Our text begins: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (v. 18).

"I consider" translates a Greek word which refers to mathematical calculation. His phrase could be translated, "I have come to the reasoned conclusion" or "I have done the math and am sure of the result."

"Our present sufferings" means "the sufferings of this present age" in contrast with the glory of the age to come when the Messiah returns. Paul is not thinking of suffering in general, but more specifically the hardships involved in following Jesus. Roman Christians got the worst jobs if they could find jobs at all. They lived in the worst tenements. Neighbors sometimes turned them in for following Jesus, in return for a percentage of their household possessions when they were confiscated. And increasing numbers were being imprisoned and executed for following Jesus.

Paul would one day join them. He would be thrown into the Mamartime dungeon just off the Forum in Rome, where sanitation was a hole in the ground and air, food and water came through a hole in the roof. He was chained to a post still visible in the cave, until he was taken to the Ostesian Way and beheaded.

Paul would ask you what it will cost you to take the next step with Jesus. Those "present sufferings," in Paul's reasoned opinion, "are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed."

Paul is saying that when we measure present suffering and future glory against each other, the glory outweighs the suffering every time. Future reward outweighs the cost of present obedience. Eternal glory outweighs the cost of present suffering. When you do a cost/benefits analysis, heaven wins over earth.

Paul made the same claim to the Corinthian Christians, no strangers to persecution and suffering for their faith: "We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

One day we will be rewarded with "the glory that will be revealed."

"Revealed" translates the Greek word apocalypse, to be "unveiled." This is the word for which the book of Revelation is named. It means to draw back the curtain, revealing what is already there so we can see it.

In this case, what will be revealed is "glory." The word in the New Testament refers to brightness, brilliance, splendor. In the Bible, this word applies to God and those who are with him. It shone on the face of Moses when he was in the presence of God (2 Corinthians 3:7). It was revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration when the glory of Jesus was unveiled for his disciples to see. "Glory" refers to the presence and splendor of God.

This "glory" is already present in us as the Spirit of God lives in us, but it is veiled by our fallen world and nature. Our sins and failings have drawn the curtain over this glory of the Spirit dwelling in us. However, this glory is already a revealed fact for those who are with Jesus, and will be revealed for the entire world to see when Jesus comes back to be with us.

So Paul claims that when we compare our present sufferings for following Jesus with the glory that will be unveiled in us when we are with God and God is with us, we learn that there is no comparison at all.

Meanwhile, creation is waiting "in eager expectation" to join us in this glory to be revealed. Right now it is "subjected to frustration" by the fall of man, our sins corrupted all of creation. But one day it "will be liberated from its bondage to decay."

There will be "a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1), and there will be "no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (v. 4). One day the entire universe will be "brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."