite known and intelligible to the
privileged body of the initiated. And so, when St. Paul borrows the word to
express a Christian meaning, it is never a difficult or unintelligible truth that

he has in view, but some truth which was once hidden, but is now revealed—
revealedto all who have acceptedthe revelation of God in Christ. What he
calls a mystery is always, indeed, a truth knownonly to the initiated, but the
initiated for St. Paul are the whole body of baptized believers in Jesus.
As when, in the early morning of a glorious summer day, the wreathing mists
hide the mountain slopes and coverthe valleys beneath, then, under the
breath of the freshening wind, gradually lift and open, revealing some giant
mountain top lost in the skyor woods and rocks onthe hillsides, a ravishing
vista of varied landscape, delighting the eyes and stimulating the imagination,
showing that what was at first seenwas cloud-like appearance only, and
making manifest the solid realities and dawning splendours behind and
beyond—so a glimpse has been granted to us of the greatpurpose of God, seen
in Christ, but only so far seenas to hint at unimagined reaches beyond—
Christ in you, the hope of glory! St. Paul can hardly controlhis feelings as he
approaches this theme. You have watcheda smouldering match when plunged
into a jar of oxygenburst into bright flame. So, when this messengerof Christ
breathes the atmosphere of this Gospel, he flames forth in its celebration—
“preachedin all creationunder heaven; whereofI Paul was made a
minister!”1 [Note:W. T. Davison, The Indwelling Christ, 270.]
In our own little world we have glorious sun-light flooding ourselves and
bathing all things round about us, flooding ourselves and bathing us every day
of every year. It is a most wonderful thing, this light. In many respects it is an
impenetrable mystery and incomprehensibility. But it is not a secret. It lies
open to the perception of all.
Nor are flowers secrets. In many respects there are secrets inthem, and
incomprehensibilities too. But in actualfact they lie open to the perception of
all, and are not secrets. Norare trees, although laden with wonders. Noris
grass, orgrain, nor is winter with its frosts and snows, orsummer with its

fragrances, orspring with its anniversary springings, or autumn with its
rainbow tints. While there are scientific and philosophic mysteries and
incomprehensibilities in all these terrestrialphenomena, not one of them is a
mystery in the classic sense ofthe term. They are, as matters of fact, things
unveiled, un muffled, unmantled, lying open in Nature to every one’s
perception, so that he has but to look and see.
It is different with the Gospel. It does not lie quite on the surface of things
around us, above us, and within us, especiallyin its glorious amplitude and
universalities, and hence the Apostle, in his use of the word, calls it a
“mystery.” It had once been a secret, but it was now a secretno longer, at
leastto him. It had once been so much of a secretthat to no mind but One was
it known. It lay, as the Apostle expresses it in his Epistle to the Ephesians,
“hid in God.”2 [Note:J. Morison, Sheaves ofMinistry, 37.]
2. The particular mystery which the Apostle here stands amazed at is the
introduction of the Gentiles to equal privileges under the Gospelwith the
Jews;and, in particular, to this privilege—that Christ should make glory sure
to them by dwelling in them.
Now this was what setPaul at variance with his nation. They had no quarrel
with many of his opinions, but when he threatened their pride of separation
they struck at his life. He might talk as he would of God, of sin, of forgiveness,
but when they heard that he was bringing a heathen man into the Temple, and
when they saw that, on his theories, there was no need of a Temple at all, the
worshippers in Jerusalemwere transformed into a murderous mob from
whose clutch he had to be rescuedby Roman troops. Wise men do not run the
risk of martyrdom in mere stubbornness, and when Paul speaksof“the
mystery of Christ—for which I am in bonds,” he does not vaguely mean the
gospel, he means the freeness ofthe gospel. That is what had lain hidden in the
mind of God, and it was for that he was “an ambassador in chains.” In

Ephesians 3:4; Ephesians 3:6, he is quite explicit. “Ye can perceive,” he says,
“my understanding in the mystery of Christ; to wit, that the Gentiles are
fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers ofthe
promise.” That, in Paul’s view, was God’s secretplan, hid from the ages and
the generations, andnow revealedto His holy apostles and prophets, and the
text says that God willed it that this mystery should be made knownamong
the Gentiles, not as bare fact, but as a very radiant and marvellous thing, a
thing to sing about, a cause for which a man might very gladly live and die.
It is strange in looking back to see how nearly this secretof gladness was
anticipated ages before. In three Psalms—the 96th, 97th, and 98th—youwill
find a sudden burst of song, just as when the dawn comes and the birds
awaken, andthe cause ofit is Paul’s discoverythat God is all the world’s God.
“Sing to the Lord a new song.… He has made knownhis salvation. He hath
openly declaredhis righteousness in the sight of the nations. Let the sea roar,”
says the poet, “and the pride of its waves, the world and its people;let the
tossing waves claptheir hands, let the hills sing for joy before the Lord, for he
cometh to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, andall
the peoples with equity.” It seemedas if at that time the full day of knowledge
was at hand, but the time of promise passed, for “Godenlargeth a nation, and
straiteneth it again.” Hearts which had expanded to take in the world, grew
narrow and parochial, and darkness descendedon the face of the earth. But
now the day had come, and Paul felt his time too short for all he had to do in
letting men know that the greatand merciful God was actually for them.1
[Note:W. M. Macgregor, JesusChrist the Son of God, 242.]
3. Our subjectis “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Let us take it in this
order—
I. Glory.

II. The Hope of Glory.
III. Christ in you the Hope of Glory.
I
Glory
1. What is glory? In our ordinary thought it is splendour, magnificence. We
think of such a saying as “Solomonin all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these.” Or we think, more sublimely, of the words, “They shall see the Son of
man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and greatglory” (Matthew
24:30). But in seeking a conceptionof glory suitable to our present text we
should start with the incident in the Book ofExodus in which Moses desiresto
see the glory of God: “Shew me, I pray thee, thy glory.” What is God’s
answer? He said: “I will make all my goodnesspass before thee” (Exodus
33:18-19). The glory of God is therefore His goodness made visible to us. We
see His glory when we see Him “gracious to whom I will be gracious,”and
shewing “mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” The goodnessofChrist on the
earth was seenas He “wentabout doing good.” Thatwas His glory in the state
of His humiliation.
I cannot see for the glory of that light—there is to me just now such a light on
the things of God that I cannot rightly see them. God is a glorious God—
Christ is a glorious Christ—the salvationwhich is in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory is a very glorious object.2 [Note:“Rabbi” Duncan, in Memoir of John
Duncan, LL.D., 485.]

2. But how is goodness made visible and seenat work in its highest
manifestation? Surely in love. In the greatIntercessoryPrayerour Lord said,
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I
am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.” What is that
glory? “For,” He added, “thou lovedst me before the foundation of the
world.” This is the highest glory. It is to love and be loved. It is love—the love
of the Fatherto the Son and of the Sonto the Father—recognizedby men,
seen, wonderedat, and sharedin, by men like the disciples.
Heaven is nothing but the manifestation of the Eternal One, wherein all
workethand willeth in quiet love.1 [Note:JacobBehmen.]
God has for ages beendriving the mysteries of Heaven into sentencesofone
syllable. He beganin allegory, passedonto parable, symbol, law, prophecy,
and finally put the infinite into speechthat a little child canutter. The sum of
all the revelationof God is—Love.2 [Note:S. Chadwick.]
The Passiondoes more than simply manifest the glory of Jesus. It opens to us
the glory of a state, or spiritual condition, of which He is Lord by all the rights
of that love with which He was glorified. We are called to this state, and we
abide in it through fellowshipwith Him; more, we abide in it through the
grace ofvocation. The glory of the Crucified becomes likewise the glory of the
faithful soul. The greatlove which burned in Him is to burn in us; the same
utter selflessnessand unworldliness must be in us as in Him. Here is, perhaps,
the point where our own personalfailures and personal difficulties come to
mind. Jesus was glorifiedby the utter sacrifice ofall to the supreme demand
of Divine love. We are humiliated by the occasionaltriumphs in us of
dispositions which we have not subjectedto the law of Divine love. That is our
sorrow;but it should also be the concernof our souls to bring all things so
completely into subjectionto Christ that He may throw around us the glory of
His own love. It is the glory of love in the noblest, most heroic sense. We know

how often the love which stirs us in devotion is found weak in the presence of
demands which would reduce selfto the uttermost, or callforth our energies
in work which has no visible reward. Jesus was glorifiedin His Passion. We
are glorified as we are made one with Him in love, which is most truly human
because it is most gloriously Divine.3 [Note: J. Brett, The Witness of Love, 52.]
3. And thus, last of all, the glory which is promised to the Colossians by the
indwelling of Christ is that they shall be goodas God is good, that their
goodness shallbe manifest in all men’s sight, and that it shall be not merely a
successionofacts of goodnessbut a spirit of love—suchlove in them, felt by
them and exercisedby them, as the love of the Fatherto the Son.
Recognize, then, the dignity, responsibility, destiny of human life. “Glory,” in
the Greek doxa, the practically untranslatable word, the word that means so
much, is, in this context, the perfectionof poor humanity, its emergence from
its dark, lustreless condition, from the imprisonment in which it is “cabin’d,
cribb’d, confined,” the old internal dualism gone, the lowerlaw in the
members subdued, atoned, at-one-d, to the higher. The glory of God the
Father will be the emergence ofhumanity into the perfect freedom of the
purer conditions when we shall be like the Christ, for “we shall see him as he
is.”
“Christ in me.”
Who dares to graspthe truth?—In him alone
The law shall be fulfilled, and only he

Who passes from the vision of the Christ—
A righteousness forhim—apart from him—
To share the fulness of the risen life—
The revelationof the Christ within,
Shall please God perfectly. O if the soul
Be truly emptied—yielded up to Him,
And He in all His fulness dwell within—
A Powerto serve—a Zealto watch and pray—
A Faith to claim the promises—a Love
To sympathize and win—a Patience learnt
In sorrows ofHis manhood, and a Crown
Won by a Cross—ifsuch a Life be ours

As He has laid within the reach of all,
No pathway is too rough for us to tread—
No height beyond our reach—no task too hard
To be performed—no law of His too high
To be fulfilled in us. Lo! as we die
We also rise in Him and He in us!1 [Note:E. H. Divall, A Believer’s Songs,
86.]
4. This glory, it should be noticed, is not simply heaven, and it is not entirely
future. Christ in us is the hope of the full manifestation of our characterin
love which never can be here; but it begins here. We love at once, as soonas
we recognize that He first loved us. And St. Paul does not hesitate to callthe
Corinthians and Colossians with all their shortcomings, “saints.”Their
goodness wasnot very visible or, perhaps, actually very great, but the
possessionofChrist was the assurance thatthey would attain to glory; and he
salutes them on the way.
The immature faith of a Petermay fail and fall, but he can appeal from the
very failure of his weaknessto the heart of his love. “Lord, thou knowestall
things; thou knowestthat I love thee.” The victory is gradual. We “go from
strength to strength”; the “image of the earthly” is gradually effaced—the

