Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves… Heaven does not take perfect beings and make them more perfect. It takes fallible and incomplete ones, and glorifies them. Even time and the discipline of pain are beforehand in this, turning the very defects of Christians into graces. It is a paradox of art that our glassmakers can only reproduce now the perfection of the ancient "stained glass" by reproducing its imperfections: — "Singularly enough, examinations made of the painted windows, so celebrated as works of artistic genius and skill, of the old cathedrals of England and continental Europe, show that their superiority really consists in the inferiority of the glass, its richness in the poverty of its constituents, in the very perfection of its uneven thickness, and in the imperfections of its surface and its body, all covered, as they are, by the accumulating dust of ages, and honey-combed by the corroding effect of time. Like the facets of a diamond or ruby, each little wave and thread and blister becomes, by interference, refraction and reflection of the light which plays upon it, a new source of the gem-like brilliance, harmony, and beauty which distinguish the painted glass of former centuries." So the inferiorities and insufficiencies of God's children become accessories of beauty when the rays of His heavenly glory play upon them. The culture of eternity must complement the trial and wear of this lifetime to bring out every charm that here lay in disguise. Parallel Verses KJV: And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. |
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