Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Having access to something before you arrive and actually participate in the access is part of the fun. I don’t know about now, but in the mid-90s, a ticket to the Indy 500 was like a work of art. It had holographic printing, full-color pictures, printed on cardboard as thick as a cereal box, and was too awesome to be stuffed into a pocket. They came in the mail, and when I got mine, I carried it around the house for a little bit before I put it in a safe place.
It’s like unboxing your Disney Magic Band or getting that push notification from Amazon that your order is “Out for delivery.”
You have it, it’s as good as yours, but you aren’t fully participating in it yet.
Knowing that Jesus is coming back for all of His family is awesome if you know you have access. If you know Him now, you’ll know Him then, and that overflows into peace and joy. We have the grace now and we’ll have it fully then.
Only weirdos buy a Disney Magic Band to wear around Evansville. At some point, the thing is meant to go to Disney. Our grace wasn’t just given to us for an infinity of landscaping work in Henderson. It was given to us for a glorious appearing and fulfilment in the Kingdom of Heaven forever.
Get ready.