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“The Spirit of Christ…when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11).
We all like to consider the future glories of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what it will be like to spend eternity with Him. In that day, we will reign with Him over this earth for 1000 years. The Old Testament scriptures, inspired by the Spirit of God, prophesied all this long before the Lord Jesus came into this world.
The Old Testament scriptures also prophesied the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, but the Jews were so dazzled by the thought of a glorious coming kingdom that they failed to see that the sufferings had to come first. They did not realize that they could not inherit the kingdom in their sinful state; they had to be “redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.” When the Lord Jesus clearly showed them that He had to go to the cross and suffer, John records that “many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him” (John 6:66).
You and I face a similar challenge in our lives. As natural people, we do not like to follow a rejected Christ, yet that is what we are called to do in this world. Surely the day of glory is ahead for us, but for now, we are called to follow the One who is still despised and rejected in this world.
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