December 6 Into Glory

Luke 9:34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
 
YOU have been there. Something wonderful and marvelous happened. Perhaps it was your wedding day; maybe it was the birth of your children; joyously, it was the moment you recognized Jesus as your Savior and Lord. In the glorious moment, you were overwhelmed with joy as you felt God’s blessing on your life.
   James, John and Peter watched Jesus Transfigured into his glorious beauty right before their eyes. They are experiencing their heavenly future for a few moments. The Bible’s evidence is that Heaven’s glory and beauty from mankind’s view is a frightening, wondrous, joyous and overwhelming experience. (You can see all of these emotions in the shepherds’ response to the angels and Jesus’ birth in Luke 2.)
   God’s glory is so magnificent, our sinful hearts and minds will at first fearfully respond to him. Think, for instance, of moments you’ve stopped to realize, “I am a sinner. God is holy.” What happened? Hopefully, there was a sense of fear that gripped you. You may have thought, “I deserve to be judged into Hell!” You believe such frightful passages as Romans 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 
   If you have experienced this fear, then rejoice! This is good fear that leads to your salvation. This is the Holy Spirit convicting you of the truth recorded in Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Spirit caused you to know that your life is “short” – inadequate – before the Lord’s glory.
   In response to that knowledge, you were humble before God’s grace. You mourned your sins. You then celebrated Jesus’ salvation, confident in the Spirit’s assurance from Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Gratefully, you entered God’s glory as you obeyed Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  
   In God’s grace, he has come to transfigures you into his eternal glory. Rejoice the Savior has welcomed you to Heaven.
 
Prayer: Thank you, God, for igniting in me a holy fear of you, that I confess and believe in your life-giving salvation. In Jesus’ glory I pray. Amen.