“image of the heavenly” is perfectly produced. In spiritual experience we are
conscious ofthe indwelling Christ—in yearnings for God, in holy affections
and growing sympathies, in passionate consecration, in pious, fervent, joyous
worship, in ineffable communion. In our relations to our brother men, the
indwelling of Christ is manifestedin the purity, rectitude, and benevolence of
all these relations. “He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit.” The religious life that does not find expressionin ways of
piety, holiness, and unselfishness is spurious and worthless. “Bytheir fruits ye
shall know them.”
Holiness means, in the first place, perfectdisinterestedness, indifference to
earthly and human interests. Again, it implies a mind one with God, over
which no shadow of uncleanness oruntruth ever passes, whichseeksonly to
know His will, and, knowing it, to carry it out in the world. To purity and
truth it adds peace and a certain dignity derived from independence of all
things. It is heaven upon earth—to live loving all men, disturbed by nothing,
fearing nothing. It is a temper of mind which is unshaken by changes of
religious opinion, which is not dependent upon outward observancesof
religion. Such a characterwe may meet with once or twice in a long life, and
derive a sort of inspiration from it. And oh! that it were possible that some of
us might, even in the days of our youth, find the blessedness ofleading such a
life in God’s presence always.1[Note:Benjamin Jowett.]
The inward experience ofa new creation, the actualformation of Christ, as
the resident life within, “workedmightily” in Paul, and he calledeverybody to
a similar experience. Few words have ever borne a more touching appeal than
that intimate personalcall to his wavering friends in Galatia:“My little
children, I am travailing in birth pains again for you until Christ be formed in
you.” To the Roman Christians he says:“If Christ be in you, the sinful body is
dead.” To the Corinthian believers he says:“Your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit which is in you.” … The Ephesianprayer carries us almost
beyond what can be askedor thought—that “Christ may dwell in your

hearts.” And the Colossianletter declares thatthe riches of the glory of the
Divine revelationis this: “Christ in you.” It would be easyto multiply texts,
but the mystical aspectof Paul’s “Gospel” does notrest on isolatedtexts. It is
woven into the very structure of his message. He cares not at all for the shell
of religion. The survival of ceremonialpractices are to him “nothing.”
Circumcision, which stands in his thought for the whole class of religious
performances, “avails nothing.” Everything turns on a “new creation.” His
aim is always the creationof a “new man,” the formation of the “inward
man,” and this “inward man” is formed, not by the practice of rite or ritual,
not by the laying on of hands, but by the actual incorporationof Christ—the
Divine Life—into the life of the man, in such a way that he who is joined to the
Lord is one Spirit. Christ is resident within, and thereby produces a new
spirit—a principle of power, a source of illumination, an earnestof
unimagined glory.1 [Note: R. M. Jones, Studies in MysticalReligion, 14.]
II
The Hope of Glory
1. If we require a little explanation of the word “glory,” do we not at least
understand the word “hope” at once? If one were to ask us if Christ is being
formed in us, or if we are on the way to glory, what do we answer? Very often,
“I hope so.” Is that the Apostle’s hope when he says “Christ in you the hope of
glory”? No, nor is that the sense in which the word “hope” is ever used in the
Bible of the Christian hope.
Joy and peace are the causes ofhope. But if you look againyou will see near
the beginning of the chapter (Romans 15) another source ofit—“patience and
comfort of the scriptures”;and I have always notedthe combination of the
two different occasions as full of blessedteaching. Not only the sunny and

tranquil hours should produce it, but also the times when all we can do is to
endure, and when all our comfort comes to us from God’s Word.1 [Note: Dr.
McLarenof Manchester, 246.]
DeanStanley used hopefulness as a test of all systems of truth. Rightly so. God
is the God of hope, and His truth, like Himself, carries the atmosphere of good
cheer. The falsity of mediævalism appears in this—it robbed men of joy and
gladness. Godwas the centre of darkness. His throne was iron. His heart was
marble. His laws were huge implements of destruction. His penalties were red-
hot cannonballs crashing along the sinner’s pathway. Repentance toward
God was moving toward the arctics and awayfrom the tropics. Christianity
was anything but “peace onearth, goodwill to men.” Philosophers destroyed
God’s winsomeness. The Reformers came in to leadmen away from
medievalism back to GodHimself. Men found hope again in redemptive love.
They saw that any conceptionof God that dispirited and depressedmen was
perverted and false. No man has done more to establish this fact than he who
long ago said: “Any presentationof the gospelof Jesus Christthat does not
come to the world as the balmy days of May comes to the unlockednorthern
zones;any way of preaching the love of God in Christ which is not as full of
sweetness as the voice of the angels when they sang at the Advent; any way of
making known the proclamation of mercy which has not at leastas many
birds as there are in June and as many flowers as the dumb meadows know
how to bring forth; any method of bringing before men the doctrine of
salvationwhich does not make every one feel, ‘There is hope for me in God—
in the Divine plan, in the very nature of the organizationof human life and
society,’is spurious—is a slander on God and is blasphemy againstHis love.”2
[Note:N. D. Hillis, The Investment of Influence, 290.]
2. What, then, does the Bible say about hope? It speaks of“the full assurance
of hope.” Is that the same as “I hope so”? It says that “hope is an anchor of
the soul, sure and steadfast.”Ask the seamanas he throws his anchor
overboard if it will hold. Does he say, “I hope so”? He looks atthe greatiron

claws ofit and he answers thathe is sure it will hold, if there is anything to
hold by. We have a hope which is placed on that Saviour and Lord who has
ascendedto the right hand of the Father. It “enterethwithin the veil.” There
is something to hold by there. Our hope is an anchorof the soul, sure and
steadfast.
Mr. Watts some time before receiveda letter which had moved him
profoundly. It was written by a strangerto tell him in the simplest language
that in a dark hour of life in a grimy northern town a photograph of his
picture of “Hope” had arrestedattention at a moment of extreme crisis. The
photograph had been bought with a few remaining shillings and the message
pondered, and so for one life the whole course of events had been changed.
The letter concluded with these words:“I do not know you, nor have I ever
seenthe face of him who gave me my ‘Hope,’ but I thank Godfor the chance
of that day when it came to me in my sore need.” I read some of these simple
words to Mr. CecilRhodes, and when I next lookedup I saw in his moistened
eyes how deeply they had touched him.1 [Note:Mrs. Watts, in George
Frederic Watts, ii. 269.]
When God, of His own determinate counsel, willed to clothe His thought in a
human race, and willed to train His human thought-children by the drastic
process ofexposure to evil, that out of the bitterness of contrastthey might
ultimately chooseand tenaciouslycleave to the good, He did it, Paul says, in
hope. “The creature,” says the Apostle, “was made subject to vanity, not
willingly, but by reasonof him who subjected it, in hope.” Does that imply
uncertainty? No. God’s hope is a “shall.” “Therefore,” he continues, “the
whole creationshall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the sons of God.”2 [Note:B. Wilberforce, The Hope of
Glory, 17.]

Of all the virtues, hope is the most distinctively Christian (it could not, of
course, enterdefinitely into any pagan scheme);and, above all others, it seems
to me the testing virtue,—that by the possessionof which we may most
certainly determine whether we are Christians or not; for many men have
charity, that is to say, generalkindness of heart, or even a kind of faith, who
have not any habitual hope of, or longing for, heaven.3 [Note:Ruskin, Stones
of Venice (Works, x. 399).]
The hailstorm and sunshine contended,
As I sheltered beneath the broad tree;
Eachits claim to be master defended,
With furious persistency;
And so fierce was the challenge,
So even the balance,
I could not the issue foresee.
But soonthe stern fight was decided,
When a bow threw its span o’er the storm,

And the cold blinding tempest subsided,
While joy to my bosomleapt warm;
For that bow in the sky,
Flashedits message onhigh,
“Let Hope all thy doubtings disarm.”
Thus darkness and light through the ages,
Wrath and mercy, alternate have reigned;
Nor had all the world’s mightiest sages,
The keyto the riddle attained;
Till the shining God-Man,
On the clouds wrote Heaven’s plan,

“Perfectionthrough suffering gained.”1 [Note:T. Crawford, Horæ Serenæ,
69.]
III
1. How canChrist be in us? Is He not in heaven: throned in glory everlasting?
He is, yet is He in us. As to the body, He is on the throne of the Highest. The
loving Man rules the courts of heaven. But He is in us as to His Spirit.
All the relations of my soul to Christ are personal, vital, and conscious. He
“knocksatthe door of my heart,” and tells me that if I will open unto Him He
will come in unto me; not merely to worship with me, or to hold formal
religious fellowship with me, but to “sup with me”—to mingle with the
pursuits, to inspire the joys of my common life. If I refuse to admit Him, He
bewails my refusal with tears:“If thou hadst known;” “How often would I
have gatheredthee!” “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.” He
comes to me in individual recognition, in personalinspiration, in intelligent
fellowship, in affectionate sympathy, in discriminating help. I speak to Him all
my thoughts and feelings. I tell Him my secretin the common prayer of the
congregation. He blesses me with an individual application of the common
grace. I consciouslyhold intercourse with Him, in more intimate,
uncalculating confidence than a man with his friend. He represents Himself as
the Shepherd of the sheep, as calling His own sheepby name and leading them
out. “He goethbefore them, and the sheepfollow him: for they know his voice.
And a strangerwill they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not
the voice of strangers.”

How individual it all is! What a unique conceptionof religious life and
inspiration it is! His is not a common benevolence;it is a personal,
discriminating love. Mine is not a generalloyalty, it is a distinctive affection
and service—a worship, a consecration, and, if needs be, a martyrdom.
There is such a thing as Jeremy Taylor, in one of his chapters on “Holy
Living,” calls the “Practice ofthe Presence ofGod.” “Lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the age,” says the omnipresent Master;and there
is no greaterneedthan that this presence shallbe recognized and felt. It
cannot be detectedby the physical senses,for it is not a sensible fact. But to
him who cultivates the sensibility to the unseen and exercises his inner senses
to discern goodand evil, the reality of the presence ofChrist may become as
indisputable as anything demonstrable by the bodily organs. Suchcommunion
with a personalChrist assimilates characterto His likeness. “We,beholding as
in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changedinto the same image from glory to
glory.”1 [Note:A. J. Gordon, How Christ came to Church, 77.]
An unknown writer has left us the following beautiful words: “It is not so
much working for God, or speaking for God, as living in the secretofHis
presence, whichmost glorifies Him. We must so seek to realize our Saviour’s
presence with us and in us that our whole being shall be hushed, and quietly
elevated, and controlled in every little thing.” That is an inspiring picture of
the life we might live. It is what God intends, for St. Paul has told us plainly,
“He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” This communion with God is
surely the highest and most sacredofall attainments. If hourly we hold sweet
fellowship with Christ, our moral strength will be continually invigorated, and
our spiritual life can never decline. It is like the sweetgravellybed at the foot
of the flowing stream. No impurity canlodge there. It is ceaselesslypurged by
the river of life. Surely there is nothing higher than this to wish for.2 [Note:J.
A. Clapperton, Culture of the Christian Heart, 90.]

