The Glory That Awaits

(To watch or listen to “The Glory That Awaits,” click here.)

The Bible speaks of the riches of our glorious inheritance. But what is the glorious inheritance that awaits us? Is it better than sitting on clouds, strumming harps, and singing non-stop for all of eternity?

Hi, everyone! Welcome to Session 11 of Discovering Good News in John.

Early in our study, we considered the promise of the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

The most famous verse in the Bible promises eternal life to those who believe in Jesus! By the way, the words “eternal life” occur 45 times in the New Testament, and 18 of those 45 occurrences are in the Gospel of John. I’ll quote one more, John 5:24:

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 5:24

Eternal life awaits us. But some fear that eternal life might be boring. That’s why we need Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:18. He prayed that Christians

…may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

Ephesians 1:18

Before we dive into the details of our glorious inheritance, let’s talk about something called the intermediate state.

The Intermediate State

As we saw in session 4, when we trust in Jesus Christ, God changes our hearts and makes us spiritually alive. That’s the first stage of eternal life. The second stage of eternal life happens when our physical bodies die and we enter the intermediate state. This is when the souls of those who belong to Jesus go to be in the presence of the Lord. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:6,8 explains that:

While we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord… and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6,8

Notice that Paul “would rather be” in the intermediate state than in the physical body he then had. The intermediate state is not something to fear.

In his book, Immortal, Clay Jones describes the shedding of the physical body like this:

What happens to you the moment your body dies? Notice I said the moment your body dies. I say this because the essential you, your soul—your consciousness, will absolutely positively not experience death. Remember, you’re not a body that has a soul, you’re a soul that has a body. Your body enables your soul to interact with the physical world. So even though your body dies, your soul will not be harmed. Jesus said some amazing things about death. In John 8:51 Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Notice the “truly, truly.” Jesus is telling us to listen up. He’s emphasizing that what he was going to say next are words you can count on. And he said, you “will never see death.” Now, of course, Jesus isn’t talking about the death of your body. Jesus wasn’t in denial. Your body will die. But the most essential you—your consciousness, your soul—will never die.

Clay Jones, Immortal, 203

Again, this is called the intermediate state. We will not yet be in our final state. But all the aches, pains, dementias, and diseases of our physical bodies will be gone.

Today, we’ll look at four facets of our glorious inheritance. We’ll look at them in the order in which we’ll experience them. It is in the intermediate state that we encounter the first facet of our glorious inheritance: Our spirits will be perfected.

1. Perfected

In our lives now, the Holy Spirit works to change us, but we can’t attain perfection. But once free of these physical bodies that are prone to chase the lusts of this world, we’ll be able to not sin. Indeed, in the intermediate state our spirits will no longer sin, for Hebrews 12:23 describes those currently in God’s presence as “the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”

But many Christians aren’t looking forward to being made perfect because perfection gets a bad rap. Images of nit-picking perfectionists or stern preachers come to mind. But that’s not what perfection is like. We’ll be made perfect like Jesus, who loved sinners and cared for the sick. He rebuked hypocrites and rejected manmade moral codes. He cried over Lazarus’s death. His first miracle was to turn water into wine. Most of all, he died to bring us into eternal fellowship with him.

While in the intermediate state, we’ll await the resurrection. The second facet of the glorious inheritance that awaits us is that our bodies will be resurrected.

2. Resurrected

First Corinthians 15:50-53 explains what will happen when Jesus returns:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:50–53

“We shall not all sleep” means not everyone’s physical body will die before the Lord returns. When he comes, the bodies of the dead will be resurrected and reunited with their souls. But those who are still alive will find their physical bodies changed.

Media often portray the occupants of heaven as having less than they had on earth. But that is not the teaching of Scripture. This is what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44:

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 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.

1 Corinthians 15:42–44

Our bodies are “sown in dishonor”—diseased, weakened, decaying, and mortal. But they will be “raised in glory,” imperishable and in power.

