The whole Bible is filled throughout with the theme of the glory of God. God does everything for His own glory, and everything He does is glorious. Our lives as Christians are defined by the glory of God.
God reveals His glory to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. He also reveals His glory in us as Christians, His dearly loved children, who are His co-heirs with Jesus Christ.
Glory comes in many forms. There is the glory of battle, in which the victors share the spoils. There is the glory of creation, the beauty of the natural world and of the human race, which was made in the likeness and image of God. There is the glory of God Himself, His brightness, His power, majesty, and splendor.
Then there is the glory to be found in suffering. Of all the glories, this one seems the hardest for us as humans to understand. One of my favorite verses has always been Hebrews: 2:10--
Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Jesus Christ is a being totally unique in all the universe. As an entirely homogenized person, He is both fully God and fully man. As man, He lived the life of men; everything that men do and suffer, He did, with the one exception of sin. Jesus never sinned, nor was there ever any sin in Him.
But He experienced hunger, thirst, tiredness, sadness, grief, joy, and all the other human emotions of which we are all familiar. When I hear the Psalmist crying out in the Old Testament, so very often in my heart I hear the voice of my Savior crying out as a man.
The above verse in Hebrews tells us that Jesus the man was made perfect, or complete, through the things He suffered. Jesus is the captain of our salvation. As captain, His goal is to bring many sons into the glory of the living God. That means that Jesus makes His followers both able to see and appreciate the glory of God and also to experience and be part of God's glory as well.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
When we see loved ones suffering in any of a million different ways, our hearts go out to them, and we cry with them. The Lord Jesus while on earth also cried for the death of his good, good friend Lazarus. It is ok to grieve and mourn for the pain of those whom we love.
But the good news is that the crying over Lazarus' grave turned into cries of joy as Lazarus emerged, transformed, new and whole, healthy, and able to continue his life to the glory of God.
Not everyone who dies is returned to this life; in fact, such an event, though recorded in the Bible more than once, is extremely rare. But in the spirit, there is a resurrection of heart that does indeed change the mourning of sadness and sorrow into triumphant shouts of joy, even in the face of great tribulation. This is the perfection of spirit that Hebrews tells us Jesus learned in His sufferings here on earth. This is the work of grace in the heart which God promises to all those who believe in Jesus Christ.
The good news is Psalm 37:28 For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
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Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have not left us as orphans, but that You have given us Your Spirit within us to comfort and strengthen us when the going gets rough. I thank You that You have given us a Great High Priest, Jesus, who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, having suffered in all things, except sin, as we do. I thank You for Your great and awesome power over men's hearts. Lord, I pray that You Yourself, by the living Spirit of Jesus Christ within us, will give our spirits the resurrection victory of Lazarus, even in the midst of our sufferings and sorrows. Thank You, O Lord, for Your promise to keep us. Keep us, O Lord, for Your glory, and bring us into Your eternal habitation with shouts of triumph and joy. Bring spiritual revival into our hearts, even this day, O Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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