LESSON SIXTEEN
GLORIFICATION

Heb. 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in leading many sons into glory, to make the Author of their perfect through sufferings.

In God’s full salvation, we begin with regeneration and continue to experience and enjoy the rich life of Christ through renewing, sanctification, transformation, maturity, and conformation, and ultimately, unto glorification. To be glorified is to enter into God’s glory, to experience and enjoy, without measure and without limit, the infinite and eternal life of God in Christ.

GOD’S PURPOSE

In 1 Peter 5:10 we are told that God’s purpose in calling us in Christ Jesus and in giving us all grace is that we may enjoy His eternal glory. In eternity past He predestinated us according to His foreknowledge, and in time He called us and justified us that we may be glorified (Rom. 8:29-30).

GOD’S LEADING AND PERFECTING

Since God predestined that we should enjoy His own eternal glory, beginning from the day of our salvation, He leads us into His glory. As the Creator of all things, He orders and arranges all things, causing them to work for us (Rom. 8:28-30), that through them He may lead us into His glory. In 2 Cor. 4:17 we see that the affliction which we suffer today for being Christians, for following the Lord, and for witnessing for Him is momentary and light. Our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory. (Life Lessons, Vol. 4, ch. 12)

THE DEFINITION OF GLORIFICATION

Objectively, Glorification Is That the Redeemed Believers
Will Be brought into the Glory of God to Participate in the Glory of God

Objectively, glorification is that the redeemed believers will be brought into the glory of God to participate in the glory of God (Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:10). This is the objective definition of glorification. It seems that today the glory of God is far away in the heavens, and we, the redeemed ones, are here on the earth; there is a great distance separating the two. Sometimes we feel that we are very far away from the glory of God, but this kind of feeling is only partially accurate.

Subjectively, Glorification Is That the Matured Believers Will Manifest
from within Them, by Their Maturity in Life, the Glory of God as the Element of Their Maturity in Life

Subjectively, glorification is that the matured believers will manifest from within them, by their maturity in life, the glory of God as the element of their maturity in life (Rom. 8:17-18, 21; 2 Cor. 4:17). This is the subjective definition of glorification. We may use an example to illustrate subjective glorification. When a flower in the garden begins to grow, it is just a little green tender sprout. The more it grows, however, the more mature it becomes. Gradually flower buds begin to appear. If you continue to water the plant, it will grow more. After a while the plant will blossom. When the flowers are in full bloom, that is the glorification. The glory of the flowers does not come from without; rather, it grows out from within. Therefore, on the one hand, we have a hope of glory in that Christ is coming to glorify us. This is objective. On the other hand, we are being transformed into the image of the Lord. with glory upon glory, that is, from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). This is not glory descending on us; rather, it is glory growing out from within us. In springtime when all kinds of flowers are blooming, none of these beautiful flowers descend on the stems from the outside. Rather, they grow out from within the plant itself. If you are a lover of the Lord, and if you let the Lord live in you and you live by the Lord, then when people observe you, they will see the glory of God upon you. This glory is subjective and not objective.

Our entering into glory consists of these two aspects of glorification. Suppose you do not live by the Lord, and you do not live Christ. You simply do whatever you like, and in whatever you do, although big sins are rare, small sins are frequent. If you are such a Christian, you can freely lose your temper or give others an angry stare at home, and no one in the church is able to deal with you. If you are such a person, there is no glory of the Lord upon you, and there is no glory of God at all to be seen in you. Yet you say that when Christ comes, you will be glorified and you will enter into glory. Let me tell you this: Yes, you will enter into glory when Christ returns, but that glory will be only a tiny bit of glory.

Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 15:41 the apostle Paul said, “There is another glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.” How can the glory of the star be compared with the glory of the sun or of the moon? I am afraid that at the Lord’s coming, Paul’s glory will be great, and you will be just a tiny star that can hardly be seen. Will you be glorious there? You will not be glorious there in glory.

Today if you love the Lord, and you live out the Lord’s glory from within you, then at the Lord’s coming, He will place you in a glory of the highest degree. But if you still behave in your old way—staring at others angrily, gossiping, criticizing at will, and though rarely committing big sins, you are frequently committing small sins—do you think you will be as glorious as the apostle Paul when the Lord comes back? Glory is given by the Lord, hut the degree of glory must be established by you. There is also a class of people who are defeated and will not enter into glory. They will go into a darkness where they will be gnashing their teeth. (God’s Salvation in Life, pp. 63 – 66)

CHRIST BEING GLORIFIED AND MARVELED AT IN HIS SAINTS

Although we who believe into Christ have not yet entered into the glory which God predestined for us, we do have Christ in us as the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Today we enjoy Christ as our life. When He is manifested, we will be manifested with Him in His glory to enjoy His divine glory (3:4). That glory will free us from the slavery which the corrupted creation is under today. It is not only a glory which we desire to enjoy, but also a glory that the whole creation is eagerly expecting (Rom. 8:19-21). Today, that glory is the Christ who is in us, growing in us continually. When Christ comes, on the one hand, it is God who will lead us into that glory, and on the other hand, it is Christ who will permeate through us as the glory into which we will enter. This is Christ being glorified and marveled at in His saints (2 Thes. 1:9), that is, Christ being manifested from within His believers and upon His believers as glory and as their enjoyment (Life Lessons, Vol. 4, pp. 85-87).

References: Life Lessons, lsn. 48; God’s Salvation in Life, ch. 4; The Secret of God’s Organic Salvation: ‘The Spirit Himself with Our Spirit,’ ch. 5.