The Hope of Glory

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now 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.
Col 1:24–27
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The Hope of Glory
            Deep down, no matter what you believe, there is a basic human desire to hold on to something real. In our sinful nature, we too often cling to those things which are temporal and fading. We place our hope in ourselves and our abilities, or maybe we place our hope in some other earthly institution, maybe the government or a particular philosophy. The problem with this is that they always come up short and we suffer for it. Even the Christian who has faith will suffer but for a different reason. Christ’s sufferings for our salvation are complete but all Christians suffer with Christ as part of their service to Christ. Baptism connects us to Christ—both to His sufferings and to His salvation. Yet through the suffering, in faith, we cling to the truth. We hold fast to the universal Gospel message of the all-sufficient Christ for us. We rejoice because, as servants of the Gospel, we are more than willing to endure hardship on account of Christ’s work on our behalf. The hope of glory is not only about Christ coming to this world but also about Christ coming personally to each of us individually. Through Word and Sacrament, Christ is in us, and our faith is secured.