2. There are two phrases—“We inChrist” and “Christ in us.” “We in Christ”
is safety: we have fled for refuge to the hope setbefore us in the Gospel.
“Christ in us” is sanctification:Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith means
that we are “able to comprehend with all the saints, and to know the love of
Christ,” until we are “filled unto all the fulness of God.”
Think seriously, you who are in Christ, of that life in Christ which you ought
to live. And how will you say, one day, that your life has been lived, according
to the life of Christ, if Christ has not dwelt in the details, the constituents of
that life; if your own desires, your own thoughts, your own wisdom, your own
interests, your own glory, your ownease, have been the mainspring of your
actions? If this has been the case from minute to minute, from hour to hour,
without a thought of Christ or His word, without the influence of His Spirit,
how will you be able even to suppose hereafterthat you have lived in Christ?1
[Note:The Life of CæsarMalan, 166.]
I saw Thee at the cross,
Where Thou didst die that we might live;
And love possessedmy heart,
When Thou didst cry “Forgive.”
I saw Thee at the tomb,
When all Thy passiontide was o’er;

I joyed to hear Thee say,
“Alive for evermore.”
“Alive for evermore!”
So when to death I shall draw nigh,
Then Thou wilt take my hand;
I shall not fearto die.
I shall not fearto die!
But worse than fear of death is sin;
So, more than help without,
I ask for Thee within.
I ask for Thee within,

Yea, in my heart victorious be!
That I transformed by love
May live my life in Thee.2 [Note:BishopBoyd Carpenter.]
3. “Christ in you.” If we give due weightto phrases like this, phrases of which
the New Testamentis full, and which speak, as one may say, the common-
sense ofreligion, we see once more that the thought of the Atonement is not of
any external sacrifice. Ratherthe Atonement, so far as we are concerned, is
some spiritual change, some change of the inmost soul in its relation to God.
We cannottrust in an external sacrifice, noteven in the death of the Son of
God, if all the while we are content to go on living with quite a different spirit
in our lives from His. We know how people sometimes talk about trusting in
Christ, and of looking to Christ alone for salvation, as if all this were possible
without the great interior change, the change of characterwhich comes from
the actualdwelling of Christ in the soul. We have heard people talk, perhaps,
of trusting in Christ, and of looking to Him for salvation, when their lives
showedvery little of His Spirit, when their hearts seemedto be setmainly if
not entirely upon the things of this world, upon material comfort and ease,if
not upon money-making and pleasure, and upon the selfishenjoyment of
these things, without a thought of helpfulness to others, without a notion of
spending in the cause of Godsomething like the same proportion of time and
money that they spend on their own families or their own establishments,
without a thought of the greatneeds of the world and of their responsibility
for meeting them.
Thus it is that you are to conceive ofthe holy Jesus, orthe Word of God, as
the hidden treasure of every human soul, born as a seedof the Word in the
birth of the soul immured under flesh and blood.

If Christ was to raise a new life like His own in every man, then every man
must have had originally, in the inmost spirit of his life, a seedof Christ, or
Christ as a seedof heaven.
For we cannot be inwardly led and governedby a spirit of goodnessbut by
being governed by the Spirit of God Himself. For the Spirit of God and the
spirit of goodness are not two spirits, nor can we be said to have any more of
the one than we have of the other.
The Christian religion is no arbitrary system of Divine worship, but is the one
true, real, and only religion of nature: that is, it is wholly founded in the
nature of things, has nothing in it supernatural or contrary to the powers and
demands of nature; but all that it does is only in, and by, and according to the
workings and possibilities of nature.
A Christ not in us is the same as a Christ not ours.1 [Note:William Law, The
Spirit of Love.]
(1) The secretof the growth of the Christ in us is the practice of quick mental
concentration, in every moral crisis, upon the Presencein which we “live,
move, and have our being.” Witness, in the hidden lives of the greatestmen,
the strengthening effectof this practice. Such men will make what we call
mistakes (though there are no mistakes in the full purpose of God—the
mistakes are part of the purpose, and men and nations learn as much by their
mistakes as by their successes).Theymay make mistakes;but they are kept in
perfect peace, becausetheir minds are stayedon Him.

In The Life of Gladstone, by Lord Morley, the biographer has given us
glimpses, from Mr. Gladstone’s mostprivate diary, of this ceaselesslifting up
of the heart, always, everywhere, in every crisis. It was his custom when
waiting to catchthe Speaker’s eye, in the House of Commons, to occupythe
interval in intense mental prayer. On one occasion, whenChancellorof the
Exchequer, before rising to make his first greatbudget speech, his lips were
observedmoving. Members might have thought he was rehearsing his figures.
His diary tells us what he was doing. He was murmuring the words of the
Psalmist, “Turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength to thy
servant, and save the sonof thine handmaid.”1 [Note:B. Wilberforce,
Speaking Goodof His Name.]
(2) The truest evidence of the reality of this life is that sense of common love,
that thrill of common sympathy, which leads us to care for others and to work
for others. Let us determine that the world shall be somewhatthe better that
we are living in it, and we shall be giving practical outward expressionto that
“mystery hid from the foundation of the world”—“Christin you, the hope of
glory.”
I remember the morning on which I came out of my room after I had first
trusted Christ. I thought the old sun shone a gooddeal brighter than it ever
had before—Ithought that it was just smiling upon me; and, as I walkedout
upon BostonCommon and heard the birds singing in the trees, I thought they
were all singing a song to me. Do you know, I fell in love with the birds. I had
never cared for them before. It seemedto me that I was in love with all
creation. I had not a bitter feeling againstany man, and I was ready to take all
men to my heart. If a man has not the love of Godshed abroad in his heart, he
has never been regenerated. If you hear a personget up in the prayer-meeting
and begin to find fault with everybody, you may doubt whether his is a
genuine conversion;it may be counterfeit. It has not the right ring, because
the impulse of a convertedsoul is to love, and not to be getting up and

complaining of every one else and finding fault.1 [Note:D. L. Moody, in Life,
by his son.]
Why do I dare love all mankind?
’Tis not because eachface, eachform
Is comely, for it is not so;
Nor is it that eachsoul is warm
With any Godlike glow.
Yet there’s no one to whom’s not given
Some little lineament of heaven,
Some partial symbol, at the least, in sign
Of what should be, if it is not, within,
Reminding of the death of sin

And life of the Divine.
There was a time, full well I know,
When I had not yet seenyou so;
Time was, when few seem’d fair;
But now, as through the streets I go,
There seems no face so shapeless, so
Forlorn, but that there’s something there
That, like the heavens, doth declare
The glory of the greatAll-fair;
And so mine own eachone I call;
And so I dare to love you all.2 [Note: Henry Septimus Sutton, A Preacher’s
Soliloquy and Sermon.]

4. These signs appearwhen Christ is in us—
(1) Life is sanctified.—Sadit is that so many of the most earnestsouls are
looking in the wrong direction for sanctification. It comes not along any path
outside of us. It journeys by the inward way. It is by the yielding up of the
nature to the indwelling Christ that true holiness is achieved.
Christ is far more than One who stands behind all the developments of life, as
originating Source. It is equally true that in Him all things consist. The bond
of inter-relationship betweenall life and all lives is His essentialBeing. All the
rhythmic order of the universe is createdby the presence of the Christ, so that
He is immanent, the Centre of the believer’s life, and transcendent, its Sphere.
Wherever the Christian looks he sees the Christ. At dawning of the morning
His face makes it more beautiful. When the sun goes westering, and the
shadows ofthe evening are growing, the consciousness ofHis presence is sleep.
When the battle thickens, He rides at the head of His battalions, and leads to
victory. When peace is declared, it is His benediction falling upon the sons of
men. Christ is everywhere, and to the man who knows what it is to have
Christ in him, the hope of glory, whether he look up or down or out or back
Christ’s face is there.
Christianity is in its essencedevotionto a Person—notto a sacredmemory,
not to an ideal of conduct, not to any glorious hope for the future, but to a
living Personwho stands before us to-day as really as He stoodbefore the
disciples of John, as really as He stood before Pontius Pilate, some nineteen
centuries ago. “Whatshall I do, then, with Jesus Christ?” This is the practical
question that is left with us by the answering of our riddle; by the appearing
before us of Christ, the final answer. His way of giving answeris to enter into
our life as Saviourand Teacherand Friend. And it is only by our coming thus
into fellowshipwith Him, and allowing our characters to be transformed into
the likeness ofHis own that He canbe to us in the final and complete sense the

answerto our riddle. “Prophetand apostle canonly be understood by prophet
and apostle,” says Emerson. And Carlyle gives expressionto the same truth
when he says that “the sincere alone can recognize sincerity.” A spirit canbe
understood only by a kindred spirit. To understand another, one must have
with that other some common ground; and perfect understanding cancome
only with perfect likeness.It is only when we begin to be like Christ that we
begin to know Him as He is. And He comes to us, to open our eyes and to
change our hearts, that we may both see Him and be like Him.1 [Note:J. B.
Maclean, The Secretof the Stream, 34.]
(2) The characteris uplifted to a throne.—If He dwells in me, my nature
becomes His palace, and He, my King, reigns there with unchallengedrule. He
does His ownsweetwill therein. It is mine to obey Him. My King commands
within me, and I delight to do His will. “Christ in you.”
Obedience in its highest form is not obedience to a constantand compulsory
law, but a persuaded or voluntarily yielded obedience to an issuedcommand;
and so far as it was a persuadedsubmission to command, it was anciently
called, in a passive sense, “persuasion,”orπίστις, and in so far as it alone
assuredlydid, and it alone could do, what it meant to do, and was therefore
the rootand essenceofall human deed, it was calledby the Latins the
“doing,” or fides, which has passedinto the Frenchfoi and the English faith.1
[Note:Ruskin, Modern Painters (Works, vii. 213).]
We are to do His will, and thus we shall gradually understand the doctrine
which He has taught us concerning Himself. Thus it is that in our earthly
relations we getto be acquainted with those who are higher and better than
ourselves. We have first of all to learn to obey them whether we can see the
reasonor no; and by and by we come to see the reason, and to understand the
kindness of our advisers. Thus it is that a soldier gains confidence in his
general, or a patient in his physician, or a sonin his father; thus it was that

