Glorification
Glorification
The New Testament is full of the Christian hope. It reminds us that, although in the past we have been redeemed from sin by Christ and are now enjoying the privileges of sonship which adoption into God’s family has brought us, there is still far more to come. To this consummation we are eagerly looking forward. For our Christian “hope” has no uncertainty about it. It is a joyful and confident expectation, based upon the promises of God. And it sustains us as we travel like pilgrims to our eternal home.
What is the object of our hope? To what are we looking forward? Paul called it “the hope of glory” (Rom. 5:2). But what does this mean?
First, the return of Christ. It is not fashionable to believe in this today, or at least, not in any literal sense. But Jesus clearly and repeatedly said he was going to come back, and that his return would be “in power and great glory.” The apostles enlarged on this assurance. His coming will be personal and visible, although it will also have a transcendent quality which puts it beyond our present understanding:
For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matt. 24:27)
Secondly, the resurrection. Resurrection is not the same as resuscitation. Those whom Jesus raised from death during his earthly ministry were resuscitated. They came back from death, resumed their former way of life, and then later died a second time. Resurrection, however, means the beginning of a new, a different, and immortal life. So our resurrected bodies, though retaining some kind of continuity with our present bodies, will also be changed. They will be as different, Paul says, as the plant is from the seed out of which it grows. They will be set free both from decay and from “the flesh,” the fallen nature which in some sense belongs to them. They will also have new powers. In fact our resurrection body will be a “body of glory.” Like Christ’s (see Phil. 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:35–37).
Thirdly, the judgment. When Christ comes, both salvation and judgment will be brought to completion. For both are processes begun in this life, as Jesus made plain (John 5:19–29). We shall be judged according to our works (Matt. 16:27; John 5:28–29; Rom. 2:6; Rev. 20:11–15). We cannot be justified (brought into acceptance with God) by our works; justification is only by God’s grace through faith in Christ and his finished work. But we shall be judged by our works, because the judgment will be a public occasion, and our “works”—what we have said and done—will be the only public evidence that can be brought forward to prove the presence (or absence) of any saving faith. Those whose works reveal that they have disobeyed the gospel and rejected Christ will be lost. Whatever its precise nature may be, hell is a terrible reality. Christ called it “outer darkness” and told us to fear God “who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).
Fourthly, the new universe. It is variously described. There will be “a new heaven and a new earth” (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1), for God will make “everything new” (Rev. 21:5). Jesus called it “the rebirth” (Matt. 19:28, literal translation), Paul, the heading up or uniting of all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10) and Peter, the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21, literal translation).
Popular Christian devotion has perhaps concentrated too much on the negative joys of heaven, that is, on the promises of the Revelation that there will be no more hunger or thirst, no more scorching heat or sunstroke, no more tears or pain, no more night, no more curse, no more death. Thank God for these absences. But thank God even more for their cause, namely the presence—the central, dominating presence—of the throne of God.
When John was granted his vision of heavenly reality, and was permitted to peer through “an open door,” the first thing on which his eye rested was “a throne” (Rev. 4:1–2), the symbol of God’s sovereignty. Everything else in his vision was related to this throne. The Father sat on it, and the Lamb shared it, together with “the seven spirits of God” representing the Holy Spirit. Round it in concentric circles were twenty-four elders symbolizing the church and four living creatures symbolizing the creation, and beyond them myriads of angels. Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder issued from the throne, and before the throne stood the great gathering of the redeemed, drawn from every nation and language, wearing white robes of righteousness, waving palm branches of victory, and ascribing their salvation to their God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb (Rev. 4–7).
The Bible begins with the creation of the universe and ends with the re-creation of the universe. It goes on at its beginning to describe the fall of man in a garden and paradise lost; it concludes in a garden, with paradise regained. Here are the tree of life for food and for healing, and the water of life for refreshment. And the river of the water of life is seen to be “flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1). For at last God’s kingdom has been consummated. All creation is subject to him. And the blessings of our final inheritance will be due to his perfect rule. So the great multitude sings:
Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. (Rev. 19:6)
And somehow, we are told, his redeemed, adopted, glorified people will share his reign:
They will reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 22:5)