Romans 5 sings to us of a threefold ultimate joy that God gifts to us. Joy in the future, joy in suffering and joy in God.
V.2 “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God”
We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God may sound a little nauseous to some of us. Like, “Oh wooo, a week of pure maths lessons!” But the glory of God is not deathly boring like maths lessons at school. [Apologies to Dom Orchard and all other maths lovers.] This is the hope of a future with God! A future spent in intimate fellowship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. An eternity in which we shall behold God, and all death, darkness and despair shall be forever banished from us. A future where the sun shall not shine for it will be replaced by the bright beams of the Son.
Have you ever seen something so wonderful it made you gasp with awe. A movie, a sunset, a girlfriend? In Revelation 7: 10-11 we read that Christians in heaven sing to God. The question is; are they singing because an angel is holding a machine gun to their heads or because they are face to face with God Almighty, and, so that their hearts do not explode in adulterated joy, they erupt in worship! Worthy, Worthy, Worthy are You! One day we shall sing with them. We have in God a source of joy that does not die in the face of death, but rather grows and grows after death, never to stagnate in all eternity.
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings" (v.3) Ugh. What? What on earth could Paul have meant by this? How can someone rejoice in suffering. The answer is in v. 3 "for we know". The joy of Christians is not extinguished in suffering because of something Christians know. Nothing complicated, rather something deeply simple. For the Christian no suffering is ever in vain. Certainly we go through much pain which appears pointless to us, but God sees to it that none of our suffering is ever meaningless. This doesn't mean we should walk around with crazy grins, "Hello, I'm happy and I am going to die" No, Christians should be real people who do not wear masks; we are not called to be hypocrites. However, we, who trust in Jesus, can, like no one else on this planet, say with the Apostle Paul, "I am sorrowful, but always rejoicing." (2 Cor 6: 10)
For some of us sorrow and suffering are daily companions, waking us up each dark and dreary morning. Please, you must know, God has not abandoned you. He will not let your tears be in vain. He is your Sovereign Lord over everything, whether the day is light or loathsome. He has promised that even this will work for your good. "For we know that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope." (v.3) God ensures that suffering serves His church and blesses her. It wakes us up from our idiotic attempts to find ultimate joy in something other than God Himself. When we find God to be better than all else, and see that not even the worst moments of life can separate us from Him, then our joy increases all the more.
Yet maybe you are reading this and thinking, "If only you knew. I simply have no more strength" That's ok. This life was not meant to be lived in our strength, but in Christ's. He is enough and He carries us. He has gone the way of sorrows before us, having fully shared in our humanity He can fully sympathise with us and carry us. Hope in Him never disappoints. (v.5) He has never broken His word. He is a faithful and trustworthy God. Thus we can sing with David:
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,
He makes me lie in green pastures,
He leads me to still waters and restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake. [And look where these paths lead:]
Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil,
For You are with me, Your rod and staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
Surely goodness and mercy, [even in the valley of the shadow of death] shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall return to the house of the Lord. (Ps 23)
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