Judy’s Dad has had a physical therapist visiting him every other day or so, since his knee surgery. They really like each other, because, it seems, the therapist is also a child of God. I haven’t spoken to him, so I can’t really say for sure. But Judy did say something the other day which indicates that this man might have a lot to learn. Maybe it’s a reaction to working with broken down bodies day after day, but that man said he doesn’t believe that when we get to Heaven we will have bodies.
Of course, I didn’t get a chance to hear the context of the statement, so I know that could mean several things. We might be in total disagreement, but then again the man may have meant exactly what I believe. For example, I certainly don’t think that we will have bodies which might need knee replacement surgeries. In Heaven, I don’t believe that we’ll ever have another migraine, pulled back muscle, or that we’ll even need glasses, because those bodies will be quite different from these bodies. Doctors, therapists of every variety, anaesthesiologists, dentists, nurses and EMTs will not be found in Glory. However, I do not believe that the saints of God in Heaven, will be nothing but ethereal, intangible spirits. I cannot tell you what the mansions, or dwellings, in the Father’s House will look like (John 14). And I’m not sure about the streets of gold, gates or pearl and other building materials. But each of these things will be real and they each suggest something tangible. In Revelation 2 and again in Revelation 22, there is talk of the Tree of Life. “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” The Heavenly Tree of Life gives every appearance of being a tree vaguely similar to the trees in our yards. If the trees are physical, like trees today, why shouldn’t we think that there will be human-like bodies in Heaven?
And then there is Philippians 3:20-21 – “Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Paul says in these verses that Christ Jesus has a body, and that we shall have bodies fashioned – conformed – to His glorious body. And the Apostle John adds, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Do we have any idea of what Jesus’ body is like today?
I believe that the Bible gives us enough of a glimpse of Christ’s glorified body to enable us to understand it. First, I don’t know that Jesus’ resurrection body, which the disciples knew for a few days prior to His ascension, is exactly like the body that He has in glory today, but I’m sure that there are some similarities. Was Christ’s ability to suddenly appear and disappear a part of His new body’s nature or was that special? He certainly had the ability to walk, talk and even to eat. Does that mean that the saints will do the same sorts of things in Heaven? The Tree with the twelve varieties of fruit seems to suggest that we might eat from time to time, although that can’t be proven dogmatically. The Book of Revelation describes the saints worshiping, singing, talking and asking questions. Are lips, tongues and throats necessary for asking questions and singing? Are bodies necessary for our Heavenly activities? I think so.
Although there is evidence in Revelation to suggest that we will have bodies, I think that there is a more an even more precise revelation of the kind of body that we shall have in Glory. It appears to me that what John, James and Peter saw at the top of the Mount of Transfiguration may be an illustration of what the saints Heavenly bodies will be like. Although Christ Jesus was metamorphosed before them …. His body was changed from a wonderful, but ordinary human entity to a body that out-shined the sun; Yet the disciples could still recognize that it was still their Master. And even more to our point, there were two Heavenly residents who had traveled down to talk with Christ. Moses and Elijah were in some sort of bodies – probably in the same bodies that they have in Heaven. I think that the rest of God’s elect will join Moses and Elias with the same kind of bodies that we see here. We may be able to nearly instantly travel indescribable distances. We will be able to worship and converse with the Saviour. We may have faces that radiate with either special glory or a reflection of God’s Shekinah glory. But certainly, it will be in very real bodies that we reside in Heaven.
So what has this got to do with our scripture here in Romans 8? Actually, I believe that this is exactly what Romans 8:30 is talking about – “And whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
Secondly, this glorification to which Romans 8:30 speaks has nothing to do with the degree or amount of suffering that each of the saints endure in their service for Christ. Despite the fact that Paul has said that affliction and persecution are a part of Christian service… “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Despite the fact that “all those who shall live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”… This glory is not a result – or a reversal – of whatever we might suffer in this life. And verse 18 does not tell us anything different. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” All Paul is saying in this verse is that no matter what it is that we must endure, whether great persecution or only Christian inconveniences, the glory that will be given to us by God will make us forget every minute of our earthly pain. No, when Paul says that those justified will also be glorified, he is talking about everyone of us, not just about those who are suffering more than the rest.
And third, this is not talking about some sort of special gifts of the spirit. Have I ever told you that I believe in the Spiritual gift of glossolalia – speaking in tongues. On the day of the greatest Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to be heard in languages which they had never learned or spoken before. I believe in the gift of speaking in tongues; I just don’t believe that the Lord needs to give that gift any more. And there are other gifts of the Spirit which have had their day and their importance. Generally speaking, now that we have a preserved translation of the inspired Scriptures, we no longer need those divine gifts in order to authenticate the message. In other words, the gifts of the spirit may be given one day and withdrawn the next. But the glorification of our text is not one of those gifts of the Spirit.
And additionally, this glorification is not the same thing as simply entering Heaven. Heaven will be glorious – in fact, I have a habit, good or bad, in calling Heaven “Glory.” To me those two words are synonymous. But when Paul says that these people whom God has called shall be glorified, he is not merely saying that one day they shall be taken to Heaven.
The fuller answer begins before our faith and repentance, and it certainly ends long after. More accurately it began with God’s decision to call you by His grace – which implies election. He foreknew you – which means that He loved you before you loved Him. And in His effectual call, our faith and repentance were guaranteed, as well as our regeneration. Only those to whom God has given spiritual life obey the Lord’s call. Then at the same instant there is the justification of God – whereby the righteousness of Christ is given. And ultimately salvation ends in glorification which bears some similarities to Christ’s glorification.
