How Glorious Is Jesus To
You? Kelly
Durant 3-26-17
2 Thessalonians 2:14 to
which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Matt 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the
Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
2. When
you hear the word glory, what comes to mind? Do you think of some entertainer
as being glorious because they can impress with their voice or skills? Lately
entertainers want to impress you not with their own talents, but with their
technological creativity. It is all illusive. I know some people in the church who
use ‘glory’ as a jargon word. Someone says, ‘Did you hear brother John quit
smoking?’ And then a random person somewhere shouts out, “glory!” It is kind of
a shortened version of saying ‘glory to God’! Thank the Lord! Do you ever say
that?
So what
is glory exactly, and do we as Christians have the ability to be glorious? I
think most Christians are familiar that we are always supposed to give the,
‘honor and glory to God’ and this being the case, let’s look closer at ‘glory’
and how it has been manifested in the past. Do you have glory in your life with
Jesus?
Did you
know I love to decipher words? It is amazing how just 2 or 3 letters in a word
gives you the clue on its base roots and roots of meaning. For example, with
‘glory’, I think of words with ‘gl’ in them, such as glow, glamour, glisten and
glimmer. It is interesting to note that glory does have the inferred meaning to
shine brightly.
3. Consider
the first verses in the Old Testament where we hear about the glory of the
Lord. You do recall the Israelites fled Egypt and what guided them? The glory
of the Lord! Exodus
24:17 And the sight of the glory of
the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the
children of Israel.
To the Israelites
the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire
on top of the mountain. In other words
it was bright light that was shining, some sort of energy beyond description as
it was ‘like’ a fire, so it was not a fire but a type of unexplainable
radiance. ‘The word used to signify
glory in Hebrew is (כָּבוד – Kavod). This word
also means to honor, and it is connected with the general idea of (כָּבֵד – Kaved) “heavy”.’ From website: (http://jewishstudies.eteacherbiblical.com/glory-mean-hebrew-insights-dr-eli/)
In the New Testament when
the glory of God appeared to the shepherds announcing Jesus’ birth with all the
angels lighting up the sky proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest”, and this
light was brighter than the sun. Take note that this light carried with it the
presence of the Lord. So, God’s glorious presence displays energy, supports
beings communicating a message, and its light has frightful power!
When John saw Jesus in
heaven in Revelation 1, Jesus was in His glory and the shine on His face was
bright like the sun! We know no one can look directly at the sun as it is too
overwhelming. What we have learned is that God’s presence is glorious beyond
anything we can understand and it is too powerful for us to endure continuously
while living in our frail flesh. No man has seen God and lived as He is a
consuming fire, but we can experience glimpses of Him and be led by Him through
his Holy Spirit.
4. When Jesus did
miracles, or opened His mouth to teach, the glory of God was manifested over
and over! One example, apart from the healing miracles, is the transfiguration
of Jesus, which was the revealing of His real self in His glory. Notice that He
chose to not walk around shining like that all the time! It would have provoked
extreme fear and it would have also prevented people from believing on Him by
faith instead of by supernatural means only.
Matt 17:1-4 After six days Jesus took with him Peter,
James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by
themselves. 2 There he
was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became as white as the light. 3 Just then
there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.4 Peter
said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up
three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
After this glorious experience of God’s glory in Him revealed,
notice how carnally minded Peter was being ready to turn this glory into a religious
iconic platform. But God’s Glory is designed to live in us, within obedient
loving Christ lovers, so to think one can house this glory in a stone temple made
with hands is a very misguided conception. All around the world there so many
temples which end up being Satan’s perversion of how ‘god’ is manifested in
man’s imaginations. The reality is that there is no glory of God restrained to
some sacred earthly place, be it in Jerusalem, Mecca, or Machu Pichu! Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world
and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.
5. So glory has many attributes,
that of light, of God’s presence, and that of supernatural power. Did Jesus
want us to be glorious like Him as well? John 14:12
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
So God’s glory is for us
to experience in part in the here and now, but also of course we know that the
ultimate Glory of God is to be revealed in us in the resurrection. So how do we
obtain this glory starting now? To begin with, the Christian must evaluate if
he or she is living an obedient holy life. God’s servants in the New Testament dedicated
their selves to God alone with no double standards, no ulterior motives, nothing
but just a love for Him and His will. Stop right now and ask yourself, is my being
here for the motive of living in God’s glory? Am I here with the motive to
learn to live in holiness?
