This week Michelle continues her new series called Faith & Power: Understanding the Power of Who Christ Is In You reading Colossians 1:15-29 from The Passion Translation.

Show Transcript:

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Blooming Inspired Podcast equipping and empowering the voices of women who live their lives Blooming Alive.

Introduction

Good Morning! This is Michelle Bentham, host of Blooming Inspired Podcast. Last week we began a new series called “Faith & Power: Discovering the Power of Who Christ is in You!” Our reading last week came from Ephesians 1:17-23 as we talked about the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. Today, our reading will be in Colossians 1:15-29 from The Passion Translation. So, Grab your Bible and get ready to dig into today’s reading as we continue to consider the power of who Christ is in us!

Review

As you do let’s just review a few take-aways from last week’s reading:

Deepening our intimacy with God is a key to experiencing His Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation

Ministry happens in the culture of relationships. Impartation happens in the culture of intimacy.

God wants to light up your imagination and use it for His glory!

Another key comes from understanding who Christ is in you. Discovering who Christ is unlocks revelation and wisdom insight into who we are… Then, we need only find the way He wants to express Himself through us to fully realize His purpose in our life. And this comes through intimacy.

The same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, is in and works through us.

Faith activates the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit in our life, empowering us to live as Christ commanded us to live.

This Week’s Reading

Let’s Pray, Father God, I ask that you would give each person within the sound of my voice an encounter with You today through the Scriptures. Impart Your truth to our hearts, minds, souls and bodies - we ask for Holy Spirit wisdom and revelation to illuminate our eyes with your light so we may see as You see, heighten our sense of hearing so that we may know and obey Your voice, empower our minds with your understanding, and rend our hearts as we come to know Your heart in intimacy and truth. I thank you that though Christ in us is a mystery that you are continually unfolding - it is that very thing - He in Us that is the Hope of Glory. Remind us of these truths as we read today and make them real for us! I ask these things in Jesus’ Precious Name, AMEN.

The title for this episode is “The Hope of Glory.” It comes from Colossians 1:27 in the New King James Version: “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.”

We’re looking for what it means that Christ in us is the Hope of Glory in a lost and dying world, and how that leads us to His Faith and Power. So let’s begin:

Verse 15-17: He is the divine portrait, the true likeness of the invisible God, and the first-born heir of all creation. For through the Son everything was created, both in the heavenly realm and on the earth, all that is seen and all that is unseen. Every seat of power, realm of government, principality, and authority—it was all created through him and for his purpose! He existed before anything was made, and now everything finds completion in him.

We begin with a portrait of who Christ is from Heaven’s Perspective - A Divine Portrait.

A number of years ago I was reading in the Gospels where Jesus was baptized at the Jordan River by John the Baptist. When Jesus comes up out of the water, the Spirit of God descends from Heaven and comes to rest on Jesus like a dove. Then the Father’s voice comes down from Heaven declaring, “This is my beloved Son in Whom I’m well pleased.”

As I read that verse and asked God to show me what He wanted to see about it I felt in my heart He said, “If it’s true about Jesus, it’s true about you.” And by extension, every believer who is in Christ.

Have you ever thought about that? That when God looks upon you as His child, He sees you through the veil of His Beloved Son. You see, apart from Christ there is no righteousness. We cannot be righteous without Him. As a matter of fact, the only righteousness we can ever possess is His righteousness imparted to us through our relationship by faith in Him.

Jesus often said, when you see Him you have seen the Father. He is the divine portrait and the true likeness of the invisible God - the firstborn and heir of all creation. We are His inheritance - Paul emphasizes this over and over again in His epistles. Here we also see that God’s act in creation was executed by the Son - both in the heavens and on the earth - everything we can see and what cannot be seen!!! This is beyond our ability to fathom really. Just as we cannot look beyond the stars in our own sky without a powerful telescope - and to think that the vast reach of God’s Kingdom and the heavens extend well beyond what we know as the universe.

And in this God created every seat of power, realm of government, principality and authority through Christ - He is in charge of it all. He has authority over it all. He existed before anything else was created and everything that has ever been created finds its completion in Him.

That is who CHRIST is. He is the Son. The creative power and authority of the Son of God lives inside of you. Do you get that?

So if that power lives inside you --- what does that mean?

I’m a visual artist, and I’m passionate about connecting people to God’s heart through Creative Expression. As I’ve grown through the arts, I’ve come to understand that God empowers my mind to think creatively -- and when I am empowered to think creatively I have faith to act creatively. I’ve taken sparing little art instruction in my lifetime, but as I’ve grown in trusting God through the process of creating - I’ve discovered I can do things that both intimidate and challenge me. Right now I am using professional grade watercolors and brushes to paint a portrait of my granddog, Cooper.

