Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
We all have something we look forward to. Children look forward to birthdays, Christmas, the end of school. Youth like ski trips and Christmas, but not exams. Adults look forward to Christmas, vacation, paychecks and retirement. The retired keep busy with trips, especially to the doctors. The Apostle Paul tells us about something far better to look forward to, so much better that we can say with him: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Do you realize that the sufferings of this present time are not only personal, passing moments, but the sufferings of an age, an era, a season of time, a kind of time? Do you also realize these sufferings are reconciled by a divine plan, reconciled to meaning, purpose, and love? Paul isn’t preaching chronological moments, but about “this present age.” This present time is not a stone age, a silver age, or a golden age. This age is that of the fall, the season of sin, the consequence of Adam’s rebellion, a heart’s condition that is blind and perverse toward God. And that hurts. Futility hurts. Death is bitter. Yet a gracious God offers life to all. And He gives those that believe courage; courage to bear the sufferings of this present age and courage to bear the sufferings peculiar to faith; courage to trust the sufferings of this age are reconciled by faith to eternity. We need courage when faced with the consequences of sin, the futility of the whole creation. We need courage when remaining faithful is difficult or painful, when the world rejects Christ’s life, and His life in us.
You know where help is found, where courage is gained, where our Lord’s promises are proven true for you and me, where faith finds strength. The incarnate Lord of lords veiled himself in humility. Jesus Christ suffered for sinners. He was the Suffering Servant, the Lamb of God, despised and forsaken. To redeem us, He suffered successfully. Christ rose from the dead. So the church knows that the trials of faith in this present age cannot compare to what is to come. Yet we don’t know the joy that shall be ours, except for a taste. We do not know the weight of glory, the glory to be revealed. That glory is worth more than today’s trials. It weighs more than any treasure. But for faith’s sake, it remains covered in this present age. In this age, why must the glory remain hidden, why must we live under the veil of death? We are called to trust the goodness of God found in His word, to receive His life through the ways He promises to be present, and wait for what shall be. We live by faith, not by sight. So that we abide in hope, the glory remains hidden. It is true our Lord has gave momentary glimpses into heaven’s glory on earth, like a heavy curtain cracked for a second, a burst of light, then closed. Abraham saw visions. Moses and the 70 elders ate and drank with God the Son. Elisha saw Elijah ascend into heaven on a fiery chariot. Solomon dedicated the temple and the glory of the LORD filled the place so that no priest could stand to serve. Isaiah saw the Lord in the temple and fell on his face. Ezekiel saw a heavenly vision and was overwhelmed. Jesus, in the company of Moses and Elijah, was transfigured; and the 3 disciples present were told, “Tell no one until I have risen from the dead.” Many eye-witnesses saw the resurrected Jesus ascend; and the book of Acts records miraculous gifts seen by many. The Apostle Paul saw heavenly marvels he was not permitted to reveal. When in exile on Patmos , the Apostle John saw the ascended Christ and fell on his face as one dead. And we are promised to partake in this incomprehensible glory, brighter than the sun, the glory of righteousness.
We are promised, and await the glory by faith. A day is coming when nothing will drive us toward harm or death. Deception, maliciousness, anger and anxiety will be unknown. We will have 20-20 vision of what is good, true, and pure. We will live in perfect fellowship with God as Father, and with each other. That’s a liberty we can hardly imagine, the freedom of perfect love in an infinite kingdom of grace. The glory shall be illuminated into our very being. We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (I John 3:2). For believers, no matter how weak our faith, we have already entered into the promise. We have entered into that life. We are forgiven. We are justified. We were given the new life of the Spirit. Therefore, the glory is here, but like our Saviour in His humiliation, it is covered, hidden, known by faith. We don’t feel its full weight of worth, although we feel the weight of sin and death. We do know the futility of this present age. Despite that, despite the presence and pain of sin, we have new life. Despite living in a fallen world, a world that everywhere evidences Adam’s rebellion, the devil’s hatred, and the law’s condemnation…we have hope. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
The creation, subjected to Adam’s fall, will be remade and re-ordered; hence the Apostle describes it as waiting, longing, anxiously expecting one great event. The creation waits until those justified by faith, who live by faith to spite the sufferings of this present age, are clothed in glory, fully clothed in Christ. We live by faith to spite the sufferings of this present age, for the sons of God shall be revealed, uncovered, and shown for what we shall be. What we shall be is like our Saviour, transformed by His glorious radiance. Then even the creation shall be put right, when faith receives its goal.
