“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.“
At the coming of Christ, we will possess the perfection of our happiness.
“then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
When Christ comes, we shall then appear with Him in glory. It will be His glory to have His redeemed with Him; He will come to be glorified in His saints (2 Th. 1:10). It will be our glory to go with Him and be with Him forever. At Christ’s coming, there will be a general meeting of all the saints. Those whose lives are now hidden with Christ shall then appear with Christ in the glory He Himself enjoys (Jn. 17:24).
The word “then” shows that God links us to Christ’s coming. Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. God establishes that relationship by positional truth, our status with Him. That is why, when Jesus comes, God will link believers to Him.
When Jesus comes, he will glorify the saints. John proclaims, “We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (i.e., believers will be glorified as He is glorified; 1 John 3:2; cf. 1 Cor. 13:12; Col. 1:27). Paul adds a new point to the believers’ focal point of watchfulness: we should look upward to Christ’s sway over us in time and also forward to His coming for us in the clouds.
We are united to Him now, but then we will share His manifested glory (splendor). “Glory” describes eternity. There will be no regrets in God’s presence. We will experience no shame in the presence of God because of our position with Christ.
Principle:
The destiny of the Christian is not the bleak grave but fellowship with the Lord of glory.
Application:
The final resting place of the Christian is not the grave or crematorium. We will enjoy the fully manifested glory of Jesus Christ in eternity. We now fellowship with Him spiritually. Then we will fellowship with Him in His physical presence.