Some people who want
God’s power and charisma do not get it, and why? They are not willing to pay
the price! The sacrifice is that of connecting with God’s word and obeying as
Jesus said to, serving God and others denying their selves to live in Him only.
The half obedient never gain that blessing of experiencing His glory. You and I
are faced with changing totally to be like Jesus and become authentic and
glorious, or we are destined to be fake and pretend to have happiness and glory
feeling out of place and wearing a fake smile. Can you recognize fake smiles?
6. The glory of God and
the glory of man are two different things and sadly, some people in the
Christian world today have confused these two! Many people may think that glory
is reflected in church size and numbers, that glory is present in their pretty
buildings, that glory is equal to their fame, talent, wealth, and popularity.
It takes real discernment to
weigh what is God’s glory but it can be evaluated quite simply. Think of it
this way, if Jesus has all the glory of all creation for eternity, shouldn’t we
strive to be holy be like Jesus was as much as possible so that we share in the
same glory that He has? Any other glory is a waste of time because it is
fleeting like a flower in the grass that dries up. 1 Peter 1:24
because “All
flesh is as grass, And
all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass
withers, And its flower falls away. It is either God’s glory or flesh glory!
How foolish it is to
think one can be glorious with God or with people over obtaining position,
power, money, or influence! If the glory
you gain in this life is from your own work, and not from God’s glory, then
when you leave this world behind, you will be very sorry because man’s glory
fades like the grass! How true that is when you look at history, and see who
remains as ‘a great one’. Some men ruled the civilized world in their day but
who cares today? No one!
7. It is my prayer that
you understand and appreciate the glory of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit! If
you have ever absorbed a tiny bit of His glory you will be totally changed! I
know I have been so overwhelmed at times that I have cried, laughed, and yelled
out loud! You cannot spend time with God, be it in prayer or in His Word, or in
fellowship with those who are living in holiness, without some of His glory
rubbing off on you! That is if you are an alive Christian who really loves
Jesus!
God’s glory is reflected
in His holiness and His holiness reflects in pure amazing love, along with
mercy, joy, peace, and all the many fruits of the spirit. These are things
money can’t buy and are contrary to the desires of the flesh! With God’s glory
in your life you will desire nothing else above Him as everything else is as
trash in comparison! With His awareness in you, you willing purge out your sins,
but who is really doing that?
The contrast of His
glory with the glory of man is stark! The glory of man, which is either
manifested in fame, fortune, or pride, is a cruel road to climb with so many
evil corrupted competitors stepping on you all along the way. So many actors, singers,
and dictators sold their souls to Satan degrading their selves for the
opportunity to make it big. Only one out of several thousands who try to make
it to fame, fortune, or power ever do! So the illusive chase for the glory of
man is regulated by a rigged game devised by Satan himself in order to capture
and destroy souls.
8. I know most of you
are already convinced the glory of man is vain and ridiculous. But too many
people still are envious of others, even in the church, some people have ego
needs. 1 John 2:16-18 “For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not
of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
There is no glory in conforming
to being how the people of the world are as it always ends up in depression,
drugs, and disaster. The people of the world want to influence you on who you
are to love and who you are to hate demanding you agree with them on all of
their hateful, illogical, immoral, and bad behaviors (which are, by the way,
destroying them). They do not fear our glorious God and they are blind idiots!
While living in this
flesh we all get tempted over and over with this desire to become glorious, but
that desire is pride, the very thing that brought Satan to condemnation. Isaiah 23:9 ‘The Lord of hosts hath purposed
it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the
honourable of the earth.’ With no earthly glory we are treated like nobodies and
suffer but…2 Timothy 2:12 ‘If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we
deny him, he also will deny us.’
9. The only chance we have in life of obtaining
glory is to share in the glory of Jesus! Jesus is total love, total glory
forever! I want to live forever in the sunshine of His love! You and have to
come to the point of letting go of everything you ever dreamed to be, letting
go of showing off how much we know, or what we are able of doing that others
can’t. We all have talents, but they are God given for His glory, not for our
own.
Imagine John the
Baptist, a man hailed by Jesus as one of the greatest in God’s book said this, John
3:30 ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’. Can you repeat with me this
beautiful phrase with me? He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease’!
Thank God for His glory!
Thank God that He allowed His only Son to come to earth and that you and I have
the privilege to know Him and be saved! Eph. 1:6 ‘To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace.’ His glory is forever! So let us all love and serve Him praying
against the pride and glory of man in each of us! All of history ends with
Jesus return and He returns with great power and glory!
