Our future glory is secured in God’s love. What does that say to you today?
Read Romans 8:18-30
Did you ever hear of someone who couldn’t afford to retire? Well let me tell you something... Our Christian retirement is not only out of this world, it is completely paid in full and secure.
Is life tough at times? Does it feel like conflicts and worries mount up to overwhelm you? Maybe it’s a health problem. Maybe it’s a relationship problem. Maybe it’s a financial problem. Maybe it’s all the above. God didn’t make you for the purpose of dying a miserable death after living a difficult life. That is not what existence is all about. The Lord has called us to rejoice in Hope of glory! Eternal glory in the heavens!
Even today he has given his Spirit that cries with you and communicates your sorrows better than you can. Everything around you groans as it longs to see the day that our glory is revealed.
Do you remember as a child seeing your present under the Christmas tree. I remember feeling almost sick with anxiousness to get at that wrapping paper and tear into it. I remember how long those days seemed to be of the week before Christmas. I would be groaning with longing. And when the day finally arrived
4:45 AM We would all rush in and wake up mom and dad and gather around the tree and open the presents.
Wow! What a powerful exuberant experience that was! But it only lasted for a little while. After a week or so, things were generally back to business as usual. Oh, we’d show off our new things to whoever hadn’t seen it, and we’d enjoy playing with all the new stuff. But basically the newness was over. The glory would fade.
God tells us that our glory... the glory prepared for us.. is not going to be like that at all. Our joy and rejoicing in glory with God will be without end! Eternal exuberance! Just imagine! Isn’t that what we really know that life was made for. I mean, deep down inside, don’t we all know that the curse of death and decay is really not the way it is supposed to be. Why do you think we work so hard to find cures for diseases and pains. Why do we seek to avoid the weakness that comes with aging?
I remember when the news reported that Ronald Ragan had Alzheimer’s. I read his message in Newsweek. He said he wished Nancy could be spared from this. I think of some of our beloved members here who suffer from cancer, Alzheimer’s and other difficulties. I look at that and think... is that the way life is supposed to be.
Brothers and sisters in Christ... We are living for an eternal glory that will not perish, spoil or fade, Kept in heaven for us. Jesus said, Do not store up treasures here on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal... but store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus also said, Whoever loves this life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Romans tells us that our suffering here is not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed in us... What suffering? Well, lets look for a minute and consider what suffering he is talking about. 2 Cor 11:23-29.
Have you suffered? Some of you have suffered and some are suffering greatly right now. Do you know something about suffering that is really neat. It sure makes you appreciate a cure. Did you know that God has a great cure for suffering? He does. Honest! A cure that will wipe away every tear. A cure that reveals to us eternal glory. This cure came to us wrapped in flesh. A gift wrapped up so we could not see its brilliant glory. Inside of him is everything
life was made for. He walked among us. He taught us about life and about a kingdom that consists only of God’s will and God’s glory. Then that gift was hung on a tree, where the price for our glory was paid. He suffered so that some day we wouldn’t have to. In Jesus death our sins were taken away. The cure for the curse of death and decay was Jesus on the cross. We suffer, he suffered. He was raised to life and glory... We will be raised to life and glory! Do you believe that? You can’t have it if you don’t believe it!
The Spirit is given to those who believe and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our hope is established and our future is sure in Christ.
Because we are in Christ, God is working for our good, He foreknows us, predestines us, justifies us, and glorifies us, God is FOR us!
Read Rom. 8:31-39
Think about this! God is for us! Not just a little bit, but a whole lot! So much is God for us that he didn’t spare His Son!
Think about it! He didn’t spare his own son! But gave him for us all.
What more could God have given! What more did he have to give!
God is an awesome giver. Sheer love. He give us life. He gives us our daily food. He gives us hope. He gives us security. He gave us his own Son. He gives us forgiveness. He gives us the Word. He gives us grace. He gives us eternal life. James said, Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father.
I heard a story about a farmer who had a bunch of pigs. He built a fence for them and in the fence was a great oak tree. Well, summer came and the ground began to be covered with acorns. These pigs went wild. They munched and oinked with joy as they devoured these acorns, but they never once looked up and realized where these gifts came from. These pigs rooted around and dug up
the ground and chewed at the roots that they found. Well, the next year there were less acorns. But these pigs didn’t care they just devoured what fell and still never looked up to see where they came from. They continued digging and
munching on roots and whatever they could. Well, the next year there were hardly any acorns fell. These pigs ate what they found and continued digging and chewing roots. And the next year there were no acorns at all. Little did they know, they had killed the very source of the food they loved so much. One day they were all together rooting and digging when they heard a loud crack and the huge tree came crashing down on them and killed them all.
Romans 1 tells us that we humans can be like that with God. We can so kill our relationship with him that the only thing God has left to give is his wrath. If we pursue our own way against his, he will give us over to our own sins. Running after things of this life without recognizing and giving thanks to the very source of the gifts is a fast race toward eternal death. Eventually, our pursuit of death will catch up with us and destroy us. But God is calling us to look up. He is calling us to come to the cross of Jesus and see his great love for us. To look at our lives and recognize all that he constantly is giving us. And when suffering blinds us from seeing the good here, to look with eyes of faith beyond the grave into the glory on the other side.
Have you looked up? Have you come to recognize the giver of all good things? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of faith who gave his life on the cross for you?
Your sins separate you from God – Jesus’ sacrifice brings you home. But you must believe it and receive it! Repent of sin! Confess Jesus as Lord and Christ! Be baptized into his death, burial and resurrection!
God offers you forgiveness, redemption, adoption, and His very Holy Spirit to seal you, empower you, sustain you and assure you!
Do not refuse the glorious call of heaven!
