I have been reading The Glory of Christ by John Owen this week, and it’s an absolute treasure that I recommend for you to read. And if you do pick it up, make sure to get the modern English version. 

I am in Washington, DC with my family as I write this. America is on the verge of celebrating 250 years, which is incredible! We have visited many of the museums, seen the sites and monuments, and had an encouraging visit to the Museum of the Bible. But, the backdrop of everything we are getting to experience this week is a world that is filled with upheaval, uncertainty, wars, and calamity. Even our own family has had a difficult season of transition and uncertainty. 

The condition of the world and the circumstances of our family are not unique, they are the common experience in a world that is stained with sin and yearning for its deliverance. This world is filled with troubles, and there is a path to joy and victory in the midst of it all. 

John Owen said it first, and he said it better than I ever could. Here’s an excerpt from the first section of his book: 

“…many people, heathens as well as Christians, have complained of the shortness, vanity, and miseries of the human life, and it is not my intent to insist on this. My inquiry is only after the relief which we may obtain against all of these evils, so that we will not faint under them and that we may have the victory over them! Paul declares this sentiment in 2 Corinthians 4:

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9,16-18)

When we behold by faith things that are not seen, things spiritual and eternal, we find our afflictions relieved, our burdens lightened, and our souls preserved from fainting under them. Of these things, the glory of Christ that we see here is the principal object of faith, and in a due sense, it is comprehensive of them all. For we behold the glory of God Himself in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6).5 When we can at all times retreat into the contemplation of this glory, we will be carried above the perplexing, prevailing sense of any of these evils or a combination of them all.

It is a sad kind of life when men scramble for poor, temporary reliefs from their distresses. But there is a universal remedy, a cure that is the only balm for all our diseases. 

No matter what presses, urges, or perplexes, if we can only retreat in our minds to view this glory and our interest in it, we will find comfort and support. Wicked men in their distresses, which sometimes overtake them, are like a troubled sea that cannot rest. Others are heartless and despondent, secretly resenting the wise decisions of Divine Providence, especially when they look on the better condition (as they suppose) of others. And even the best of us are apt to grow faint and weary when these things press on us in an unusual manner or continue for a long time without any prospect of relief. Christ is the stronghold that such prisoners are to turn to in hope. By contemplating the glory of Christ, we will find rest for our souls.” The Glory of Christ, John Owen

My encouragement to you as you read this is that you will take a moment and reflect on the glory of Christ and the comfort that is found only in Him. 

“Jesus Christ is our rest, regardless of our place!”