"Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.
Selah" (Ps. 87:3).
"But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable
hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church of the
firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of
all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." (Heb.
12:22,23).
"Unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ
Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever." (Eph. 3:21)
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed to us-ward. For the earnest expectation of the creation
waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation
was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of
him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall
be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of
the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now." (Rom. 8:18-22).
"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies
terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory
of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for
one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised
in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory:
it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a
natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a
natural body, there is also a spiritual body... Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you
a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must
put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"
(1 Cor. 15:40-44; 50-55).
"When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested,
then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory." (Col.
3:4).
"That he might present the church to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Eph.
5:27).
We have been engaged with glory in the church and in Christ
Jesus. In chapter five it was God’s initiations in glory.
Chapter six was glory in hidden operation. Now it is glory in
final manifestation. The passages which we have read all have to
do with that. It is a little difficult to know what passages to
use and what to leave out. There are many others that will have
occurred to you in this connection.
The Creation Subjected to Vanity
Now we have first of all to get down to this statement of the
apostle in Romans 8. He makes this statement that God, in a
sovereign act, at some point subjected the creation to vanity. “The
creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will”
(v. 20). God was working contrary to and against what the
creation wanted and desired, “not of its own will, but
by reason of him who subjected it, in hope...”. But the
statement is that God sovereignly acted to subject the creation
to vanity. The word ‘vanity’ as we in modern English
usage employ it, hardly conveys the meaning of the original word,
which would be more properly expressed in the word
‘disappointment’, and there is always an atmosphere
around a word like that in the original - not just the
disappointment, but it is the misery which accompanies the
disappointment. So it is disappointing misery that is really the
force of this word. God deliberately subjected the creation to
disappointing misery. It had a purpose in its existence. It
ceased to answer to that purpose, that appointment, which was to
express God’s nature, for it is in the expression of His
nature that the glory of God, is found. When God has what is just
according to the very essence of His being, what His very nature
and being must have, when He has that fully satisfied, that is
glory. And the creation ceased to move in accordance with its
appointment to express the nature of God for His satisfaction and
thus exist for His glory. So God imposed this embargo upon it,
and put disappointment in the place of appointment as an active
operative force right into the very creation, a force of
disappointment, appointment not only missed but impossible of
realization in its existing state.
Little argument is needed to prove that disappointment rests
upon this whole creation. The further the creation goes, the
larger the disappointment, the more acute, the more terrible and
the greater the misery. Is that true? I think we have enough
evidence of that. But the first thing, then, is this sovereign
act of God to bring the creation into that place of
disappointment and consequent misery.
A Work Going On in the Groaning
Creation
Then the second thing that the apostle says here is that there
is a work going on even in the groaning creation. First of all,
the creation itself “groans and travails”.
Then there is something to be brought forth, there is something
going on, something causing all the trouble, which is accountable
for this state of things. I do not think that we have fastened
sufficiently upon this, that the state of things in the creation,
in the world, which is so full of anguish, disappointment and
misery indicates that there is something coming. Those very
groanings and travailings are prophecies that something is
coming. “The whole creation groans and travails.”
“We Ourselves Groan”
And then the apostle says with that “ourselves also,
who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves.” “The first-fruits of the
Spirit”; this is another kind of groaning, this is the
groaning inside the inside of creation. The creation is not
groaning in the same sense as we are groaning. The creation is
not groaning unto that for which we are groaning. It has not the
first-fruits of the Spirit. We have. What are these first-fruits
of the Spirit? Well, the very chapter from which these words are
taken indicates what the first-fruits of the Spirit are.
The First-fruits of the Spirit
“...The Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man
has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (v.
9). Well, we have the first-fruits of the Spirit; firstly, the
Spirit dwells with us. Then “as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (v. 14).
First-fruits of the Spirit - those in whom the Spirit dwells are
being led by the Spirit. Then “the Spirit himself bears
witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
with Him” (vv. 16,17). The Spirit bears witness that we
are children of God. First-fruits of the Spirit - indwelling,
leading, bearing witness. We, who have those first-fruits find
ourselves by those very things, by the very indwelling of the
Spirit, the leading of the Spirit, the witness of the Spirit that
we are children of God; by those very things we find ourselves
groaning. What for? We have the first-fruits of the Spirit. They
are not all the fruits of the Spirit. They are only a kind of
indication of something more, something fuller, something larger,
and, by the operation of the Spirit in us, a divine discontent
with our spiritual state is produced; or, to put it the other
way, a divine longing and craving for something more is created.
First-fruits point to the full harvest and indicate that there is
much more to be. What is it? Well, the first-fruits point to the
end of the Spirit’s work - “that we may be...
glorified with Him”.
Now the apostle turns over to the creation itself, and says
that the whole creation is in a state of dependence on what is
going on by the operation of the Spirit in us. “The
creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God”
(v.19). The creation groans and travails, waiting for the
revealing of the sons of God, waiting until the Spirit has done
His work and brought forth something glorious in terms of sonship
to the satisfaction of God.