our Lord’s apostles learnedby degrees to acknowledgethat in Jesus Christ
they “beheld the glory of the only begottenof the Father, full of grace and
truth”; thus it is that eachof us must learn to confess “The Lord is in this
place and I knew it not.”2 [Note: Hurrell Froude.]
(3) We know the ways of God.—Christis the true “inward light.” The
Christian does not depend so much on arguments without as on illumination
within. The indwelling Christ witnesses truth to me and rejects error. Many a
difficult religious problem is easily solvedif Christ dwell in us. He conducts a
teaching ministry within us. He settles many a point of criticism, Biblical and
theological. “We shallnot full direction need” if Christ be in us. The
indwelling Christ authenticates the things of God to our intellect and heart
and conscience.
There is an incident recordedby the Archbishop of Armagh, in his book
Primary Convictions, which illustrates this. He tells us how on board a great
Atlantic steamerhe happened on one Sunday evening to take down and read a
certain chapter in Darwin’s DescentofMan. It told him how back through
inconceivable æons his origin canbe tracedto the amphioxus, a thing almosta
worm, with scarcelya brain or rudiment of a vertebral column. From it
through long lines of development can be tracedthe highestform of
vertebrates, the human race. “I retired to rest,” he says, “almostdismayed.
The majestic induction, the colossalindustry, was not to be gainsaid. But as I
lay awakein my cabin I heard presently the burst of an organ, and voices
went out over the starlit sea in chants and hymns. The vast ship was rushing
along at over twenty miles an hour, and I could see through the little window
of the porthole the water cut into white swathes of foam. What words were
those? ‘Lead, kindly Light,’ ‘There is a greenhill far away.’Then I felt that
the question is, not what man may have been, but what he is; not what he is
like, but what he can do; not what organismmay have been employed in
moulding his body, but what he has become.… The being who triumphs over
the waves, who raises strains whose very sweetness ‘givethproof that they

were born for immortality,’ may have come from the humble amphioxus or
from something lowerstill, ‘the dust of the ground’; but he is the child of God
by nature, and made for a yet higher sonship. ‘Becauseye are sons, Godsent
forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.’ ”1 [Note: G.
Nickson, in The Record, Nov. 6, 1908.]
You sayyou want “proof” of the fact of God having a will which He wishes us
to fulfil. But how is that to be proved to you as long as you refuse to try to
fulfil the will? It is like a starving man refusing to eatuntil he has “proof” that
food will nourish him. If he eats he will find the proof in himself; so will you, if
you try to do God’s will, find the evidence that there is a Divine will and that
it is the life of a human creature to fulfil it. You do not know what is God’s
will in itself, but you know that what is right is according to that will, you can
try to do what is right, and in that effort you will learn that what is right is
Divine, and that only through faith in and union with the Divine is the human
perfected. I don’t ask you to do right because it is God’s will, but to do God’s
will because it is right, and when you are in doubt as to what is God’s will, to
do what your conscience bids you, and your doubt will disappear.2 [Note:
Memoir of Robert Herbert Story, 153.]
(4) We have a new sense ofself-reverence.—Ifmy body be His shrine can I
desecrate thatshrine? All wrong done to the body or to any part of human
personality is sacrilege.One in whom Christ dwells must reverence himself.
Such cannot be merely self-respecting, theywill be self-reverential—notself-
conceited, but self-awed!Herein is the explanation of the dignity which graces
many of the humblest Christians. We not seldom wonder at the refinement of
spirit and of manner manifested by some who are poor and unschooled. We
call it “native refinement.” But it is not “native.” It springs from the
consciousnessofChrist mystical. Lowly people are noble-mannered when
Christ is homed in their hearts.

It was in the light of the Incarnation that men dared to speak ofthe human
body as the temple of the Holy Ghost, of our being members of Christ’s body,
and even dared tersely to express the place of the body in the designs of God
by saying, “The Lord is for the body.” It was this conceptionthat gave new
value and sanctionto the work of ministering to the weaklyand sick, and new
direction to Christian compassionand charity. It gave new importance and
meaning to physical self-control, to cleanliness, to sexualpurity, to abstinence;
and finally it encouragedthe discharge of reverent and decent offices to the
bodies of the dead, with self-restraintin mourning, and uniform tenderness to
the frail tenement of the human spirit. We are, indeed, guilty of sham
spirituality when we forgetthe connexion of these things with the Incarnation
of the Son of God, and their witness to that deep saying, “The Lord is for the
body.”1 [Note: G. A. JohnstonBoss, in Youth and Life, 12.]
(5) There is a fount of sweetestcomfortwithin.—What soothes amid sorrow
like the consciousnessofthe indwelling Christ? This is a pure deep fount of
consolationin the heart, more refreshing far than the most sparkling fountain
by the way. How would some of you sustain the heavy burdens of life save for
Christ being in you? In the extremes of pain and woe what has upheld you but
this? What supported you on the sadjourney to the cemetery, and on the
sadder journey home again, excepting this alone—“Christin you”? This
glowing centre of Christian experience is ardent consolation.2 [Note:D. T.
Young, The Crimson Book, 145.]
“Godreigns, and the Government at Washingtonstill lives,” cries Garfield to
the crowdin the panic following the assassinationof Lincoln. “Had I not
perceivedthe Lord was at the helm I should long ago have given up the
struggle,” writes Zwingli in the throes of the Reformation struggle. “I lay my
head to-night upon the bosomof Omnipotence” is Rutherford’s explanation of
calmness in the presence ofdifficulty and loss. These are the men of whom it is
true that

Looking backwardthro’ our tears
With vision of maturer scope,
How often one dead joy appears
The platform of some better hope!3 [Note: G. Nickson, in The Record, Nov. 6,
1908.]
“Christ in us”!—who can reachthe depth and height,
The length and breadth of such a gift as this?
In weaknessHe is strength, in darkness light,
Amidst the world’s distress an untold bliss,
Treasures ofwisdom to a simple mind,
Riches of grace the contrite heart to bless,
A clearand open vision to the blind,

And to the nakedsoul a comely dress;
Compared with this all other gifts are dim:
Poorin ourselves, yet we have all in Him.
With “Christ in us,” our glorious hope is sure;
Dwelling in Him the true and living way,
Our souls are safe, and to the end endure;
Through faith all sin and guilt on Him we lay:
See through the veil our greatHigh Priestwithin,
PreparedHis own redeemedones to bless;
Himself made sin for us, who knew no sin,
That we might perfect righteousnesspossess;
While by His Spirit, dwelling in our hearts,

His peace, His joy, His glory He imparts.1 [Note:John Streatfeild, Musings on
Scriptural Subjects.]
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christ, The Hope Of Glory
Colossians 1:27
W.F. Adneney
I. CHRISTIANITYBRINGS A HOPE OF GLORY.
1. It brings a hove. All men who live at all live in the future. The past is
irretrievable. The present is but a passing moment. Life reaches outto what
lies before it. For this we need to be buoyed up by some hope -
"Everby a mighty hope
Pressing onand bearing up." The man without a hope is as goodas dead.
Who will care to walk on over the wearypath of his pilgrimage if no light
cheers him in the distance, if only deepening gloom besets his uncertain
footsteps? It is the glory of the gospelthat it speaks ofa hope of glory.
2. The object of the Christian hope is glory. It is more than bare escapefrom
ruin; more than mere gladness. There is something ennobling and elevating in

the bestsense of the word "glory." It not only includes the greatestblessings;
it calls us off from low, selfish, epicurean conceptions offuture happiness, and
points to a pure and lofty aim for our aspirations.
II. THIS CHRISTIAN HOPE IS FOR ALL. The emphasis of the phrase lies
on the word "you." "Christ in you," etc.
1. All nations are included. The narrower Jew keptthe glory of redemption to
himself, though he would allow some of its minor blessings, overflowing from
his ownfull cup, to spreadamong the Gentries. Christ brings the richest
blessings to all peoples without distinction.
2. All characters are included. St. Paul has just been describing the early
conditions of the Colossians.Theyhad been alienatedand enemies to God in
their mind (ver. 21). Yet these men have the hope of glory. Thus there is a
wonderful revelationof the love of God in the thought - even to you,
Colossians, once greatenemies to God, Christ is the Hope of glory. And so
always the worstsinners, when redeemed by Christ, may anticipate, not only
pardon, but the highestglory.
III. CHRIST IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHRISTIAN HOPE OF
GLORY.
1. It is first of all based on the atonementof Christ. By his shame comes our
glory. He first reconciles us to God and then leads us on to glorification.
2. The hope of glory for Christians is dependent on the glory of Christ. He
wins glory through his triumph over sin and death. But he does not keepthe
glory to himself; he freely shares it with his people. Then the Christian glory is
just a share of this glory of Christ's. It is no selfishthing, much less is it an
earthly, corrupt thing like much that degrades the name of glory among men.
3. Christ himself is the Centre of this glory. Christ is the Hope of glory, not
merely the teachings of Christ, the work of Christ, the sacrifice ofChrist. In
him is glory - the glory of the Only begottenfrom the Father (John 1:14). He
is the glory of his Church.

IV. WE ENJOYTHE HOPE OF GLORY BY RECEIVING CHRIST
SPIRITUALLY, Christ in you is the hope of glory. So long as we are
separatedfrom Christ we dwell in darkness and no ray of his glory is ours. No
external relations with Christ will make the hope ours. We must enter into
personalrelations with Christ; we must receive him into our hearts. When he
dwells in our hearts by faith he brings to us his own life, and with this the
glory that belongs to it. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
To whom God would make knownwhat is the riches of the glory of this
mystery.
Colossians 1:27
The gospelmystery
C. H. Spurgeon.

