A Public Display
…to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them 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. Col. 1:25-27
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Col. 2:13-15 NASB
What a great mystery we are partakers of in this age – that Christ is in us, and we are partakers of His glory! For He has chosen to make us His public display. First by forgiving us our transgressions, second by cancelling our debt, and then by revealing the power of His glory through us as we are transformed into the image of Christ.
His public display occured when He rose from the dead – and when He rose we were also raised to newness of life! Hallelujah – now we are His public display as the power of His resurrected life consumes the will and works of our old man and that life of sin. We have been made alive together with Him and stand complete in Him. And as we renew our minds by His word we begin to express His glory as we walk in His triumph over sin and self. The natural man cannot accomplish this, only the spiritual man who is pursuing the fulness of his inheritance in the resurrection. Notcie Paul’s heart in Phil. 3:10-14…
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Beloved, there is a goal in this life – namely, to walk in the reality of our resurrection in Christ so that the world will see His glorious power at work in the earth. Indeed, the whole earth longs for the children of God to manifest His kingdom in the earth as a living testimony in advance of His appearing. One day soon Jesus will return to reclaim what is rightfully His and He will recreate it according to His desire. But until then, we are called to be His public display – a glimpse into the reality of that glorious day.
It is time to move beyond the elementary principles of the faith and press on towards maturity. Long enough have we hashed over basic doctrine, church structure and stylistic preference. Long enough have we held to the mentality where one says “I am of Paul” and another “I am of Apollos.” Oh that we would be a faithful generation that takes God at His word and walks in the reality of the coming age in this age! Such is the inheritance of the saints – to be His public display of having overcome sin, the flesh and the world. For we have been raised with Him and seated in heavenly places with Him. All that remains is living that reality as a witness to His great glory & power.
The Jordan begs to be crossed!