CALLED TO GLORY (PART 1)
Roman 8:30; “Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified”
The end point of the call of God on every believer is glory. From the passage we see the following; God foreknew and predestinated us even before we came to the world. He called us, by bringing the Word to us. At the point of accepting the Word, we get justified. This is the actual point of salvation. Then as we work and function in the Word, our lives are to be a revelation and manifestation of His glory.
Sadly, many believers stop at justification, which is the point of salvation. Many believers face diverse levels of hardships and suffer much misery. They are beaten and battered by situations and negative circumstances in their health, finances, marriage, family, relationships, business, career, ministry and all other aspects and affairs of life. In such conditions, there is nothing in their life resembling glory, not to talk of God’s glory. We are not referring to times of trials of faith which believers necessarily go through at some point, to emerge stronger and brighter, but about real and manifest bondage in the life of God’s children which weighs them down heavily and they have no answer or solution to. The reason for this is the absence of glory.
Glory connotes authority, victory, triumph, dignity, honor, peace and rest in a man’s life. The absence of glory in a person’s life opens doors to all kinds of physical, material and financial hardship, disappointments, spiritual stagnation and other forms of bondage.
Salvation is a means, and not an end to itself. Salvation is wholesome and good. It initiates you into a godly family. It grants you access and the prospect to a world and life of fulfillment here on earth. It secures your eternity in the hereafter. But it is dangerous for a Christian to only get saved and decide to just rest on his/her oars at that point. There is a place I choose to call “Beyond Salvation”. The Christian faith is a walk, and also a work. It is not an idle dormant life. We did not do anything special for God to predestinate us to be conformed to the image of His son (Rm. 8:29). Neither did our self-righteousness or personal holiness attracted His call and justification, which brought us salvation (Rm. 5:8/ 1 John 4:10). But to see true and lasting glory in our lives, we must first glorify the Father with our lives. Only when your life gives glory to God, is His glory reflected in your life and all that concerns you. The Bible has laid out ways in which we can attain to this glory. That is the walk, and work of faith, according to His Word. It is our responsibility to work out our glory while walking the path of salvation (Phil. 2:12-13)
OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD

In the next episode, we shall continue with principles provided to guide us into manifestations of divine glory in our daily lives.
Remain ever blessed