Glory of God

‘The glory of God is a human being fully alive.’ Irenaeous

One of the most profound experiences of my life was a dream about the ‘glory of God’. It was so striking and overwhelmingly beautiful that I longed to reach out and touch it. Yet it remained just out of reach. I could see it hidden behind a veil that I sensed was called ‘death to self’. In John 17:10b it says, ‘And glory has come to me through them.’ This means Jesus is expecting that the lives of his followers will bring glory to Himself. ‘I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:22).

‘To glorify God is to acknowledge and respond to his infinite weight, importance, and beauty through adoration and enjoyment of him, not just blind obedience’ (Tim Keller).

Bible Perspective

During a difficult time, Moses cried out with desperation, ‘Please show me Your glory’ (Exodus 33:18). And the Lord answered his prayer. The glory of God became a source of hope for him. In John 17, Jesus speaks of glory eight times in His prayer, showing just how significant it is. He even prays that you would see His glory. ‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world’ (John 17:24).

Have you seen his glory yet?

Observation

In the Old Testament, the word ‘glory’ carries the meaning of ‘weight’ especially in connection with God’s presence. This is why, when people ministered before the Lord, they often fell in awe before Him. Tradition tells us that when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year, a cord was tied around his ankle just in case the overwhelming glory of God’s presence caused him to collapse. If that happened, others could pull him out. Encountering the ‘glory of the Lord’ was a sacred and at times a fearful experience.
The glory of God is manifest through a personal ‘dying to self’. Greeks seeking Jesus in Jerusalem sought to see His glory. Jesus after the introduction replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds’ (Jn 12:23,24). Dying to self comes through many difficulties: rejection, loneliness, health challenges, financial hardship, ministry where we feel inadequate, misunderstandings, fear and so on. But this ‘death’ you experience eventually produces life. This death is sometimes known as the ‘dark night of the soul’ (16th-century St. John of the Cross).
After spending time in God’s presence, Moses’ face shone so brightly with His glory that the people could not even look at him (Exodus 34:29). How much our world needs to see that same reflection of God’s glory in us today!
The Westminster Confession, in outlining the central beliefs of the Christian faith, declares that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.’ John Piper, however, suggests a helpful refinement: it is more accurate to say, ‘to glorify God ‘by’ enjoying Him forever.’
The teaching in Philippians 2:5-11 shows how the glory of God is revealed if we follow the example of Jesus. ‘He made Himself like a servant’ (v7). Because He died to His own human desires God exalted Jesus to be the ‘name above all names’ (v9), so that others could see the ‘glory of God the Father’ (v11).

‘In your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, (7) he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!
(9)Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
(11) and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father’.

In Matthew 5:16 we read, ‘Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’ But since even unbelievers can show kindness, wisdom, and love, our ‘good deeds’ must mean something more. Jesus clarifies this in the verses that follow (v44). ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ Such radical love is what truly glorifies God.

There are other aspects and many verses on this subject of God’s glory. For example from John’s gospel:

Water turned into wine. ‘ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him’ (John 2:11)
Bearing much fruit. ‘This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples’ (John 15:8).
Unity amongst His followers. ‘I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:22).

This is a good traditional church prayer: ‘All glory be to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.’

A glorious promise I often consider (despite its primary fulfilment in Christ):

‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.’

(Isaiah 60:1-3)

Resources
John Piper, Desiring God
John Owens, The Glory of Christ
Roy Hession, The Calvary Road

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