Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

By Oswald Bronson

Good News Archive
1971 Good News Convocation

May/June 20204

Think with me on the topic, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Our theme comes from a man physically imprisoned, but liberated in mind and convinced that in his soul lived a universal mystery – the presence of Jesus Christ, who was the ground of his faith and conviction. Any man with a conviction becomes ill at ease when the foundation of that conviction is subjected to misinformation. And so it was with Paul. He had heard that false teachers in Colossae were proclaiming a dangerous and deceptive heresy.

Under the influence of what came to be known as gnosticism, these false teachers sought to syncretize [mix together] the Christian faith with Greek and Oriental religious systems that reduced Jesus Christ to one of many intermediaries between God and man. They instituted complex and secretive initiation rites, paganistic ceremonies that extolled the so-called mysteries of their syncretistic faith. Little did they care that this mixture of religious ideologies was an insult to a prisoner under lock and key in the Roman jail. You see, they had not been with Jesus, not been pricked by his power on the Damascus road.

In the Epistle to the Colossians, Paul speaks to a communal irregularity that threatened to bankrupt the Church’s spiritual treasure, and to immobilize its moral behavior and its Christian witness. Here, my friends, we see one of Paul’s ablest defenses against heresy in the ranks. It is against this background of false teaching – of a divided community, of a church threatened by ethical decadence, and spiritual erosion – that Paul courageously reaffirmed his evangelical faith and pointed to the Mystery hidden for ages and generations. The Mystery is the topic of this address. For Paul says, it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

This theme underscores three basic dimensions of Christology (or the doctrine of Christ), without which our faith is emptied of its pulling power.

1. Jesus Christ, The Image of the Invisible God.

2. Jesus Christ, The Mystery of the Indwelling Presence.

3. Jesus Christ, The Hope of Glory.

In Pauline theology, Christ was not one of a number of equal intermediaries; not simply one of the angels; not a power among other powers, as the heretical teachers at Colossae would have the Christians believe. In Colossians 2:8 Paul warned the church to beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men or after the rudiments of the world.

This warning has relevance for modern day Christianity. You and I know that the modern church runs the risk of becoming theologically sterile and spiritually bereft. Many churches have departed from the biblical faith, lost their spiritual magnetism and the fire that burned in the hearts of our fathers. The absence of the Holy Spirit leaves a vacancy open and available to all kinds of heresy, such as the [1970s] God-is-Dead movement. Preachers and laymen quarrel, blaming the other for the church’s predicament.

Some time ago I came across a rating chart that sought to evaluate the pastor’s work. It sought to measure a pastor’s adaptability, effectiveness in pastoral calling, strength of character, spiritual maturity, preaching skills, and communication. Those were the areas of measurement. Across the top of the chart were the degrees of measurement: Far exceeds requirements, exceeds requirements, meets requirements, needs some improvement, does not meet minimum requirements.

The first area of performance is the preacher’s adaptability. Far exceeds requirements: Leaps tall obstacles with a single bound. Exceeds requirements: Must take running start to leap over tall obstacles. Meets requirements: Can leap over small obstacles only. Needs some improvement: Crashes into obstacles. Does not meet minimum requirements: Cannot recognize obstacles at all.

Sadly, we have folk who are not able to recognize sin and its creeping effects.

What about the pastoral calling? Far exceeds requirements: Faster than a speeding bullet. Exceeds requirements: As fast as a speeding bullet. Meets requirements: Not quite as fast as a speeding bullet. Needs some improvement: Would you believe, a slow bullet? Does not meet requirements: Usually wounds self with bullet.

What about preaching? Far exceeds requirements: Enthralls huge throngs. Exceeds requirements: Enthralls the congregation. Meets requirements: Interests the congregation. Needs some improvement: Only spouse listens. Does not meet requirements: Not even spouse listens.

