“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2 (NIV)
Jesus is the access for all believers to stand in the sphere of God’s holiness through His amazing grace. When God looks down at a believer in His Son, He sees a perfect life – amazing. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God”, the Apostle Paul writes. In lieu of our filthy rags, God sees Christ’s righteousness in us. We have peace with God and that gives us great reason for rejoicing. One small sin would prevent us from God’s presence because He is Holy. Had it not been for the perfect sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross we were all doomed for destruction – from the saintliest to the vilest. Because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, the Apostle Paul again writes. This very good news gives the believer great hope and reason for rejoicing. Further, the glory that God has and that He shares with us will always outweigh the trials and tribulations we presently walk through. He gives us the grace sufficient to meet each need.
We think so little of God’s glory as the Israelites did in Jeremiah’s day to whom God stated, “my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols”, meaning they exchanged God for the idols they adored. Idols of wood and stone. Sadly, we often do the same, exchanging God’s glory for the idols of our day - and they are limitless BTW. Yet, it is incomprehensible for believers to get to heaven and think it was not worth what they walked through. To be sure, when we see God’s glory and what we have been saved for and from there will be a collective falling on our faces in adoration and awe. The glory so heavy we cannot lift our heads. When Scripture tells us “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him”, we can trust how breathtaking it will all be – in the most amazing way. We will be so stunned as to be speechless, overwhelmed by all we are taking in. Remember as well, our afflictions are but “light and momentary” and are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our gaze not on what is seen but what is unseen just as Jesus did when He considered what His “cross” was to bring about. We are to look at our difficulties as mere anthills and the glory to be revealed as a vast and spectacular mountain range. God’s reign is always much bigger than the troubles right in front of our eyes.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)