10th May, 2022
Minister: Pastor Olusola Ogidan
Colossians 1:23-28
God had been speaking since the beginning but Paul had a feeling that he was commissioned to fill whatever gap was left of the things that God wanted to administer to His people. That means we will be short-changed if we ignore Paul’s message.
Our anticipation or expectation of glory is founded on the fact that we have Christ in us. Without Christ indwelling us, glory becomes elusive. Christ is in us not in the same way the Holy Spirit is in us. So, we need to know who and what Christ is. This is very foundational in our quest for glory.
2 Corinthians 4:1-4; Colossians 1:12-15
When we talk about Christ, we talk about the image of God. Christ is the image of the invisible God. In other words, Christ is God’s image. Image is not look alike; it is being alike. Looks are all about appearance, being is about nature and character. Image constitutes a person’s framework and internal composition.
Hebrews 1:1-3
The image of God is what makes God who He is; it is what constitutes His person. Christ is the perfect replica or imprint of God; He is the entire reproduction of God. The image of God is not only associated with Christ Jesus but He was the one who aligned completely with the image. He embodied the image in all its fullness.
The life inside Adam was from God but it was not the full image of God. God created Adam in His image and He needed to make him in his full image. However, that purpose was truncated when man fell.
Looking at Christ as the Anointed One, all the prophets of old can be regarded as Christs in certain measures. Every Christ is a son, that is why the prophets can be considered as sons of God. The anointing does not preclude suffering. So, sons can suffer in the process of their growth.
Christ in us being the hope of Glory talks about a deposit of God’s image in all believers that predispose us to being glorified.
Galatians 3:15-17; Genesis 22:15-17; Hebrews 6:13-16
Even in Abraham’s time, there was a reality called ‘in Christ’. God’s covenant with Abraham was confirmed when he willingly offered Isaac to God. When God swore to bless him, He confirmed His promise to him and his lineage.
The covenant of Abraham was confirmed in Christ by oath. As such, there is a connection between ‘in Christ’ and the confirmation of God’s promises. After oath, there is nothing else; there is no turning back.
1 Peter 1:23; Hebrews 4:2
Christ in us is the expression of God’s image on our inside which is kick-started when we accept the Gospel by faith. When the word of God mixes with faith in our hearts, the seed of God is planted in us. There is a dynamism about faith that gives life to the word.
When the word comes to us and we believe, a fertilisation takes place and the seed of God’s image is formed in us. That is the point at which God’s gene is implanted in us. That gene confers the ability to live in a different way from the way we once lived thereby ushering us into a new life.
Every time there is faith, there is an inward Christ operation taking place; faith activates and nurtures the image of God in us. It is only Christ that can compel God to swear. When God see Christs, He opens his mouth and swears guaranteeing that He will do what He had decided to do.
Hebrews 11:17
Every obedience is a response of faith. Without knowing it, Abraham acquired Christ because he believed. All our realities in the New Testament are in Christ; as far as the Church and the Christ are concerned, God has sworn an oath and there is no going back.
There is a curriculum that accommodates God’s covenant and we need to undergo it diligently. It is our responsibility to align with that covenant and Christ is the thread that weaves it all together. To be successful in your Christian journey, just stay with Christ; don’t be distracted by issues like prosperity. Prosperity is best acquired by impartation; it comes naturally when we stay with Christ.
Christ is God’s image and we open up ourselves to His operations when we believe and follow the process, he has mapped out for us. This process comes with a track record of faith.