Surely if you’re going to be a real pastor, you need strength of character. Far exceeds requirements: My pastor is stronger than a herd of bulls. Exceeds requirements: Stronger than several bulls. Meets requirements: Stronger than one bull. Needs some improvement: Shoots the bull.

Surely we need someone who can communicate. What about the pastor’s communication if they’re shooting the bull? Communication far exceeds requirements: Talks with God. Exceeds requirements: Talks with the angels (Paul would be concerned). Meets requirements: Well, talks with self. Needs some improvement: Argues with self. Does not meet minimum requirements: Loses argument with self.

If Paul had to rate the heretical teachers and preachers in Colossae, he would simply say that, “You are losing arguments that are vital, the argument that stands tall and places our faith solidly on Jesus Christ.”

Paul teaches not to be misled by any attempt to establish a religious faith on any power except Jesus Christ. Here he underscores the uniqueness and supremacy of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not one of many intermediaries. Christ is the Mediator. He’s not a power among other equals. He is the supreme Savior, the highest expression of God’s love. He is God’s image from all of eternity, before creation was brought forth, before the Spirit moved upon the waters.

As I heard one preacher say over the radio, before there was a “when” or a “where” or a “then” or “there,” or “this” or “that” – before there were plants, animals and human life on the face of the earth – Christ was already in existence. St. Paul, the man of faith, said, “He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of creation, for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-18).

Not only was Christ with God in the beginning, but on earth he was fully human. Herein lies the great paradox. It is the link between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. In his humanity dwelt the fullness of God, in his deity dwelt the fullness of man. This is a paradox that dramatizes God’s extending himself in suffering love. And humanity reaching its highest in obedience, in humility, and in devotion to God’s will. The downward reach of God, and the upward reach of man, had its highest hour and met in Jesus Christ.

In Christ the Son we meet God supremely revealed. On the cross we experience God’s aching heart, his agonizing love, and his forgiving spirit. Often my heart bleeds when I look at my Savior on the cross, and think how he has there, on his shoulder, all my sins. And then I hear him say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Oh Christ, I love you! Easter brings the Good News that God-in-Christ is victorious over the forces of evil. Pentecost signals through Christ a new baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Surely, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.

We enjoy singing, “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name.” He is not one among equals – he is superior! He is preexistent! He is God, the image of the invisible God. “Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him lord of all.”

We must crown him Lord of all. Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God, is also the mystery of the indwelling Presence. Please note that Paul frequently uses the word mystery. It denotes the incomprehensible, an event or an idea that cannot be explained and understood by human faculties. A mystery defies human intellect. The secret of his power is on a level beyond our human understanding.

This universe that God has made is filled with mysteries. It is true, we are extending our explorations to other planets. Yet, with each such exploration, we realize that we are dealing with but an infinitesimal part of this vast universe. The full knowledge of God’s power lies only in his mind. Paul was eminently correct in using the word mystery, for life is a mystery. Nature is a mystery. The human being is a mystery.

Through science and technology, the human mind is grasping facts once thought to be miraculous. We think now that we know the secret of the Universe. We understand how to manipulate certain physical laws to bring about desired results. But how these laws came into existence remains a mystery. There is so much we cannot fully explain.

When I was a lad, I used to like to watch Molly, the cow. And I used to wonder how a brown cow, eating green grass, with a red tongue, could give white milk, churned into yellow butter.

Regardless how much we try to explain many of these things, we come back to the question, “Who did it? Who got it started?” We have to come to grips with this one outstanding fact: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and everything therein found.”

I heard a radio preacher very eloquently remind his audience that we live in a push-button age today. We can push a button and lift tons of steel. We can push a button and send astronauts throughout space, even to the moon. We can push a button and sail heavy aircraft through the skies. We have come to feel that there is hardly anything that the push-button cannot do.

But, said the preacher, man cannot push a button and cause the sun to shine, or the stars to twinkle, or create mothers and fathers to provide love for their children, or our Savior, who brings healing to our souls.

