God has planned your glory.

God has told us incredible things about our future because he wants us to be amazed. He has given us reliable promises because he wants us to have hope​—real hope. Hope without heartfelt joy about what lies ahead is not hope. That is why God tells us such joyful things that bring joy. He wants us to enjoy a deep sense of hope right now. «Rejoice in the hope!»​—Rom. 12:12.

I have found that I can read God’s words about my future and quickly pass by them without feeling any emotional impact. Such reading does not awaken or strengthen hope. It does not make us resilient, happy green trees in a drought.

That is why the Christian who is like a green tree whose leaves do not wither and who bears fruit when others die is the Christian who «delights in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night» (Ps. 1:2). He dwells on God’s promises that bring hope until he experiences that hope.

Take the peach of God's promise

When we find a promise like a juicy peach hanging on a branch of Scripture, we don’t say, «That’s a peach» and walk on through the garden. We stop, go over, and pick up the peach. We take a bite of it. And if we find our taste buds dead, we plead with God to give us life. «I am greatly afflicted. O Lord, quicken me according to your word» (Ps. 119:107).

Come with me to the garden of hope. I want you to join me and taste the peach I picked a few days ago. While reading, I came across 1 Corinthians 2:7, where Paul says:

«"But we speak God's wisdom hidden in a mystery, which God revealed before the ages for our glory.".

I stopped. I picked this peach of hope, and it has been refreshing me for days. I knew it was there. But this time it was full of hope. It was ready for me to take it. And I was ready. And oh, how delicious it tastes. How it nourishes my soul, sweetens my sleep, and strengthens me for the hard things that lie ahead. Come taste with me.

Before the ages

«Before the ages»—before time, and therefore before the creation of the world, when only God existed—God revealed His wisdom. It is infinite wisdom. And in His eternal, infinite wisdom, He planned that one day we would experience «our glory» in its fullness. «But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which God revealed before the ages for our glory.».

For those who love Him

For whom did He plan this glory? He planned it «for those who love Him.» 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, «But as it is written, »Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” God determined, before the foundation of the world, that we who love Him would be glorious.

From the depths of God

This decree is not secondary to the wisdom of God. Paul says that it comes from «the depths of God.» Verse 10: «God has revealed these things to us through [His] Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.» The juices of this peach, which give hope, reach into the depths of the ages, into God’s wisdom, into God’s decrees, into «the deep things of God.».

Made for our glory

What does this include? What should we hope for when we think at night that we may die before morning?

Paul says we should hope for «our glory.» In what sense is this glory ours? Not ours apart from God’s. Not ours apart from Christ’s. Our hope is not to be glorious in a glory that is not God’s and not Christ’s. Rather, «we rejoice in hope of the glory of God» (Rom. 5:2). And in the glory of His Christ! «To this he called you through our gospel, that you may obtain the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ» (2 Thess. 2:14).

The world belongs to you.

How to «receive» it? First as a world, a kingdom, a dwelling. «God has called you into his own kingdom and glory» (1 Thess. 2:12). «Therefore let no one boast among men, for all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours!» (1 Cor. 3:21–22). We will receive «our glory» as a prisoner who has spent decades in a cold, dark dungeon emerges into a paradise of light, color, warmth, and living freshness. As far as he can see, there is beauty in every direction. He can smell it. He can hear it. He can taste it. It envelops him, and he can feel it in every pore of his skin. Glory will be our abode. The glorious new world will be our glory.

The light and beauty of every beautiful thing—and everything will be beautiful—will be the light and beauty of God. «The glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is its lamp» (Rev. 21:23). Every redeemed prisoner, released from the prison of this age, will cry out, «In thy glory we see light» (Ps. 37:10). Our glory will be the glory of God in all things.

The Riches of the Glory of God

And it will be of more value—more precious—to our souls than all of created reality combined. Paul describes it as «that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory» (Rom. 9:23). Wealth. When wealth seems to approach us on earth, we feel excitement and hope. Wealth opens up so many possibilities for freedom and life.

But even if you had all the riches in this world, they cannot compare with the «riches of the glory of God» that have been ordained for us in eternity. We were prepared—created—for this. And if earthly riches bring excitement and hope for freedom and life, how much more should this promise of riches make us the most joyful and free of all people. This is our glory.

We will be like Him.

But this glory will be «our glory» not only in what we see but also in what we will become. «Beloved, now we are children of God, and it does not yet appear what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him, for we will see him as he is» (1 John 3:2). God ordained wisdom before the ages for our glory. It will be ours because we ourselves will shine in what we see.

John saw the resurrected Jesus, and «his face was as the sun shining in its strength»—and John fell as dead (Rev. 1:16–17). But this is the glory with which we will shine: «Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear» (Matt. 13:43).

The glory of Christ will be our glory because it is our new world, and because it is our new identity.

As His glorious body

Imagine the weakest, dying saint you have ever seen in a nursing home. These are not glorious days of dying. Many sigh to put off their «earthly tent» and be «swallowed up in life» (2 Cor. 5:4). But against this inglorious end stands the mighty word of God: this emaciated, wrinkled, and worn-out body is «sown in dishonor, raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, raised in power» (1 Cor. 15:43). Every saint, no matter how emaciated or crippled, will be resurrected in glory. God has ordained it—our glory.

The glory of our resurrected bodies will be the glory of Christ. «Who shall transform our lowly body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, by the power whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself» (Phil. 3:21). Those who hold fast to Christ through all their sufferings «may also be glorified together with him» (Rom. 8:17). This is what God ordained for us before the ages. «For whom he foreknew, them he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom he predestined, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified» (Rom. 8:29–30). This was wisdom revealed for our glory.

Glory to the Universe

So our glory will be the glory of our new world and the glory of our new nature. But to make this wonder even more intense, Paul tells us that it is not we who adapt ourselves to the new world, but the new world adapts itself to us. The glory that we will become determines the glory of the universe. «For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious freedom of the children of God» (Rom. 8:18–21). We do not receive the freedom of her glory. She receives the freedom of our glory.

Heavy and eternal

If your suffering seems long, if the disappointments are many and last a lifetime, if the burdens seem too heavy and the pain too long, God says, no, they are not too heavy; they are not too long. «For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory» (2 Cor. 4:17).

Do you want to know what is heavy? The weight of glory is heavy. Do you want to know what is long? Eternal glory is long. This is our glory.

Everyone is glorified by God

That is not all. Our glory is not only the glory of our new nature, shining like the sun in full strength, and bringing forth a new world of glory, but there will also be an intense personal dimension to our glory.

The galactic brightness of that new world and the dazzling brightness of every face will not hinder the personal touch of Jesus. It is not to the masses but to individuals that He says: «Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!» (Matt. 25:21). Not to slaves, but to the slave.

To each faithful slave, one by one, Jesus says: «To him who conquers I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written that no one knows except the one who receives it.» (Rev. 2:17) This could not be more personal. Our glory will include the personal glory of each one. «Then each one will have his praise from God.» (1 Cor. 4:5; see also Rom. 2:29).

Rejoice in hope.

It was a juicy, nourishing, and strengthening fruit: «we speak the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which God revealed before the ages for our glory.» I savored it for several days. Thank you for tasting it with me.

May God fill you with joy in the glory He has ordained for your future.