A Future Glory for You
February 18, 2022
A Future Glory for You
By Brooke Holt
“For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.” - 1 Corinthians 15:39-41
You are made in God’s image, and as his redeemed son or daughter, you reflect his glory to this world. There is inherent glory in our current bodies but an even greater glory to be realized. Ponder this truth for a few minutes. You are the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 3:16). God’s glory dwells within you and shines through you. The reason you crave glory at the core of your being is because you were made for glory.
Paul continued his writing on the promise of bodily resurrection by considering the variety of God’s creation and then the various degrees of glory. While the sun and the moon have different kinds of glory, so there will be a different glory for your resurrected body than in your current body, “the glory of the heavenly [body] is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another” (v. 40). Both are glorious, yet Paul longed to stir up a longing for that future glory.
The glory of these earthly temples are just shadows of what is to come. In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis anticipates this future glory: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” While we experience and enjoy the glory of God in our earthly existence, there is deep sense within us that there is more—more glory, joy, restoration, hope, fulfillment. And there is! There is a future glory awaiting you that so far surpasses anything that you could imagine. That is the future glory of your resurrected body. And it is not just the physical aspects of your body that will be fully renewed and restored but your mind, heart, and spirit. You will be complete.
That longing within you is good; it is God-given. The Lord invites you to keep seeking him, pursuing him, living in union with him here while you also anticipate the glory that is ahead of you. This life is simply a foretaste of what is to come!
Reflection:
Have you considered that your longings are a gift to remind you of the future glory that awaits you? What does the Lord want you to know and anticipate about your future glory? How does that anticipation equip you to live more faithfully in your current glory today? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Related Resources:
Let's face it, the Christian life is hard. Relationships take work. Christians forget. Sometimes it is tempting to go back to the days when God was not the center of our lives - to backslide. We are all faced with tremendous pressures to drift away from intimacy with Jesus and the community of the Church. However, the Lord invites us to pay attention, to move forward, to draw near, and to live lives of worship. Draw Near: Hebrews on Christian Worship is a small group Bible study on the Book of Hebrews intended to lead participants into a deeper intimacy with the living God in the context of New Testament worship. Draw nearer to God in authentic worship today!
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