Christ In You, The Hope Of Glory

He is the image of the invisible God

Hebrews 1:3 – He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. This implies that Jesus represents the divine nature of God.

Jesus is not merely like God; rather, He is God. All of what God is, is reflected in Jesus. He is unchangeable, omniscient, omnipresent, almighty, just, loving, merciful, holy, etc. Jesus the Son possesses all the attributes and powers that God the Father possesses.

The Father was visible to those who saw Jesus. He is God with us, Immanuel. John 14:9
Since we can’t actually see the Father, that results in the question, then who exactly is he? What is God like? Jesus being the image of God answers those questions. He showed us God’s character, holiness, love and wisdom and even sovereignty. Jesus is divine. He is not just a good man or a good teacher or nor a reflection or piece of God, but God almighty, God Himself in the flesh.

He Is The firstborn of all Creation

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This phrase has confused many well-meaning Christians over the years. It has also been used by false teachers to spread the lie that Jesus is a created being.

But this passage and many others, confirm the doctrine of the incarnation, that at the incarnation the invisible God took on flesh and became a man, wholly man and wholly God.

So, what does “firstborn” mean here? In our culture, this means the one who is born first.

But in Middle Eastern culture, the firstborn does not always refer to the one born first, but is used as a title for the person who has priority or rank over the others. For example, when Jacob bought Esau’s birthright, the rank of the firstborn was transferred to him even though he was younger.

Calling Jesus, the “firstborn of creation” is emphasizing His sovereignty over creation. He is not part of it, but He does have rank and priority over it.

Psalms 89:27 – And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

This verse points to the Messiah, who will be given authority and rank over all the kings of the earth. Philippians 2 teaches us that after Jesus humbled Himself to the point of dying on the cross for our sins, the Father will exalt Him in front of peoples and nations. Every knee will bow to Him. 

 

We are joint heirs with Christ

1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

God loves us the same as He loves Jesus. A true revelation of this will quicken our faith and allow us to walk in the fullness of God. God's love is the key that opens the door to everything that God is.
Believers in Christ are joint heirs with Christ and partakers of inheritance with Christ. In other words, born again children of God are fellow inheritors of the inheritance God Had given to Christ. Romans 8:17

God's love is not one dimensional. There is width, length, depth and height to it, which can only be comprehended through the revelation and knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

Paul prays for us to know the love of God which passes all knowledge. Ephesians 3:19 This means to express experiential knowledge. Paul is praying that we will experience the love of God which passes mere knowledge of it. Since a true revelation of God's love makes us full with the fullness of God, then a lack of being full of God must mean that we lack understanding and experience of God's love.
Therefore, the end result of having understanding and experiential knowledge of God's love is that we will be filled with all the fullness of God.

We were Chosen Before Creation

John 17:24 - Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Before He even created the world, God the Father had the salvation plan prepared. Most people among us would not have created the earth and man if we had known the suffering and awful sacrifice it would entail, but God is not man and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways.

We were chosen in Christ before the world began. The Lord did not choose us by our merit or good deed, but solely by our trusting in Christ which His foreknowledge allowed Him to do before the foundation of the world.

In the strictest sense, it was Christ who was chosen and all those who are 'in Christ' partake of His being chosen by His Father. Just as we are the beneficiaries of the covenant between God the Father and His Son Jesus, so we are chosen because we chose God's chosen, who is Christ. The Father would no more reject us than He would reject Jesus because we are accepted by the Father through Christ.

But the Lord looks on our born-again spirit which has been regenerated in Christ and He sees us holy and without blame. Romans 3:23

We Have It All in The Spirit

Romans 12:2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

The Bible presents salvation as a life transforming experience. Change is an identifying quality of a real believer; however, we must understand that this change takes place in the spirit first, and then is reflected in our outward appearance through our thoughts and actions.

It is your spirit that is instantly changed at salvation, it is perfect and cannot sin. Everything that is true of Jesus is true of our born-again spirit. Your spiritual salvation is complete. At salvation, you receive the same spirit that you will have throughout all eternity. It will not have to be changed or cleansed again. It is sealed with the Holy Spirit and therefore, is sanctified and perfected forever

As we live throughout our Christian lives, we must learn to let go of trying to earn God's faith, his joy, or his love, but instead allow what is already in our spirit to flow into our soul and body. Many believers lose hope when they don’t see enough change in their lives, but it is important to understand we have been born-again in seed form that must be developed. This transformation occurs within our spirit, and will manifest externally when we renew our minds through God's Word.