Particular aspects of the nature, reign, inheritance, heavenly glory, and infinite blessing of Christ’s beloved Body & Bride (comprised exclusively of all believers saved from Pentecost to Pre-Trib Rapture) in and with her Head, Life & Bridegroom:

Section 4: The Eternal Glory of the Church in and with Christ, His Heavenly Body & Bride

The Eternal Glory Promised to Every Member of His Body
 (Part 1)

(7) “To whom God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you [all believers] the hope of glory [heavenly glory with Christ Who is our Life]” (Col. 1:27)

“The things to come for the church – the preparation for marriage, the presentation to the Bridegroom, the manifestation with Him, the exaltation with Him, and the experience with Him – are the hope of the church. The church is now being prepared for that day, for it is asserted, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Col. 1:27). This hope should encourage us to endure present sufferings. ‘For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us’ (Rom. 8:18).” – Herman A. Hoyt (The End Times, p. 111)

“The mystery of which he writes [Col. 1:25-27] is not the coming of Christ to this earth, His incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension and coming again. All this was not a mystery, for it was revealed in the Old Testament. The mystery made known through him and of which he writes is a glorified Christ who unites all [believers of the present age] in His person, the Head in glory, who has a body composed of saved Jews and Gentiles, who are one in Him, and ‘Christ in...you the hope of glory’ which looks forward to the consummation, when this body which is now forming, through the preaching of the gospel, is to be with the Head in glory. This is the mystery which was hid in former ages. It is unrevealed in the Old Testament and therefore exclusively a New Testament revelation.”

“And what is this mystery of God [Col. 2:3] in which the treasures, yea all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden? The mystery of God is Christ. But it is not Christ in incarnation, in His life on earth, His death on the cross and His resurrection. Nor is it Christ [without reference to His Body & Bride in Him] at the right hand of God, or Christ coming again [without reference to His Body & Bride with Him] to rule over the nations on earth and establish His kingdom of glory. All these things are subjects of divine revelation in the Old Testament. They are not a mystery. It is Christ, the Head of the body and believers in union with the glorious Head, joined to Him by His Spirit, possessing His life, one with Him, destined to share His glory. This is the mystery of God in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And what treasures these are! How little His people know of all this mystery of God contains! It will take eternity to know and enjoy these treasures, the unsearchable riches.” – Arno C. Gaebelein (Gaebelein’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 1028,1029)

“There are two great parts in this hid but now manifest mystery (v. 26). The first is that Christ should be set in heaven above all principalities and powers, and have the entire universe given to Him, as Head over the inheritance on the footing of redemption – Himself exalted as Head over all things heavenly and earthly, and the Church united to Him as His body, He being thus given as Head to the Church over all things. Then the other side of the mystery is Christ in the saints here below, and in such a sort as to bring in the Gentiles with the utmost freedom…. The hope of glory is the hope of all the glory that flows out of His heavenly place as now at God’s right hand. In Ephesians the Apostle dwells more upon the first of these aspects, in Colossians on the second. Hence the point here is not our being in Christ as Head over all, but Christ in us, the hope of all. But it is in contrast in both cases with Jewish things. The Messiah’s reigning on earth over Israel, with the nations rejoicing also, is a true expectation gathered from the Old Testament prophets. In Colossians it is Christ now in us, but the glory not yet come. Christ in us is the hope of the glory that is coming by-and-by when we shall be glorified and appear with Christ. This was a state of things entirely foreign to Jewish anticipations. Christ in heaven and the saints not yet with Him there, but waiting to be with Him, and meanwhile Christ in them the hope of glory, but of a glory not yet come. There was nothing like this in the older oracles. Then they could not have expected that Christ would be in heaven and a people be one with Him there, still less that Christ should be in them, Gentiles or not, here…. Christ is said to be in us here, not dwelling in our hearts by faith, but actually the hope of glory. The hope of glory is contrasted with the Jews having Christ to reign over them in Palestine, bringing in manifested glory. The Apostle speaks of saints as now down here, but Christ in them the hope of the glory they will have with Him by-and-by above. It is Christ’s life in us in its full risen character of display.”

“Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus’ [v. 28]. Perfect in Christ means full grown. A man may be very happy, may enjoy the pardon of his sins, etc.; but without the unfolding of this heavenly secret (that is, Christ in the saints and the heavenly glory connected with it), he can hardly be said to be full grown in Christ. This ‘every man’ is very striking here; the repeated individualizing is the more beautiful in connection with the body. The two truths are singularly characteristic of Christianity, which unites the more opposite things in a way that nothing else does. In the Millennium, individuals will not have such an important place as now; nor will there be ‘the body’ on earth…. there is the richest place of blessing given both to the individual and the Church, the body of Christ; and both are brought out in the fulness. The human way, on the contrary, is that if what is public and corporate be much pressed, the individual suffers; so also vice versa.” – William Kelly (Lectures on Philippians and Colossians, p. 107-109)

(8) “If [since] therefore ye [all believers] have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above, where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God: have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth; for ye [all believers] have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God. When the Christ is manifested Who is our Life, then shall ye [all believers] also be manifested with Him in glory. Put to death therefore [based on what is true of us according to 3:1-4] your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, vile passions, evil lust, and unbridled desire, which is idolatry. On account of which things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [the unsaved in Adam – not us, the saved in Christ!].” (Col. 3:1-6)

After the any-moment Rapture, and after the subsequent 7-year Tribulation Period, when Christ – Who is our Life – shall be manifested and shall return as King to establish His millennial (and ultimately eternal) kingdom on this earth, then shall we also – the heavenly Bride of the Bridegroom-King – be manifested with Him in glory; and as His Bride-Queen, we shall thus share His throne and reign with Him forever and ever.

