The glory that will be revealed to us
[Romans 8:18-25]
Chapter 17 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, “On the Perseverance of the Saints,” says: “They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.” This doctrine is that those whom God has chosen by His eternal providence and regenerated by the Holy Spirit will never lose their status as God's children because they are protected by God's grace. This means that such people will not lose their qualifications for adoption, their status as righteous will not be taken away, and their souls will not be destroyed (Jn. 10:27-29; Rom. 8:35-39; Phil 1:6). John 10:28, one of the New Testament sources for this, says: “and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” Salvation once received can never be taken away. Those who are chosen because God loves them endure to the end and gain eternal salvation by the unchangeableness of the decree of election that flows out of Heavenly Father’s free gift and unchanging love. Nevertheless, because of the temptations of Satan and the world, the prevalence of corruption remaining in them, and their laziness in their means of self-preservation. They fall into heinous sins, and sometimes remain in them for a while. As a result, they incur the wrath of God, grieve His Spirit, rob some of their grace and comfort, harden their hearts, bruise their consciences, hurt and insult others, which incurs temporary punishment for itself (Internet). In the end, God will allow you and me to enter into the glory that will be revealed in the future by His unchanging love and unchanging decree of choice. Until then, we must persevere with patience, rejoicing in hope in the midst of tribulation.
In today's text Romans 8:18, Paul writes a letter to the saints in Rome and speaks of “the glory that is to be revealed in us.” I would like to meditate on this word in three ways.
First, the glory that is to be revealed to us cannot be compared with the sufferings we are experiencing at the present time.
Look at Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The present sufferings that Paul is talking about here refers to the sufferings that we must suffer together in order to be glorified with Christ as children of God and joint heirs with Christ (v. 17). Then, what suffering do we have to go through with Jesus? That is persecution (Mt.5:10-12, Jn. 15:21, 2 Tim. 3:12). The persecution we suffer because of Jesus is the suffering that you and I must endure together with Jesus. For example, the persecution means that we are hated by the world (Jn. 15:18-21), that we are insulted by the world, and that the world falsely say all kinds of evil against us because of Jesus (Mt. 5:11). Why do we, the children of God, have to go through these kinds of sufferings? Why? The apostle John says: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you” (Jn. 15:19). In other words, the reason we have to suffer is because we do not belong to the world, but rather are chosen by God from the world. Paul is saying that the reason we must suffer is because we are God's children. In other words, since we are God's children and joint heirs with Christ, we must suffer with Him in order to be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:16-17). These present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us (v. 18). Why is Paul writing a letter to the Roman saints like this? What is its purpose? Apostle Paul is not comparing the worthiness of suffering and glory here but comparing it with the size of the glory that will appear in the future, so that the weight of the cross will be lightened and the hearts of the faithful believers will be able to persevere (Calvin). I hope and pray that when you and I are suffering for Jesus, the heaviness of the cross can be lightened by looking forward to the glory that will be clearly revealed in the future.
Second, the glory that will be revealed to us is to be set free from slavery to corruption.
Look at Romans 8:21 – “that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Paul writes a letter to the saints in Rome, admonishing them to persevere in the present suffering and coming to verse 19, he talks about the anxious longing for the creation. Here, “the creation” refers to all things in the world other than human beings, and Paul says that the anxious longing for this creation waits eagerly is for the revealing of the sons of God. Why does the creation look forward to the revealing of the sons of God? The reason is that when God's children participate in God's glory, creation will also be set free from its slavery to corruption (v. 21). This means that just as you and I, the children of God, will be completely liberated from sin and its effects when Jesus returns, all things in the world (creation) will also be liberated from its slavery to corruption. Just as sin entered the world through the first Adam's disobedience and eventually all sinned and resulted in death (5:12), creation was also cursed because of one man's transgression. Look at Genesis 3:17b-18a: “… Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you ….” The creation that was cursed because of the first Adam's sin, "subjected to futility" (Rom.8:20), and the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now (v. 22). Among such groaning and suffering, there is something that creation eagerly awaits, and that is, on the day of Jesus' return, the Lord will make all things new (Rev. 21:5). No longer will all things be under the curse of the first Adam. Being freed from that curse, we will no longer be enslaved to corruption. With this hope, the creation groans, endures even in the pains. This is by no means the wish of only the creatures (of all things in the world). When the Lord renews all things, not only the creation but also you and I, the children of God, will be freed from death, the result of sin, and will no longer be enslaved to death. Not only will we enjoy complete freedom from sin, but we will enjoy eternal freedom from the effects of sin, death. This is the freedom of the glory of the children of God that we, in part, now enjoy. Therefore, according to Paul's admonition, we must persevere in our present sufferings while looking forward to the glory that will be revealed in the future, which is incomparable to our present sufferings.
Third and last, the glory that will be revealed to us is the redemption of our body.
Look at Romans 8:23 – “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” It is not just all things in the world groaning and waiting for the return of Jesus. Even we groan inwardly because of our sins and wait for the return of Jesus. The reason is because when Jesus comes again, we will be adopted children of God who will be completely freed from sin. That is, because we will enjoy the glory of the resurrection, the redemption of our body. This is the glory that you and I, the children of God, will enjoy in the future. This is “the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2). The glory of God that we hope for is the day of Jesus’ return, when we are suddenly transformed (1 Cor. 15:51), will be no longer dishonored (v. 43), no longer weak (v. 43), but will be imperishable and immortal (v. 54) and the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory (Phi. 3:21). Apostle Peter refers to this as “the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). It is our sure and joyful hope to fully participate in the character of Jesus, who is God. We who are justified by God the Holy Spirit who already dwells in us are sanctifying us holy so that we may participate in the character of Jesus. Although we are not perfect now, on the day of Jesus' return, we will fully participate in the character of the Lord. This sure and joyful hope has been given to you and me by God through Jesus Christ.
What should we who live with this hope do? What should we do as we hope and look forward to the incomparable glory of God, the glory of resurrection, which will be revealed to us in the future? Just as we have been saved through hope, we must wait patiently while hoping in faith. Look at Romans 8:24-25: “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” We “already” believed in Jesus Christ by God’s totally grace, were forgiven of all sins, were justified, and saved. Nevertheless, as we live in this world that is enslaved to corruption, we cannot but groan because of sin and its effect, death, as we fight with sin. The reason is that we are “not yet” saved. In other words, because we have not yet been glorified, we are fighting an internal, spiritual battle like Paul while living in this wilderness-like world (Rom. 7). However, when Jesus returns to earth, we will be glorified and will no longer have to fight spiritual battles. The reason is that we will have full participation in the glory of God. Therefore, we must wait patiently while looking forward to the glory of God, the glory of resurrection, which will appear in the future even in the midst of this present suffering. Let us all be patient and endure. I hope and pray that you and I will be happy in hope.