It wasn’t very long ago that I said I didn’t paint with watercolors because I didn’t know how to use them, and refused to paint anything that might look like a real person for the fear I would fail at it miserably and remarkably… My painting of Cooper looks like Cooper. It’s amazing to me everytime I put a brush to canvas that God shows up and guides my hand to reveal through me a skill greater than I could ever learn on my own.

What is it that you dream to do but feel powerless to accomplish? All of the power that you need to accomplish those ideas, dreams and passions in your life rests with Christ. The only thing you need to understand is His purpose in your passion. And that often comes through executing - taking steps of faith and watching Him work wonders through them.

Verse 18-20: He is the Head of his body, which is the church. And since he is the beginning and the firstborn heir in resurrection, he is the most exalted One, holding first place in everything. For God is satisfied to have all his fullness dwelling in Christ. And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again!

Jesus has first place in everything! Have you ever wanted to come in first? Well, in Christ - you are first with Him. We are co-heirs. And yet, He is still the most exalted one - the Head of us who are His body. The fullness of God dwells in Christ and Christ dwells in you - that means that the fullness of who God is resides in YOU!

It is through Christ’s work on the cross, the shedding of His blood to make atonement for all the sins of the world, (that’s past, present and future), God, Himself, has already restored everything in heaven and on earth back to Himself, back to original design and intention -- meaning what was lost in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned and fell short of God’s glory -- through Christ has been restored. This means in Him, part of our responsibility is to exercise His power and authority by faith to bring that restoration into our reality, think: “On Earth as it already is in Heaven.”

Restoring us back to our original design, purpose and back to innocent purity once again! For someone within the sound of my voice today this is good news. YOU CAN BE MADE PURE AND WHOLE THROUGH THE POWER OF CHRIST IN YOU.

Verse 21-23: Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored, if indeed you continue to advance in faith, assured of a firm foundation to grow upon. Never be shaken from the hope of the gospel you have believed in. And this is the glorious news I preach all over the world.

THERE IT IS AGAIN… Christ is the one who reconnected us to Himself. Jesus said that no one can come to Him except the Holy Spirit draws them to Him. Even your ability and capacity to believe and have faith in God comes from God Himself. And as we receive this faith from God, the peace of Christ comes to us as His payment for sin is credited to us that we may live in His presence, experience His glory and know His power.

The scripture tells us that nothing stands between us and Father God - He now sees us as holy, flawless and restored, that is the foundation of our faith - that the work of God in us was finished at the cross and the power that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us so that we may continually act, live and do what He has purposed us to do according to Him will. This is powerful truth, my friends. s

The key is to continue to advance (or mature) in the faith. You see our hope of the Gospel that we have believed is not just about salvation - it is about being made complete or whole in Christ. That in our lives, as we mature in His word and His works that we would come to look and act more like Him so the world would see Him through us.

If that does not make you want to jump up and down --- I don’t know what would! This is the point of it all. Everything in life leads us to this moment. Living as Christ in us and expressing Him to the world around us. And still, much of it is a MYSTERY… Being unveiled day by day, hour by hour as we pursue Him in intimacy and truth.

Verse 24-25: I can even celebrate the sorrows I have experienced on your behalf; for as I join with you in your difficulties, it helps you to discover what lacks in your understanding of the sufferings Jesus Christ experienced for his body, the church. This is the very reason I’ve been made a minister by the authority of God and a servant to his body, so that in his detailed plan I would fully equip you with the Word of God.

Suffering for God’s glory is a real thing. Paul eludes to it here as he writes about the suffering of the believers in the Colossian Church. He said that when we struggle in our suffering we lack understanding of the sufferings Christ experienced for us. You see to live as Christ is to take on His sufferings.

I don’t know about you, but there was a time in my life when my suffering drove me from God and made me question His goodness. You see, in my immature understanding I did not know God well and did not understand that suffering comes to us in this life for many reasons: as a consequence to sins I commit or because of the sins of another that affect me, the enemy’s desire to steal, kill and destroy to keep me from realizing God’s goodness and glory in my life and because the earth has not fully been redeemed from the curse that human sin has brought to it.

Yet, the very One for Whom nothing is impossible - Jesus, Himself - was not spared suffering, but willingly took it for our sakes. How could we not endure suffering as the Old Testament believer Job did in saying, “Shall we only accept good from God and not evil.” He would not curse God in His suffering.

