Glorious Ultimate Salvation

7. Glorious Ultimate Salvation

Romans 3:23 says that

"all have sinned and are lacking the glory of God."

Many take the glory of God here in some way to refer to a moral standard to which we cannot attain. Thus the New Living Translation renders it "God's glorious standard."

But when we get into Paul's world, it becomes extremely likely that Paul is alluding to Psalm 8 in his Greek Bible:

"What are humans, that you remember them,
or the son of a human, that you look on him?
You made them lower than the angels for a little while.
You crowned them with glory and honor.
You appointed them over the works of Your hands
You subjected everything under their feet."

We find a number of places in Hebrews and Paul's writings that allude to this psalm. From these scattered comments we can reconstruct the story of salvation:

1. God created humanity to be in the role we read about in the psalm. Humanity was meant to have glory and honor in the creation. "When He subjected everything to humanity, he left nothing unsubjected to them" (Heb. 2:8).

2. But Adam sinnned, and all have sinned like Adam, "and are lacking the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Humanity did not attain to the glory God intended them to have. This is the problem. As Hebrews says, "Now we do not yet see everything subjected to them" (Heb. 2:8).

3. But God had a solution.

"But what we do see is one who was made lower than the angels for a little while--Jesus--who because of his suffering of death was crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God he might taste death on behalf of all" (Heb. 2:9).

At the resurrection, Jesus will conquer death for good.

"Death is destroyed as the last enemy, for God subjected everything under Christ's feet... and when everything is subjected to Christ, then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who subjects everything to Himself" (1 Cor. 15:26-27).

4. Ultimate salvation certainly means escaping God's wrath. But it also means attaining finally the glory God intended humanity to have.

"Through Jesus we have had our entrance into this grace in which we stand and we boast because of our hope of the glory of God" (Rom. 5:2).

"It was fitting for God, because of whom and through whom all things exist, to perfect Jesus, who leads many children to glory, the pioneer of humanity's salvation, through sufferings" (Heb. 2:10).

This "glorification" will take place at the resurrection for those Christians who have already died at the time of Christ's return. For those who are alive and remain at his coming, it will take place at the same time as we are caught up to be with the Lord:

"Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we all will be transformed, in a moment, in the twinkle of an eye at the last trumpet" (1 Cor. 15:51-52).

"For our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humility to the same form as the body of his glory according to the power that enables him even to subject everything to himself" (Phil. 3:20-21).

And it is not just we who will experience this transformation, this ultimate liberation from our mortal bodies. The creation itself as a whole will finally experience its salvation from the power of sin and corruption.

"For we consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy in comparison to the glory that is about to be revealed to us. For the eager expectation of the creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility because of hope. For even the creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption for the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Rom. 8:18-21).

What a glorious hope! It is full salvation, by any reckoning.

8. Conclusion
This short account of salvation in the New Testament is a story that begins even before the story as we began it. It begins with a gracious God who creates a universe full of hope. He creates humanity and shows His greatness by His concern for such a small part of all that is. He creates us to experience a place of glory and honor over the creation.

But it doesn't happen. As a result of Adam's sin humanity is demoted and is lacking the intended glory of God. The created realm, including our physical bodies, are enslaved to the power of sin and the decay we now see in the creation.

Still, the story does not end at this point. Because of His great love and His saving righteousness, God sends Jesus His Son to troubleshoot the human problem. Jesus lives out the human experiment without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). Accordingly, he is able to attain the glory intended for humanity and is now in a position to lead many other children to glory as well.

At the resurrection, God will transform our bodies to be like Christ's glorious body. We will be finally and ultimately glorified. We will no longer face even the possibility of being in the flesh for "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 15:50). Further, the creation itself will be transformed. It will no longer be subject to decay and corruption.

"Thanks be to God, who gives to us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Cor. 15:57).