The push-button is mechanical, cold, and indifferent to the deeper yearnings and needs of the human heart. Only God can push that button! As Isaac Newton stood in the presence of nature’s mysteries, he said “I feel like a child who has picked up a few pebbles on the shore of a boundless ocean.”

I was glad to hear the great scientist Albert Einstein said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.” Mystery is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. His eyes are closed.

Yes, we are surrounded by mystery.

Paul’s time was the age of mystery religions and secret initiation rites. The false teachers of Colossae were greatly influenced by these religious practices. Against this background, Paul is saying, “I, too, have a Mystery into which I was initiated. It is a divine secret, which for ages no man guessed. Now it has pleased God to make known the secret. And it is, Christ in you. The innermost dynamics and the very nature of God’s being reaches its apex in Christ. And we know this Christ as the inward presence, making our lives one with his life. Christ is the mystery, because in him lies hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Because he represents far more than has yet been disclosed.”

Notice that Paul said Christ in you; not Christ on you, nor merely around you. Not Christ objectified in a philosophical system, or any system locked to a period in history. Not a Christ beautifully painted in a picture, or described in poetry or set to popular music.

Christ on me is not enough! I might change toward him as I changed my clothes, or as I moved from group to group, from city to city, from position to position. Christ around me has great advantages, but he is still external. In theory he is limited to intellectual activities, but our problems are deeper than the intellect.

A Christ arrested in the past is good for the museum; a picture may be good to adorn the walls of our homes and our offices. Jesus Christ in poetry and music is fine, though he runs the risk of becoming a fad rather than the savior.

Instead, Paul sees an urgency in the indwelling Christ. When Christ is truly internalized – permeating every cell, every fiber, thought, utterance, motive, behavior – we become new creatures. We experience unspeakable joy. We have an eternal assurance. We have a new light, a new spirit, a new love, a new heart, a new code of ethics, a new behavior, a new fellowship. With Christ in you and Christ in me, I declare, we’ve got to be together.

On a sign prepared by youth in one of our Atlanta United Methodist congregations are the words, “If you were arrested and charged for being a Christian, and indicted, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

The indwelling Christ supplies the evidence. It is expressed courageously in a life of love and service, and the record is filled with testimonies across the ages of the transforming power of Jesus Christ as an indwelling presence.

How well do I remember when I was a small child, I heard my father pray, “Lord, I gave Oswald to you before he was born. Help him to be your servant. May you live in his life.”

I heard my Daddy pray that, morning and night. Sometimes I would wake up in the night. I would hear him praying, “God, I gave Oswald to you before he was born ….” I thought about that. At an early age, my Father, not having the kind of theological sophistication that many of us have, but a faith in Jesus Christ, was reminding me of the divine origins of any human being. And that my own existence in the world is the result of God’s creative activity, that in my life was a purpose – a purpose to glorify God.

He surrounded me with the Christian faith. I saw Christ in him. But I needed more than Christ around me, I needed Christ within me. My father’s faith was not enough. As Billy Sunday used to say, “Your wife’s faith cannot save you. You’ve got to be more than a brother-in-law to God.”

When I made my own decision for Christ, God became more than just a distant relative. He became an intimate Savior. The old Gospel hymns took on new meaning. It became a joy to affirm deep within that “I am Thine, oh Lord;” “Have Thine Own Way Lord;” “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine.”

The Christian faith claims that in Christ, God’s nearness becomes a greater reality. He lives within. He becomes the battery that makes a glow radiate from our personality. And when you walk, somebody will say, “There goes a Christian, I see their light.”

Yes, Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ, the mystery of the indwelling presence. Christ, the hope, is a theme that winds its way through the Pauline epistles. The word hope communicates the sense of the possible. It is an attitude towards life affirming that what we really need is possible.

The value of hope is poetically demonstrated by Percy Bysshe Shelley’s drama Prometheus Unbound: “To suffer woes which hope thinks infinite, to forgive wrongs darker than dark of night, to defy powers which seem omnipotent, to love and bear, to hope till hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates.”

