Suffering (5) Path to Glory
An important aspect of Jesus sufferings is that they were the pathway to his glory. Peter continually links the suffering of Jesus with his glory (1 Pet 1:11; 1:21; 4:13; 5:1). The prophets who foretold his suffering, also foretold his glory (1 Pet 1:11). After Jesus suffered by “being put to death in the flesh”, he was raised into heaven, "and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him" (1 Pet 3:18, 22). He received his glory through suffering.
Just like Jesus, we also will receive glory through suffering. Peter says,If you pre reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you (1 Pet 4:14).
This amazing promise suggests that most glory seekers are looking in the wrong place. Those who partake in Christ's sufferings are the ones who share in his glory. This glory will be fully revealed in the future, but is partly upon them now.
Suffering and glory cannot be separated. JH Burtness says,It is a fundamental fact of New Testament faith that resurrection comes only after death, that Easter comes after Good Friday, that renewal comes only through suffering. The church has perhaps not so often been true to itself and to its Lord. But at those times and at those places where it has followed him, it has also shared in his suffering, and in that suffering it has discovered the joy of renewal.
Christians cannot bypass the cross. Only when we are united with Christ in his sufferings, can we share with him in the fullness of his glory.
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