# “Glorification has in view the destruction of death itself” by John Murray

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/03/29/glorification-has-in-view-the-destruction-of-death-itself-by-john-murray/
- Published: 2026-03-29T06:30:00-05:00
- Author: tollelege

“Glorification is the final phase of the application of redemption. It is that which
brings to completion the process which begins in effectual calling. Indeed it is
the completion of the whole process of redemption.

For glorification means the attainment of the goal to which the elect of God were
predestinated in the eternal purpose of the Father and it involves the consummation
of the redemption secured and procured by the vicarious work of Christ. But when
does glorification take place?

It is here that we need to appreciate what glorification really is and how it is
to be realized. Glorification does not refer to the blessedness upon which the spirits
of believers enter at death. It is true that then the saints, as respects their 
disembodied spirits, are made perfect in holiness and pass immediately into the 
presence of the Lord Christ.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (cf. **2 Cor. 5:8**). 
Presence with Christ in his state of glory cannot consist with any of the defilements
of sin—the spirits of departed saints are “the spirits of just men made perfect”(**
Heb. 12:23**).

The Shorter Catechism sums up the truth when it says: “The souls of believers are
at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory: and
their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.”

Yet, however glorious is the transformation of the people of God at death and however
much they may be disposed to say with the apostle that to depart and to be with 
Christ is far better (cf. **Phil. 1:23**), this is not their glorification. It is
not the goal of the believer’s hope and expectation.

The redemption which Christ has secured for his people is redemption not only from
sin but also from all its consequences. Death is the wages of sin and the death 
of believers does not deliver them from death. The last enemy, death, has not yet
been destroyed; it has not yet been swallowed up in victory. Hence glorification
has in view the destruction of death itself.

It is to dishonour Christ and to undermine the nature of the Christian hope to substitute
the blessedness upon which believers enter at death for the glory that is to be 
revealed when “this corruptible will put on incorruption and this mortal will put
on immortality” (**1 Cor. 15:54**). Preoccupation with the event of death indicates
a deflection of faith, of love, and of hope.

We who have the firstfruits of the Spirit “groan within ourselves,” the apostle 
reminds us, “waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (**Rom. 8:23**).
That is the glorification. It is the complete and final redemption of the whole 
person when in the integrity of body and spirit the people of God will be conformed
to the image of the risen, exalted, and glorified Redeemer, when the very body of
their humiliation will be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory (cf. **Phil 3:
21**).

God is not the God of the dead but of the living and therefore nothing short of 
resurrection to the full enjoyment of God can constitute the glory to which the 
living God will lead his redeemed. Christ is the firstbegotten from the dead, the
firstfruits of them that have fallen asleep; he is the firstborn among many brethren.

This truth that glorification must wait for the resurrection of the body advises
us that glorification is something upon which all the people of God will enter together
at the same identical point in time. There is no priority for one above another.

In this respect it radically differs from death and the glory with Christ upon which
saints enter on that event. Each saint of God who dies has his own appointed season
and therefore his own time to depart and be with Christ. We can see that this event
is highly individualized. But it is not so with glorification. One will not have
any advantage over another—all together will be glorified with Christ.

The New Testament lays peculiar stress upon this fact. We might think it unnecessary
to accent it. We might say: the important truth is that all will be glorified and
all else is of little significance. It is not so.

The apostle Paul found it necessary to inform, or perhaps remind, the Thessalonian
believers that even those who will not die but be living at the advent of the Lord
will not have any advantage over those who died, “because,” he says, “the Lord himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with 
the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

And so the living and the resurrected dead, who died in Christ, will together be
snatched up to meet the Lord in the air (**1 Thess. 4:16, 17**). Again, the same
apostle says: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall 
be changed” (**1 Cor. 15:51, 52**).

Glorification, then, is the instantaneous change that will take place for the whole
company of the redeemed when Christ will come again the second time without sin 
unto salvation and will descend from heaven with the shout of triumph over the last
enemy. “Then will come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up
in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” (**1 Cor.
15:54, 55**).

There is much for our instruction in this fact that the final act of the application
of redemption is one that affects all alike at the same moment of time in the final
accomplishment of God’s redemptive design. It is as a body that the whole company
of the redeemed will be glorified. This is highly consonant with all that of which
glorification is the consummation.

It is union with Christ that binds together all the phases of redemptive love and
grace. It was in Christ the people of God were chosen before the foundation of the
world. It was in Christ they were redeemed by his blood—he loved the church and 
gave himself for it. The people of God were quickened together with Christ, and 
raised up together and made to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus (cf.**
Eph. 5:25; 2:5, 6**).

Christ wrought redemption with the design “that he might present the church to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish” (**Eph. 5:27**). When heaven’s design will reach its
grand finale, Christ will come again in the glory of his Father. He will also come
in his own glory—it will be “the appearing of the glory of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ” (**Tit. 2:13**).

But this will also be the revelation of the sons of God (**Rom. 8:19**). There will
be a perfect coincidence of the revelation of the Father’s glory, of the revelation
of the glory of Christ, and of the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

The glorification of the elect will coincide with the final act of the Father in
the exaltation and glorification of the Son. “But if children, then heirs; heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together” (**Rom. 8:17**).

There is heavenly congruity here, and it is congruity which exemplifies the marvel
of divine love, wisdom, and power as it also vindicates the glory of God. “The Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day” (**Isa. 2:11**).

Glorification is an event which will affect all the people of God together at the
same point of time in the realization of God’s redemptive purpose. It will bring
to final fruition the purpose and grace which was given in Christ Jesus before times
eternal (cf. **2 Tim. 1:9**)”

–John Murray, _[**Redemption: Accomplished and Applied**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1955859132?tag=toletaupanre-20)_(
Glenside, PA: Westminster Seminary Press, 1955/2024), 174-177.

[⌊Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray⌉⌊Redemption Accomplished and
Applied by John Murray⌉[

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