by Bryan Chappell
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:4

These major aspects of the grace of God—that we are dead and raised with Christ and that we are hidden with Christ in God—are already established, already true, and are stated in the past tense. The reality is already here, but even that is not the fullness of the grace of God. He’s not just going to look at what’s past or present; He’s going to look to the future as well.
“Then you also will appear with him in glory” (emphasis added). I must tell you, I don’t exactly know all that this entails. When Christ returns to claim this world as the Sovereign King of the Universe, when He comes again in all His glory, then you and I will appear with Him in glory. So when His glory appears, that glory gets to be shared. Even the apostles did not fully understand what that meant. John said, “What we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
In his amazing book The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis described it for us this way: “Remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship.” Why? Because the radiance of the glory of God will be theirs in Christ Jesus.
Now, you and I know ourselves, our weaknesses, our sins, our frailties, and our disappointments. We’re well acquainted with the longing we have to be with Jesus, which never seems like it will be fulfilled because we are way off the mark so often.
But God knows all this and still says, “But you’re raised with Christ and seated with Him at the right hand of God.” When Jesus appears, you and I will have the glory of the Son of God, who created the world and the universe in which you and I live. That is how great the grace of God is.

Thought to Remember for Today

While it is true that we live in the here and now, the Holy Spirit has spoken great hope to us through these words from Paul: “You also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:4). We don’t know exactly what that means, but we do know we will be completely changed, will have put off this old shell and put on a new life that, as Lewis penned, if we could see it now, we would fall down in worship. Today you’re on a trajectory that will unavoidably end in your complete transformation.

Fitzpatrick, E. (2016). Grace untamed: a 60-day devotional. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.