‘Suffering & Glory’
Romans 8:18-21 is an extension of the teaching given to us in verse 17 - “...fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” The challenges posed by our glorification being predicated on our faithfulness in suffering are many and we need some encouragement that, in fact, we can be faithful.
This passage assures us that our present suffering will give way to future glory. In verse 18 the nature of the relationship between suffering and glory is established - “For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The Apostle Paul is convinced that the present sufferings we’re called to endure pale in the gloriousness of the glory yet to be revealed. So the physical sufferings we experience and the persecution we may be called to endure fade in comparison to the coming glory we’ll experience after resurrection.
Encouragements
One of the encouragements, then, that will help us endure suffering is a biblically informed imagination, a way of seeing that inspires us to live our lives in the light of eternity. It’s living with theological understandings that encourage us to see our present struggles in the larger context of future glory where there will be no more suffering, no more tears, no more pain, and no more death (Rev. 21:4).
Another understanding we need to have, as Christ’s followers, is that the shape of our lives is patterned after the experience of Jesus - “...we suffer with him (Christ) in order that we may also be glorified with him (Rom.8:17).” Paul’s conviction is that our present sufferings are to be embraced with expectation, and should serve as reminders that glory is coming! This confidence is grounded in a set of right understandings related to divine history which is divided into two distinct chapters, the ‘present Age’ and the ‘Age to come’. These are contrasting realities. Paul associates suffering with the ‘present time’, or the ‘present Age’, and glory with the ‘Age to come’. The ‘present Age’ is marked by suffering, cross-bearing, and death while the ‘Age to come’ is distinguished by resurrection and glory, which is a weightier, more real, and more substantial life. The glory of the ‘coming Age’ is something that Christians will not only observe, it’s something we’ll participate in! The glory that is to be revealed to us is also the glory that is to be revealed in us. It’s this anticipation of glory in the coming Age that helps us maintain our spiritual equilibrium during life’s seasons of suffering. As Christians we’re to be forward-looking and living expectantly! In fact, Paul says that the entire Cosmos presently exists in a state of expectation - “...the creation waits with eager longing…(Rom. 8:19).” The entire nonrational created order is anticipating liberation from the futility to which it has been subjected because of Adam’s sin. Presently, then, the entire creation is expressing a kind of cosmic frustration.
Hopeful Subjection
This raises an important question - ‘do we really understand the tragic nature of the Fall?’ Adam’s sin carried profound implications both spiritually and physically. Death began to reign; death and the absence of physical flourishing is part of God’s judgment. But the good news is that this ‘subjection to futility’ (Rom.8:20) is a hopeful subjection that anticipates liberation and transformation at the return of Christ. The present human and cosmic condition isn’t final! We’re expecting the dramatic consummation of our redemption, which is the redemption of our bodies in resurrection. At the moment of Christ’s return we’ll be clothed in immortality and incorruptibility (1 Cor. 15:51-56), and no longer subject to the sufferings and constraints of temporal life. Our humiliation will come to an end and our glorification will begin when Jesus descends from heaven at the end of the Age! When Christ comes again the Cosmos will be liberated and renewed (Rom. 8:20) and we’ll receive new bodies, bodies suited for the glorified conditions of the ‘New Heaven and the New Earth’ (the eternal state). This is an essential part of the ‘hope of salvation’ and it’s this confidence that inspires us to endure suffering. Christian hope provokes Christian faithfulness….are you hopeful?