“Christ is not always as now to be hidden; He is about to be manifested; and when He is, we too shall be manifested with Him in glory. God will bring us along with Him, as we learn elsewhere. We shall have been translated to Him, in order that, when He shall be seen by every eye, we may have the same portion with Him. The expression ‘hid with Christ in God’ is a much more emphatic one than simply saying, He is absent in heaven…. It is not merely glorification in heaven, but what Christ has now in Himself. It is while He is hidden in God, as was said in verse 3, and in contrast with the display of His glory when He comes by-and-by, as in verse 4. The Colossians had lost sight of this truth in great measure and were in danger of getting on a track that would have deprived them of all enjoyment of peace and confidence in God. The theory was to add what they could to Christ in order to increase the saints’ blessing and security, and make a present display to His glory. The Apostle shows them that their life is hid with Christ in God. Consequently, though they possess the most perfect security, it is in accord with Christ’s place, hidden and not displayed yet. ‘When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness,’ etc. v. 5. Because ye are dead, because ye have this new life, even Christ, and so are dead and risen with Him, mortify your members which are upon the earth. What were they? Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Such is what they – what we – really are [according to our Adamic nature, the flesh, wherein dwelleth no good thing].” – William Kelly (Lectures on Philippians and Colossians, p. 139,140)

“Risen with Christ; such is the believer’s position. ‘Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.’ These are the great truths of Christianity: The believer dead with Christ; risen with Christ and in possession of a life which is hid with Christ in God and therefore safe and secure. And these facts constitute the controlling motive of the believer’s life on earth. If apprehended in faith they will lead the soul to seek the things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. The mind will then be constantly set on the things above and not on things which are on the earth. The more a believer enters into those blessed truths…by reckoning himself dead with Christ and risen with Him, with his life hid with Christ in God, the more will the things above be for him the great attraction and the things on earth will lose their charm. The things above are Christ and His glory. The things on earth include all the deceiving things mentioned in the previous chapter, such as the rudiments of the world, philosophy and words of vain deceit, legalism, ritualism, ordinances, as well as worldly ambitions, honors, pleasures and achievements. All these will fade away when the believer’s heart is occupied with Him who fills the throne in glory. This is the true and only way of sanctification – heart occupation with the risen Christ. [“And I sanctify Myself for them {for them I set Myself apart positionally in My ascension into glory, entirely outside this earthly scene}, that they also may be sanctified by truth {that they might be, by the Spirit, associated and identified with Me there, and thereby be morally, experientially, progressively sanctified}.” (John 17:19)]

“When the eyes of the heart see the risen and glorified Christ and faith lays hold of the wonderful meaning for us who believe, then we learn to walk in that separation into which God has called His people. What the Christian therefore needs is an ever increasing realization in faith of his position in Christ, and then to be energized by the indwelling Spirit to seek those things which are above and not the things on earth. Such a life means joy and peace. It is a life of obedience and quietness, victorious over all earthly circumstances. And because it is a life which is hid with Christ in God, it is hidden from the world. ‘Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not’ (I John 3: 1).”

“But it will not be always thus. A day is coming when this life, hidden now, will be fully manifested. ‘When Christ is manifested who is our life, then shall ye also be manifested with Him in glory.’ It will be a manifestation in glory. It comes when He comes again…. It is not the day when He comes for His saints; it is the day of His visible manifestation, when all His own share His glory and come with Him, when He brings His many sons unto glory. To look constantly in holy anticipation to this promised glory-event, is inseparably connected with the statements of the preceding verses. What blessed links these are: – dead with Christ – risen with Christ – a life hid with Christ in God – a life to be manifested when He comes again! May God’s people know the reality of all this in power and be kept from a mere profession, lifeless and powerless, of these fundamental facts of the gospel.” – Arno C. Gaebelein (Gaebelein’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 1033)

(9) “To Him be glory in the assembly [all members of the Body & Bride] in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages. Amen” (Eph. 3:21)

“He has thus taken hold upon us for this very thing, and to make the Church the vessel of His praise, not simply for the present time, but in a way which nothing will exceed, forever: ‘To Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, unto all the generations of the age of ages.’ How he seems to contemplate there the whole history as it were of the future, filled with wonderful and new displays continually, to new spectators also of God’s goodness and power, and to all these and in the midst of all these, the vessel of His glory will still be the Church in Christ Jesus. Think of it, that this is what God has brought us into! Is it possible, one would ask, to add more to a revelation such as this?” – F.W. Grant (The Numerical Bible, Vol. VI, Acts to 2 Corinthians, p. 339)

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