The Living Hope of Glory

²²The Living Hope of Glory

Good Morning Friends,

When we are suffering as children of God through difficulties, of the dark cold of winter nights, sometimes we have been called to endure them for a holy purpose because we are children of God born anew and waiting to be transformed. Friends, through our faithful witness of a place of endless spring….where flowers always bloom… we are by God’s grace to receive The Living Hope of Glory.

Scripture: We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in^* hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes^* for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes^* with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And God,^* who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit^* intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.^*

Romans 8:22-27 (NRSV)

¹⁵Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, ¹⁸because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:15-18 (NRSV)

Message: Ultimately our faith approaches the trials of hard work, in a way designed to create a sense of achievement in a greater goal. Here as Christians, willing to endure the discomfort of sanctification, we get to look on redemption’s hope of glory. Here Christians can see the holy ground that has been there all the time…waiting to be discovered in an awakening of the Spirit. Friends, this is more than putting up with the inconveniences of the present by looking forward to a better day. It is more than foregoing things because the goal is more inviting than the indulgence. Here scripture reminds us of the importance of believing the outcome has greater value than the discomfort required to achieve it. But it is more still for this hope is not just the key to discipline that comforts and encourages and orders our commitment to Jesus Christ, it is the key to the Kingdom we seek. Yes it is the art of practicing delayed gratification, but it is also the birth of something timeless. No God does not expect us to enjoy suffering. But we can rejoice in the anticipation of the future, knowing that our present suffering will pale in significance compared to the glory we will share when Christ returns. You see in Christian suffering, the Spirit of God creates hope of a future glory. And here in this middle ground between the suffering of earth and the promises of God is this hope that does not deny our present circumstances, but engenders confidence that God’s purpose and promises will prevail making us not only fit for heaven, but fit for heaven’s glory. That is the hope of glory and it is so grand that it includes the destiny of the whole created order. And what glory that will be! So wondrous an event that all redeemed creation groans with childbirth pains as it awaits the glorious birth. That is my hope for a glorious Christmas. It is suffering’s hope. It is creation’s hope. It is redemption’s hope. And here with a vision bigger than we are, we can practice a kind of self-motivation by reminding ourselves of the outcomes for which we hope. Friends, God has promised that we will finally be delivered from sin and its effects by the work of His Son. And it is here in the anticipation of Christmas we are reminded of our need to anticipate the future with a vision of having been saved and sanctified and transformed. Our opportunity in this is to respond by faith to that glorious promise for which we hope….the glorious hope of Jesus the first born.

Pray we believe we will experience an incomparable glory and that this hope overwhelms any present suffering. Pray for a time when all creation stands at the waiting room window peering in to see the revelation of the children of God reflecting God’s glory. Pray we eagerly expect our humble glory to be amazing. Pray we have real reasons for hope in the glory that God will redeem us to a heavenly purpose, on the journey and in the presence of the divine, as a hint of what is to come….the blessing of a new creation.

Blessings,

John Lawson