A Glorious Hope
Romans 8:12-27
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. [Romans 8:18]
Perspective is an interesting phenomenon. Years back I watched a documentary on Walt Disney’s vision for Disneyland. Everything was designed and assembled around perspective. There was the emotional perspective, “the happiest place on earth,” and the physical perspective. Everything was built to look larger than it actually was, i.e., Main Street, the Castle, and Matterhorn mountain. The goal of Disney was to apply perspective to escape reality, and that he did.
The Kingdom of Heaven, too, involves perspective, but one that is drastically different from Disneyland. Heaven is reality. Jesus made the distinction between the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of this world. In John 17:11-26, He made several references to “in the world,” and “of the world.” Those who have put their faith in Jesus as Lord, though continuing in this world, are no longer of this world. It is a radically different perspective.
This new perspective is established in Justification, and enabled in Sanctification. As the Christian is sanctified by the Holy Spirit, he simply sees things differently.
In Romans 8:1-11, Paul described that sanctification comes by way of the Spirit. Our passage this morning goes on to describe another key ingredient: Seeing Jesus our glorious hope face-to-face. Jesus right now is at the right hand of the Father, in all His glory, ever living to make intercession for His children, His adopted children, heirs and “joint heirs with Christ” [Rom. 8:17]. Hebrews 4:16 beckons us to “come boldly to the throne of grace.” Psalm 34:8, “O Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 27:8, “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’”
These speak of a special place, even in this life, where we can meet with Jesus. It is a place of intimate fellowship. Worship, prayer, and His word, are vehicles of faith toward this place. And it is in this place that sanctification is taken to a whole new level. It is not the “what you do” but “Who you do it with” that makes all the difference. The latter provides a new perspective in this life of faith. It is a perspective that sees Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, even while living in this fallen world. Seeing Jesus, our Glorious Hope, behind the veil, is the catalyst for true sanctification.
