Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20040908.htm

APPLYING THE BELIEVER'S POSITIONAL RICHES IN CHRIST
Part XXXI: Applying The Truth That Believers Are Positionally Glorified
(Romans 8:30 et al.)
  1. Introduction
    1. Though we believers trust in Christ, we still live in mortal bodies, and that makes us subject to the Adamic curse. Focusing on the suffering produced by this mortal state can tempt us to be despondent.
    2. However, applying one of the 33 positional truths we have in Christ equips us to handle even such suffering well, and seeing what God is doing in the current experiential realm of our mortal sufferings in addition to this positional truth gives us joy in place of a defeatist attitude. (1) That positional truth is that believers are glorified in Christ the moment they trust in Christ (cf. Lewis S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. III, "Soteriology," p. 264) and (2) the experiential joy comes as we contemplate the glory God is adding to that positional glory by way of those current sufferings themselves (as follows):
  2. Applying The Truth That Believers Are Positionally Glorified, Romans 8:30 et al.
    1. Positionally, the believer is glorified in Christ, a truth that promises to his great encouragement that he will be experientially endowed with Christ's own great glory in eternity opposite his current mortal state:
      1. Once one trusts in Christ for salvation, he is so placed into Christ positionally that he is seen by God the Father as ALREADY seated at His right hand in heaven in Christ, Ephesians 2:4-6; Romans 8:30.
      2. Accordingly, since he currently possesses it in his position, the believer knows he will one day experientially share in Christ's glory 2 Thess. 2:13-14; 1 John 3:2. [To prove the reality of this destiny, God let the Apostle John in Revelation 22:8-9 be so taken back by the glory of the one who presented the revelation to him that John fell at his feet to worship him as God; thus, John had to be told not to do so as this being was only a fellow believer who, in heaven, reflected Christ's own glory!]
    2. Yet, not only does focusing on this coming future experience of our position edify us, but we are brought to joy in focusing on the program where God yields much more glory in our current trials themselves:
      1. In His infinite wisdom, God in grace USES the believer's present MORTAL sufferings to enrich the degree of God's glory produced in the suffering believer that will be evident in eternity (as follows):
        1. Scripture informs us that we believers suffer much in our current mortal state: Romans 8:18a, 20 with Gen. 3:14-19 reveal we suffer today due to the curse God placed on nature when Adam sinned.
        2. Yet, God uses these sufferings to produce much more eternal glory to Himself in the believer: (a) First, God demonstrates in the believer's sufferings His power that "buoys him up" in contrast to the normal human results to such trials as a witness to the glory of God, 2 Cor. 4:7-10. (b) Second, as the believer witnesses this "buoying up" work of God in his sufferings, he appreciates God all the more and is matured so much that God gains that much more glory; the resulting glory to God in the believer is so vast that it is not worthy to be compared to the sufferings that led to it, 2 Cor. 4:16-17.
      2. For this reason, the believer can face his present mortal sufferings with GREAT JOY, the opposite of the usual human reaction to such troubles (as follows):
        1. In speaking of his human troubles (2 Corinthians 4:8-9), Paul mentioned that each of his sufferings did not cause him entirely to collapse: (a) though afflicted in every way, he was not crushed, 2 Cor. 4:8a ESV; (b) though perplexed, he was not driven to despair, 2 Cor. 4:8b ESV; (c) though persecuted, he was not forsaken, 2 Cor. 4:9a ESV and (d) though struck down, he was not destroyed, 2 Cor. 4:9b ESV.
        2. The cause for Paul's not being "done in" by his sufferings came from his focusing on the truths we mentioned in section II,C,2 above: (a) Paul and others could see God's power buoying him up in his mortal trials; so appreciative was he and others who witnessed this demonstration of God's power in his trials that God was glorified the more, 2 Cor. 4:7-10; (b) In the end, the trials were not worthy to be compared to the glory God gained through the believer in this program, for it led to a maturity in the believer that was not worthy in value to be compared to the price of the initial trials, 4:16-17.
Lesson Application: We can offset the temptation to be despondent over the trials we face in our mortality by focusing on the (1) FACT we will experience Christ's glory when our position in Him is applied to our experience in heaven, and (2) by recalling that God BUILDS the DEGREE of glory to be revealed IN us in a MASSIVE way when we see His power evidenced IN us in our human trials!