By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2
Some of the expressions in our text are very familiar to us, and are very precious to us. We know about accessing God by faith. And we are familiar with the grace wherein we stand. But there is another impressive expression here that we may be less knowledgeable about: the hope of the glory of God. It sounds very special, and so it is. Let’s look at it more closely.
The first thing to notice is the greatness of the glory of God. It stands in stark contrast to the fleeting and tiny glory of man, as presented in 1 Peter 1:24-25: ‘For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever’. Although the glory of God is seen in His acts of creation, it is the more precious to us when seen in His acts of redemption: ‘Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father’ – Romans 6:4. Apart from the resurrection, we would be without any access to the glory of God. But the resurrection has opened the floodgate to God’s blessings, including the revelation to us of The glory. The riches of His glory will take eternity to unfold to His redeemed.
Our text refers to the hope of the glory of God. What a sure hope this is! Apart from death, taxes, and spam, there is nothing sure in this world. The most powerful of men have all sickened and died. The greatest of empires have crumbled into dust. The most ambitious of plans have been blasted by flaws. We can count on nothing as absolute in this life. But we can count on everything as absolute when it comes to God’s provision for His own, including the revelation of His glory to us forever. The certainty of the glory of God can fill us with purpose for today and eager anticipation for tomorrow and beyond.
Our text speaks of rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. We need not wait until we see that glory to begin our rejoicing, but we can rejoice today because of the surety of that hope. -Jim MacIntosh