The Creation to be Delivered from Bondage
And when God has got that out of the creation, the apostle
then follows on and says, “the creation itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
liberty of the glory of the children of God”, the glory
and the liberty, the release, of the sons of God. Bondage in the
creation, bondage in us all, pointing towards a glorious
manifestation, a manifestation in glory, and then, when the
creation’s appointment shall be realized, the whole creation
shall be delivered, God will have got His end. “The
earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of
the sons of God.” A very strong word is used there:
“Earnest expectation” - it is a picture of someone
poised, outstretched, looking forward, looking on, scanning the
horizon as though everything depended upon what will appear
there. The eyes, attention, the whole being focused upon that
horizon, looking for that appearing, that something that is
coming, and the apostle uses that very word picture and says that
the creation is like that - earnest expectation, poised,
stretched out, focused, looking for the manifestation of the sons
of God, because its very release and liberation depends upon that
manifestation.
The Manifestation of Glory
Thus we are led to the manifestation itself, the manifestation
of glory ultimately and finally. But pause a moment with the word
‘manifestation’. It is not the creation of the glory,
it is the manifestation. That is, something is already going on,
something exists already, something is already at work. That
takes us back to the previous chapter - the mighty work of grace,
glory in terms of grace. “Unto the glory of His
grace”. A work is going on by the Spirit inside of us,
changing us, transforming us, making us to partake of
Christ’s likeness, His divine nature, and to express it
under trial, affliction, adversity, suffering - yes, all that
grace in terms of glory and glory in terms of grace, that is
going on. The glory exists in a hidden way. Every victory of the
grace of God in us is to His glory, His glory in essence going on
in us. And then what is hidden, has been going on secretly, all
that formation of the Spirit, all that transformation of the
Spirit, all that deep work of the Spirit, all that constituted
after Christ by the Spirit comes to full manifestation, the
manifestation in glory.
When the Manifestation will be
When will that be? Well, if it is glory in the church, if it
is the elect, foreknown, chosen in Christ, foreordained, if it is
those sons whom He chose in Christ before the world was, the
manifestation of the glory must await and synchronize with the
completing of the number of the elect, the bringing in of the
last member of that church. It is in relation to that that the
coming of Christ is said to stand. There is such a thing as
cooperating with the manifestation. There is such a thing as
hastening unto that day. While, of course, that is a matter of
our own spiritual progress, it is also very definitely a matter
of our cooperation with the Holy Spirit to get the number of the
elect made up. God only knows who they are, we do not; hence the
need for being led of the Spirit, as Philip was led to the desert
to find one man, a very strategic man. You might decide to go
somewhere and have a whole crowd, and because it is out of time
or for some other reason, you might not get one of the elect in
your efforts. If the Holy Spirit really leads you, you may always
be sure that He is after the elect. He knows where the elect are.
But, details for the moment aside, the point is, herein lies the
call and the urgency for being about this business of the Spirit,
with Him finding the elect, and making up its number, for the
glory waits for that, the manifestation of the sons.
I think there is very much more in that phrase, “the
manifestation of the sons”, than I have indicated. I am
trying to be very simple. The sons were all known and chosen
before the world was, but He never told us who they are, He never
told anybody who they are. He only knows. It is God’s
secret, He knows who comprise His church. Those who comprise His
church are not the only ones who are going to be saved
eventually, but He alone knows who they are. But when the
manifestation comes, it will be a disclosure of what He has known
all along. From all eternity He has known His secret, His elect,
His chosen, and they will be manifested. Of course, that involves
many difficult matters.
To keep to our simple point that, in the first place, the
manifestation of the sons awaits the securing of the sons. There
should be a sense of serious responsibility that, so far as we
are concerned, we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in getting in
the last member of the elect. We should be reaching out if
perhaps one chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world
might be within the compass of the Holy Spirit’s operations
through us. There should be laid upon our hearts a new impetus
for reaching out to the unsaved, to those who are not yet
gathered in, not just to have people saved from hell, but for the
satisfaction of God and bringing about the release of the
creation by the manifestation of those sons.
In the next place, the manifestation of the sons will be when
the work of grace is completed in us. I like to think of the
church as a whole in this connection. I do not know what you are
going to say to my doctrine now. I am going to get myself into
trouble, I think. However, I will risk it. I cannot take all the
suffering that there is and all the adversity and all the trial,
therefore I cannot swallow up all the grace of God. But you may
suffer with me, we may share it, and you may add something to me
by your suffering, and I may add something to you, and we may all
be adding something to one another by our mutual sufferings. Oh
brother, you are suffering, but you are not suffering alone. You
are suffering for my good, I am suffering for your good, and you
are going to share in my sufferings and I in yours to make up the
sum of the perfecting, not only of individuals but of individuals
as parts of a whole. It is the church that is going to be
perfected. I need your sufferings to help mine. I need your grace
in suffering to go with mine, and you need mine. It is the church
that has to come to perfection, and no one member can have all
the glory, therefore no one member can have all the suffering. It
is a mutuality, a partnership in suffering, a togetherness, so
that it shall be a togetherness in glory. We shall be together
glorified. It is the perfecting of grace in the church. Oh, what
a lot I would have to go through if all the grace of God was
going to be perfect in me as an individual. I could not stand up
to it. It is far too big a requirement to say that God’s
grace is going to be exhausted in me. Oh, how great His grace is!
