16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:16-18 King James Version (KJV)
In ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, the Pevensie children become kings and queens of Narnia. And we too are heirs as the book of Romans tells us. As children of God, we are in a unique position – the child that we remember being born, fully human yet fully God as our co-heir to God.
Henri Nouwen says that,
We continue to put ourselves down as less than Christ. Thus, we avoid the full honor as well as the full pain of the Christian life. But the Spirit that guided Jesus guides us. When we start living according to this truth, our lives will be radically transformed. We will not only come to know the full freedom of the children of God but also the full rejection of the world. It is understandable that we hesitate to claim the honor so as to avoid the pain. But, provided we are willing to share in Christ’s suffering, we also will share in his glory
Perhaps that is a different way to look at Advent, we are preparing to share in his glory…
