02.10. Glorification
Glorification These He also glorified This also shows us how justification is related to glorification: justification rightfully grants us a place in the glory of God. Justification entitles us to the heavenly glory for which we, by nature, were not fit at all. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Therefore it is not surprising that the Epistle to the Romans emphasizes this contrast with our present position so strongly. Formerly, we fell short of the glory of God, it was unattainable for us. But now, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2).
Romans 8:1-39 even puts it in the past tense: "...and whom He justified, these He also glorified" (Romans 8:30). Glorification is not just a hope, it is something we already possess in Christ. The glorified Christ is the pledge of our own glorification. God views us in Him, and it is in Him that He has given us the glory which He, the Man Christ Jesus, obtained for us.
Let us now turn to Romans 9:1-33, where we are called the vessels of God’s mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory (Romans 9:23). Here a line is drawn to the past, to God’s eternal purpose. It was His purpose to unite us with His beloved Son, and to bring us to glory. It was His desire to introduce us into His own presence in heaven. So the result of God’s eternal purpose for the objects of His mercy is an eternal, abiding, heavenly glory. His plan is to transform us into people who bear the image of His Son in glory. And for this He has prepared us beforehand, that is, before the foundation of the world. As for the implementation of this purpose, there are two aspects to be discerned, an outward and an inward aspect. God’s purpose will be fulfilled in the outward glory with which He will fill creation. The glory of God’s Name will be seen in all the earth when Christ, as the last Adam, assumes His millennial reign (Psalms 8:1-9). Then the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. And we ourselves shall receive the redemption of our body, and be glorified as well (Romans 8:21-23). The redeemed will be revealed with Christ in glory after first having been taken up in glory, and having their lowly bodies transformed and conformed to His glorious body (Php 3:21; Colossians 3:4). His glory will then be seen and be admired in them (2 Thessalonians 1:10). As the first Adam was not alone, but was set to reign over the first creation together with Eve, likewise the last Adam will have His bride, the glorified Church, and will reign with her over the world to come.
You have set Your glory above the heavens In the last Book of the Bible the glory of the Church as the bride, the Lamb’s wife, is called "the glory of God" (Revelation 21:11; Revelation 21:23). This is the outward manifestation of God’s glory in the creation. The Church is the heavenly seat, the heavenly centre of this glory, for the glory of God illuminates it, and the Lamb is its light. It is the Jerusalem above, while Jerusalem which now is - after its restoration - will be the centre of this glory on earth. This glory of the New Jerusalem will be observed by the creation.
We find this aspect of our glorification also in John’s Gospel, where it is mentioned by the Son Himself in His prayer to the Father: "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them..., and that the world may know that You have sent Me" (John 17:22-23). This is an outward, manifest glory, which causes the world to recognize Him. This is immediately followed by the inward aspect of our glorification - that part of the glory which is hidden from the world and can be seen only by God’s children, by those who are members of God’s household. In John 17:24 we read: "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world". This is the glory of the Father’s house, where Christ has prepared a place for us upon His return to the Father (John 14:2-3). In the Father’s house we shall see and admire Christ’s glory. It is there that He enjoys a particular portion, a special glory, for He is the firstborn among many brethren.
We shall be like Him in the public manifestation of His glory, when He appears in glory (Colossians 3:4). But this does not hold good for the inward aspect of His glory. In His Father’s house we shall see Him, and admire His unique glory. So there is a glory of the children of God which can be observed by creation, and the liberty of this glory will be shared by it (Romans 8:21). But there is also a glory which remains hidden from the world, limited as it is to the household of the children of God. In the outward realm of glory we shall be like Christ (1 John 3:2). This is the sphere where God’s glory will be revealed in the entire creation. The inward realm of glory is the glory of the Father’s house where the Son has a unique place, for it was His place before the foundation of the world. We shall be brought into this intimate sphere of glory, since we are the many sons whom God purposed to bring to glory. And the Son Himself has prepared a place for us in this, the Father’s, house with its many mansions. But we shall be brought there in order to behold and admire the unique glory of the Son! We shall be brought there in order that the Father may look on us with favour because we bear the image of His Son, and reflect the glory of His Son!
Hugo Bouter