Human Nature In Four States

The State of Glory    -- 1 John 3:1-3

            I will say nothing here regarding the state of the unrighteous and unbelieving in hell. There, all damned shall justly burn forever in the unrelenting fires of God’s holy wrath and justice. I will leave it to others to debate about what the fires of hell are. The fact of hell’s reality needs to be proven to none. God has so inscribed the fact of it on your heart and conscience that you cannot escape a tormenting awareness of it, until you find a just and righteous deliverance from the wrath of God in Christ.

But, oh, my brother, my sister, we who trust the Lord Jesus Christ are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” Glory awaits us! I do not pretend to know much about it; but I do know this – In that blessed state called glory, every chosen, blood bought, saved sinner shall be with Christ and like Christ forever.

            In heaven’s glory, the purpose of God in sovereign, eternal election and predestination will be fulfilled (Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4-6). One great object of our heavenly Father in choosing us unto salvation in Christ was that we might be made perfect, holy, unblameable, and unreproveable before him, -- not just as a matter of judicial record, but in actuality! And God shall have his purpose fulfilled.

            In heavenly glory, our great Savior “shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall not be discovered a miscarriage. Every blood bought sinner will be presented by him, before the presence of the glory of the triune God, washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness, in the perfection of absolute holiness (Jude 24-25). So thorough and complete is that righteousness which he makes to be ours that when God himself searches for our iniquities, transgressions, and sins, he shall find none (Jer. 50:20).

            When every redeemed sinner has at last entered into that blessed state of glory, promised us before the world began, the work of God the Holy Spirit shall be completed. God the Holy Spirit is the seal of the covenant, the seal of grace (Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30). He is the pledge of our inheritance. His dwelling in us is both the down payment and the infallible security of our everlasting inheritance with Christ in heaven.

            In glory land all the truest, deepest desires and longings of every saved sinner shall at last be perfectly fulfilled. What is it that you truly want, my brother, my sister? In the depths of your soul, what do you truly want? Does your heart long to be free from all sin and pant for perfect holiness? Do you crave perfect, uninterrupted communion and fellowship with Christ? Does your soul beg for grace to live in absolute, perfect consecration to God? All this shall be yours in that state of glory awaiting us. All this, and more, is included in this promise. – “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is!”

Don Fortner