The gospelis the grand secret. To the mass of mankind it was utterly
unknown, and the chosenpeople only perceiveddimly through the smoke of
sacrifices analthe veil of types. It must ever have been a mystery out for
revelation, and must be so still unless Christ comes to dwell within. Then all is
clear.
I. THE ESSENCE OF THIS MYSTERYIS CHRIST. It is uncertain what is
the antecedentto "which" — "mystery," "riches," or"glory." If it be
mystery, then Christ is "the mystery of godliness";if glory, Christ is the
brightness of His Father's glory; if riches, there are "the unsearchable riches
of Christ." The essence ofthis mystery is —
1. Christ Himself: God-Man, in which connectionwe must remember the
glorious work He undertook and finished on our behalf; and (2) His offices,
prophet, priest, king, friend, brother, head, dec. WhateverChrist is His
people are in Him: crucified, dead, risen in Him; in Him we live eternally, and
sit in heavenly places. This is the essence ofthe whole gospel, He who does not
preach Christ preaches no gospel. There is no more possibility of a gospel
without Christ than a day without the sun or a river without water.
2. Christ Himself and no other. Neverbe put off with books or conversations.
Nothing short of reaching and touching Christ will serve your turn.
3. Christ Himself rather than anything which Christ gives. How different He
is from all our other friends and helpers. They bring goodthings, but Jesus
gives us Himself. He does not merely give us wisdom, righteousness, etc., He
Himself is made of God all these things to us. When you are ill you are glad to
see the doctor, but when you are well you want to get rid of him; but you can
never do without Christ. When cured we want to see Jesus more than ever.
4. Christ alone is enough. Some hold a candle to the sun by preaching Christ
and man's philosophy or priestcraft.
II. THE SWEETNESSOF THIS MYSTERYWHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU.
This is a grand advance. Christ in heaven, Christ free to poor sinners is
precious, but Christ in the heart is most precious of all. A loafis a goodthing,
but if we could not get it within us we should die of starvation. A medicine

may be a noble cure, but if kept in the phial would do us no good. Christ in
you is —
1. Christ acceptedby faith. It is a wonderful thing that Christ should enter a
man, but still more wonderful that He should enter by so narrow an opening
as our little faith. There is the sun, yet it cancome through the narrowest
chink; but we should pull up the blinds, and let him shine in in all his glory.
Grow in faith, then, and take in Christ more fully.
2. Christ possessed. Nothing is so much a man's own as that which is within
him. Men may question whether an acre or a house is yours, but not
yesterday's meal.
3. Christ experienced. There may be a valuable medicine, but it is of no
efficacyto a man until it is within him. When it commences to purify and
strengthen, he knows it without the testimony of others. When Christ is in you
curing your sin, and filling your soul with love to holiness, then will you know
the Lord.
4. Christ reigning.
5. Christ filling.
6. Christ transfiguring. You thrust a bar of iron into the fire, and keepit there
till the fire enters it, it is then like fire itself. "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me."
III. THE OUTLOOK OF ALL THIS IS CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF
GLORY.
1. Glory. Surely that belongs to God only. Yes, but Christ says, "The glory
Thou hast given Me I have given them."
2. How do we know that we are to have glory?(1)Christ makes us glorious
now by His coming, which is a pledge of future glory.(2) Christ has entered
into covenantwith God to bring His people home to glory.(3) The Christ who
has come to live with us will never leave us till we are glorified.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christ in you
R. M. McCheyne, M. A.
I. CHRIST IN YOU means Christ embraced by faith as our righteousness and
strength. This is the sure ground on which we may hope for glory (Ephesians
3:17). When a sinner's heart is opened to see the excellenceofthe Saviour, it
inwardly embraces Him, and every discovery renews this act of inward
cleaving. Then every reproach, temptation, fall, affliction, makes the soul
more fully embrace Him (see Galatians 4:19;John 15:4; John 17:23, 26).
II. THE EFFECTSOF THIS UNION.
1. The mind of Christ is formed in the soul (1 Corinthians 2:16). The believer
thinks as Christ does, and so has the spirit of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
Not, of course, that he has the omniscience and infallibe judgment of his Lord,
but up to his light he sees as Christ does.
(1)Sin to be abominable.
(2)The gospel,, its glory and completeness.
(3)The world and its vanity.
(4)Time and its value.
(5)Eternity. As did Christ he sees everything in its light.
2. The heart of Christ.
(1)There is the same love to God in both.
(2)The same aversionto God's frown.
(3)The same love to the saints.
(4)The same compassionforsinners.
(R. M. McCheyne, M. A.)

Christ in you an expanding force
C. H. Spurgeon.
When Christ once enters. into a soul, by degrees He occupies the whole of it.
Did you ever hear the legendof a man whose gardenproduced nothing else
but weeds, till at last he met with a strange foreign flowerof singular vitality.
The story is that he soweda handful of this seedin his overgrowngarden, and
left it to work its own sweetway. He slept and rose, and knew not how the
seedwas growing till on a day he openedthe gate and saw a sight which much
astounded him. He knew that the seedwould produce a dainty flower and he
lookedfor it; but he had little dreamed that the plant would cover the whole
garden. So it was:the flower had exterminated every weed, till as he looked
from one end to the other from wallto wall he could see nothing but the fair
colours of that rare plant, and smell nothing but its delicious perfume. Christ
is that plant of renown. If He be sownin the soilof your soul, He will
gradually eat out the roots of all ill weeds and poisonous plants, till over all
your nature there shall be Christ in you. God grant we may realize the picture
in our own hearts, and then we shall be in paradise.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ in you the hope of glory
T. Binney., C. Bradley, M. A.
I. THE SUBJECT ofthe Apostle's declaration.
1. "Glory" refers to the felicity of a future life as discoveredby the gospel;
"the hope" is that "laid up for us in heaven." Of a life after death the Gentiles
knew nothing with certainty, and the Jews only dimly. "Life and immortality
were brought to light by the gospel."
2. This glory was one of(1) character, "a glory to be revealed, in us" — a
personalperfection to adorn the world, "whereindwelleth righteousness."(2)

Condition and place. It refers to the light and participation of that
incomparable splendour which emanates from the throne and pervades the
residence of Deity. God is light, and "dwellethin a light Which no man can
approachunto." In consistencywith this the heavenly mansions are "the
inheritance of the saints in light"; all the luminaries of heavenare excluded as
unnecessaryappendages in consequenceofthe surpassing splendour derived
immediately from God and the Lamb.
II. THE MEDIUM of this hope: Christ. He was the author and bestowerof it.
He had not only revealedthe object, and imparted knowledge respecting it,
But had openedthe way to its enjoyment. He was "the way, the truth, and the
life," and they needed nothing besides. It was inconsistentwith His grace and
truth, omnipotence, love, and with the perfectionof His work on earth, for
Him to have recourse to Jewishceremonies, personalsuffering, or philosophic
speculations, as a means of augumenting their confidence, or securing their
possessionofthe anticipated eternity.
III. THE SENSES IN WHICH CHRIST IS IN US PERSONALLY AND
EXPERIMENTALLY.
1. Faith in Christ as the great sacrifice. Itis thus that the life is derived that
can never perish, and that a union is establishedwith Christ which will lead
Him to remember us when He cometh in His kingdom. "I am crucified with
Christ," etc. "ThatChrist may dwell in your hearts by faith."
2. The influence of His Spirit who effects that change in our nature which
"makes us meet for the inheritance," etc.
3. The habitual remembrance of His laws and the consequentexhibition in
affectionate obedience (John15:4, 7, 10, 11).Lessons —
1. The unspeakable importance and value of religion.
2. How delightful to have such a hope of glory to cling to; an anchor of the
soul, sure and steadfast, among the billows and eddies of that turbulent
stream on which we are embarked.
(T. Binney.)

I. GLORY, another word for heaven, setting forth —
1. Its excellence. Nothing is esteemedglorious but what is of transcendent
worth. The Jews feltthis, hence the Hebrew word signifies also weightand
substance;So heaven is called"an exceeding weightof glory."
2. its magnificence. Mere excellenceis not glory, to be that it must be known
and seen. The sun is not glorious behind a cloud; a diamond must be brought
forth and polished to be glorious. So the glory of heavenconsists in the
discoveryof its excellencies — the Fatherin His majesty, the Son — "His
grace and love, holiness," in its perfection and beauty, etc. "Thine eyes shall
see the King in His beauty."
II. THE HOPE OF GLORY. This brings us down to earth, but still with
heaven in our sight. But there is a hope even of heavennot worth the having.
We read of a hope that perishes, that shall be cut off like a spider's web and
the giving up of the ghost. May that be destroyed, for a false hope is worse
than none at all. The true hope is distinguished from this by three marks.
1. It comes down from heaven. We cannotcreate it; no fellow-creature can
persuade us into it. It is the gift of the heavenly Spirit to the renewedheart. It
resembles faith and rests on the same foundation, yet it differs from it. "There
is a world of glory," says faith. "I am going to it," says hope.
2. It longs and looks for heaven. It is an "earnestexpectation"like that of the
storm-tossedmariner for the desired haven.
3. It carries the soul on towards heaven and makes meetfor it. "Everyman
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself," etc.
III. CHRIST. He is connectednot with the glory but with the hope, as its
foundation. Take Him awayand there is no hope.
1. Christ has purchased glory for us. As sinners and rebels we were farther
from it than any beggaris from a crown. But He has paid the ransom which
delivers us from condemnation, and which entitles us to glory.
2. He has actually takenpossessionofglory for us. Hence the believer's hope is
connectedwith the ascension — "The anchor of the soul," He.

3. Christ has pledged Himself to bring believers to glory.
IV. CHRIST IN US. What this means is more than we can tell. Picture to
yourselves a house, comfortless within, and falling to decay. Let a stranger
enter it, he may act in two ways. He may secrete himselfin some dark corner,
and, watching his opportunity, do much mischief without its inhabitants even
knowing he is there. Thus Satanis acting in the hearts of thousands, who little
think he is near them, much less within them. But suppose that strangerto be
a man of another character, and, as soonas he goes in, to throw open the
windows, and to let in the air and light. See him then discovering himself to
the inhabitants of it. "I am come to live with you," he says, "if you will let me,
as your friend and brother. But this filthiness I cannotbear, nor this disorder.
I love comfort and cheerfulness." And then he sets about cleansing that house,
putting it in order, adorning and repairing it, strengthening its walls and
closing up every fissure, so that when the wintry storm heats, no wind or rain
can enter it, and nothing shake it. And then while he is doing this, he goes
about enlivening it with his presence, andmaking the voice of joy and praise
to be heard from day to .day in every room of it. Oh, you would say, what an
altered house!What a blessedguesthas that man proved in it! Now the Lord
Jesus whenhe enters a sinner's soul acts exactlythus.
(C. Bradley, M. A.)
Christ in you
W. H. Luckenbach., B. Beddome, M. A.
This strange thing once startled an emperor. Ignatius, who had assumed the
name Theophorus to express this gospeltruth, stoodbefore him to vindicate
his professionofChristianity. "Who is Theophorus?" haughtity askedthe
heathen monarch. "He who has Christ in his breast," saidthe martyr. "Dost
thou, then, carry Him, who was crucified, within thee?" Raising his voice with
holy animation, while an almostheavenly brightness played upon his pallid
countenance, the Christian hero replied, "I do — I do; for it is written, 'I
dwell in them, and walk in them!'"