We wait for this by faith, trusting in the promises of our Lord. Why was the creation subjected to wind whining over drought-ed fields and howling over desert wastes? Why was the creation subjected to futility, to eat or be eaten, to a certain end? That all of Adam’s fallen race might cry out in repentance, confess our sin, seek God and live... that by confessing sin, those in whom the law works the groans of repentance, might find hope in Him who bore the futility of sin. Jesus wore the curse of death like a garment; He drank the wrath of God to clothe us in hope, that He might soon clothe us in His glory. Jesus Christ suffered this present age, bearing all futility on the cross that we might have a confident hope, hope in our restoration to the image of God. Christ, the Second Adam suffered to reverse the fall of the first Adam, to undo the active power of sin. We shall be set free.
How can we describe this blessed liberty? It is not to be master of my body and captain of my soul, to impose my will on God and neighbor, that is, to imitate Adam’s sin. It is not living for self, but is receiving Him who has power to free us from slavery to sin. We are set free by Him who died for us, by Him who names us as His own, that we might call Him Lord, the Glory, our glory. Freedom is to belong to Christ, who calls us to worship and calls us to the good, to the good of our neighbor. As Martin Luther so aptly pointed out, liberty is to be servant of all, in Christ. The sons of God shall be restored to the freedom of righteousness. We shall be restored to the first commandment, hence restored to paradise. For this end we too groan to receive the fullness of liberty, the freedom promised the servants of the Suffering Servant. Despite this present age, we have tasted the first fruits and are eager for the harvest. Baptism united us not only to Christ’s death, also to His resurrection. We await the complete inheritance to be placed into our resurrected hands. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
We live in the expectancy of hope, awaiting the revelation of Christ’s hidden glory. We wait, called to steadfast endurance. Yes, we struggle in the wait, sinning and suffering in this present age. Thank God we are not bereft. Our Lord is with us. He will not desert us. He forgives us still. He en-courages us. No matter our struggles against sin, no matter the struggles to remain faithful, no matter the struggles to forgive, love, and persevere, we have help. The Holy Spirit helps us through the Holy Scriptures. He applies the word into your circumstances. Who hasn’t been comforted by God’s Word when struck by hardship, fear, or threat? So your hope is sustained until the promised fulfillment. Until then, the promise of Christ’s real presence feeds us through His real life. Even now we have Christ, we have salvation, we who receive His body and blood and by faith believe the promise. So we live as Christians, enduring unto the day of glory. We endure since the Holy Spirit takes hold of us at the side. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Literally “the Spirit takes hold of us at the side in our weakness.” Why does He do this? For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
We know not, due to the fatality of Adam’s wounds, due to our curved-in-on-itself soul. We do no know how to pray, what is right, good, and holy to pray. But the Spirit teaches us to pray, praying for us, interceding for things we cannot articulate or understand. And His prayers are heard. While the creation groans under Adam’s sin, while we, the first fruits of the Second Adam, groan waiting for complete freedom in Christ; God the Spirit intercedes according to the will of God the Father, that you receive your hope in God the Son... for in this hope we were saved. Note the grammar: we were saved. It is a past event, the event of Christ crucified and the fact of your faith. You who were saved are kept in the hope of glory by a Comforter. The One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is for you. He reconciled you to the sufferings of this present age through His Divine Plan. He uses the struggles of this present age for your good, and you endure in faith. He turns the futility of sin into a means of repentance, that you receive grace, the forgiveness of all your sin. As He brings you into His sufferings He will also grant you the worth of His glory. For all who believe, He will turn the sufferings of this age into an eternal weight of glory. That’s something to look forward to, better than birthdays, the end of school, ski trips, vacation, paychecks and retirement. It is the fulfillment of Christmas. …the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Amen)
No comments:
Post a Comment