Christ in Us Is the Hope of Glory

By Doug Tweed

The Bible tells us Christians are new creations, in the world but no longer of the world. Doug Tweed’s latest book, Christ in Us is the Hope of Glory, challenges us to more fully understand and embrace what these scriptural revelations mean.

Tweed’s previous book, Be with Jesus, focused on individual revival, awakening, and maturity while connecting that process to the corporate identity and purpose of the body of Christ. This new book focuses on the corporate identity and purpose of the body of Christ while connecting those truths to the individual Christian life.

In the tradition of A.W. Tozer and Oswald Chambers, Tweed uses more than 500 scripture citations to establish how two truths shape our identity and purpose as Christians. Through the Holy Spirit, God lives in you. And as a member of the body of Christ, you are part of the Christ now on earth. In a time of increasing darkness around the world, Christ in Us is the Hope of Glory declares to the church that the hope of glory is Christ in us. It is time to rise and shine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385008520

Doug Tweed

Doug Tweed is, with his late wife Christie, founder of Friends of the King Ministries in Kingsport, Tennessee. In 1995, after twenty years as a US Marine JAG officer and civilian trial lawyer, he entered a life of full-time Christian ministry. This is his third book. Visit him online at friendsofthekingministries.org.

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Copyright © 2023 Doug Tweed.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0853-7 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0851-3 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0852-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023918122

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/30/2023

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 God Lives in Every Christian

Chapter 2 God’s Pattern for Revival

Chapter 3 Agape Love: The Root of Revival

Chapter 4 Be with Jesus

Chapter 5 Be Like Jesus

Chapter 6 Be for Jesus

Chapter 7 Christ Expresses Identity Through Purpose

Chapter 8 Christ Was Anointed with the Holy Spirit

Chapter 9 The Purpose of Christ: Reconcile All Things to God

Chapter 10 Christ Lives in You and Me

Chapter 11 The Mystery of the Hope of Glory

Chapter 12 Christians Are Anointed with the Holy Spirit

Chapter 13 The Head and Body of Christ

Chapter 14 The Christ Now on Earth

Chapter 15 God’s Family

Chapter 16 The Family Business

Chapter 17 Live as Who You Really Are

Chapter 18 Align with the Christ in You

Conclusion

Appendix

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. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

—Colossians 1:27–28

To the body of Christ, of which I am a member, looking forward to that time when we are all growing up in every way into Him who is the head, Jesus Christ, while rightly connected with one another and each doing our part (Ephesians 4:11–16).

PREFACE

I n 2020–21, I wrote and published my second book, Be with Jesus, Be Like Jesus, Be for Jesus: A Path to Christian Maturity and the Next Great Awakening . I completed the first draft during the last months of caring for my beloved wife, Christie, as we walked with the Lord through the dark valley of pancreatic cancer.

Christie went to heaven on September 5, 2020, and I believed, upon completing Be with Jesus at the age of seventy-two, that it was my swan song—a culmination of what I had learned during thirty years of chasing revival and drawing closer to the Lord. I was wrong.

Be with Jesus focused on individual revival, awakening, and maturity while connecting that process to the corporate identity and purpose of the body of Christ. This book focuses on the corporate identity and purpose of the body of Christ while connecting those truths to the individual Christian life.

A summary of Be with Jesus is provided herein so people can read this book without first reading its predecessor. Reading Be with Jesus first will, however, be the best preparation for reading this book because writing Be with Jesus was how God prepared me to write this book.

Both books are short and saturated with scripture citations to support what they say. I pray with all my heart they will encourage you and give you more insight into who we really are and what God calls us to do as Christians and the body of Christ.

I close this preface with a question. What if who we are and how God invites us to live on earth are abundantly far more than we have been asking or imagining (Ephesians 3:20)?

INTRODUCTION

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

—Romans 12:2

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

—John 8:31–32

J esus is the truth (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who will guide us into all truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13). The Bible is the book of truth: the Spirit-inspired scriptures God has given as wholly reliable revelation of who He is, who we are, and how we are to live (Psalm 119; 2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Since all scripture is God-inspired, we have no right to delete or disregard the portions we do not like, do not understand, or have never experienced (2 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 13:53–58; Revelation 22:18–19). And since the traditions and doctrines of man are not scripture, we have no right to treat them as though they are (Matthew 15:1–9; Mark 7:1–13; Colossians 2:8). The perspective used in this book is that all scripture is God-inspired, and we must understand every scripture in the context of all other scripture.

There is no new truth. However, it can be extremely helpful at times to reframe how we express truth so we can hear truth in a fresh way and more fully receive it.

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Several years ago, I envisioned a motto phrase suitable for a bumper sticker: Be with Jesus, be like Jesus, be for Jesus. It was a short, catchy way to summarize the three interrelated aspects of the Christian life—an intimate daily relationship with Jesus, a process of sanctification by which one becomes more like Jesus, and a daily commitment to serve Jesus. The more we are with Jesus, the more like Him we become. The more like Him we become, the