Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 5 & 6; Romans 5; Jeremiah 43; Psalm 19
Romans 5:2-5 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
God created man in his own image. The glory of God was reflected from the lives Adam and Eve. However, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they fell from the glory that they had.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
The glorious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that because of the atoning death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be redeemed from our lost condition and we can rejoice in the fact that we will be restored to the glory that God wants for us to have. We have access to God through faith because of the grace that God has given us in Christ. This is the hope that a follower of Jesus lives in day by day. We have a hope that no matter how difficult things get here, someday we will be glorified with Jesus!
Now the Bible says we 'glory' in tribulations. The word translated 'glory' here is the same Greek word translated 'rejoice' in the verse before it. Can you really say that you glory or rejoice in tribulations? That one seems difficult unless we see what tribulation does in the life of a believer. There is a chain here that God's word places before us. It has five links that are tied together.
Tribulation is the first link in the chain. These are difficult circumstances that come our way. The Bible says because we know these links are tied together, we can actually rejoice in tribulations. They lead to the second link which is patience. When difficult and trying times come to us we grow in patience. We realize that as followers of Jesus we are not glorified yet in heaven with Christ and so we must patiently wait. We are in a fallen world that is NOT the way God wants it to be. That patience leads to experience. This is the experience that our faith is genuine because it stands the test of the trials.
1 Peter 1:6-7 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
The fourth link in the chain is hope. Because our faith is genuine, we have hope that what God has said about a world without sin is coming. This leads to the last link which is love. The Holy Ghost has given us love in our hearts so that we can respond in a Christ-like manner when tribulation comes. Maybe we should look at tribulation through the eyes of faith and see that it leads us to love as Christ did!
In Christ,
Rody