It would cost too much for me to know it all. We are altogether
in this, we are dividing this between us, the perfecting of grace
in the Body, in a company that satisfies God.
May that not be the explanation of the intensifying
tribulations at the end? Why should tribulations intensify and
increase at the end? Why should those terrible things be found in
the book of the Revelation about the enemy overcoming the saints
for a time? But that is not the end. Yes, the end sees much
tribulation, increasing tribulation, but increasing grace,
increasing triumph, increasing glory. And so the glory will be
manifested when there is a sufficient number of the elect, if I
may put it that way, knowing the grace of God to the most perfect
measure possible.
The Glory of His Appearing
Then, of course, the event. I do not believe that the
Lord’s coming is just some isolated and unrelated incident,
something just as an event in a divine programme. It is bound up
with the very things that we have been saying. The Lord’s
coming does depend upon the elect being completed. It does depend
upon a work of grace having been done which makes it possible for
glory to be manifested because it is a ground that can be
glorified. Glory is not going to be willy-nilly. It makes its
demands. But then the Lord’s coming is a coming. It is the
coming of the Lord, and we find so much about the glory connected
with His appearing.
And you notice the coming of the Lord has two aspects. The
first is His appearing. It is an appearing in glory. He Himself
raised the question: What if ye shall see the Son of Man coming
in the glory of His Father with His angels? Glory in His
appearing.
Glory in Rapture
But the other side here is glory in rapture. His appearing is
one side; our being raptured at His appearing is the other side. “Behold,
I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed” (1 Cor. 15:51), whether we are here or raised.
That is rapture at His appearing, and then within the appearing
are all those other blessed consummations. It is a consummation
of the consummations. That wonderful passage we read from 1
Corinthians 15 - the glories in resurrection. “One glory
of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of
the stars... so also is the resurrection of the dead.”
This resurrection is glory, and the apostle there focuses it,
upon the body, of course, and I for one do not mind that. But “glorious
things are spoken of thee, O city of God”, and one of
the glories is a very welcome glory, this corruption putting on
incorruption, this mortal putting on immortality; this natural
body going, this soulical body going and that spiritual body
coming. I like the apostle’s phrase about that in another
place: “We have a building from God, a house not made
with hands” (2 Cor. 5:1). You cannot make a spiritual
thing with hands, and you cannot therefore tear a spiritual thing
to pieces with hands. It is “eternal, in the
heavens”, “not made with hands”. It is one of
the glories of His appearing and of our being changed, that all
that we know now in the body of affliction and suffering and
weakness and limitation, all that comes to us by way of this
broken-down humanity, will pass out at His appearing, and that
body of glory will come, which will have none of this. “Death
is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54). We have
often quoted those words, “Thanks be to God, who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor.
15:57) as though that applies to our spiritual life here and now.
Well, all right, use it as you like, but in the actual usage, it
does not apply to our spiritual life. It applies to our bodies. “Thanks
be to God, who gives us the victory” over death in our
bodies at His appearing. Victory over death. Oh, death works in
these mortal frames. What it brings upon us of suffering and
limitation! How we groan to overcome all these workings of death.
The apostle says, “O death, where is thy victory? O
death, where is thy sting?” We are raised now
incorruptible! Thanks be unto God Who gives us the victory! It is
bodily victory that is referred to.
We could dwell upon these things much longer but we will not.
We simply bring into view that “glorious things are
spoken of thee, O city of God”, and these are some of
the glories. The end is glory. God is going to conform everything
to His beginnings. He began in glory. The day we came to know the
Lord, glory broke out within us. The glory has passed into
secret, hidden working in terms of grace through the years of our
Christian life. It is going to break out again, not as in its
original limitation, but in its final fulness, all the work of
grace completed and glory fully manifested at last.
Let us finish with one inclusive thought: we are called unto
glory. What is your trouble just now? What is the matter with us?
We think it is going to be anything but glory. What miserable
things we are, how frequently we show weaknesses and failures and
all that! We are called unto glory and we will never come unto
glory because we have virtues and values of our own. It will be
through His grace, and I believe that - if I may put it this way
- the people who will have the greatest measure of glory in the
end will be those who needed the greatest measure of grace, and
knew it. There is hope for us then, if that is true. Let us hold
on to that and believe it. The end is glory. God has fixed it to
be so.