We then discussed a second aspect of God’s response that results in our rescue. For the last four weeks we have discussed how God’s transformational activity in our lives should result in a separation from selfishness and sin. Now theologians refer to this as sanctification. Sanctification, simply put, is the process by which we become like Christ in character and actions. As we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus, we experience the progressive nature of sanctification as we increasingly reflect Christ in our character and conduct, because, at the end of the day, we are slaves to the one whom we obey. As followers of Jesus, we are no longer under the domination of selfishness and rebellion; we have been rescued and released by the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life that is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
This week I would like for us to spend our time together looking at the next section of this letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles, called the book of Romans. And it is in this section of this letter that we discover third different aspect of God’s response to the problem of selfishness and sin. And it is in this third aspect of God’s response to the problem of selfishness and sin that we will discover a timeless truth that provides a timeless source of hope. So let’s discover this timeless truth together, beginning in Romans 8:18:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of a first century church that was located in Rome by explaining that he considered the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. In other words, as Paul looked at the suffering that he and other followers of Jesus experience as we live life on earth, he viewed those suffering as insignificant. Paul viewed the troubles and trials that we experience as a minor inconvenience for followers of Jesus. Now it was not that Paul was unaware or was minimizing the troubles, the trials, and the suffering that followers of Jesus experience as we live here on earth. However, Paul was comparing what we experience here on earth with something that is to be revealed to us in the future.
And it is here that we see discover a timeless truth and a timeless hope that God’s rescue provides followers of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Our rescue results in a glorious future. Paul’s is revealing the reality that followers of Jesus have a glorious future; a future that has not yet been fully known. You see, at the end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus Christ returns to defeat selfishness, sin, and death, followers of Jesus, will experience and participate in the splendor and radiance that comes from living in the relationship with God that we were created for in Heaven.
As we have seen in this series, prior to God’s transformational activity in our lives, we are sinners who sin; we are selfish and rebellious and live at odds with God and the truth of God. When we respond to God’s activity in our lives by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, we are declared not guilty of having a problem with God and become saints who sometimes sin. This is referred to be theologians as justification. As we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus, we increasingly become more like Christ in our character and conduct. This is referred to by theologians as sanctification. However, there are still times where we will be selfish and sin.
When Jesus Christ returns and we experience the eternal relationship with God that we were created for in Heaven, we will be saints who no longer sin. Now theologians refer to this experience as glorification. The timeless reality is that our rescue from selfishness and rebellion results in a glorious future, where we live in the presence of God in Heaven in a relationship with God that is free from selfishness and rebellion for all eternity. And in Romans 8:18-39, we see Paul reveal for us three different aspects of the glorious future that we will experience as followers of Jesus as a result of God’s transformational activity.
This week, we will spend our time together looking at each of these aspects of the glorious future we have as followers of Jesus.
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