The Glory of God
Doctrine
I
October
19, 2015
The
Glory of God
Introduction/
Definitions
There
are two ways that we can discuss the Glory of God. One is the the
honor,
praise, fame, and renown that He gets from Man. Unfortunately, the
way that man honors God changes. As we see in history, the majority
of men throughout the ages have not honored God at all. But, that is
not my focus here.
The second way that we can describe it is the better, because it
finds its definition in who God is in Himself. “The
Glory of the Lord is the expression of God's Person; It is any
manifestation of god's character, any manifestation of His attributes
in the world, in the universe.” (MacArthur)
A.
Unapproachable Light
God's Glory is
described as Light. In fact, He is light
(1 John 1:5). In Heaven, His Glory will be the only
source of light (Rev 21:23). He “dwells in unapproachable light”
(1Ti 6:16). Have you ever been playing a game outside, and you look
up in the sky to catch something, and are temporarily blinded by the
sun? You stand, stunned, able to move for a few seconds. Now, imagine
God's Glory, which is infinitely brighter than the sun. If God was
showed His full glory, we would all go blind and die from the sight.
Jesus showed some of His glory in the Transfiguration, I'll talk
about that in a little bit. In other places in the Bible, we see what
happens to people who see the Glory of God."The priests could
not stand to minister..., for the glory of the LORD filled the house
of God.” (2 Chronicles 5:14) Isaiah prophesied that, “people
shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from
before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his
majesty.”(Isaiah_2:19)
God
holds back His glory to protect us. In Exodus 33:18-23 we find a
story of Moses and God's interaction. When God came in His Glory, He
hid Moses in the cleft of the rock. Moses saw God's back, but He did
not see His face. That was the grace of God, because He had said,
"Man shall not see me and live” (Ex. 33:20).
B.
God's Glory is Holy
“When Scripture
calls God,.. , “holy,” the word signifies everything about God
that sets Him apart from us and makes Him an object of awe,
adoration, and dread to us.” (Packer 43) Not only is God's
Glory blinding, it is Holy. When men see it, they see the depth of
their sin and uncleanliness before God. Isaiah said, “Woe is me!
For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips,...; for my eyes have
seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" (6:5). When he saw God, he
felt horrible, lost. “We have spoken the language of an unclean
heart, that evil communication which corrupts good manners, and
whereby many have been defiled. We are unworthy and unmeet to take
God's name into our lips.” (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
C."Christ
is the effulgence of divine Glory” (Harrison, 236)
“Effulgence,” what does that mean? I did not know, so I looked
it up. Effulgence means “A flood of light; great luster or
brightness; splendor” (Webster's). Christ is the flooding
light, the great brightness, and splendor of God. John 1:1-9 shows us
that He is the Everlasting, Omnipotent, Life-giving Light. Man is
weak, guilty of sin, he is unable to bear God's glory; if he did see
it, he would dread it; The only glory that Man is able to bear is
merciful display which is made in Christ Jesus. (Matthew Henry's
Concise Commentary) “[Christ] is the radiance of the glory of
God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe
by the word of his power.” (Heb 1:3). Yet, in amazing grace and
mercy, He came to us. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among
us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the
Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
At
the transfiguration, Jesus let a small bit of his divine nature show
through. (Recorded in both Matthew
17:1-9 and Mark 9:2-10) His face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became white as light, radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth
could bleach them (Matt. 17:2, Mar 9:3).
“Moses’ face
shone after having absorbed the divine glory, ... Stephen’s face
shone because for a moment he had seen the Son of man. But the face
of our Lord shone, not from without but from within. The shekinah of
His heart was for the most part hidden, but here it burst through the
frail veil of flesh” (F. B. Meyer)
Application
Do
you walk in the Light of His Glory? How does your life look? Is it
darkened by any sin? "If we say we have fellowship with him
while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."
(1 John 1:6) “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving
the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for
sins,” (Heb 10:26).
Do
you have fellowship with believers? 1 John 1:7 says that, “If we
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
If you are not walking in the Light, you will have a hard time
getting along with people.
“The
to-and-fro of seeing glory in God and giving glory to God is the true
fulfillment of human nature at its heart, and it brings supreme joy
to man just as it does to God.” (Packer 59)
Do
you find Joy in seeing His Glory, or does it disgust you? Does it
fill you with dread? If you are not finding Joy in seeing or giving
Him glory, you may need to check to see if there is un-repented-of
sin in your life. So, where is your heart today? Is it enamored in
God's Glory? Are you satisfied in Him? Are you fulfilled in Him? Ask
yourself if God, who said, "Let
light shine out of darkness," has shone in your heart to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. (John 1:14)
“Turn
your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face,
and
the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His
Glory and Grace”
-Helen H. Lemmel
Works
Cited
Grudem,
Wayne. Systematic Theology,
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. Print.
Harrison,
Everett F., ed. in chief. Baker's dictionary of theology.
Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 1960. Print.
Henry,
Matthew. Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible,
e-Sword Bible Program.
-From
his commentary on Isaiah 6:5-8
Henry,
Matthew. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, e-Sword Bible
Program.
-From
his commentary on Exodus 33:12-23
MacArthur,
John. Grace to You, The Glory
of God, Part 1, Published 10/28/2013.
-
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1028132016529
(accessed 10/14/2015)
Meyer,
F.B. Through the Bible Day by Day, e-Sword Bible Program.
-
on Matthew 17:1-8
Packer,
J.I. Concise Theology, Carol Stream, Tyndale House Publishers,
1993. Print
The
Holy Bible, English Standard Version, New
York: Good News Publishers, 2001. Print.
Webster,
Noah. Webster's 1828 Dictionary,
e-Sword
Bible Program.
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