The beatings, imprisonments, confiscation of property, and cruel executions that the early Church faced didn’t erode their confidence in Christ but rather galvanized it—the more we share in Christ’s sufferings, the more we’ll share in his glory!

We hear this very differently because we don’t face anything like what the early Church did. But Paul isn’t only talking about suffering for the sake of the gospel; any and every kind of suffering we face in this world riddled with sin and its effects is in view here. And though we do our best in 21st century America to block it out, creation tells us all the time that things are not right.

But here's the gospel promise: because of Christ, future glory awaits all of creation. You know it—and creation knows it, too.