(W. H. Luckenbach.)
1. Glory is the greatestwordin our language. It is one of God's most
magnificent titles. It is the objectof the true believer's hope, and whateverelse
he relinquishes he will not part with this. He lives and dies in hope.
2. This hope arises from the indwelling of the Saviour. He is in us as the
source of life and the principle of action.
3. This union is not essentiallike that which subsists betweenthe sacred
Three; nor is it personal like that betweenthe Divine and human natures of
our Lord, nor merely an operative or influential union like that betweenGod
and His creatures;but a mystical and spiritual union, a union of affection,
interest, and design. It is also mutual and reciprocal. He dwells in us, and we
dwell in Him (John 14:23;Galatians 2:20; Revelation3:20).
I. EXPLAIN AND ILLUSTRATE THE TRUTH OF THE TEXT.
1. Christ is revealedin the gospelas the hope of glory. In order that He may
be receivedHe must be outwardly proposedby the ministration of the Word
(Romans 10:14; Revelation1:2). By the discoverythe gospelmakes ofChrist's
ability and willingness to save, it opens a door of hope to the vilest (Romans
15:4; Colossians1:23;Hebrews 6:18).
2. Christ crucified is the foundation of our hope, by becoming the meritorious
cause ofit.
3. Christ is the hope of glory efficiently by the operationof His Spirit in our
hearts (Romans 8:9). Without that any hope of salvationis visionary.
4. Christ dwelling in the heart is the evidence that He is to us the hope of
glory, and by no other means can that hope be ascertained. He is our life; but
in order to this He must live in us. After all that He has done and is doing for
us, there is something continually to be done within (Romans 10:6-9).
II. ESTABLISHAND CONFIRM THE LEADING SENTIMENT.

1. Christ being in us is the best evidence of our being in Him, and the
testimony of an angelcould not make it more satisfactory(1 John 5:11-12;
Ephesians 1:3-4; 1 Timothy 1:9).
2. Christ in us is the nourishment of our hope. "Greateris He that is in you,"
etc.
3. Christ in us is the pledge and earnestof our hope. To have Christ in us is
the life of grace;to be with Christ is the hope of glory; and the two go
together.
(B. Beddome, M. A.)
The hope of glory
New TestamentAnecdotes.
The late Isaac Pittwas suffering from what appearedto be an attack of
rheumatic gout, from which no serious dangerwas apprehended. His friends
were startled by the announcement of the physician, "There is no hope."
Another medical man was calledfor consultation. "Doctor," saidthe sick
man, "I wish to know the very truth; do not concealanything. Do you think I
shall recover?" "We willdo all we can, but we fear there is no hope of
recovery." "Thank you," he rejoined, "I should like you to do all you can; but
if not successful, I have a hope. A ransom has been provided, a Saviour has
been sent: I acceptthe ransom, I believe in the Saviour." When the doctor
says there is no hope for the body, this hope of glory is an anchor for the soul.
(New TestamentAnecdotes.)
Christ in the heart
J. L. Nye.
David Hume, the greathistorian of England, and noted enemy of the
Christian faith, once overheard his servant-man John repeating the text,

"Christ in you, the hope of glory." "You know that's all nonsense,"said
Hume; "I wonder that a sensible man like you can believe it. If Christ be in
heaven, as you say, how canHe be in you? He can't be in two places at one
time. And then to be 'in you,' I don't understand it." "David Hume," said
John, "you wrote the 'History of England,' and I read it page by page with
greatdelight. You say in that history that the one redeeming feature in the life
of 'Bloody Mary' was, that when she was dying, the news came to her that
Calais had been captured, and that on that occasionshe raisedherself up in
bed, and said to her maids of honour, 'When I die, take out my heart, and you
will find "Calais"written on it.' Now, what more Calais written on Mary's
heart, than Christ on mine? Take out my heart, and you will find Christ
written on it."
(J. L. Nye.)
Christ in the heart the believer's hope
CongregationalRemembrancer.
I. CHRIST DWELLS IN BELIEVERS.
1. Christ is in you who truly believe in him. Faith brings Him into union with
the soul.
2. Christ is in you as He engagesyour first affections.
3. Christ is in you as His likeness is impressed on your souls. Where this is
there will be —
(1)Aversion to sin.
(2)Delight in the law of God.
(3)Zeal for the Divine glory.
(4)Habitual submission to the Divine will.
4. Christ is in you if His Spirit dwell in you — "If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ," etc.

II. CHRIST IN BELIEVERS IS THE HOPE OF GLORY.
1. Their hope is founded in Christ (1 Timothy 1:1). Nor canthe hope of a
sinful creature rest anywhere else with safety.
2. Their hope is communicated by Christ.
3. Their hope is maintained by Christ. They cherish this hope as Christ is in
them.Learn —
1. The happy condition of the believer. He may rejoice in hope of the glory of
God.
2. The importance of earnestendeavours to know our state before God.
3. The fallacy of that hope that is not founded on the Saviour, and productive
of conformity to Him.
(CongregationalRemembrancer.)
The Indwelling of Christ
H. W. Beecher.
There are four methods by which we .arrive at the knowledge ofChrist.
1. The historical. Without this we cannotbecome acquainted with the true
portraiture of Christ. It is true that one may study the Gospels intellectually,
and derive from them a conceptionof Christ that is truly noble, but which is
not vital and powerful: but this is the abuse of a right thing. The study of the
work and characterof Christ is antecedentand auxilliary to a true experience
of Christ.
2. The theological. This is often carried to excess andabused, but none the less
there is a place for it. It is a matter of transcendentinterest to know whether
Christ believed He was Divine. Views of the Divinity of the Saviour which run
low will, averaging them through the ages, be productive of a low tone of
spirituality and vice versa. Nevertheless a man may have a right theologyof
Christ, and yet not be possessedofChrist. It is auxilliary only.

3. The apostle taught that there was something more than this, viz., a living
Christ who may be a part of our lives.
I. IN ORDER THAT HE MAY BE MY CHRIST HE MUST BE ONE IN
WHOSE HANDS IS THE WHOLE SPHERE IN WHICH I LIVE AND ACT.
Lord over all the causes whichare influencing me.
1. No man ever contests in himself and strives to release himself from what is
low and base, and reaches towardthe higher and nobler, if he does not feel the
need of God. When we are looking down we are our own gods, but when we
strive upwards we feel the necessityof supernal influences.
2. Now as when I hunger, my hunger says there is food, as when my eye was
made it said there was light to match it, so I know that certainstruggles and
yearnings point to something higher.
3. These yearnings are met in Him of whom the previous verses of this chapter
point. No man who is limited by specialities, physician, teacher, friend, etc.,
can give me the help I need. lie must be as He is, the embodiment of all power,
and Lord over all.
4. But in order to this He must be mine, mine as really as if I were the only
human being in the universe: not of course to the exclusion of others — but as
my father was not less wholly mine because he was my brothers' too.
II. IN ORDER TO MEET THE EXIGENCYOF MY NATURE AND
EXPERIENCEI MUST HAVE A CHRIST WHO LOVES ME.
1. I cannotlive without love; but human love is inadequate.
2. Yet how am I to be loved, and thus live. I can never hope to deserve it. Here
the transcendentlove of Christ comes in. He loves the loveless, andasks no
more but that I let Him love me.
3. The consciousnessofthis unspeakable love is most potent and inspiring.
III. IT IS NECESSARYTHAT CHRIST SHOULD BE IN ME, a Being whose
love, power, and whole nature and influence I feel within developing in me the
superior qualities of the spiritual elements, and giving authority and power to

love and hope, and faith and conscience. And there is a direct sympathetic
actionof the Divine mind on ours. Indeed, we acton eachother. If you sigh in
the presence ofanother man, he will sigh; if you laugh, he will smile. And so if
the heart be open and the moral nature .sensitive, Christ acts upon the
thought and feeling" so that we are guided by Him.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The Indwelling Saviour
R. Newton, D. D.
There are three features which mark the relationship indicated .by the text.
I. IT IS AN INTIMATE RELATION.
1. It is not a mere sacramentalrelation. Thatmay exist and be altogetheran
external thing, and leave the heart possessedentirely by another than Christ.
2. The relationship betweenChrist and His people is not exhaustedby such
images as shepherd, husband, etc., which are external, howeverintimate.
Persons may be near and yet be utter strangers.
3. This relation is internal as the branch is in the vine, than which nothing can
be closer.
II. AN ENDURING RELATION. All other relations, parent and child,
husband and wife, teacherand scholar, are terminable; but this is not affected
by the vicissitudes of time. It is everlasting;by faith now, by sight by and by.
III. AN INTENSELYPRACTICALRELATION.
1. There are many relations that are merely nominal and honorary, gratifying
to ambition, but conveying no substantial good. It is not so with this. For
Christ is in His people.
1. As the ground of their pardon and acceptance.
2. As their best Friend. We turn to a real friend —