Christian hope, however, is more than a general kind of optimism. It is more than hope in hope, or faith in faith. Christian hope is tied to the goal of history, and the purpose of each person’s existence. It is the unshakable confidence in the sovereignty of God, and his eventual triumph over all the forces that stand against truth, justice, righteousness, faithfulness, love, and mercy. In the great contest between good and evil, Christian hope declares God as winner. He is the victory.

For the Christian, in race relations, Christ is the victory. In family crises, Christ is the victory. In marital conflicts, Christ is the victory. Not only is he the hope of victory, he is also the hope of glory. The hope of sharing with God the eternal radiance of his victory.

Today, I have hope. I have hope that through Christ, all men and women will recognize their common bond. I have hope because in everything God works together for the good. Yes, I have hope. It is this hope that sends Christians forth witnessing against wrong, upholding the right, giving God the glory and the praise. It is this hope that brings light and deliverance to the downtrodden, the dejected, the underprivileged, the overprivileged, the “just-right” privileged.

Reverent. A matron in an orphanage whipped little Jimmy E. West, and put him on a bread and water diet. She said he was evading his chores by pretending to be sick. Fortunately a lady who knew Jimmy’s mother before she died, came by to see him. And she asked the matron to let her take the lad to a doctor. The matron agreed. The doctor examined the nine year old lad and sure enough, he had a tuberculous hip. He was laid up for a year on a very hard board. After a year the doctor said, “There’s no hope, so I might as well send him on back.” He called the orphanage, and the matron said she couldn’t take him.

The doctor called the taxi, gave him instructions, and in the gathering darkness he took Jimmy to the orphanage, left him and his crutches on the porch. Little Jimmy was found there by a girl who came to lock up for the evening. She dragged him in. What hope was there for a nine-year-old lad? No mother, sickly, rejected. None, according to the socially accepted opinions of the psychologists and social workers. He was doomed for a miserable life and death.

But a miracle took place. In this orphanage was a Sunday school. And Jimmy’s class was taught by a man who was in charge of the heating plant. He was not a man sophisticated in theology, but he had a faith – a living, vibrant faith, a belief in Jesus Christ that he shared with Jimmy.

Jimmy said later, “I came to believe that my life need not be hopeless wreckage.” And so, he started a life of prayer. He finished high school, worked his way through college and became a lawyer. He was brought to the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt because of his work with underprivileged children. This work was so significant that when the Boy Scouts of America was chartered, Congress elected Jimmy E. West (1876-1948) as its first chief executive.

But the story doesn’t end there. The Boy Scout code of America has one line that the code does not have in England. “A Boy Scout is Reverent.” Who put it there? It was a Sunday school teacher, faith, and spirit, working in the life of Jimmy West. Through Christ, he came to find that God had meaning for him in his time of wreckage. So now, Boy Scouts around the world raise their hand to God and say, “A Boy Scout is Reverent.”

Christ is the hope not only in the world to come, but he’s the hope right now.

In my home community we used to sing a spiritual called “Ain’t That Good News?” The lyrics are: “I’ve got a Savior in the Kingdom, ain’t that good news? He’s the joy of my salvation, ain’t that good news? He’s going to lead us from earth to glory, ain’t that good news?”

Yes, the Christian community has Good News! We have what the world desperately needs. It is Christ within us, the hope of glory. Ain’t that Good News?

When he delivered this address to the 1971 Good News Convocation, Dr. Oswald P. Bronson, Sr., Ph.D., an ordained United Methodist clergyman, was President of Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta. After completing his time at ITC, in 1975, Dr. Bronson began an appointment as the fourth president of his alma mater, Bethune-Cookman University, a position he held for 29 years. Dr. Bronson passed away on February 2, 2019, at the age of 91 years old. This sermon first appeared in the October/December 1971 issue of Good News. Photo courtesy of Atlanta University Center. Photo: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Shutterstock).