What a blessing it is to be a child of God. John tells us that it is a demonstration of how much we are loved by God (1 John 3:1). Being a child of God is not only a blessing right now, seeing that we enjoy all of the privileges of being in fellowship with our heavenly Father, but it is also a blessing due to the reward that awaits us as heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
While we know we have an inheritance, to take possession of it we must be willing to endure suffering in this present world. This is the consistent teaching of the Word of God. Paul told the saints at Lystra and Iconium that it was “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Later, he reminded Timothy that “all who desire to live a godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
What should help us make it through the suffering is realizing that the glory that will be revealed to us later is far greater than any suffering we have to go through now.
Romans 8:18 (ESV)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
The glory Paul is referring to is the redemption of our bodies (ver. 23), that is, the time when the mortal body becomes immortal. Paul spoke of this in another place.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (ESV)
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
The spiritual body is the body that we shall have in the resurrection, bodies that are redeemed from all corruption. While Jesus is the Who of our hope, and heaven is the where of our hope, a glorified body is the what of our hope (vers24-25), and it is a part of what makes heaven so attractive. Would you want to spend eternity in a physical body that wears down and is sometimes overwhelmed with aches and pains? Well, don’t worry, in heaven, we will have bodies like the one our glorified Savior has now.
1 John 3:2 (ESV)
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
This is the redemption of our bodies that Paul refers to in Romans 8:23, and for which we should be eagerly waiting. It is this hope that sustains us through all the difficulties of life.
Romans 8:24 (ESV)
24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
So, next time it seems that life is getting the best of you, and your trials are too much to bear, stop and think about the glory that will be revealed to you when Jesus comes back. That should help you to endure.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things