Comprehensive Doctrine of Justification (22)

 

 

 

 

 

[Romans 5:2]

 

 

We are contemplating nine sub-themes under the overarching theme of "Comprehensive Doctrine of Justification": (1) "The Necessity of Justification."  (2) "The Originator of Justification."  (3) "The Foundation of Justification."  (4) "The Method of Justification."  (5) "The Universality of Justification."  (6) "The Purpose of Justification."  (7)  "The Exemplification of Justification."  (8) “The Result of Justification.”  (9) “The Confirmation of Justification.”  Until last Wednesday's worship, we have already reflected on two aspects of "The Results of Justification" focusing on Romans 5:1-2: (1) The Result of Justification (1): We have obtained peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:1 states: "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  (2) The Result of Justification (2): Through Jesus Christ, we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Romans 5:2a says: "Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. ..."  Today, let's delve into the third aspect of "The Results of Justification," focusing on Romans 5:2b.

 

Result of Justification (3): We can hope for and rejoice in the glory of God.

 

Romans 5:2b states: "And we boast in the hope of the glory of God."  Here, the "glory of God" refers to the glory that God will reveal when He comes.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, the Bible speaks of those who have died in Christ, referred to as "those who sleep" (v. 14).  The passage assures that when Jesus returns, those who have died in Him will be brought with Him.  It emphasizes that living believers will not precede those who have died but will be caught up together with them when the Lord descends.  The term "those who sleep" refers to those who have died in Christ, and Acts 7:60 uses the expression "fell asleep" when referring to the death of Stephen, the servant.  Believers in Jesus, trusting in His death and resurrection (1 Thess. 4:14), believe that when Christ returns, the souls of those who have died in Him will be brought with Him.  In other words, even though their earthly bodies have returned to dust, their souls are in heaven (v. 14).  When God descends, He will bring the souls of those who have died with Him.  The verse states that when the Lord shouts, accompanied by the voice of an archangel and the sound of God's trumpet, Christ will return.  At that time, those who have died in Christ will be resurrected first (v. 16).  The expression "believers in Christ who have died will be resurrected first" means that although their physical bodies have returned to dust, when God descends, their bodies will be resurrected in glorious form.  “Afterward, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever" (v. 17).  Here, the term "those who are still alive" refers to the saints who will be alive until the Lord's coming [(1 Cor. 15:51) "We will not all sleep..."].  Until that moment, the "surviving ones" will undergo a sudden transformation when the "trumpet of God" (1 Thess. 4:16) and the "last trumpet" sound, resulting in an instantaneous, radical change (1 Cor. 15:51-52).  Their souls have already experienced a transformation (in the intermediate state), but their bodies need transformation.  When the Lord descends, their bodies will undergo a transformation to be like the glorious body of the Lord.  Philippians 3:21 (Modern Korean Bible) affirms this: "He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control."  Those who are still alive at the Lord's coming will experience a change in both soul and body, just like those who have died in Christ. The term "together with them" (1 Thess. 4:17) means that the resurrected bodies of those who have died, now gloriously transformed, will be united with their souls.  When the Lord descends, He will bring both the resurrected bodies and the souls of those who have died from heaven.  "Those who sleep" (v. 14) refers to those who have died in Christ, and when God descends, their bodies will be resurrected in glorious form.  In summary, the "surviving ones," who believe in Jesus and have died, will experience the glorious transformation of their bodies when the Lord descends. Together with those who have died in Christ, their resurrected and transformed bodies will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  Thus, they will be forever with the Lord in the eternal presence of God (v. 17). 

 

We hope and rejoice in the glory of God (Rom. 5:2b).  Although the things people hope for may not always come to pass, hoping for the glory of God is a source of joy because what God has promised in His covenant will surely be fulfilled 100%.  For example, God fulfilled a promise to a woman without a mentioned name.  Judges 13:2-3, 14 states: "There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah.  And his wife was barren and had no children.  And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, 'Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. ... The woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him."  God did not make this promise to Manoah, the woman's husband, but to the unnamed barren woman.  God kept His promise, causing her to conceive and bear a son named Samson.  This woman happened to be Samson's mother.  Therefore, God's covenant and promise will be fulfilled regardless of whom God addresses.  What God has promised to us, the justified ones, is that when the Lord comes, those who have fallen asleep (died in Christ) will rise first.  Until then, the living saints will be transformed and, together with the resurrected saints, will meet the Lord in the air, entering into the kingdom of heaven to live eternally with the Lord.

God has made many promises in the Bible, but they can be summarized into five main points:

 

  • God promised to send His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth. God fulfilled this promise, as Jesus was born according to God's timing.

 

Galatians 4:4 says, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law."

 

  • God promised that Jesus Christ would die on the cross.

 

Genesis 3:15 states, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  God fulfilled this promise as Romans 5:6 says, "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

 

  • God promised that Jesus would rise from the dead.

 

This promise was fulfilled as stated in 1 Corinthians 15:4, "that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures."  While the Bible speaks extensively about Jesus' resurrection, not all details are fully comprehensible.

 

  • God promised that Jesus would ascend into heaven.

 

Jesus had firmly decided to go up to Jerusalem when His time drew near (Lk. 9:51).  After suffering and being crucified in Jerusalem, Jesus rose from the dead, personally testifying to His resurrection for 40 days, and then ascended into heaven (Acts 1:3, 9).

 

  • God promised that Jesus would come again.

 

1 Timothy 6:14-15 says, "to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords."  Of the five promises, God has already fulfilled four.  Since God has fulfilled the promise of the first coming of Jesus 456 times in the Bible and the second coming 1,518 times, will He not fulfill the promise of Jesus' second coming?  We must eagerly anticipate and rejoice in the glory of God with faith.  Jesus will surely come again.  The Bridegroom, Jesus, will come for His bride, the Church.  When He comes, we will be like Him (1 Jn. 3:2).  We will participate in the marriage feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).  Therefore, we should not only rejoice in the glory of God but also boast in it ("rejoice" in Romans 5:2 also means 'to boast').

Those of us who have received the righteousness of God and rejoice in the glory of God must prepare for the coming of our Lord.  How should we prepare for the coming of our Lord?  We need to learn from the teachings of Jesus through three parables He spoke in Matthew 25:

 

  • In the first parable of the "ten virgins," as Jesus mentioned, we should be like the "wise" five virgins (v. 2) who are "prepared virgins" (v. 10, Modern Korean Bible) for the second coming (advent) of the Bridegroom, our Lord.

 

We should not be like the "foolish" five virgins (vv. 2, 8) who are unprepared for the Lord's coming.

 

  • In the second parable of the "talents," as Jesus mentioned, we should be like the "five talents" and "two talents" servants who received praise from their master, saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master's happiness!" (vv. 21, 23).  

 

We should be servants of the Lord who go and use what has been entrusted to us (v. 16), not like the servant who received "one talent" and was called a "wicked and lazy servant" by the master (v. 26).

 

  • In the third parable of the "sheep and goats," as Jesus mentioned, we should be like the sheep that have done many good deeds.

 

The Lord will say to these sheep, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (v. 34).  God has created us in Christ Jesus to do good works, prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10).  Therefore, we should diligently and zealously engage in good works, bearing fruit.  As a result, when the Lord comes, we all hope to receive praise and rewards from Him.