For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8: 18, NKJV
Dear Lord, as we study Your Word, please reveal to us the gems that are to be found therein.
Today, we are going to share the thoughts that speak to our hearts, directly from the text. Today we will not ask what the text meant to believers two thousand years ago, but what it means to us, today. So, tell me, what comes to your mind when you read this text, or listen to it being read? I am sure that would depend on our situation. The author refers to, “the sufferings of this present time.” To what suffering in your life would you compare this? Sickness? Homelessness? Perhaps the death of a loved one? Whatever the cause of the suffering, or how severe it is, Paul is sure that it cannot be compared with the glory, that at Christ’s coming, will be revealed in us!
I wish I could share with you a glimpse of the coming glory, but, according to 1 Corinthians 2: 9, we are incapable of imagining the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Besides, I would need an upgraded vocabulary! We know that He has gone to prepare a place for us; that we may be with Him, where He is. We know that the beauty of that place defies our imagination. I do not know how many have seen a gate made of one pearl, or streets of gold that are as clear as crystal; or a tree divided into two halves, through which a river flows. I have never seen a city built upon a foundation of twelve precious stones, nor a tree that bears twelve different fruits, each month. I am not sure if it is a different fruit each month, or if it is twelve different fruits each month. I am yet to see a city where only righteous people live!
Now, some may say, Mabel, you cannot possibly take this account literally! To which I will reply, why not? What I will say however, is that, perhaps what is recorded in our Bible, was a feeble attempt on John, the revelator’s part, to describe somthing for which there were no words in his vocabulary. Now, this is only a part, of the physical glory of the place. The glory that the apostle is talking about, is the glory that will be revealed in us.
Please allow me to share some of my thoughts with you. If God is going to renew the entire creation, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons [and daughters] of God…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8: 19-21), that would include us. Therefore, John had the following to say about our restoration: “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3: 2).
Is there any greater glory, than to be created once again in the image of God? Wasn’t that God’s original plan, before the entrance of sin? “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1: 26, 27).
When this comes to pass, then the stain of sin will be forever, and completely, erased from the earth; and the glory of the Lord will be revealed in us once more! Nothing, can be compared to that!