Eternal Glory

Eternal glory is our blessed hope, the hope of all who put their faith in God. We believe that we will live eternally with Jesus in a new heaven and earth, where Jesus has prepared a place for us. Our citizenship is in heaven, and the things of this earth are temporary, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” We will live in a kingdom of eternal peace and righteousness. There will be no more pain, or sorrow, or death. We will be conformed into the likeness of Christ, by none other than Jesus Himself. We eagerly await His coming. Why? So that our lowly bodies can be transformed into conformity with His glorious body (Phil 3:20-21).

The rapture is not our blessed hope. The rapture is merely the means by which the saints still living at the return of Jesus can transition into the eternal kingdom. We must ask ourselves, then, where is our hope focused? Is our hope set on being raptured so that we might escape the horrific judgment of God in a period of time we have labeled the Great Tribulation? Is escape from suffering and turmoil our hope, or is our hope properly focused on eternal glory? Let’s be honest, what’s the biggest concern most Christians want answered when it comes to prophecy? It’s the issue of pre-tribulation rapture. They want to know if they escape the beasts and the dragons, the plagues and the judgments described in Revelation.

In several of the scripture passages that address the hope of eternal glory it is set in contrast to, or in succession to our current sufferings. Paul wrote, “our momentary affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor 4:17). Afflictions may become incredibly heavy in the days ahead, but eternal glory far outweighs them. Peter wrote, “after you have suffered a little while” the God of all grace will fulfill His calling and bring us into his eternal glory (I Pet 5:10). Paul also wrote, our present sufferings are not worth “comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18). I am afraid, though, that Christians in America today are taught to put their hope in escaping before tribulation arrives, rather than being rescued out of tribulation. This results in a shallow faith that enjoys a consumptive lifestyle in these last days. Rather than expecting a refining fire that will produce vessels of righteousness 

Christians in America do not expect the least bit of suffering before the rapture occurs. We will blissfully enjoy the blessings of living in America until the day Jesus calls us upward. Then, and only then, the Day of the Lord can ensue, after we are gone. But that view of the end times will lead to great despair for many. Because their hope is misplaced, focused on escape rather that eternal glory, they will not stand strong in faith, hope, and endurance. They will think that tribulation, trouble, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword have indeed separated them from the love of God (compare Rom 8:37). His promises are hollow and his faithfulness has failed them.

Tribulation leads to righteousness. And God wants a righteous bride for His Son. The day of the Lord begins with judgment. It is not just all the other people, all those “wicked” people left behind who will be judged. No, in fact, perhaps the beginning of judgment in the last days begins with America. America is the little horn of Daniel 7, the nation that is utterly destroyed (Dan 7:11). And America is the seventh beast of Revelation 13 and 17, the one that the eighth beast (a ten nation Arab alliance) hates and burns with fire (Rev 17:16). Truth and justice have been trampled underfoot in America. This country that we think is so blessed will be exposed as a great harlot, Babylon the Great. She will be burned and destroyed -- death, mourning, and famine will sweep over her (Rev 18:8). But America glorifies herself and lives luxuriously, and believes that she will never see mourning – Christians included (Rev 18:7).

This tribulation will be great, and it will happen before the return of Christ, before the saints are caught up with the dead in Christ to enter into eternal glory. But we need not fear the judgment of God, for He will protect those who are His own. The seal upon us is the hope that burns in our hearts, the hope of eternal glory.