“For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;” (Colossians 1:5)
This is part of a long sentence, six verses long that Paul wrote to say he gave thanks and prayed for them for the hope they had of eternal life since hearing the Gospel. Paul wrote to them as a church founder even though he never visited Colossae. Epaphras heard the Gospel and took it to Colossae and established a church there. He then traveled to Rome where Paul was imprisoned to share with Paul about the work of the Gospel and the church at Colossae. He was also imprisoned himself.
This is the hope that we have also. It’s the hope of glory. “...To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” (Colossians 1:27) We have this hope because of Christ Who is in us through the Holy Spirit and Who is with us. He said He would be always with us. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave His disciples His last instructions and made a promise that He would be with them. “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20)
It might seem a little confusing about whether it is Jesus or the Holy Spirit Who indwells. It is the Holy Spirit. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8:9) We don’t belong to Christ if we don’t have the Holy Spirit indwelling. When we believe in Jesus as the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, God the Son and the Savior Who took our sins to the cross to pay the penalty for sin and took our death for us and we make Him the Lord of our lives, immediately God accepts us in the Beloved and seals us with the Holy Spirit Who comes to indwell in our hearts.
Now the Godhead is One. This concept cannot be understood in natural terms. Their oneness and unity are unknown and not understood here on earth. It’s a Truth we accept. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30) John wrote about it. We read the Word of God many times just passing over these great Truths. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are One in total agreement. What Jesus said is what the Godhead said. What Jesus did is what the Godhead did. “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” (John 14:10) As I said, we cannot understand this concept but accept it as Truth. So then when we say the Holy Spirit indwells, God the Father and God the Son, Jesus are present. When the Holy Spirit speaks to us, it is the Godhead speaking to us, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Now we have this hope of glory which although it is a hope, we also have the guarantee which is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is the seal of that promise. And in heaven where the past, present and future are known, we are already sharing in the inheritance and seated with Jesus in the heavens. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7) We hope in a sure thing.
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