The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Hope of Glory"
"To knowingly live as inhabited and empowered by the Holy Spirit promises a walk of faith and faithfulness only possible through His revealing the character and nature of the Lord Jesus in us."
"I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
"Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
Every born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ knows at least intuitively that our Savior lives within us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. "The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16). We do not begin to know, however, as will one day realize when we enter the direct presence of the Lord Jesus.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).
It is one thing, one wondrous thing, to be indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. It is another glorious thing to know the truth in our present existence, and to live with the conviction of how near our Lord has drawn to us. However, a time shall come when the reality shall be far more realized. As the Apostle Paul confessed, "Then shall I know even as also I am known" (I Corinthians 13:12). "We shall see Him as He is." Among many wonders, this means believers will perfectly and completely see our Lord Jesus dwelling with us forevermore, and yes, dwelling within us as the very Life of our lives. The ongoing "hope of glory" in the present will be the eternally realized promise of eternity:
"Beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Corinthians 3:18).
God calls believers to "behold" ourselves as united to the Spirit of Christ, promising we will thereby be increasingly "changed into the same image." Indeed, to seek a life of faith and faithfulness apart from our Savior's vital and active presence portends of utter futility. Paul warned of such frustration regarding the attempt to live for God by the law of Moses, as opposed to the grace of Christ: "ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Galatians 5:17). Conversely, to knowingly live as inhabited and empowered by the Holy Spirit promises a walk of faith and faithfulness only possible through His revealing the character and nature of the Lord Jesus in us. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (II Corinthians 9:8).
James Stewart (the Scottish preacher, not the actor) profoundly elucidated this truth:
"For what Christ has done is to make us feel, at all the gateways of our nature, the pressure and bombardment of the infinite energies of a world unseen. He has shown us how our little life, with unsearchable riches to draw upon, can be reinforced beyond all calculation. I may not be able to fight down some evil thing. But if Christ were here, He could. So then, if Christ is in me, He can. This transfusion of spirit and energy is really possible... If Mozart were in you, what music you could make! That cannot be. But here is something that can: if Christ were in you, what a life you could live! This is faith's logic. God wants you to know that you can rise above the level of your limitations. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).
In that day when we "see Him as He is," we shall see Him as He dwells within us as the very Life of our lives. We "shall be like Him" thereby. We see such "hope of glory" today to one degree or another. How we need to see it more, that we might be like Him more and more. And how we need to realize that the Lord Jesus was forsaken by His Father on the cross of Calvary so that He might come to all who believe not only as Savior and Lord, but as life itself. We do not live alone. Nor do we live merely with our God. No, He dwells within our spirits through the Holy Spirit, making possible the fulfillment of James Stewart's sublime assurance that we can "rise above the level of our limitations." Indeed, what music we can make through Christ as He fulfills the ancient promise - "I will dwell in them and walk in them" - and as He presently leads us to behold in God's mirror "the hope of glory" whereby "we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
(Ephesians 3:20-21)
Weekly Memory Verse
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new."
(II Corinthians 5:17)
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