I think God can handle our questions, doubts and even our anger at Him over things that happen in our lives we struggle to make sense of along the way. I think He wants to speak to us and heal us. It is in the overcoming that we see His glory. As we experience despair by choose joy instead, or perhaps fear paralyzes us but we choose love instead… That our lives feel completely out of control and yet, we choose self-discipliine instead. This is the work of Christ in us through the Holy Spirit. To be in the midst of great struggle and turmoil and experience peace that passes understanding is truly a mark of Christ on our lives.

Let’s live this way my friends, pursuing the best of God in the worst of what life has to offer us. Being marked by His glory, His power and His promise so that when others see our suffering it makes them hungry to know Him, too.

On of my favorite teachers, Bill Johnson, often says that it is only on earth that we have the honor of offering God a sacrifice of praise. That in the deepest sorrows of our lives, when the questions come, the power to praise God in the midst of such pain is a fragrant offering to the Lord most high.

And, before we move on, I want to highlight this portion from verse 25:

This is the very reason I’ve been made a minister by the authority of God and a servant to his body, so that in his detailed plan I would fully equip you with the Word of God.

This is the heart of my ministry through Blooming Inspired Network!! To equip and empower women to walk in their role and reign in God’s Kingdom. That women around the world would realize the detailed plan of God’s purpose in their lives and live fully from who Christ is in you. This is why I live and breath - to help you move out into the world taking the ground you walk on for the Kingdom of God wherever you may serve Him. It is a daunting task and I need many prayers and women to both walk alongside me and to partake from the ministry and service Christ has entrusted to me. I’m grateful for each person who has come along to this point and I pray that if God commends you that you would reach out to us and let us know how we may serve you in this calling we have to women in His Kingdom.

Verse 26-27: There is a divine mystery—a secret surprise that has been concealed from the world for generations, but now it’s being revealed, unfolded and manifested for every holy believer to experience. Living within you is the Christ who floods you with the expectation of glory! This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for his people, and God wants everyone to know it!

There is a divine mystery!!! Paul writes, that in his time that a secret, a surprise, has been concealed for many centuries but through Christ is now being revealed, unfolded and manifested for every holy believer to experience.

Did you know your relationship with God is not just something you read about, but it is a mystery that is revealed through experience. We are supposed to know Him through the Scriptures and experience Him through His presence. Practical manifestations of His glory revealed to us and through us in our everyday lives. We are all supposed to experience the unveiling ministry that manifests through His presence.

So let me ask you, When was the last time you experienced the presence of God in a powerful and revelatory way?

Let’s press into this truth, my friends. Let’s live this way - on that edge with Jesus, looking for His power and presence to reveal mysteries and wonders to us and through us every single day of our lives.

And as we do, the Christ who is living (active) within us floods us with the expectation of His glory!!! And this mystery that is embedded within us - a part of who we are - becomes a trove of treasured hope - a hope-filled glory rich for God’s people, and He wants everyone to know! Let’s make Him known as the hope of glory that lives within us for the rest of our lives. Let’s live like this every day. Oh the glory of it all… That He would choose to live through us and express Himself through us - what a wonderful mystery and revelation all at the same time!

I’m so overwhelmed by the goodness of God in this moment, my heart is bowing low before Him, it is a moment when I need to be on my knees rather than speaking these words… so that all I can say in humility and pure devotion is, “Here I am Lord, Send Me.”

And now I will close with Paul’s parting words in this passage:

Verse 28-29: Christ is our message! We preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth. It has become my inspiration and passion in ministry to labor with a tireless intensity, with his power flowing through me, to present to every believer the revelation of being his perfect one in Jesus Christ.

Closing Remarks

Thank you for tuning in with us. I want to ask you if this podcast has been a blessing to you: would you consider subscribing to it and share it with your friends and family? We’d love to partner with you in sharing messages that encourage and inspire.

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Join Us Through Facebook Live for Bible Study on Saturday at 10am (CT)! We will be reading Luke 9 this week and digging into the life of Christ Verse-By-Verse considering what we would believe if reading the Scriptures was the primary way we inform our faith! You can learn more and catch up on last week’s study by visiting facebook.com/bloominginspired.

Once again, I’d like to remind you that I will be speaking at a women’s conference (R.E.A.L. Women Conference) at (The Ranch Cowboy Country Church South) in Edna, TX. Registration is available for $40 through January 10th, and will be $45 after the 10th through the day before the conference. Tickets at the door will be $60. This one day conference is February 22 this year and includes a continental style breakfast, full lunch and dinner provided. I’d love to see some familiar faces attending. If you’d like to register please email or DM at the email listed above or through our FB page for details or visit theranchsouth.org for more information!

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