Air of Glory

Read Romans 8.12-17

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. -Romans 8.18

To start this passage we go forward to the beginning of the next. Start at the end if you will.
In the movie "The Departed" there is a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio has a line where he points out a cop by his, "Air of scumbag entitlement," I believe. In this particular passage that we're looking at we see that we are "Heirs with Christ of the glory of God." This means we shall inherit the glory of God. In Ephesians 1.11 we see that in Jesus we have an inheritance with him. That inheritance is the glory of God.

Here are some facts that we know about the glory of God
-To behold the glory of God in it's fullness leads to death (Exodus 33.20)
-The glory of God coming off of us scares people (Exodus 34.29-30)
-Being in the presence of God we absorb his glory [Best way I could think to phrase that] (Exodus 34.29)

This is what we see that we inherit from God.

We inherit this if we are children of God. We are children of God is we put to death the deeds of the flesh and are instead led by the Spirit.
Through our death and to sin and life from Christ, we have received a new Spirit, and this is a Spirit of adoption, not a spirit of fear and slavery. By this Spirit we are able to come to God and call him by the most intimate name any God allows his followers to call him: Daddy. How many other religions have their own God say, "Call me Daddy. Call me whatever you want. Be intimate. Be close. I AM WHO I AM and I AM your God, I AM your Father, I AM your friend, I AM what you need me to be." I know no other religion that has a god which gives us ownership over them. God invites us to make him our own God, which when we think about it, that fact makes the phrase, "My personal Lord and Savior" much more meaningful. He is MY savior. MY king. MY God. MY Father.

You remember back when you were kids and always tried to one up your friends by saying your dad was better than theirs? Imagine doing that with God. Always bragging about him. Always talking about him. Always telling people about how great he is and how their missing out. Then invite them to join the family.

This Spirit which we have received allows us to do this. And the Spirit itself bears witness of our adoption, reminding us that we are adopted, that we don't need to worry, that we don't need to be afraid of a master, but instead that we have a father that's speaking to us and that we should listen to. We have a Spirit that tells us we are Children of God. And if we are children of the King of Kings then we are heirs of something, but only provided that we suffer. To suffer means that we are our with our faith. One who only goes to church on Sundays and that's their Christian duty is not going to suffer for their faith. In the ministry I'm a part of one of our students told us how she gets made fun of by her friends for going to, "Some stupid Bible study." That tells me that she's telling people about her faith. And she gets made fun of it. That's a form of suffering. I want to see us bring in a biology student who fights with their professors over their faith. To suffer for your faith means you don't keep it to yourself. You be bold with it. And when you are bold you will be glorified with Jesus, being and heir with him. This leads to the conclusion that our inheritance is the glory of God.

When we suffer for our faith and for being children of God, we are given the glory of God, and reflect him, having to draw near to him in our times of hardship. And our sufferings of this present time are nothing, don't even deserve to be compared to, the future glory which we shall receive.