All in Hope
Ladies, one more clue to follow this week as we unravel divine mystery. We are on our way to experiencing the full riches of complete understanding that Paul wishes for us. Knowing Christ is the essential element—Christ the divine, the reality; Christ in you, the hope of glory. It’s in Christ that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. Let’s do a little digging.
Ah, and so the riches of the mystery unfolds ladies: Christ in you, the hope of glory! God can be God, Jesus divine; but if you don’t personally unwrap the clues of the incarnation, a perfect life, brutal suffering, death on the cross, the resurrection, think of what richness you will miss out on.
It all began before the beginning, before the heavens and the earth, before time. God was. God was before all things—God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. What a puzzle for the mind of finite man. The apostle Paul had searched the secrets of the faith and he was determined to provide the clues to his friends in Colosse. Truth revealed would diminish the creeping heresy of the age.
My friend came to me asking for help. Her son’s illness and resulting difficulty had continued for years. She prayed repeatedly for his healing, but his condition remained the same. She was looking for answers to her questions and words of encouragement.
The largest anchor in the world remains on the deck of the doomed luxury ship, Titanic. It was forged with sixteen tons of high-grade steel in 1910 in Netherton, England, by Hingley’s Anchor Works.
A new year has begun! Excitement is in the air! New Year’s Eve parties are celebrated. Fireworks are ignited. New Year’s resolutions are made. Diet and exercise regimens are started. Strategies to read the Bible through in a year are planned. Something about a new year inspires us to attempt new adventures.
A World War II veteran shared some of his experiences at my church. He recounted carefully maneuvering through a minefield with his troop.
Yesterday, as I sat on our backyard deck and basked in the warmth of the Son, God moved my heart to praise Him. I'd just returned from a gathering of women who were assembled to learn about a local organization that supports teenage girls in foster care.
The God we worship, the God of Scripture, is a lot of things: wise, powerful, omniscient, omnipotent, loving, forgiving... And on any day, most of us a need a God who possesses these qualities and more.
On the seventh day, God, in a sense, stood back to look over Creation and pronounced it “done.”
“Well, what did He say? What did He say your name was? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
