Our calling is to glory

God’s invitation to ministry is one of the greatest honour and privileges He can bestow on man. No believer can attain his fullest potential in life without responding to the call of God to function within his gifts and talents.

Peter appropriately describes our calling as a call to glory (1 Pet.5:10). Paul, on the other hand, said we are called to his kingdom and glory (1 Thes.2:12). Some think that the call of God is a condemnation to perpetual poverty and wretched living. How can the King of glory call His children to wretchedness and poverty? That will be a negation of His very nature and purpose. This warped view of what the call of God is has kept many young people from responding to the call of God. They see the call to ministry as boring and drudgery.

What Is Glory?
Glory is the Hebrew word meaning the “weight” of God. By implication, we are called to bear the burden of the weight of God’s glory to the world. Glory also means the totality of who God is; this includes his power, his beauty, his splendour, his character, his majesty, his love, etc. This, by implication means, we are called to reflect all these virtues of God as vessels of his glory.

Peter And The Call To Glory
Peter understood what the call to glory was about? We shall give three examples. First, he experienced the glory of God on Pentecost Day when the Holy Spirit baptised him. Something remarkable happened to him that day; for the first time, he preached a message that brought in a harvest of three thousand souls. That was a novel experience for Peter. He also had the rare privilege of being taken along by Christ, with two others, James and John to a mountain to pray. There he saw Jesus transformed while he prayed. Under their very eyes, they saw Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus on the mount and they heard a voice from heaven affirming the sonship of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, hear him.” Overwhelmed, Peter’s reaction to these experiences was interesting. He then said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah – not knowing what he said” (Lk.9:28-36).

Secondly, Peter later testified about these experiences in 2 Peter 1:16-18, when he wrote that, “we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory when such a voice came to him from the Excellent Glory: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice, which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.”

Thirdly, Peter later became a glory bearer. He was called as a frustrated fisherman to follow Christ, but for three years when he followed Christ, as a disciple not much seemed to have happened other than that he was always inquisitive, he denied Christ and tried to walk on water. But, all that changed after Pentecost Day. From then on, he healed the man who had been at the Beautiful Gate for over 40 years. He raised Dorcas from the dead. Many of the sick were laid on his path so that his shadow could heal them. He preached to many Gentiles and brought them into the family of Christ.

These developments informed Peter’s testimony that we are called to be “partakers of the glory that will be revealed.” Contact: pastoracukachi@gmail.com