Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 8:19-21 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

You cannot understand what God’s hope was apart from the essence of His glory. This manifestation of His hope can only be seen in His glory.

Here is the essence of God’s glory. Vine’s Expository Dictionary on glory Strong’s number 1391 “glory” (from dokeo, “to seem”), primarily signifies an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion. It is used (1) (a) of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation, i.e., what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way he reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the person of Christ, in whom essentially His “glory” has ever shone forth and ever will do, John 17:5, 24.

The key element in this definition is God’s self-manifestation. If Christ is in you, He will manifest Himself. God’s hope is in the acceptance of Christ into our hearts so that His glory can be seen. This is not something we can manipulate, duplicate or hide. He is the power of God unto salvation.

1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

As I defined yesterday unction in the Greek is chrisma. You will not find worldly dictionaries that want to define or talk about its meaning or use. The closest that they will come is in the word charisma which they describe as compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others. A secondary definition used is a divinely conferred power or talent.

I do not have a problem with the first definition and use. Magnetic personalities exist as a worldly trait. It is in the second definition that I advise extreme caution in trying to understand properly. Conferred carries with it the notion of being awarded the power or talent, or a transfer of authority. This is a very dangerous attitude when we are speaking of the divinity of Christ.

All power and authority resides in Christ and Christ alone. It does not belong to us. The inherent nature of desire is to have or take that which is not ours. There are those within a community of believers that have “desired the better gifts”. The danger in allowing the flesh to determine what is better is a recipe for failure. It will cause divisions within the ranks as to which gifts hold more power and who possesses them.

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

The danger in developing this attitude is in failing to understand the differences between putting on and putting in Christ.

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Putting on Christ should be equated to putting on the mantle of responsibility to carry on the work of the gospel, declaring the good news.

Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: