Artists and athletes are some of the most amazing individuals! They can visualize things that have not yet materialized and drive toward goals that are yet out of reach. The Christian life carries with it a similar aim and strain. Like an artist, a believer transforms his or her life by removing and adding certain characteristics (Col 3:5-17; Rom 12:1-2). And, like an athlete, a believer lives his or her life with the aim of winning the prize and labors to finish the race well (Heb 12:1-2; 1 Cor 9:24). Both efforts include faith, determination, and suffering, all to gain something not yet at hand. And though the product and the prize are yet to come, they are inevitable, because God provides the final empowerment. Their achievement is prayed for by the Son, guaranteed by the Spirit, and promised by Father.

This future culmination of God’s redemption is what the Bible calls glorification. It is the change to perfection of every believer at death or Jesus’ return - it is certain, final, victorious, and complete! In the opening statement of his letter to the Philippians, Paul expressed his confidence in God’s ultimate transformative work by saying, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). Later, in Philippians 3:11, the apostle expressed the sentiment in very personal terms:

that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

It is likely that the sufferings of the Philippians and his own hardships provoked Paul to pen these words of hope. As he sat in prison, he recorded these words aimed to tether his friends to a gospel of justification by faith (Phil 3:9). A gospel that is demonstrated in sanctification (Phil 3:10) and culminates in glorification (Phil 3:11). The prospect of death and the anticipation of Jesus’ imminent return were very real possibilities in Paul’s thinking. He looked with certain joy to the day when he would experience the resurrection from his mortal flesh and from everything else that is held in sin’s dreadful sway. By “any means possible” - his demise or Jesus’ return - Paul was going to experience glorification. His claim was not wishful thinking, nor is it delusional for us. It is a confident expectancy, because our hope is the risen and living Jesus Christ. We will rise, because Jesus arose (Rom 6:5). We will live, because our Savior lives (Jn 11:25-26). Our grave will be empty, because His grave is empty (1 Cor 15:54).

So, like Paul, our heart should long for our true home. We should experience a sense of "homesickness" for heaven that grows with time. As we allow the Word of God to mold our character, submit to the providential hand of God to direct our lives, and welcome the fellowship of believers to whet our appetite for heavenly worship, we will soon conclude that the challenges of “this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:16-18). We will be with Christ and like Christ! We will be perfectly delivered from the presence of sin, recipients of a resurrection body, and fellow heirs with all that is our Savior’s inheritance. 1 Peter 1:3-5 describes the fullness of this inheritance and the happiness of God to give it to us in this way:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

What an incredible inheritance glorification offers. Consider the four words Peter uses in his description. First, our inheritance is imperishable. Unlike the things of this world, entropy has no effect on it. Second, our inheritance is unspoiled. It has no flaw or imperfection. Third, our inheritance is unfading. Its intensity and value will never diminish. And finally, our inheritance is reserved. It awaits us, being guarded by God Himself. Wow!

There will come a day when we will be delivered from the very presence of sin. One day, by God’s amazing grace, we will be able to say, “I made it! Not because of my doing or effort, but because of His mercy!” Then, we will experience, in person, the words of John Bunyan: “Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the Father. What solace then must that soul be filled with, that has the possession of Him for eternity.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 (ESV) - “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”