It is not you who shine, but the Spirit of your Father shines in you.

  - Eriugena, Homily on John 1.1-14 (Irish, 9th century)

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

  - Colossians 1.27

The Christian, who is justified by grace through faith, now stands in a different place in life than he did before believing. He stands in a different place than his unbelieving neighbor. And if we do not understand the place where we stand, we cannot hope to fulfill our calling in this life.

Where do you stand, my fellow believer? Do you stand in the hope of going to heaven when you die? And do you put up with the trials of this life and steer as far clear as possible of the struggles it presents, holding on for the day when God will come and take you home?

Where do you stand? Do you stand in the hope that God Who saved you will enable you to bear each day's burdens and to give you enough peace and joy in this life to keep you believing that your faith is real?

Where do you stand?

Paul says that those who have been justified by grace through faith stand in the hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5.1, 2). In that hope we look forward to eternity in glory. In that hope we expect to know God's glorious promise of peace and the experience of joy amid the trials of life.

But the hope of glory in which we stand is Christ Jesus in you! Alive in His resurrection glory and might! Alive in His power and righteousness! Alive in His Kingdom agenda! Alive for the building-up of the Body of Christ! Alive to call all people everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel! Alive to make all things new!

Jesus Christ is the what you should hope for, hope to know, long to know, strive to know more and more and more each day - His glory, the glory of God's Spirit shining through with such consistency and power that it makes the glory which shone on Moses' face look like pocket change by comparison (2 Cor. 3.12-18).

Do you hope for this glory? That He might increase and you might decrease? Do you hope to shine Jesus everywhere always and on everyone?

Because if you don't hope for this, you're not hoping for what they hope for who stand in the grace of God, freed of their sins and justified in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Where do you stand, believer?

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.