And Paul gives us a fuller description of that glorification in the preceding verse. I know that a month ago we came at this subject a little differently, but now let’s come back to it. To be glorified is to be completely conformed to the glorious image of Jesus Christ. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his so, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” This is the ultimate end – the conclusion – the purpose – of salvation. The purpose of salvation is the glorification of Christ, and through our glorification, He is glorified. When we are conformed to His image, and He is displayed as the firstborn of millions of brethren, God will be glorified in a fashion that cannot be duplicated in any other way.
And whatever else it might mean to God the Son, this could not be improved for the sinners He has saved. My problem is that I don’t have the understanding or the vocabulary to express these blessings to you. For example, I have taught and preached from Psalm 16, but I’ve only scratched its surface. “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope…. “In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” One of these days, either at the translation or in some other way, we will join our Saviour in Glory. As John says, “we will see Him as He is.” We will go to be with Christ which is far greater than anything this world has to offer. And “in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” You may think that you know what joy is, but are you sure that you understand the “fulness of joy”? At God’s right hand “there are pleasures for evermore.” How is the word “pleasure” to be defined in Heaven? The word speaks about lovely and sweet things – about beauty which we can’t imagine.
For us this glorification will mean communion with Christ in a similar fashion to Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. You may have detected this: but I have a hard time talking to people whom I don’t know very well. There are certain people who I have a difficult time looking in the eye, because I feel inferior to them. And yet, as difficult for me to imagine at this time, the Bible suggests that when I am glorified, I will have no difficulty in talking with my Saviour face to face.
Part of the reason for that, and a part of that glorification, will be our complete freedom from sin in that day. This takes us back to my earlier message on the subject of being conformed to Christ. Without mentioning the word itself, a very real part of complete salvation is our on-going, and ultimate, “sanctification.” A saint is someone who has been sanctified – set apart to God. We have been justified – declared righteous – that is our standing before God. And we should be outwardly more righteous, and more like Christ with every passing day. But only on that final day, will we be made perfectly righteous, completely sanctified, and fully like Christ. Heaven will be Glory and a glorious place because, for one reason, sin will not be a part of it. That is something we have never experienced in this world, and no new president will create it. But when we are glorified, we will be completely sanctified, dwelling in a completely sanctified place.
And hand-in-hand with that, all the remnants of sin’s curse will be removed as well. That is why there will be no more death. And glorification is reason all the predecessors, precursors, hints & antecedents of the curse will be gone. I’m talking about your arthritis, your lost eyesight, your weaknesses, your weakening memory and your irritable bowel syndrom.
I read an article the other day, which I will have to read again to fully digest. It pointed out that there are six or seven verses which refer to God’s beauty in one fashion or another. “Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us.” And there are several references to the “beauty of God’s holiness.” I am not sure that we know anything about beauty – real beauty – as long was we live in this sin-cursed earth, but when we are glorified, and our minds, hearts, eyes, and ears are perfectly sanctified, then will we begin to fully understand beauty. And with it, we might begin to understand what it is to be “good” as well.
At least to us, the ultimate end of salvation will be our glorification. And unfortunately, I’m not sure exactly how to explain to you all that this involves.
The are a great many professing Christians who worship a different God from the rest of us Christians. There are many who think that God is surprised when someone dies or when someone is saved. There are many who think that God reacts to events in the same way as those people react to things. They believe that God is saddened when an hurricane like Ike flattens Galveston, Texas. In contrast to those well-meaning, but untaught people, I believe that God really is God according to the proper definition of the term. I believe that He is in control of things, so that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” In other words, I believe that God has a purpose, but unlike the purposes of man, every single purpose of Jehovah is guaranteed. I believe that the word “predestinate” is a perfectly good word to use, when it is in the context of God. The Lord has guaranteed and “predestinated” that those whom He has called will all be glorified and conformed to the image of His Son.
When I graduated from Bible School nearly forty years ago, the religious climate of America was different. The theological issues were different then, and in some ways, the sins and problems were different. As just one example, theological wars were being fought over something called “eternal security.” Generally speaking, I knew where people stood on the subject of the “perseverance of the saints.” But today the subject is rarely mentioned, and I no longer am able to guess to what percentage the average American Christian is sure or unsure that he possesses a reservation in Heaven.
But I can tell you this: Those who believe in the sovereignty of God know whether or not they shall spend eternity in Heaven. Those who take God at his Word know that those whom God effectually calls will be glorified without a single one being lost along the way. Those are the people who are sure that what God has decreed can be described in the past tense, even though they have not yet been completed in time. Jehovah calls those things that be not as though they are. And it’s not just a matter of faith – it’s a matter of fact.
There is day coming, which I can’t describe to you in any great fulness. It could be a day in which there is a shout and a trumpet blast, and in an instant after those saints of God who have already died are resurrected, that you and I will be caught up together with those resurrected souls, to meet the Lord in the air. At that instant we will be changed – glorified – and this mortal shall put on immortality. At that time, this corruptible body will forever put on incorruption. But then again, it might be that a heart attack will lay me in the grave this week. My soul will go to be instantly with the Saviour, but my body will not. And then at that day which I just described, my body and soul will be reunited. But in either case, it will be at that time that I will be glorified.
And when I am glorified, it will mean that additional glory for my Saviour. Not because of anything that I have done or will do in order to facilitate my resurrection. It will be because of, and through, the grace and power of God. And Christ will be that much more – the firstborn among many brethren.
How can I be so sure of these things – for myself? I am sure, because there was once a day when I repented of my sins, and I put my faith in Jesus Christ to save me. I am sure of these things, because even today, I am living in repentance and my faith has grown into true love for Christ my Saviour. Are you one of the called according to the Lord’s purpose? You can know for sure, if you will repent of your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.