Into the Heart of Romans
A Deep Dive into Paul’s Greatest Letter
Justified and Glorified (3|3)
Pages 169-175
2 Corinthians 4:4-6 (NIV) The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV) The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Philippians 3:18-21 (NIV) For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again, even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Paul describes Jesus’ followers as people being “transformed from glory to glory” as they reflect the glory of the reigning Messiah by the Spirit. Where do you see the Spirit at work in you, restoring or reshaping your sense of vocation and dignity so that God’s presence is made visible through your life?
Paul gathers the entire gospel (the cross, the Messiah, new creation, and Christ’s reign) into the claim that believers are being shaped into a “glory-revealing family” patterned after the Messiah himself. How does understanding yourself as part of (adopted into) this “glory-revealing family” shape the way you respond to opposition, or misunderstanding, or pressure from the world?
Paul writes of a process from being marked out and called, to being justified and ultimately glorified, showing how God’s long-planned purpose unfolds through Jesus and His people, often by means of suffering that gives birth to a new creation. How does seeing Romans 8:28-30 as “Servant-shaped theology” shape the way you understand this process?
If Christian doctrine is grounded not in abstract ideas but in the lived story of Jesus Himself, how might that frame (or reframe) someone’s prayer life, their struggles, or their sense of belonging to God?