Exulting in the Hope of Glory
Three things result from one being justified by faith: first, the righteous believer has peace with God; second, through our Lord Jesus Christ, he has an introduction or access to the grace in which he has right standing; third, he boasts in the hope of glory (Rom 5:1–2).
The saint has entered into Christ, her everlasting rest. She is at rest because she is no longer at enmity with God (Eph 2:15–16). God was in Christ, reconciling her to Himself, and her new standing is permanent…eternal. Christ Himself is our peace (Eph 2:14) because Christ our Passover has been sacrificed (1 Cor 5:7). He shed His blood for the forgiveness of the sins of His people, whom He came to save (Mt 1:21; 26:28; Eph 1:7; Heb 9:22).
Christians are recipients of grace unto salvation. He saved us (Tit 3:5), and by grace we are saved (Eph 2:8). Because salvation is not by the will of man (Jn 1:13), nor of ourselves in any way, being a gift of God (Eph 2:8), we boast in the Lord and not ourselves (1 Cor 1:31).
Jesus prayed for God’s chosen people, whom His Father in heaven had given Him (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24). He prayed they would be with Him and that they would see His glory. His disciples had seen Jesus in His humble state (Phil 2:5–11), but it is the will of God the Son that they see Him exalted. This is so they might exult in Him, that is, to have their joy complete in Him.
Peter, James, and John were privy to have a glance at His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt 17:2). Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was given a view to His glory as the Jews picked up stones to execute him (Acts 7:55). The apostle Paul was granted a glimpse of the indescribable light of glory at his conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3). Later the great apostle was granted an ecstatic tour of heaven (2 Cor 12:1–10). The apostle John was also granted this magnificent grace (Revelation).
Much of the lethargy and lukewarm state of affairs in the church is from a deficient view of the glory of God and of His Christ. The fading glory of sinful man is often more exuberant than the dour demeanor of many Christians. Peter never forgot being an eyewitness to the majesty of Jesus Christ (2 Pet 1:16). Seeing Jesus, as more than a good man, transforms people from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18).
Christians, filled with the Spirit of Christ, have the hope of glory indwelling them (Col 1:27). God has willed to make known the riches of His glory to His people. He has given us His Spirit, who manifests this hope.
Our Christian hope is living and active. Jesus has gone before us into glory. He has promised a prepared place for us (Jn 14:2–3). He is bringing many sons to glory (Heb 2:10). Here is the anchor of the soul of every believer. By His Spirit, we take hold of this hope in the promises of our own glorification made by God, who cannot lie (Heb 6:18–20).
Like the morning sun, the Spirit is shining more and more light in our hearts (2 Cor 4:6). With spiritual eyes, we see Jesus high and lifted up (1 Cor 2:14). Christians are encouraged to keep their eyes on Jesus, who is authoring and perfecting their faith (Heb 12:2). We look at the things not seen, knowing these are the eternal things which steady our lives with the eternal weight of glory (2 Cor 4:17–18).
Our present sufferings are momentary light afflictions, in which we join in the sufferings of Christ (Col 1:24), which He endured with the joy set before Him (Heb 12:2). Joy in suffering is a mystery related to our paradoxical state (humility and glory begun). Still, Christian, you have died with Christ (Rom 6)!
Dying to self is the death of the old man of sin (Rom 6:6; Eph 4:22). Sin reigns until death puts a stop to sin. The death of the soul has led to a resurrection of the soul in Christ. He has made us alive together with Him (Eph 2:5). This is the regeneration of God’s elect, redeemed people (Jn 3). God predestined them, called them, justified them, and glorified them (Rom 8:30).
Have you been raised with Christ? Does his Spirit live in you? Are you a witness to His sanctifying work in your life? Then, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Col 3:1). Rejoice that your name is written there in heaven (Lk 10:20).
Christ Jesus is coming again for his beloved bride, His church (Mt 24–25). We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is (1 Jn 3:2). Although it has not appeared what we will be because we see in a mirror dimly, on that day of our Lord’s coming, we will see Him face to face and know in full (1 Cor 13:12).
God’s plan is to transform our mortal bodies into conformity with the body of His glory (Phil 3:21). He will do this on the day of our resurrection to life (Jn 5:29). The mortal must put on immortality, and the perishable must put on the imperishable, by the exertion of the power that He has, even to subject all things to Himself (1 Cor 15:53; Phil 3:21).
Christian, you have a foretaste of glory, a glimpse of the glory to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18). Glorification is a good work of God already begun in you! Therefore, set your eyes on Jesus; set your mind on the things above; set your affections on the spiritual and eternal things. And now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen (Heb 13:20–21). In Him, we exult!
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
May 5, 2022
