According to the Apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians, hope is the essence of our message:

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. (Colossians 1.27, ESV, emphasis mine)

Christ in you, the hope of glory: The Message makes the terse declaration a bit easier to understand:

God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. (Colossians 1.27, MSG)

There’s so much packed into that verse. Let’s consider a few of them:

• Jesus came as a Jew, but not just to Jews. (See John 1.10 – 12)
• Jesus came not just to be with us, but through the Holy Spirit to be in us. (See John 14.16, 17)
• As a result of the Spirit being in us, we, indeed, will share in his glory – and that is our hope.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8.23 – 25, ESV, emphasis mine)