Week 11 - Tuesday

The Hope Of Glory

and we exult in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2b)

If you have truly received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your salvation is secure. That means it is guaranteed forever. It isn't secure because you chose to put your faith in Christ or because of anything you ever did or will do. Your faith doesn’t have any power to save you. It doesn't have the power to keep you saved either. Your salvation is secured by what God has done for you and by what He continues to do for you. There are three time aspects regarding what God does for you in salvation, (1) what He has done for you in the past, (2) what He is doing for you in the present, and (3) what He will do for you in the future. In the past Christ’s sacrifice made peace with God for you by paying the penalty for your sins (Rom. 5:1). In the present, the reason you continue to stand in God’s grace is because Jesus is constantly making intercession for you (Rom. 5:2a). His death not only paid the penalty for the sins you had already committed when you were saved, but it keeps on paying for every sin you will ever commit. Not only will you never be condemned for your sins, but in the future you will share in the glory of God.

The word exult is from the Greek word kauchaomai which means to rejoice. If you are a Christian, you have good reason to rejoice. The Bible says that every single person God saves, will share in His glory forever. Once God begins to save a person, He sees it through to completion (Phil. 1:6). When you get to heaven, not only will you see God in all of His glory but you will actually be a part of that glory yourself. However you don't have to wait to get to heaven to share in God's glory, God's plan for your glorification starts right here in this life. One of God's reasons for saving you is to make you like Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, all Christians are being changed to be like Jesus. There are times when it might not seem so. Your progress may seem to be slow or even go backwards at times. But little by little you are being made to be more like Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18). What you are now is only a shadow of what you are going to be like when you will finally see Jesus face to face in heaven. On that day your glorification will be instantly completed and you will be like Him.

God has promised that everyone He saves will share in His glory forever. Knowing this should cause you to rejoice. Does thinking about this make you rejoice? If so, that rejoicing has been produced in you by the Holy Spirit and this is even more proof that your salvation is secure.

Readings for today: Rom. 8:28-30; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2-3; Col. 1:27