(1)To counselus in perplexity.
(2)To lessenour sorrow.
(3)To heighten our joys.Jesusdoes allthis as the best earthly friend can never
do. Conclusion:The subject suggestsits proud point of distinction betweenthe
man who is a Christian and the man who is not.
(R. Newton, D. D.)
The true Christ of Man
D. Thomas, D. D.
is —
I. IN THE SOUL. He is not the Christ of the Book and the creedmerely. He is
in the soul —
1. As the chief objectof love.
2. The chief subjectof thought.
3. The chief sovereignofactivities.
II. THE INSPIRER OF THE SUBLIMEST HOPE. This hope is —
1. Directedto the highestobject, "glory." The glory of goodness,ofmoral
assimilationwith God. Hope for goodness is the virtuous hope.
2. Basedonthe surestfoundation — Christ's word and influence.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(27) To whom God would—i.e., Godwilled. The expressionis emphatic. It was
of God’s own pleasure, inscrutable to man. So in Ephesians 1:9, we read “the
mystery of His will.” Note also, in Ephesians 1:4-6, the repeatedreference to
the predestinationof God in His love.
The riches of the glory.—See Ephesians1:18;Ephesians 3:16; and Notes
there.
Which is Christ in you.—This mystery speciallycommitted to St. Paul to
declare is. in Ephesians 3:6, defined thus, “That the Gentiles should be (or,
are) fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers ofHis promise in Christ
by the gospel”;and the nature of this promise is explained below, “That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Here the mystery itself is boldly
defined as “Christ in you;” just as in 1Timothy 3:16, according to one
interpretation of that difficult passage, “the mystery of godliness” is Christ
Himself, “who was manifest,” &c. Here we have again a significant
illustration of the difference between the characteristic ideas ofthe two
Epistles. In the Ephesian Epistle the unity of all in God’s covenantis first put
forth, and then explained as dependent on the indwelling of Christ in the
heart. Here the “Christ in you” is all in all: the unity of all men in Him is an
inference, but one which the readers of the Epistle are left to draw for
themselves. On the greatidea itself, in the purely individual relation, see
Philippians 1:21, and also Galatians 2:20; in the more generalform, see
Romans 8:10; 2Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 4:19.
The hope of (the) glory.—So in 1Timothy 1:1, “The Lord Jesus Christ, which
is our hope.” “The glory” is the glorified state of perfectionin heaven, wrapt
in the communion with God, and so “changedfrom glory to glory.” Again we
note (as in Colossians 1:5;Colossians1:23)the specialemphasis laid on the
hope of heaven. Christ is “our hope,” as He is “our life,” i.e., the ground of
our sure and certain hope of the future, as of our spiritual life in the present.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:24-29 Both the sufferings of the Head and of the members are called the
sufferings of Christ, and make up, as it were, one body of sufferings. But He
suffered for the redemption of the church; we suffer on other accounts;for we
do but slightly taste that cup of afflictions of which Christ first drank deeply.
A Christian may be said to fill up that which remains of the sufferings of
Christ, when he takes up his cross, andafter the pattern of Christ, bears
patiently the afflictions God allots to him. Let us be thankful that God has
made known to us mysteries hidden from ages andgenerations, and has
showedthe riches of his glory among us. As Christ is preached among us, let
us seriously inquire, whether he dwells and reigns in us; for this alone can
warrant our assuredhope of his glory. We must be faithful to death, through
all trials, that we may receive the crownof life, and obtain the end of our
faith, the salvation of our souls.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
To whom - To the saints.
God would make known- "Willed (Greek)to make known;" that is, he was
pleasedto make this known. It was concealedin his bosom until he chose to
revealit to his apostles. It was a doctrine which the Jewishpeople did not
understand; Ephesians 3:5-6.
What is the riches of the glory of this mystery - The rich glory of this great,
long-concealedtruth. On the use of the word "riches," see the notes at
Romans 2:4. It is a favorite word with the apostle Paul to denote that which is
valuable, or that which abounds. The meaning here is, that the truth that the
gospelwas to be preachedto all mankind, was a truth abounding in glory.
Among the Gentiles - That is, the glory of this truth is manifested by the
effects which it has produced among the Gentiles.
Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory - Or, Christ among you. Margin. The
meaning is, that the whole of that truth, so full of glory, and so rich and
elevatedin its effect, is summed up in this - that Christ is revealed among you
as the source of the hope of glory in a better world. This was the greattruth
which so animated the heart and fired the zeal of the apostle Paul. The

wonderful announcement had burst on his mind like a flood of day, that the
offer of salvation was not to be confined, as he had once supposed, to the
Jewishpeople, but that all men were now placedon a level; that they had a
common Saviour; that the same heaven was now opened for all, and that there
were none so degraded and vile that they might not have the offer of life as
well as others. This greattruth Paulburned to communicate to the whole
world; and for holding it, and in making it known, he had involved himself in
all the difficulties which he had with his own countrymen; had suffered from
want, and peril, and toil; and had finally been made a captive, and was
expecting to be put to death. It was just such a truth as was fitted to fire such
a mind as that of Paul, and to make it; knownas worth all the sacrifices and
toils which he endured. Life is well sacrificedin making knownsuch a
doctrine to the world.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
27. would—rather as Greek, "willed," or"was pleasedto make known." He
resolves allinto God's good pleasure and will, that man should not glory save
in God's grace.
what—How full and inexhaustible!
the riches of the glory of this mystery—He accumulates phrase on phrase to
enhance the greatnessofthe blessing in Christ bestowedby God on the
Gentiles. Compare Col 2:3, "all the treasures" ofwisdom; Eph 3:8, "the
unsearchable riches of Christ"; Eph 1:7, "riches of His grace." "The gloryof
this mystery" must be the glory which this once hidden, and now revealed,
truth makes you Gentiles partakers of, partly now, but mainly when Christ
shall come (Col 3:4; Ro 5:2; 8:17, 18;Eph 1:18). This sense is proved by the
following: "Christin you the hope of the (so Greek)glory." The lowerwas the
degradationof you Gentiles, the higher is the richness of the glory to which
the mystery revealednow raises you. You were "without Christ, and having
no hope" (Eph 2:12). Now you have "Christ in you the hope of the glory" just
mentioned. Alford translates, "Christamong you," to answerto "this mystery
among the Gentiles." But the whole clause, "ChristIN you (Eph 3:17) the
hope of glory," answers to "this mystery," and not to the whole sentence,

"this mystery among the Gentiles." What is made known "among you
Gentiles" is, "Christ in you (now by faith as your hidden life, Col3:3; Ga
2:20) the hope of glory" (your manifested life). The contrast (antithesis)
between"Christ in you" now as your hidden life, and "the hope of glory"
hereafterto be manifested, requires this translation.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
To whom God would make known;he refers the manifestationpurely to
God’s goodwill and pleasure, as Christ himself doth, Matthew 11:26,27 Lu
10:21;so in the like case, Revelation9:18; that having mentioned saints, none
might conceitit was for foreseenfaith, but the Colossiansmight value their
privilege, reverently receive that grace which was not given to all: in short, to
restrain curiosity why God would not do it otherwise or sooner, he cuts the
knots of all questions, only by signifying his sovereignpleasure, he would
make it known to them; elsewhere, this mystery of his will, according to his
goodpleasure, Ephesians 1:9, which was not to be touched till he thought meet
to make it known.
What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: some refer
the glory to mystery, as glorious mystery, because itlets forth Divine glory,
and promiseth it to believers, Luke 2:14; others, and the most, rather to
riches, and that either as its epithet, {Colossians1:11}the glorious riches of
this mystery, or noting the subject, for salvationof the church amongst the
Gentiles, Ephesians 1:18 3:7,8. It is usual with the apostle to use the word
riches to setforth abundance, Romans 2:4,11:33 Ephesians 1:7: here, for the
praise of the gospel, he would signify a very greatand most abundant glory,
far surpassing any former ministration, 2 Corinthians 3:8,18. In the law those
riches {Ephesians 2:7} were not only imperfectly and obscurelydiscovered,
but scatteredlywith broken beams, as the sun in waterwhen the wateris
disturbed; one attribute shining out in one work, another in another; but now
the harmony of the Divine attributes in man’s redemption shines out most
fully, clearly, and gloriously, contractedin Christ, who is the objectand
revealerof the mystery by his Spirit, the glory whereofbreaks forth with

much more splendour amongstthe Gentiles, Romans 15:7-9 1 Corinthians
2:10 2 Corinthians 3:9,18;all glory before was but a shadow to this.
Colossians 2:17 2 Corinthians 3:18 Galatians 3:1 Hebrews 10:1.
Which is Christ in you; which is Christ, amongst, for, or in them, i.e. who not
only was preachedamongstthem, but whom they possessed, and who dwelt in
them by faith, Ephesians 3:17; the revelationbeing accompaniedwith the
powerof the Spirit in the translating them by his glorious power from the
kingdom of darkness into his kingdom, Colossians 1:13 Luke 17:21 Galatians
2:20 4:19 Ephesians 3:5,7.
The hope of glory; so is not only the object, 1 Timothy 1:1, but the ground of
their expectationof glory, he in whom the mystery begins and ends, 1 Timothy
3:16; out of whom all are hopeless of being happy, Ephesians 2:12, and in
whom all have strong consolation, Hebrews 6:18.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
To whom God would make known,.... The spring and cause ofthe
manifestation of the Gospelto the saints, and chosenofGod, is not their
works, for God does not call them with an holy calling according to them, but
according to his own grace;nor any preparations and dispositions in them
before such manifestation, towards the Gospeland the truths of it, for there
are none such naturally in men, but all the reverse;nor a foresightof their
better improvement of it, when made known, for this is not the method of
divine grace, witness the instances ofSodom and Gomorrha, Tyre and Sidon;
nor any holiness in them, or because they were sanctified, for they became so
by the powerof divine grace, through the Gospelrevelation;but it is the pure
sovereigngoodwill and pleasure of God; see Ephesians 1:9; as appears from
what they were before the Gospelcame unto them, what is made known to
them in it and by it; and from this, that they and not others, equally as
deserving, are favoured with it:

what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. The apostle,
besides calling the Gospela "mystery", as before, ascribes "glory" to it; it is a
glorious mystery, there is a glory in all the mysteries of it; it is a glorious
Gospel, as it is often called, in its author, subject, matter, use, and efficacy:
and also "riches" ofglory, or glorious riches; containing rich truths, an
immense treasure of them, comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones;
rich blessings ofjustification, pardon, reconciliation, adoption, and eternal
life; and rich promises, relating both to this life, and that which is to come;all
which were opened and made known, not to the Jews only, but "among the
Gentiles" also;who before were aliens, enemies, exceeding wicked, poor,
blind, and miserable, but now, through the Gospel, were become rich and
glorious, wise, knowing, and happy:
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; this is to be connectedwith all that
goes before:Christ is the riches of the Gospel;the riches of the divine
perfections, which the Gospelmore clearly displays than the works of creation
or providence, are all in Christ, the fulness of them dwells in him; and this is
the grace the Gospelreveals, that he, who was rich with all these, became poor
to make us rich; the rich promises of the Gospelwere all made to Christ, and
are all yea and "Amen" in him; the rich blessings of it are all in his hands,
righteousness, peace, andpardon, the riches both of grace and glory; the rich
treasures of its divine truths are hid in him; and he is the substance of
everyone of them: Christ is also the glory of the Gospel, inasmuch as he is the
author, preacher, and subject of it; it is full of the glory of his person, both as
the only begotten of the Father, and as the only Mediator betweenGodand
man; it is the glass through which this is seen:moreover, the glory of God in
him is expressedhereby; the glory of his wisdom and power, of his truth and
faithfulness, of his justice and holiness, of his love, grace, andmercy, and
every other perfection, is eminently held forth in the Gospel;as this is greatin
the salvationand redemption of his people by Christ, which the Gospelbrings
the goodnews of; add to this, that that glory which the saints shall have with
Christ, and will lie in the enjoyment of him to all eternity, is brought to light
in the Gospel:Christ is also the mystery of the Gospel;he is one of the persons
in the mystery of the Trinity; the mystery of his divine sonship, of his divine
person, being Godand yet man, man and yet God, and both in one person,

