REVISITING THE BELIEVER'S POSITIONAL RICHES IN CHRIST

Part XXXI: Applying The Truth That Believers Are Positionally Glorified

 

I.               Introduction

A.    We believers in Christ still live in mortal bodies, for the redemption of the body that occurs at the rapture is still future (Romans 8:20-23), and suffering the effects of mortality can leave us despondent right now.

B.    However, applying one of the 33 positional truths we possess in Christ equips us to handle such suffering well, and considering what God is doing in the current experience of our mortal sufferings that are enhanced by the opposition we face from Satan and the world besides this positional truth gives us even greater joy.  That truth is that we are glorified in Christ when we trust in Him (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. III, "Soteriology," p. 264), and our joy is enhanced when we consider the great glory God is adding if we properly handle the added, unjust sufferings we experience in being opposed by Satan and the world: 

II.            Applying The Truth That Believers Are Positionally Glorified.

A.    Positionally, the believer is glorified in Christ, so he will experientially share in Christ's great glory in eternity:

1.      Once one trusts in Christ for salvation, he is so spiritually positioned in Christ that God the Father views that believer as already having been seated at His right hand in Christ, Ephesians 2:4-6; Romans 8:30.

2.      Since the believer currently possesses Christ's glory in his spiritual position in heaven, he will one day experientially share in the glory of his Savior, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 1 John 3:2.

3.      The glory to be revealed is so great, it is not worthy to be compared to the suffering of the Adamic curse that the believer is experiencing in his current mortal life, Romans 8:18, 19-23.

B.    Yet, beyond focusing on our future glory opposite our current subjection to Adam's curse, we can rejoice far more in noting how God can produce much more glory by the enhanced effects of unjust sin we face:

1.      Besides suffering the Adamic curse, we believers face added, unjust sufferings in being opposed by the world and Satan (2 Cor. 4:7-10), and God can use these sufferings to boost the glory to be revealed in us:

                         a.        First, God meets our needs as we trust Him in facing Satan's and the world's opposition, 2 Cor. 4:7-10.

                         b.        Then, as we believers witness God experientially support us in reward for that faith under added, unjust sufferings, we can appreciate God more and we are matured more so that the resulting glory in us is even less worthy to be compared to the added, unjust sufferings we face than the glory He will produce in us in contrast to our suffering from the Adamic curse, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

2.      Thus, we believers can face all our mortal sufferings -- both those caused by subjection to the Adamic curse and the added, unjust sufferings we face from opposition from Satan and the world -- with great joy:

                         a.        Paul's added, unjust sufferings from Satan and the world did not crush him, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9:

                                       i.           Paul's being afflicted by added, unjust sufferings, did not crush him, 2 Corinthians 4:8a ESV.

                                     ii.           Paul's being perplexed by added, unjust sufferings did not drive him to despair, 2 Cor. 4:8b ESV.

                                   iii.           Paul's being persecuted by added, unjust sufferings, did not leave him forsaken, 2 Cor. 4:9a ESV.

                                   iv.           Paul's being struck down by added, unjust sufferings, did not destroy him, 2 Corinthians 4:9b ESV.

                         b.        The reason Paul was not crushed by added, unjust sufferings arose from his focus on God's work in him:

                                       i.           Paul and other believers could see God's power sustaining him as he trusted God in his added, unjust trials, so all who witnessed this fact were impressed by God, glorifying Him, 2 Cor. 4:7-10.

                                     ii.           In the end, Paul's added, unjust trials were even less worthy to be compared to the glory God gained through him in this program than what would occur in the coming victory over the Adamic curse for Paul, for it led to far more maturity in Paul and in onlooking believers to God's glory than in the case of Paul's mere victory over the Adamic curse, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

 

Lesson: We can offset the lure to be depressed by the trials we face in this life by focusing on the fact that (1) we will experience Christ's glory over the Adamic curse when our position in Him is applied to our experience in eternity, but especially by realizing that (2) God is building far more glory in us through His help when we face added, unjust sufferings to what opposition we face from Satan and the world, and we respond by trusting in God!

 

Application: (1) May we hope for the glory of Christ that we will share with Him at the rapture in victory over the Adamic curse.  (2) However, may we rejoice even more in realizing that God is using even what added, unjust sufferings we face in this life from opposition from Satan and the world to enhance His glory to be revealed in us in eternity, and that when we trust Him for handling such sufferings, all to the glory of God's infinite grace!