Hope of the Glory of God

The greatest privilege any creature in the universe could have is to become united with the creator. I'm sure if we had a clearer perspective on the gift God is offering, there would be no price to high to achieve it.

“Therefore, since we have been justified (declared righteous) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)

By placing my simple, child-like faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, I have the confidence that my sins have been washed away and I have been declared righteous. Through His death, I have been given peace with God. I’m fully accepted by a just God who now loves me as He loves His perfect Son. This bold claim is based on the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17:23, “You (God) … have loved them (us) even as you have loved me.”

Our position is good, but our practice stinks!

We know that in Christ, we are perfect in God’s sight. But when we’re honest, we also know that we fall very short of Christ’s example. We don’t speak his life-giving words, nor do the loving things He did. Instead, we do a lot of sinful, selfish things He wouldn’t have even considered doing.

Is this radical promise based on our performance somehow? You might get this idea from John 14:21,23 where Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Okay, maybe that’s my problem. I don’t love Him enough to obey Him fully. I love myself too much. So, I’ll never have this unique relationship with God. Right?

No, Paul corrects the Galatian Christians by asking this rhetorical question. “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:3)

It is clear that we couldn’t do anything on our own to make ourselves worthy of salvation. God simply requires me to come to Jesus “just as I am.” The same is true for having Jesus “formed” in us. We can only be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Gal. 3:19) based on the same principle that gave us salvation – God’s undeserved grace.


Where am I going with this?

There are many Christians today who are relatively satisfied with their spiritual condition. In the words of Revelation 3:17, they might say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But they are unaware that Jesus is outside the door knocking.

I’m writing this to increase the hope of those who wonder if the New Testament promises more than they’ve experienced. Those who are hungry for more of God’s presence and power in their lives. Those who have experienced the disappointment of high hopes unfulfilled.

Don’t be discouraged! As the author of Hebrews said, “Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” (Heb. 10:35-38)

We are in a similar situation to Abraham. We have God’s promise, but fulfillment of it seems laughable when we look at our own lack of spirituality and the condition of the church around us. Abraham faced the facts. “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4: 20-21)