and of his incarnation and redemption, makes a considerable part of the
Gospel:and Christ, who is the sum and substance of it, is "in" his people; not
only as the omnipresent God, as the author of the light of nature, as the
Creatorof all things, in whom all live, move, and have their beings, but in a
way of specialgrace;and the phrase is expressive of a revelation of him in
them, of their possessionofhim, of his inhabitation in them by his Spirit and
grace, particularly by faith, and of their communion with him, in consequence
of their union to him; and being so, he is the ground and foundation of their
hopes of glory. There is a glory which the saints are hoping for, which the
glories of this world are but a faint resemblance of; which is unseen at
present, and which the sufferings of the presenttime are not worthy to be
compared unto; what is eternal, and which Christ has enteredinto, and took
possessionof;and what will greatlyconsistin beholding his glory, and in
everlasting communion with him; this through grace saints have a goodhope
of, and are waiting for, and even rejoice at times in the hope of it; of which
hope Christ is the foundation; for not only the promise of it is with him, but
the glory itself is in his hands; the gift of it is with him, and through him; he
has made way by his sufferings and death for the enjoyment of it, and is now
preparing it for them, by his presence and intercession;his grace makes them
meet for it, his righteousness gives them a title to it, and his Spirit is the
earnestof it, and the substance of it will be the fruition of himself.
Geneva Study Bible
To whom God {u} 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:
(u) In this wayPaul restrains the curiosity of men.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Colossians 1:27. Notexposition of the ἐφανερ. τοῖς ἁγ. αὐτοῦ, since the
γνωρίσαι has for its objectnot the μυστήριονitself, but the glory of the latter
among the Gentiles. In reality, οἷς subjoins an onwardmovement of the
discourse, so that to the generalτὸ μυστήριονἐφανερώθη τοῖς ἁγ. αὐτοῦ a

particular elementis added: “The mystery was made manifest to His saints,—
to them, to whom (quippe quibus) God withal desired especiallyto make
known that, which is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles.” Along with the generalἐφανερώθη τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ Godhad this
specialdefinite direction of His will. From this the reasonis plain why Paul
has written, not simply οἷς ἐγνώρισεν ὁ Θεός, but οἷς ἠθέλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς
γνωρίσαι. The meaning that is usually discoveredin ἠθέλησεν, free grace, and
the like (so Chrysostom, Theodoret, Calvin, Beza, and many others, including
Bähr, Böhmer, de Wette;Huther is, with reason, doubtful), is therefore not
the aim of the word, which is also not intended to express the joyfulness of the
announcement (Hofmann), but simply and solely the idea: “He had a mind.”
γνωρίσαι] to make known, like ἐφανερώθη from which it differs in meaning
not essentially, but only to this extent, that by ἐφανερ. the thing formerly
hidden is designatedas openly displayed (Romans 1:19; Romans 3:21;
Romans 16:26; Ephesians 5:13, et al.), and by γνωρίσαι that which was
formerly unknown as brought to knowledge. Comp. Romans 16:26;Romans
9:22; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 3:3; Ephesians 3:5; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians
6:19; Luke 2:15, et al. The latter is not relatedto ἐφανερ. either as a
something more (Bähr: the making fully acquainted with the nature); or as its
result (de Wette); or as entering more into detail (Baumgarten-Crusius);or as
making aware, namely by experience (Hofmann).
τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης κ.τ.λ.]what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles, i.e. what rich fulness of the glory containedin this
mystery exists among the Gentiles,—since,indeed, this riches consists in the
fact (ὅς ἐστι), that Christ is among you, in whom ye have the hope of glory. In
order to a proper interpretation, let it be observed: (1) τί occupies with
emphasis the place of the indirect ὅ τι (see Poppo, ad Xen. Cyrop. i. 2. 10;
Kühner, ad Mem. i. 1. 1; Winer, p. 158 f. [E. T. 210]), and denotes “quae sint
divitiae” as regards degree:how greatand unspeakable the riches, etc. Comp.
on Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 3:18. The text yields this definition of the sense

from the very connectionwith the quantitative idea τὸ πλοῦτος. (2) All the
substantives are to be left in their full solemn force, without being resolved
into adjectives (Erasmus, Luther, and many others: the glorious riches; Beza:
“divitiae gloriosihujus mysterii”). Chrysostom aptly remarks:σεμνῶς εἶπε
καὶ ὄγκονἐπέθηκεν ἀπὸ πολλῆς διαθέσεως, ἐπιτάσεις ζητῶς ἐπιτάσεων.
Comp. Calvin: “magniloquus estin extollenda evangeliidignitate.” (3) As τῆς
δόξης is governedby τὸ πλοῦτος, so also is τοῦ μυστηρίου governedby τῆς
δόξης, and ἐν τοῖς ἔθν. belongs to the ἐστί which is to be supplied, comp.
Ephesians 1:18. (4) According to the context, the δόξα cannotbe anything else
(see immediately below, ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δόξης)than the Messianic glory, the glory
of the kingdom (Romans 8:18; Romans 8:21; 2 Corinthians 4:17, et al.), the
glorious blessing of the κληρονομία (comp. Colossians 1:12), whichbefore the
Parousia (Romans 8:30; Colossians 3:3 f.) is the ideal (ἐλπίς), but after it is the
realized, possessionofbelievers. Hence it is neither to be taken in the sense of
the glorious effects generally, whichthe gospelproduces among the Gentiles
(Chrysostom, Theophylact, and many others, including Huther, comp.
Dalmer), nor in that specially of their conversionfrom death to life
(Hofmann), whereby its glory is unfolded. Just as little, however, is the δόξα of
God meant, in particular His wisdomand grace, whichmanifest themselves
objectively in the making known of the mystery, and realize themselves
subjectively by moral glorificationand by the hope of eternal glory (de
Wette), or the splendor internus of true Christians, or the bliss of the latter
combined with their moral dignity (Böhmer). (5) The genitive of the subject,
τοῦ μυστηρίου τούτου,defines the δόξα as that containedin the μυατήριον,
previously unknown, but now become manifest with the mystery that has been
made known, as the blessedcontents of the latter. Comp. Colossians 1:23 :
ἐλπίς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. To take the δόξα as attribute of the mystery, is
forbidden by what immediately follows, according to which the idea can be
none other than the familiar one of that glory, which is the proposed aim of
the saving revelation and calling, the object of faith and hope (in opposition to
Hofmann and many others); Colossians3:4. Comp. on Romans 5:2.

ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν] φαίνεται δὲ ἐν ἑτέροις, πολλῷ δὲ πλέον ἐν τούτοις ἡ πολλὴ τοῦ
μυστηρίου δόξα, Chrysostom. “Quitot saeculis demersifuerant in morte, ut
viderentur penitus desperati,” Calvin.
ὅς ἐστι Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν] “Christus in gentibus, summum illis temporibus
paradoxon,” Bengel. According to a familiar attraction(Winer, p. 157 [E. T.
207]), this ὅς applies to the previous subject τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τοῦ μυστ. τ.,
and introduces that, in which this riches consists. Namely:Christ among
you,—in this it consists, and by this information is given at the same time how
greatit is (τί ἐστιν). Formerly they were χωρὶς Χριστοῦ (Ephesians 2:12); now
Christ, who by His Spirit reigns in the hearts of believers (Romans 8:10;
Ephesians 3:17; Galatians 2:20;2 Corinthians 3:17, et al.), is present and
active among them. The proper reference of the relative to τὸ πλοῦτος κ.τ.λ.,
and also the correctconnectionof ἐν ὑμῖν with Χριστός (not with ἡ ἐλπίς, as
Storr and Flatt think), are already given by Theodoretand Oecumenius
(comp. also Theophylact), Valla, Luther, Calovius, and others, including
Böhmer and Bleek, whereasHofmann, instead of closelyconnecting Χριστὸς
ἐν ὑμῖν, makes this ἐν ὑμῖν depend on ἐστί, whereby the thoughtful and
striking presentationof the fact “Christ among the Gentiles” is without reason
put in the background, and ἐν ὑμῖν becomes superfluous. Following the
Vulgate and Chrysostom, ὅς is frequently referred to τοῦ μυστηρ. τούτον:
“this mystery consists in Christ’s being among you, the Gentiles,” Huther,
comp. Ewald. The context, however, is fatal to this view; partly in general,
because it is not the mystery itself, but the riches of its glory, that forms the
main idea in the foregoing;and partly, in particular, because the way has
been significantly prepared for ὅς ἐστι through τί, while ἐν ὑμῖν
corresponds[73]to the ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν referring to the ΠΛΟῦΤΟς, and the
following Ἡ ἘΛΠῚς Τῆς ΔΌΞΗς glances back to the ΠΛΟῦΤΟς Τῆς ΔΌΞΗς.
ΧΡΙΣΤΌς]Christ Himself, see above. Neither Ἡ ΤΟῦ Χ. ΓΝῶΣΙς
(Theophylact) is meant, nor the doctrine, either of Christ (Grotius,
Rosenmüller, and others), or about Christ (Flatt). On the individualizing ὑμῖν,

although the relation concerns the Gentiles generally, comp. ὙΜᾶς in
Colossians 1:25. “Accommodatipsis Colossensibus, ut efficacius in se
agnoscant,” Calvin.
Ἡ ἘΛΠῚς Τῆς ΔΌΞΗς]characteristic apposition(comp. Colossians 3:4)to
ΧΡΙΣΤΌς, giving information how the ΧΡΙΣΤῸς ἘΝ ὙΜῖΝ forms the great
riches of the glory, etc. among the Gentiles, since Christ is the hope of the
Messianic δόξα, in Him is given the possessionin hope of the future glory. The
emphasis is on ἡ ἐλπίς, in which the probative element lies. Compare on the
subject-matter, Romans 8:24 : τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν, and the contrast
ἘΛΠΊΔΑΜῊ ἜΧΟΝΤΕς in Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians4:13;and on
the concrete expression, 1 Timothy 1:1; Ignat. Eph. 21; Magnes. 11;Sir 31:14;
Thuc. iii. 57. 4; Aesch. Ch. 236. 776.
[73] Hence also to be rendered not in vobis (Luther, Böhmer, Olshausen), but
inter vos. The older writers combatedthe rendering in vobis from opposition
to the Fanatics.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Colossians 1:27. Cf. for a partial parallel Ephesians 1:18.—οἷς ἠθέλησεν ὁ
Θεὸς: “inasmuchas to them God willed”; ἠθέλ. is chosento express the idea
that the revelation had its source solelyin God’s will.—τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς
δόξης.:cf. Romans 9:23, Php 4:19, Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 3:16. The
expressiondoes not mean the glorious riches, but rather how rich is the glory.
The use of “glory” immediately after in the sense ofthe Messianic kingdom
favours the adoption of that meaning here. But as it is an attribute of the
mystery it probably expresses its glorious character.—ἐντοῖς ἔθνεσιν is
generallytaken with τί τὸ πλ. κ.τ.λ., and this gives an excellent sense, forit
was as manifested in the Gentile mission that the glory of the Gospelwas
especiallydisplayed. There is a little awkwardness, since the definition
Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν seems to make ἐν τ. ἔθν. unnecessary. The glory of the
mystery was itself Χ. ἐν ὑμ. if we take ἐν ὑμῖν to mean among you Gentiles.

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