Colossians Part 4 – Christ in You – The Mystery of Christ and the Church

The man is transported and the word grace means so much to him, and the word glory means so much to him, and the word truth means so much to him, and wisdom, not knowledge, wisdom, and then he uses a special word, he says spiritual knowledge, and then he comes to Christ, and Christ, and then he thinks about grace again, and grace comes in there. These words are powerful words to him, and the word glory especially has meaning to him because he saw the glorified Lord, and it changed him, and the man didn’t edit his letters. I wish to goodness he had. I’m trying to translate this book right here, and he’s driving me crazy. He just goes on and on, stacking superlative after superlative after superlative, and I’m trying to find out what it was he was trying to say here.

Audience Member: Some of your books are that way.

Frau, get him out of here. (laughter) You have no idea how hard I try to make my books simple. I agonize over it, and then you come in here and bust my balloon. That you might know what is the riches of the glory of the mystery, and that reads best backwards. And by the way, if you want to figure out what Paul is saying when he starts dumping his superlatives, read the sentence backwards. There is a mystery, and it is glorious, and there are riches in the glory. There is a mystery—Christ. There is a mystery, and it is the glorious Christ. And there is a mystery that is glorious, and in that glory are great riches. When Gene, why doesn’t it say Christ in the church? There is only one mystery: it is Christ. But brothers and sisters, that Christ has a head and a body. He is the great glorified Christ. Not the Lord who walked in Judea and Galilee only, but who ascended and who, before creation, was the Creator Himself. And today is Lord of lords and King of kings, and in whom the entire creation is in Him and it’s being held together by Him, in Him, and that is the richness you have in Christ.

Okay, this mystery and I put in the word “who”, has now come among you Gentiles. This mystery is Christ. This mystery is Christ in you. This mystery is Christ, your hope of glory, and now I must confess something. I honestly don’t know what that last sentence means. If you can enlighten me someday, do, but in the meantime, let me talk to you about something. The mystery is Christ, but it’s not just Christ; it is this incredible Christ.

You remember yesterday, I came back? I jumped forward and came to this. The Christ that is in you is the Christ who created, who was raised from the dead, who ascended, who is the beginning, who is the end, and in whom all things consist, and who is Lord over all, and has created all authorities and kingdoms and rulers and powers. This is the Christ who lives in you, and that’s part of the mystery. Not only that it is Christ, but it is Christ in you. And that is probably the greatest news in the world, and you know what else it is? That’s the word of God. And boy oh boy oh boy, we could do with a little bit more of the word of God. Say amen! But I don’t know what it means.

Audience Member: Well, if glory is light, it’s the revelation of the Lord. And Jesus Christ glorifies God because, like John says, we saw He came to show us what God was like. We see the Father in the Son, and we can see the Son in each other. Christ is in us so that at times we can see Him. The reason I’m in church is because I wanted to see Him in my brothers and sisters.

Bill, that’s not my problem; my problem is the word hope. Christ, the hope of glory. What does that mean?

Audience Member: Christ in you.

The hope of glory. What does hope mean?

Audience Member: That we can see Him. That I can see Him in you. Christ is in you.

Is that hope? I don’t know what it means. I’ve been trying to figure it out all my life, and the best I can come up with is not anything great. It may be right, but the hope of glory and glory is used in another way and that is when we are glorified and we are like Him and part of Him and that we have the hope that one day we will be able to see this Christ in us in a greater way, that we have a hope beyond death, and that’s the hope of glorification, that there is the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, there is the ascension of Christ, there is the enthronement of Christ, and that is there is the glorification of Christ. And we will be glorified with Him when He returns, and we will be changed. And that’s a hope, and if that’s what it means, then you have just been given it, but if it means something else, I don’t know. Will you take that, Carmen? All right.

My problem is, excuse me. My problem is, I don’t have any. I don’t care if I die and they put me in a grave, and nothing happens. Billy Graham said when he was quite young, and I remember his statement, I’d be a Christian if there were nothing after the grave. Well, Amen. I would too. And I would be in the church, and I would be right where you are. If there is no life after this one, but Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ and the church is the church, I’m perfectly happy. I want you to know that when I die, if I wake up in glory, I’m going to faint. You mean, Gene, you’re afraid you’re not saved. No, I just have never needed to go to heaven. I have never needed to… Man, listen. When I met Jesus Christ, it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and I haven’t found anything I need beyond that.