“And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.  Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” Romans 8:17-18 NLT 

An inheritance is usually something that comes when someone dies. However, the Bible does not always employ words in the same sense that we do. “Heir” implies that as Christians we have a special relationship to God as His “children”. Because of that relationship we already possess the Father’s blessing and are assured of further blessing at the end of time. 

In the OT, the concept of inheritance implied possession of the Holy Land. It came to be seen as part of the Messianic blessing (Ps.37:9,11). That concept carried over to the NT.  Jesus called the meek blessed, “for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt.5:5). Again, in speaking to the disciples, Jesus noted that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matt.19:29). And at the final judgment, Jesus tells His followers, “Come, O blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt.25:25). 

 “if…we share in His sufferings” we will share “in His glory”. The “if” means “because”. No one ever said (least of all Christ and the apostles,) that the Christian walk would be an easy one. In fact, it is generally quite the opposite, because our earth is caught in the midst of a galactic struggle between good and evil. Christians have opted for a Lord and a set of principles contrary to those of the “prince of this world” (satan). Thus they can expect the same sorts of conflict that cost Christ His life and caused the apostles so much trouble. But trouble isn’t an end in itself. Those who “share in His sufferings” will “share in His glory”.  

Paul, in line with other Jews, characterised history as being divided between two ages or eras: the present age and the age to come. For him, two words – “suffering” and “glory” – depicted the two ages. 

The sufferings Paul speaks about not only include opposition from the world (those opposed to God’s principles) but also our physical and moral frailty, which result from our half-saved condition. God has arranged for our salvation. He has transformed our hearts and minds to love His principles, but Christians still live in a less than perfect world in less than perfect bodies. The result is tension and the “sufferings of this present time”. 

What would happen to our Christianity if our artificial props suddenly collapsed? If we lost our job, our house, and our social standing? In other words, what if sufferings became real for us, just as they are for multitudes in less-fortunate circumstances around the earth? 

Then we would probably be able to see what Paul is getting at. We would long for the glory of the age to come in ways that we seldom do in our present condition with its sense of well-being. And we would desire the coming of God’s kingdom with all our hearts and minds.