No Stone Unturned- Justification and Glorification

Jesus has done an amazing work in those of us that He calls children of the light. He has been our penal substitution... He paid for what we deserve. Then also He has been our righteousness... He provides for us a holiness that we don't possess on our own. But in doing these things you must realize the cost.

When Jesus puts His stamp of approval on us, when He seeks us out to forgive us and redeem us, He is not lax in His dealings with you. Let me show you a string of thoughts from the apostle Paul about how God deals with us. "Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30) And I commend the whole chapter of Romans to you. Paul is saying that when you are adopted into the kingdom. The moment you make a decision for Christ there is a string of events that is put into play. Calling... justification... glorification. Jesus is putting His name at stake when He calls you. So, instead of just allowing you to casually walk through life He relentlessly pursues you. He freely justifies you. Meaning that by faith in Him you are vindicated and redeemed before God. You will stand before the Judge of Judges and plead Jesus. Jesus is your lawyer/mediator and He counsels you that the only shot of freedom is to claim Himself as a substitute for you. He takes the heat. You go free. It costs Him dearly but magnifies your love for Him... Then it goes on to say in that He glorifies you. Meaning He promises those that He calls that they will not only be justified but also that they will be glorified. Interesting concept, here is my take on it; We are not equipped to be in the presence of God without glorification. Our present creaturely bodies would be incinerated if we somehow were able to stroll in to the presence of the Glory of God. We have to be transformed. We have to be made completely holy. Without sin. Without corruption. God promises to do that for us through Jesus. We are glorified by the righteousness of Christ and one day, " We will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye" our glorification will be made complete (1 Cor 15:51,52). We will be fitted to be in the presence of God.

How does this work for us now? Right now we are going through a process of sanctification. Again, in Romans it says, "we are predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son" (Romans 8:29). So while you are on the earth you are going through a process of transformation. Like a Caterpillar in a cocoon God is making you more like His Son, Jesus. He is transforming you into something you currently are not.

This is where it gets painful. Jesus when He gives you His name and promises you His inheritance it costs Him dearly and He is not lax about this gift giving. I am realizing recently that He relentlessly pursues our Sin. The Holy Spirit is given to convict the world of sin(John 16:8). Meaning that the Spirit is going through your life and turning over every stone to find the dark places of your life and expose them to the light. The transformation means that God is not pleased to leave any stone unturned. He wants to constantly expose new areas of your character and life that need transformation. It is a painful process because over and over again God finds you out and even breaks off portions of you that cannot remain. Like a potter finding inconsistencies in the clay and removing them... Or like a tree with dead branches, God prunes them.

The awesome part of this process is the fresh grace we experience. I am humiliated when my sin is exposed. I am ashamed that I call myself a Christian and still have so much sanctifying that needs to happen. But, every time I see an area that God is working on I am flooded by His grace. God knows your sin. And He still loves you. He knew every area of me that needed transforming (there are many... actually every area of my life before He began the process), and yet He was willing to die for me to make me His own. "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8b). So, as God is transforming you from one degree of glory to the next (2 Cor 3:18), let me give you a verse to be your staying power. In the cocoon it is dark. As stones are overturned it is humiliating. But Christ is changing you. And you are promised a future glorification and a current transformation. Here is a verse for while you are in the midst of that transforming process. 

Do not gloat over me my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness (Micah 7:8,9).