Good Friday Night
Let me remember this night, Lord,
when your poor battered body
lay cold in the tomb,
and you descended into the realm of the dead,
how those who loved you felt -
how dark the night
without your light to shine on them,
how they gathered,
a lost cluster of souls,
sheep without a shepherd
not knowing what was to befall them
so soon.
O my Jesus,
when I am lost and lone and torn and frightened,
bring me back to remember how lost they felt,
and then remind me, too,
of the glory that would dawn on Easter morning.
Amen.
BTTT
April 7
Christ in Us, Our Hope of Glory
To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col_1:27)
We have been considering the wondrous truth that we who believe in Jesus are in Christ. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph_1:3).
All that God has for us is ours “in Christ.” We can now enjoy the benefits of who Christ is and all that He has accomplished for us, because we are in Him. Our present verse adds another extraordinary dimension. Not only are we “in Christ,” but Christ is also in us: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
God wants to make something known among all the nations: “to make known... among the Gentiles.” The message He desires to reveal is glorious in spiritual richness: “the riches of the glory of this mystery.” However, it truly is a mystery, in the New Testament use of that term. A biblical mystery is something that can only be known by the revealing work of God. The mysteries of the scriptures cannot be discovered or understood by intellectual investigation or personal experience. God Himself must make them known. The Lord does this through the grace-empowered, Spirit-empowered proclamation of His word. Here, the great mystery God wants to unfold is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
What a grand hope this message brings! Jesus, the Son of God, is willing to come and dwell within us to assure us of making it to glory (heaven) some day. Meanwhile, Christ wants to reside at the very core of our being: “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph_3:17). As we are trusting in Him, He is living in, and working through, our hearts. Then, from this strategic point of intimacy and access, He gives us heavenly hope. That confident expectation includes the joyous fact that He is coming again: “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Tit_2:13). Yet, His return is not our only hope. He, Himself, is our day by day hope: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope” (1Ti_1:1). Jesus is our comprehensive hope!
Lord Jesus, my hope, I praise You for the hope You give — anticipation of Your return, assurance of heaven, and daily confidence in Your working in me. Forgive me, Lord, for the times I place my hope and confidence elsewhere. Teach me, help me to put my hope in You alone, in Your faithful name I pray, Amen.
—Day by Day by Grace. Bob Hoekstra
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/y/myhopeis.htm
MY HOPE IS BUILT
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
Refrain
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.