Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. – Romans 8:17-18
Have you ever had times when, on a cold night, you’ve managed to warm up your body to a comfortable sleeping temperature but there is one bit that remains stubbornly icy? I’ve noticed this winter that my left foot has been particularly prone to iciness. It’s very frustrating. It’s difficult to fall asleep.
I wonder whether our understanding of our future with God is a bit like my cold left foot. It’s one of those doctrines that hasn’t really landed in our understanding. It’s a somewhat lifeless bit that we know is there but isn’t integrated with our life and understanding of the world. It’s a difficult – I might even say currently impossible – concept for us to understand fully. How can we, living as finite beings, get our minds around eternity? All we have ever known and experienced is insufficient to fill up our understanding.
Maybe you have an idea of us with angel wings, lazing on clouds whilst strumming harps. Or maybe your idea of eternity with God is simply “I’m not in hell”. Maybe you have an image of a city with lots of big houses (one for you) and much opulence. Honestly, none of these pictures have the power to really thrill me and maybe that’s because they tend to put us in the centre. We ask, “Where will be and what will I be doing?” But what the Bible is most clear about is that God will be at the centre; not only at the centre but everywhere and with everyone. There will be no part of eternity with God where God is not.
What waits for us, what has been kept for us as our inheritance, is God’s presence. God finally able to make His home with us, with the fullness of His radiance and glory undimmed. All we have ever experienced, even the disciples who walked with Jesus, even Moses who saw God’s back, is the mediated presence of God. But in that Day, we will be transformed into people who can be in the presence of God. That is the purpose of our glorified bodies. Paul speaks of our resurrection bodies in 1 Corinthians 15 as imperishable. We will have bodies that are fit for eternity, fit for the presence of God. These bodies will not know sickness or weakness or death. Our glorified hearts and minds will not be tainted by sin. We will not cause harm to ourselves or each other. We will live in perfect community. No lies. No disdain. No meanness. No fear or pride. There will be no need to shed any tear except one of delight. Because God will be in our midst and we will be fit for His presence.
Is it any wonder that we might break out into songs of praise? We will finally understand what God made us for: perfect love. Why would we not want to thank Him endlessly for such a wonder?
Is your left foot getting a little warmer?
As followers of Jesus, this is the trajectory of our lives: towards the presence of God. Sanctification is all about growing more fit for the presence of God. We don’t simply grow in holiness because it’s good for us (though it is!), we also grow in holiness because we are preparing ourselves to be in the unmediated, majestic holiness of God. This is the purpose and destination of our lives, and it puts into context all that we experience in our mortal bodies. Even suffering is fitting us for heaven as it shapes our character.
Paul is confident here, he has carefully considered it, thought it through, and he has concluded that our present sufferings (go to 2 Corinthians 11 for an extraordinary summary of Paul’s present sufferings) are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. They are light and momentary troubles that are preparing us for a weight of eternal glory (2 Cor 4:17). The sufferings of this life could only be properly called “light and momentary” to the extent that we grasp the weight of glory that is our inheritance. Paul isn’t callously dismissing struggles and suffering; in fact, he exhorts Christians to relieve suffering, to be generous, to give to those in need. But he has gotten hold of the reality, the weight, of what God has prepared for us and he has weighed it up and assessed that the outpouring of his own life on behalf of others, in pursuit of sharing God’s love, doesn’t even come close to comparing with what is coming.
C.S. Lewis challenges us in his essay ‘The Weight of Glory’,
“Our desires are not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
There is a longing in us, but we are too easily pleased, too easily distracted by the things in this world. We are satisfied not to be fully satisfied and continue to make mud pies.
This is part of the purpose of fasting: to deliberately remove distraction and the things that counterfeit satisfaction, and so to recognise the deep longings we have that can only be met by God. This longing is for the glory and perfection of heaven.
What is your life’s trajectory? What are you aiming for? Your patterns of decision-making will show it up because we are all pouring out our lives for something. It is easy, perhaps especially with a cold left foot, to set your trajectory on something in this mortal life. Take some time to dwell on the weight of an eternal future glory with God. Allow your mind and desires to be shaped by the Holy Spirit, to be renewed and transformed. Ask God to bring the reality of eternity close, to show you where your desires will be truly met, to warm your heart and change the pattern of your life.
Prayer focus:
- Praise God that He has set us apart and is preparing us for an eternity with Him.
- Pray that we will see where we are chasing empty things in life and that we would press deeper into God to meet the deepest longings of our hearts.
- Pray that God would show us how to order our priorities rightly in the light of eternity with Him.
