and generations, but NOW made manifest to the saints. These saints are members of the

one body (Col. 1. 24), and the dispensation "completed the Word of God" (25).

We have pointed out before, and there are many who ask relating to the point, that

nowhere in the prison epistles is the hope so clearly defined as, for example, is the hope

of Israel. But this is in harmony with the highly spiritual character of the calling. We

know that resurrection and the change of the body of humiliation into conformity with the

body of His glory is a part of this blessed hope. We know that when Christ Who is our

life shall be made manifest, then shall we also be manifest with Him in glory. Historic

details are entirely absent. Details that are perfectly fitting in connection with the hope of

Israel, that figure in Daniel and the Revelation, are entirely out of place in connection

with the hope of this calling. We know that His calling and our calling have placed us

"far above all principality", and that we shall one day "be manifested with Him in glory".

No definite explanation is given as to the manner of our reaching that blessed sphere, no

parallel to I Cor. 15: or I Thess. 4: is found in the epistles of the mystery. The hope

like the calling is a part of a secret or mystery. It can be known, and the way is

indicated--by receiving your calling, KNOW HIM. As His glory unfolds itself to the

enlightened eye, and the spirit of wisdom and understanding perceives its true import, so

will the conception of our calling expand, and with it a truer appreciation of our hope.

We have already drawn attention to the connection between Col. 1: 27 and this

passage, viz., that Christ Himself is the riches of the glory of the mystery, and the hope of

the glory. The personal element in Col. 1: 27, 28 is very prominent. We are not

concerned there with what, but Who, viz., Christ personally. By purely grammatical

necessity the Greek language uses the personal Tis (Who) in the first two petitions of

Eph. 1: 18, and without the revelation of Col. 1: 27 we should have no warrant for

rendering the word other than the A.V. "what". We know, however, that the hope of the

glory is Christ, and therefore we cannot help seeing some reference to this "knowledge of

Him" in Eph. 1: 18. "Who is the hope", and "Who the riches", are not necessary from a

grammatical point of view, but from the knowledge we have through such passages as

Col. 1: 27 we see the grammatical peculiarity being used to include a blessed fact. We do

not think that any of our readers are likely to start introducing absurdities into their

renderings simply because Greek words, unlike English, are often given a masculine or a

feminine gender; but this by the way, and for those who have access to the original. Let

us also remember it for ourselves, and for one another. Oh that we may know more fully

and more truly "the hope of His calling". Possibly that knowledge is linked with our

consistent walk, and as we "walk worthy of the calling" the hope of the calling will be

made more manifest to us.