HEIRS OF HIS GLORY

 

 

A dog is satisfied with a juicy bone and a soft couch, a cow with a fresh green pasture and a dry bed of straw. However, it seems that we need more than a good cup of coffee, a full stomach, and a roof over our head. The late rabbi and philosopher, Abraham Heschel, had claimed:

 

·       It’s not enough for me to be able to say ‘I am’; I want to know who I am and in relation to whom I live. It is not enough for me to ask questions; I want to know how to answer the one question that seems to encompass everything I face…

 

The way we answer this question is the roadmap for our lives. However, we will not be able to answer this question by merely looking within or into a mirror:

 

·       Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

 

Since we are destined for glory, we need keep our eyes on this promised prize lest be get lost in the woods, the distractions of life:

 

·       Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:2-4)

 

Because we are hidden in Christ, we do not see this glory by looking within ourselves or without at our brethren. Instead, our future glory is hidden from us. When we do not focus on the things above, we debase ourselves and, to compensate, try to attain our glory here. instead to sustain us, we must look towards the glory above, which serves as a portrait of the glory into which we have been invited to partake. There, we will partake of a love, peace, and a joy that we can only now glimpse from afar:

 

·       And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

 

So let us not try to obtain this promised glory here, whether it consists of wealth, fame, honor, respect, or adoration. Instead, regard it as a gift to be bestowed upon us by our bridegroom in heaven.

 

Therefore, let us treat one another as fellow heirs of this glory, as more than even royalty. Why? For this is what we truly are:

 

·       …we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16–17)

 

Above all, let us seek His glory, the very glory into which we are to enter.