February 9

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ... And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” —ROMANS 5:1-2

One of the evidences of our reconciliation to God is characterized by rejoicing; not a ‘grit-your-teeth’ and ‘clench-your-fist’, “I must rejoice”, kind of thing. That’s not only difficult, but pointless. A genuine ‘from the heart’ rejoicing, regardless of circumstances, reveals a true understanding of what it means to be reconciled to God. 

We rejoice first because of our position before God. We have been justified through faith in Jesus Christ, and our sins forgiven. Our position before God is that we now have peace with Him. Paul says in Romans 5:11, “We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” There’s been a transition from what Paul describes in verse 10 as being ‘enemies of God’ to being 

at peace with God.

Rejoicing in the fact we are now at peace with God deals with our past when we were powerless in our sin. Rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God deals with our future. The glory of God is His moral character in which we were created, but Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The moral character of God is the target we fall short of, and now, says Paul, we rejoice in the hope of hitting the target – the glory of God, which is His righteousness being restored into human experience. 

Even more wonderful, Paul tells us in Romans 8:30, “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” If we are in Christ, we are predestined to be glorified into the full image of God. This is not a choice anymore. Because we’ve been brought into union with Christ, we will be fully restored into the image of God. This doesn’t happen in its fullness during our time on earth, but is a continuous work of the Spirit of God. Paul writes, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

We all struggle with temptation. It’s a constant battle of flesh against the Spirit, but the day is going to come when the battling will cease. In the heavenly realm, we will be fully restored into the image of Christ. Rejoice in that, Paul says, and in being at peace with God, because it is that which makes possible our transformation into the likeness of Christ, where one day we will stand before God completely robed in His righteousness.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, for restoring me into your likeness, and for the life in which I will be fully restored. That gives me every reason to rejoice with praise and gratitude. 

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I rejoicing in the Lord for the changes He has brought about in my life?