The mystery of the faith is "Christ in you, the hope of glory," according to Colossians 1:27. Not only is the Father and Holy Spirit resident within our hearts, upon invitation, but Jesus' very Spirit is too, which will be glorified when we enter glory for our reward. Then "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (cf. 1 John 3:2).
We must periodically examine ourselves to see whether Christ is in us, unless we fail this test, according to 2 Cor. 13:5, and we will see that God is conforming us into His image as icons of Christ, as we go from glory to glory, being increasingly brought into conformity to His image (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). Paul wrote to the Galatians that he was waiting patiently for Christ to be formed in them (cf. Gal. 4:19), for they had reverted to legalism and spurned God's grace for another gospel, trying to perfect themselves in the flesh, not the Spirit.
Paul had been received "as Christ Himself" (cf. Gal. 4:14) and it was time to admonish the flock entrusted to his care. Paul was the perfect witness to them and they knew Christ was speaking through him as he wrote, for the God "revealed His Son" in Paul (cf. Gal. 1:16) as verification of His gospel's authenticity.
The point is that we are all little Christ's as lights in the world, just as He is the light of the world, and that is what is meant by the term "Christian." The only gospel message some may read is our story and the witness we give by our lives and words. In other words: What is the gospel according to you?
God's goal is to make us resemble Christ, and He does it by taking away everything that doesn't look like Christ! Adversity is the primary means to the end of sanctification, and we are meant to grow Christlike by exposure to it, seeing our character become conformed to His image.
The Greek disciples said to the apostles in John 12:21, ESV: "...Sir, we wish to see Jesus." The writer of Hebrews says, "But we Jesus..." in Heb. 2:9, and in this sense our spiritual eyes do apprehend Him. Peter says we love Him, though we haven't seen Him (in the flesh)! This is the miracle, to love Him in the Spirit and to have His Spirit bear witness with our spirit.
Remember, 2 Cor. 4:4 says the lost are blind spiritually and God needs to open the eyes of our hearts to see Jesus. The Pharisees claimed they could see, but woe to those who don't know they are blind and think they see! We can say with faith that we see Him by faith: "Though you have not seen him you love him..." (1 Pet. 1:8, ESV). Soli Deo Gloria!
We must periodically examine ourselves to see whether Christ is in us, unless we fail this test, according to 2 Cor. 13:5, and we will see that God is conforming us into His image as icons of Christ, as we go from glory to glory, being increasingly brought into conformity to His image (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). Paul wrote to the Galatians that he was waiting patiently for Christ to be formed in them (cf. Gal. 4:19), for they had reverted to legalism and spurned God's grace for another gospel, trying to perfect themselves in the flesh, not the Spirit.
Paul had been received "as Christ Himself" (cf. Gal. 4:14) and it was time to admonish the flock entrusted to his care. Paul was the perfect witness to them and they knew Christ was speaking through him as he wrote, for the God "revealed His Son" in Paul (cf. Gal. 1:16) as verification of His gospel's authenticity.
The point is that we are all little Christ's as lights in the world, just as He is the light of the world, and that is what is meant by the term "Christian." The only gospel message some may read is our story and the witness we give by our lives and words. In other words: What is the gospel according to you?
God's goal is to make us resemble Christ, and He does it by taking away everything that doesn't look like Christ! Adversity is the primary means to the end of sanctification, and we are meant to grow Christlike by exposure to it, seeing our character become conformed to His image.
The Greek disciples said to the apostles in John 12:21, ESV: "...Sir, we wish to see Jesus." The writer of Hebrews says, "But we Jesus..." in Heb. 2:9, and in this sense our spiritual eyes do apprehend Him. Peter says we love Him, though we haven't seen Him (in the flesh)! This is the miracle, to love Him in the Spirit and to have His Spirit bear witness with our spirit.
Remember, 2 Cor. 4:4 says the lost are blind spiritually and God needs to open the eyes of our hearts to see Jesus. The Pharisees claimed they could see, but woe to those who don't know they are blind and think they see! We can say with faith that we see Him by faith: "Though you have not seen him you love him..." (1 Pet. 1:8, ESV). Soli Deo Gloria!
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