Teaching the Broader Gospel: Glorification
Editor’s Intro: This is the second installment in a month-long series about Teaching the Broader Gospel and will trace the gospel-thread from Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Glorification. If you’re not familiar with YPT’s emphasis on the “Narrow and Broad Gospel” please read the linked article.
Just as we have seen through examining the broader gospel in previous articles, glorification also uniquely teaches us about the God we worship. Specifically, it allows our students to understand the future glory to be revealed in Christ: what is it that God promises to those who trust Him in faith? The great arc of Scripture ends similarly to how it began: with God, His creation, and shalom. But this is not merely a story of returning to the way things once were. It is not mere repetition of Eden, but re-creation, where God’s glory is promised to be known in an even greater way than what came before.
This means our gospel presentations should include an understanding of what is still to come in God’s plan for the world. Specifically, we can help our students see the importance of living with the end in mind by showing them the culmination of the power, promise, and presence of God in glorification.
Glorification is by the Power of God
Paul writes on this subject of the eventual glorification of believers in 1 Corinthians 15, and the recurring idea is on a change of nature. The natural becomes spiritual. The perishable becomes imperishable. The one from earth becomes one from heaven. And this is all possible because of Jesus’s perfect life, death, and resurrection; they secure the possibility of glorification for those who trust in Him. He is the foreshadowing of what redeemed humans will become like. As Athanasius put it, “The Son of God became a man so that men might become sons of God.”
Glorification is the transformation of humans into the “image of the man of heaven,” moving them from fallen image-bearers to ones marked by the glory of God. As John records in Revelation 5, the Lamb who was slain has redeemed this people by His blood. The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes,” and that is foundational to understanding glorification. Christ’s work embodies for believers what future awaits them: just as He died, rose, and ascended; so will we, because we are united with Him by the power of the Spirit within us. Our new nature in Christ is the power that secures our inheritance with Him.
Glorification is through the Promise of God
In Revelation 21, John sees a glimpse of the New Jerusalem, where God finally makes a place and a people that coexist without the effects of sin. In this new “dwelling place of God and man”, there are callbacks to Old Testament covenant promises, but each is presented with a new and more glorious nature. This is a reminder that this is not a “new thing” God has made, but a fulfillment of God’s promises: that He would choose a people, make them a place, and build a kingdom that He would dwell with them in.
In the New Jerusalem, there is a new garden as in Gen. 1-2. It is complete with walls and gates to remind us of Israel’s kingdom under David and Solomon. There are references to numerous kinds of jewels and inscriptions of the tribes of Israel, reminding us of the Temple.
However, each of these past dwelling places were corruptable. None of them could ensure the relationship that God desires to share with His people. Sin could and would become a barrier in them all. In Eden, there were flaming swords and cherubim. In the Temple, there were curtains and holy places. Even in the New Testament, Jesus dwelt among us (Jn 1:14), but it was in a temporary, veiled capacity. None of these were the fulfillment of the promises God had made. We still, as believers in Christ, are trusting in those same promises, that we will be raised to life, changed from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18) to be God’s people, who will be able to live in the place He has prepared for us, to serve in His kingdom without fear of being removed again.
Glorification is in the Presence of God
This is what the gospel is pointing us toward: experiencing God’s presence unfiltered. “To gaze at the beauty of the Lord and behold Him in His temple,” forever. In Rev. 21, there are a couple of unique statements that are made about being in God’s presence:
There are no effects of sin, ever.
No pain, weeping, death, sin, etc. Nothing unclean will ever be able to enter the new Jerusalem. There is a permanence to this place that even the original Eden could not offer: no possibility of corruption. The serpent will not strike again.
There is no sun or moon, just God.
The unfiltered glory of the Lord provides a radiance unlike any created thing. All of God’s creation will experience His glory directly, without fear, shame, or caution. The curse has been removed.
There are still nations and kingdoms.
Humans aren’t becoming angels, sitting on clouds with harps. They will become a kingdom of priests, who serve the Lord, cultivate the creation He has entrusted to them, stewarding their own abilities and capacities in such a way that the entire cosmos would perfectly reflect the glory of the Lord.
Gospel Applications from Glorification
I want to offer three ways the “broader” gospel in glorification affects the daily lives of our students.
Our Hope is Unshakable
Never stop reminding your students of the hope that Christ offers. We serve a Savior who died the death we deserved, to rescue us from the power of sin and Satan. And it is unshakable. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ, and we can find eternal hope today. As students learn to navigate hardships, wrestle with sin, and seek to move forward in their faith, we should assure them that Christ is enough – not merely to save, but to keep them!
Our Promises are Immovable
Not only is there eternal security in Christ, there are promises attached to His work. Not merely personal salvation, but cosmic re-creation: all things will be made new! This means justice for all crimes. Healing from all diseases and hurts. Punishment upon all evil and those who refuse to turn from it. All of the problems in our world will one day be removed. What Christ promises to believers is far more than we can imagine, and that is continually be at the forefront of our teaching.
Our Purpose is Continual
We not only have a new nature in Christ, we have a new purpose: living as a kingdom of priests. We know our ultimate home is still to come, but we are called to live holy lives today, as ambassadors for a divine and eternal kingdom; to be both in the world and looking beyond it. How we teach our students about Christian living, spiritual disciplines, and evangelism should emphasize that their purpose begins now, and it will continue into glory.
