“We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is
bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into
words- to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it
into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it…God will one day give us
the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendor of the sun [Matt.
13:43- “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father”]…At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of
the door…but the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor
that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.”
C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory, 12-13

“Paul encourages believers to endure temporary suffering by giving them a
glimpse of the beauty that awaits the children of God. The redemption they
await is so stupendous that it will involve the entire created order. Just as
creation fell when Adam sinned, so too will it be transformed when the
children of God experience the completion of their redemption. Believers
should be full of hope because the suffering of this age are part and parcel

of a fallen creation, and the glory of the age to come inevitably involves a
renewed creation.”
-Tom Schreiner, Romans, 437-8

“The thesis of this section is that the future glories are so stunning and
magnificent that they render present sufferings inconsequential…Given the
wonders of the glory awaiting believers, they should endure present
sufferings with eagerness, knowing that all suffering in the present can be
borne because the reward before them is incomparably delightful.”
- Tom Schreiner, 440