The fullness of Glory here is in knowing Christ and loving him by beholding Him in the full length mirror of the NT Scriptures until we see him fully, know Him fully and love him fully. Only those who come to Him this way, for this purpose, will be able to endure the sufferings, the sorrows, the sadness, the sickness, problems, persecutions, perplexities and pain of this life. Christ is our role model, who endured the Cross for the glory set before him (Heb 12:2); the hope of glory within, shining ever more brightly. Thus He would endure the horror and indescribable sufferings of the Cross and consider that suffering of body soul and spirit unworthy to be compared to the glory that awaited him. That being an even greater glory than he had before in the bosom of the Father. From glory to glory! From the hope of glory to the realization of it in all reality, which indeed he has right now. In Heb 12:2 He would think little
“kataphroneo” of the shame. He considered the suffering a small price to pay. So too with us, only real love for Him and the reality of His joy in us, from the assurance of his promise, certified by His Spirit of promise, as a down-payment and pledge of our glorious reward and inheritance will enable us to press on through the appointed difficulties “by Christ in us the hope of glory” (Col 1 :27). |
