Called to Glory
Dearly beloved of God, if you are a child of God, you have Christ in you, the hope of glory.
We were called “by the gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have quite a calling!
God called us to His kingdom and glory [I Thessalonians 2:12]. We can be certain of it because it is written and He is faithful that called us.
Every child of God has been called “to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you” [I Peter 1:4].
This is our expectation as the children of God when Christ returns for us.
Romans 5: 5 WTJ
and the hope does not disgrace [by disappointed expectations] because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts by means of holy spirit, which has been given to us.
We will not be disappointed in our expectation of the hope. We can be certain of the glory that God has reserved for us in the heavenly realm because we have His Word on it.
The Lord Jesus Christ will transform our mortal corruptible bodies so that they are like his glorious body [Philippians 3:20,21]. We will have everlasting life when he comes for us.
Romans 15:13
Now the God of [the] hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in [the] hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost [Holy Spirit].
Our God is “the God of the hope.” He called us by the gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ [II Thessalonians 2:14].
He will fill us with all joy and peace as we believe His Word, so that we may abound in the hope.
We have hope in Christ because God raised him from the dead, he ascended into the heavenly realm, and God seated him at His right side as both Lord and Christ, and we are members of his body, the Church.
Jesus Christ is Lord both of the living and of the dead [Romans 14:9]. He is Lord of all in heaven and on the earth and he is the Lord of all who are in the grave [Philippians 2:9-11].
Jesus Christ spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them by his victory over them on the cross. God validated his victory by raising him from the dead to die no more, and we are united with him in this victory.
Romans 6: 3-5. 8 ESV
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
When the Lord Jesus Christ returns, we will live with him. He is coming to gather us up together to meet him in the air.
I Thessalonians 4:15-18
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
“The Lord” is mentioned five times in these three verses: twice in verse 15, once in verse 16, and twice in 17.
We have ‘the word of the Lord” that it shall be as he has spoken. God has given the Lord Jesus Christ this vast power in order to carry out His Will.
We have the victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for His great love for us, and His wonderful grace. What a calling we have in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Romans 8: 18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in [to] us.
When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to gather us together unto him, we will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
The gathering together will not be the end; it will only be the beginning of life eternal.
In the coming ages God will show us the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus [Ephesians 2:7].
Life everlasting, bodies like Christ’s glorious body, the exceeding riches of His grace shown to us in kindness in Christ Jesus, the obtaining the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, physically entering the kingdom of God, being with the Lord and God our Father forever, and so much more; our hope is indeed glorious.
Our momentary light weight of affliction produces for us an eternal, exceedingly heavy weight of glory [II Corinthians 4:17].
Beloved of God, live with thanksgiving for all we have been so freely given. Be at peace and full of joy until he comes.