Future Glory and Present Evil

Communion Meditation

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18

The sufferings of this present time are real.

Evil is real. Sin has devastated God’s original design.  Sin has wounded you.  Evil has been visited upon you. Your sin and evil have spilled unto others as well.  Pain, suffering, injustice are real and they are weighty.

They are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. I have done a quick review of my own life.  I have experienced more of the evil than I have of the glory.  The present suffering is tangible, I can touch and feel it.  The glory to come is distant; I do not fully experience nor understand it.  When I compare them, the evil seems larger, more substantial – it is real.  

Why is that? Because I do not rightly value the glory. It is a future glory; a glory that is yet to be revealed.  It is a promised glory. But I begin to see that glory is Jesus Christ. In the suffering and the victory of Jesus Christ. I see it at the cross.  He swallowed death, and sin and evil. He has overcome it.  That is the glory. 

The glory of God is the answer to the problem of evil; but many do not see it, because we do not see him.

In the cross, we see evil overcome.  In the cross, we see the love of God and the painful victory of the weeping savior.  We see the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Paul considered that the sufferings of this present age are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  How did he do that? By faith.  Faith in the promises of God.  Faith in the victorious Christ. Faith in the glory that will be revealed to us.

That is the faith that we come to the table with.  If you have no faith, you have not seen the glory and none of this makes sense.  Don’t come to this table. 

If you have faith, even weak faith, you can see something of God, and something of the glory of Christ; you must come to this table for more.

Evil is real; God has overcome it. And God is dismantling it even now.  Glory is coming.