Paul knew suffering – he knew what it meant to be stoned, flogged, left for dead, shipwrecked, snake bit and eventually martyred. Speaking of suffering the Apostle said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down; but not destroyed . . . .” Whether we suffer directly for the sake of the gospel or simply suffer the consequences of a fallen world we will “suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” This is the testimony of all of Scripture.
True faith wrestles with the problem and burden of suffering. Nevertheless, the trusting Christian does not require an immediate and complete justification of God when things get hard. The people of God trust His providence and sovereignty even when they do not understand His ways. Often the faithful Christian waits patiently in the darkness of this world without an answer groaning for the consummation of all things. As David Livingstone once said, “Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this be only for a moment. All these things are nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in, and for, us.” In other words, no matter how strong the pain, how long the suffering, how difficult the hardship, God’s people hope and wait in faith knowing that adversity in this life will redound for their good and God’s glory.
What about God’s glory? How do we describe the weight, worth, brightness, splendor and even beauty of God? We are prohibited by Scripture from even trying to imagine the majesty of God’s presence. Paul said it is beyond compare - the glory of God is incomparable. Moses asked to see God’s glory only to be told, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’. . . But, ‘he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’” Graciously God hid and protected Moses in the cleft of the rock and gave him a glimpse of the glory of God passing by. Job looked by faith for God’s glory. In the midst of great suffering he said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives . . . yet in my flesh I shall see God.” We read of the hope of God’s glory in the Psalms - “I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” Isaiah saw the Lord “high and lifted up” and heard that antiphonal choir of heavenly beings saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” In the Book of the Revelation John heard “a loud voice like a trumpet” and then He saw, “one like the Son of man . . . The hairs of his head were like wool . . . His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze . . . his voice was like the roar of many waters . . . and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” Even Paul himself spoke of being “caught up to the third heaven . . . caught up into paradise” where he heard things “that cannot be told, which man may not utter.” God’s people do not have the words to describe the glory of God.
What about God’s glory? How do we describe the weight, worth, brightness, splendor and even beauty of God? We are prohibited by Scripture from even trying to imagine the majesty of God’s presence. Paul said it is beyond compare - the glory of God is incomparable. Moses asked to see God’s glory only to be told, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’. . . But, ‘he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’” Graciously God hid and protected Moses in the cleft of the rock and gave him a glimpse of the glory of God passing by. Job looked by faith for God’s glory. In the midst of great suffering he said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives . . . yet in my flesh I shall see God.” We read of the hope of God’s glory in the Psalms - “I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” Isaiah saw the Lord “high and lifted up” and heard that antiphonal choir of heavenly beings saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” In the Book of the Revelation John heard “a loud voice like a trumpet” and then He saw, “one like the Son of man . . . The hairs of his head were like wool . . . His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze . . . his voice was like the roar of many waters . . . and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” Even Paul himself spoke of being “caught up to the third heaven . . . caught up into paradise” where he heard things “that cannot be told, which man may not utter.” God’s people do not have the words to describe the glory of God.
In the meantime we have those brief and shining moments where we experience, what the hymn writer called, “a foretaste of glory divine.” This we see most clearly in the public worship of God on the Lord’s Day. Every seven days God does break in on us to show us a glimpse of heaven. But at best in this life we see through “a glass darkly.” We await the consummation of God’s’ redemptive purposes towards us and His creation. Someday we shall see Him as He is in all His glory and we shall be like Him.
Read Romans 8:18-25