Philippians 3:20-21 tells us more:

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3:20–21

Our resurrected bodies will be like Jesus’s resurrected body. His resurrection body could be hugged and could eat food. In fact, Isaiah 25:6-7 says that in our resurrected state, we will attend “a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”

His body was also supernatural. We saw in John 20:6-7 that Jesus passed through grave clothes and spices without disturbing them. In John 20:19, we read that Jesus entered a room with locked doors. Clay Jones writes,

Whatever the case, our hope is to have a body like Jesus’ post resurrection body—indestructible but one that can hug and enjoy the best of foods, and apparently, go anywhere instantly! This is our hope based on the fact of the resurrection of Jesus!

Clay Jones, Immortal, 210

Think of that: our resurrected, powerful spiritual bodies will be untainted by sin or disease. During our lives on earth the Holy Spirit sanctified us. At the resurrection, the process will be completed.

So just as the priest’s trumpet call used to gather the Israelites to God’s presence, so the last trumpet will gather all people to God’s presence. But something else will happen. The third facet of our glorification is that the Lord intends to make us resplendent.

3. Resplendent

Who doesn’t want to be more beautiful? As C. S. Lewis put it,

We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory: and Other Addresses (New York: HarperOne, 1980), 42

Daniel 12:3 tells us that:

Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Daniel 12:3

In Matthew 13.43, Jesus said that:

The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Matthew 13:43

The transfiguration gives us a glimpse of what that will be like. According to Matthew 17:2, Jesus’s “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” Moses and Elijah likewise “appeared in glory” as they spoke with him (Luke 9:31). As professor Vern Poythress put it in his book, Theophany: A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing,

In the consummation, we ourselves will reflect the glory associated with glory theophanies, such as the appearance of glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Vern Poythress, Theophany: A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing, 403

Precisely what that will be like we don’t know. John in 1 John 3:2 wrote,

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:2

Whatever it is like, it will be glorious. In Colossians 3:4 Paul tells us,

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:4

So we will be perfected, resurrected in glory, and resplendent. But that’s not all. The fourth facet of our glorious inheritance is that we will be renowned and rewarded.

4. Renowned and Rewarded

The Lord intends to honor us. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 4:5 that:

[The Lord] will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

1 Corinthians 4:5, NIV

Revelation 14:13 reads,

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

Revelation 14:13

Our faithfulness through persecution and suffering, the love we show to others, our deeds done in secret for the Lord—all these will follow us into the kingdom. Revelation 19:8 reads,

It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Revelation 19:8

We learn from 1 Peter 1:7 that trials test us…

So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:7

In his commentary on 1 Peter, Thomas R. Schreiner wrote that:

The eschatological reward will be given to them because of the genuineness of their faith, which is proved by the sufferings they endure. God brings sufferings into the lives of believers to purify their faith and to demonstrate its genuineness.

Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, gen. ed. E. Ray Clendenen, New American Commentary, vol. 37, s.v. “1 Peter 1:7”

Then we will enter into the new promised land. Revelation 21:1-4 describes it:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Revelation 21:1–4

Clay Jones writes,

That God intends to glorify you for eternity is clearly taught. If these things aren’t true, then Christianity is a false religion and we should all be doing something else with our time. But if these things are true, then a glorious eternity awaits you and all those who trust in Jesus. Death is defeated and you’re going to live forever and ever!

Clay Jones, Immortal, 220

In Conclusion

In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul wrote about his imprisonments, beatings, being stoned, being shipwrecked, going hungry, facing cold and exposure, and his anxiety for the churches. Then in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Paul explained his attitude toward suffering:

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:17–18

Did you catch that? He calls afflictions like being beaten and stoned “light and momentary” when compared to the “eternal weight of glory” that awaits. That’s what he looks to, and that’s what we must look to as well.

A glorious eternity awaits!

Thanks for joining me. I’m thankful for the opportunity to share these things with you!

Join The Discussion

1. What one thought stuck out to you in this weeks video? Why did it stand out?
2. What one thought stuck out to you from this week’s chapter (10)? Why did it stand out?
3. Question 28, page 201: What does Jesus’s response to Peter teach you about God’s willingness to use our strengths despite our weaknesses?

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• Discovering Good News in John by Jean E. Jones, Pam Farrel, and Karla Dornacher
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