What Is Glorification?

The Bible tells us that the end of our sanctification will be our glorification, when all vestigial remnants of sin will be removed from our character. We will be pure. No more doubt. No more fear. No more error. No more pain. No more evil. All of these things will be gone for-ever. We will be like Christ, totally sanctified. We will see Him as He is in His unveiled splendor and glory. We will see something that will dwarf the vision that Isaiah had of the Holy One.

This is the destiny that God promises His people. This is the goal and purpose of our salvation. This is what we are saved for. We are saved by God, from God, for God. That is the full irony of the drama of salvation.

Finally, we read of God’s promise of a new heaven and a new earth, the promise of a new Jerusalem that will descend from heaven itself. This is the capstone of the revelation that John received while exiled on the isle of Patmos:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any-more, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Rev. 21:1–7)

John describes in terms of streets of gold, gates of pearls, and walls adorned with precious stones the heavenly city to which we are given title by Christ. He describes a city of such magnificent beauty that it makes the most majestic human constructions of this world appear as blighted slums in contrast.

This city has no church. No spires or steeples mark its skyline. No temple is present because in this place none is needed:

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. (Rev. 21:22–26)

Rescued for Glory

Finally, in the last chapter of the Bible, John describes a pure river—a river of the water of life, clear as crystal. It is in this majestic setting that our beatific vision will take place. It is here that the ultimate chapter of our salvation will be written:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev. 22:1–5)

How, then, “shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation” (Heb. 2:3)? It is a salvation that is by God, from God, and for God, to whom belongs all glory.