The Hope of Glory
The mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations has now been revealed to his saints.
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 1:26-27 NRSVUE
Do you make New Year’s resolutions? It’s still early in the year, so I suspect you haven’t broken any of them yet. While there are many purposes that lead to the making of resolutions, some the same year after year, the reason we make them is pretty typical: we dream of how things could be, if only …
The promise of a new year, and for that matter a new month or a new day, is that we get to start over, we get to dream again, we are given hope. We need that: fresh starts, new dreams, restored hope? These are the essence of life. These give us energy, fill our passions, and help us to move forward in anticipation.
Unfortunately, sickness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, addiction, divorce, mistakes, failures, and other tragedies – some of our own doing and some done to us – destroy dreams and leave despair in their wake. The problems and pains of human existence crush hope. As I look back on 2025, the one word that seems to best describe the mood of last year is hopelessness. More than ever before I have felt a pervading sense that the world as a whole and the worlds of individuals and families are in a downward spiral and nobody seems able to do a thing about it. While I have many personal and family highlights to look back on, I, too, have experienced this – especially in regard to the state of the church and my role as your District Superintendent. Issues and tragedies that leave us feeling hopeless.
I think Martha was feeling pretty hopeless. Remember her? Martha’s brother had become sick. She did everything she could think of to help him. She was his nurse. She called the doctor. She sent word to his best friend who had healed so many others. But, before he arrived her brother had died. We can understand her heartache, grief, and sense of hopelessness: “Jesus, if only you were here.”
We’ve all experience those times when our dreams are dashed, our hope is gone, we can’t figure out the next steps and we call out to Jesus but Jesus isn’t there, or at least it doesn’t seem that he is. We want and need Jesus now, doing what we think Jesus should do to keep our hopes alive, our dreams intact, our lives secure. But what we desire does not always line up with what is best. As Jesus told his disciples when he heard of Lazarus’ condition, “It is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” That is how God will be glorified in this situation. This is best. Martha responds, “Yeh, I know – at the resurrection at the last day.” Now certainty of the resurrection at the last day is marvelous hope. Having performed many funerals for people who were not Christians or whose family did not believe, I have seen the faces of many who obviously did not have hope. Their loved one was gone, that’s the end, there’s nothing more … and they truly don’t know where to turn. Paul tells the fledgling church at Corinth, which had been given false teaching about the resurrection, “If we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Yes, the hope we have of the resurrection and everlasting life is an awesome hope!
But we, like Martha, need more than just hope for later. We need hope for now. Not taking anything away from Paul, I would also say, “If we have hope in Christ only for the next life, we will indeed be the most miserable of all people.” We need hope for both this life and the next. Jesus told Martha, though she didn’t quite get it, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). I am … not I will be or I was, but I am. Jesus is our hope now.
Paul, writing to the Colossians, tells us, “God has chosen to make known the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Notice it does not say, “Christ in you, the glory,” but “Christ in you the hope of glory.” The glory is not simply that Christ is in us but that, for all who believe, because Christ is in us, we now have hope, a potential ready and waiting to be released, that will reveal the glory of God. “I am the resurrection and the life… do you believe this?” (John 11:26).
Hope, then, is a seed within. The problems and pains of living in this world may smash our dreams and Satan will always try to crush our hope. But hope is not gone; it’s a seed always there, always ready to grow within us to not only change our mood and emotions but also change how we look at things around us. We need to get our expectations of how Jesus should work out of the way and let this hope of glory grow. Here’s how:
Take God at his Word. If we say with the Psalmist, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105), then we need to let it be that. As a teenager, I was invited to go skiing one Christmas break. Now, I had never skied before so I watched an instructor with some 5-6 year olds. They were skiing effortlessly down a fairly steep slope. I asked the instructor how long they had been taking lessons. He replied, “A few hours.” Amazed, I asked how they learned so fast. He replied, “They believe the instructor’s words and expect those words to work.” This is the essence of hope. Take God at his word – like a child.
Look beyond your present circumstances. What enables great men and women to forge ahead in spite of present circumstances is the ability to see. As the pilgrims traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate a holy day they often would recite or sing Psalm 121, “I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth” (vs 1-2). The hills, mountains really, were in front of them – their present circumstance. But, looking beyond the mountains, they recognized their source of hope and strength was God. Look beyond the problems and see that Jesus reigns.
Leave the past behind. In the movie “The Lion King,” Pumba the warthog tells Simba that it’s important to put your behind in the past; to which Timmon, the meerkat, replies, “No, no, no, you have to put your past behind you.” We may wish we could put our behind in the past; most of us need to put our past behind us. Don’t disregard the past nor fail to take responsibility for past actions. Past successes and failures are useful teaching tools. However, the ghosts of the past inhibit the hope of the present and future. So, let’s forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead so we can take hold of the prize for which God has called us (Philippians 3:13-14).
Adjust your perception of Christ. Jesus tells us he is the resurrection and the life, not simply a genie-like helper or healer. We need to ask ourselves this: Do we want Jesus in our lives for who he is, or do we want him around for what he can do for us? For hope to grow strong in us, we must take limits off Jesus in our thinking. As we grow in understanding of Jesus’ power and reign in our lives, we will grow in hope and our actions will change, which will in turn change how we react to our circumstances.
Let hope form your faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us faith is the substance of things hoped for. When faith is shaped and given meaning by hope that is based on God’s Word, nothing is impossible. The hope of victory enabled David, armed with a slingshot, to stand toe-to-toe with a giant. The hope of deliverance caused three young men to fearlessly enter a fiery furnace. The hope of vindication enabled Daniel to sleep in a lion’s den. The most powerful hope of all is the hope of the resurrection – which enabled Jesus to go humbly yet confidently to the cross.
This is the hope that enables us to face and even overcome the tragedies and traumas of our lives. This hope finds its source in Jesus’ triumph over Satan, sin, and death. It is Christ living in us, the hope of glory. As Christ lives, we live. And through the hope which lives in us, we have the power to face confidently any adversity.