A favourite passage (of many, including yours truly) in Scripture through which the hope of glory threads as a main theme is Romans 8.
About Romans 8...
Romans 8 is said to be the grand finale within a section of the Epistle (chapters 5-8) in which the Gospel is confirmed to be the "power of God for salvation to everyone who believes". Of note, the Apostle Paul was familiar with suffering, having suffered intensely in his service to God. Historical and socio-cultural studies show that suffering was also a regular way of life for the Roman Church to whom this Epistle was directed. While "suffering" is not really the main theme of the Book of Romans, it forms the backdrop and takes centre-stage occasionally. It is therefore not surprising that Romans 8 should honour suffering as an important participant of the prior chapters. In fact, Romans 8 presents suffering as an indispensable element of the Christian life, indicating that suffering and glory are inseparable.
Basically, through Adam's sin, suffering came into the world.
But God sent us a Saviour.
Despite having believed in the Saviour, believers will still suffer the consequences of Adam's sin.
Now what?
Romans 8:18-30 reveals that suffering will not cease... but only until our full heavenly glory has been obtained.
So there is a difference between the sufferings of a believer and that of a non-believer.
The difference is the context in which such sufferings take place. A believer no longer suffers alone but with God. He suffers while the requirement of the Law is being fulfilled in him/her by the power of the Holy Spirit (8:4); while being indwelled by the Spirit of life (8:9-10); and with the hope of glorification alongside Christ beyond bodily death, confirmed by the witness of the Spirit of adoption (8:11, 16-17).
In other words, the hope of glory possessed by one who lives by the Spirit transforms such sufferings from vain to meaningful. From disgraceful to purposeful.
Furthermore, suffering ceases to be an end in itself. Rather, it becomes the necessary way to glory for God's sons and daughters (8:17).
We have a problem here though.... Does this mean that the more one participates or relates to Christ's sufferings, the more glory one is entitled to share at the end? After all, the distribution and degree of suffering across humanity appear to be entirely random; wouldn't it be unfair for Christians who have been subjected to less or comparably bearable sufferings, with regard to glorification? This must have been the argument of the ascetics among the early Church, who saw suffering to be something sought for themselves.
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How exactly then does our suffering prepare us for that glory?
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Secondly, suffering relates Christians to the whole Creation as well as God Himself through groans (8:19-22, 26). Of note, Paul mentions three kind of groans - Creation, sons, Spirit - in an order that escalates tension in his readers as the scope of dominion widens. While it is true that only the Spirit's groans have a purpose (divine intercession) - obviously the rest of the groans are travailing ones - it would be too narrow a view to see the Spirit's groans as entirely different from the other groans pertaining to its nature, as some commentators suggest. As intercession requires one to identify with, and thus, plead on behalf of another, the Spirit's groans may be much closer in nature to the groans of a travailing Creation and humanity than we think. In light of this view, perhaps then, the Spirit's groans should be seen as God uniting Himself with His sons (and daughters) to hope while He acts. God groans and hopes with us.
Thirdly, suffering assures Christians of the glory to come when God makes all things work together for the good of those who are to be glorified (8:28). Witnessing God's miraculous work in our otherwise hopeless circumstances confirms to us that our hope is not in vain.
I like how the late John Stott, who uses the word "sanctification" to describe the above processes, sees suffering as God-intended means of grace while we await glory. And so, in short, suffering = God's grace to Christians while we wait. Suffering provides us the spiritual evidences that form the bases of our assurance. Suffering actually keeps us from falling away, if we truly embrace it as God's grace to us.
One part of Romans 8 seems to contradict this if read on its own though: 8:1-4 implies that it was the law of sin and death that rendered humanity incapable of glorifying God because they could not fulfill the righteous requirement of the Law; humanity therefore fell under God's condemnation which resulted in the universality and inescapability of death (cf. Rom 5:12) - as well as the suffering that followed the growing moral and social depravities that God gave humanity over to (cf. Rom 1:18-32). Suffering increased where God's glory lacked. Since there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (8:1) - i.e. those who are now able to glorify God through the power of the Spirit - shouldn't suffering cease for Christians as well? It is no wonder that many Christians today join the chorus of those whose penchant for the prosperity gospel causes them to abhor suffering as the fruit of faithlessness. Romans 8:1-39 has to be interpreted as a whole.
Suffering is meant to be part of the right side up - while we are in the now-but-not-yet. Christ has died. Christ is risen. And Christ will come again.
May we contemplate on and wait for Christ's return with greater anticipation than ever this Advent.
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