ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT CONCEPTS TO DEFINE AND UNDERSTAND IN THE BIBLE IS THE REVELATION OF THE GLORY OF GOD. MANKIND HAS TRIED TO COMPREHEND IT, BUT THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN UNTIL THE GLORY OF GOD UNFOLDS IN HUMAN HEARTS.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the wonderful and marvelous truth conveyed in the Bible about, THE GLORY OF GOD…

… Just what is God’s glory? I tell you I’ve researched it throughout the Bible and studied the meaning of the word in our dictionaries, and quite frankly, I’ve had a very difficult time to understand it, and to comprehend its very application and presence in relationship to humanity and our world. Nonetheless, I’m confident I’ve grasped a little, and enough to challenge your heart and thinking, as well as humble me more than ever to be privileged to share it with you today. So don’t go away, this may be the most important lesson and truth you’ll ever hear from the Word of God. So to prepare our hearts, we’ll pause one more time for a sacred song, to meditate on this elusive but fantastic subject of – THE GLORY OF GOD. Stay tuned…

…THE GLORY OF GOD!  What is it? If you open the Word of God from cover to cover, you’ll find that expression and teaching peppered among the pages of holy writ. I suppose we should quote some verses of Scripture to acquaint you with it. We first find the mention of God’s specific glory in,

Exo 16:1-7 (NIV)  The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days." 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?"

This is a most interesting passage. It appears the glory of God was first revealed to mankind through a group of people in the desert following their exodus from Egypt. What God said was that during the day, the people of Israel would see a great cloud that would cover them, and at night they would see this cloud as a blanket of flame and fire over their heads. This served a two-fold purpose. First for their was their care and keeping, and second for a manifested presence of God in their midst. By day, the thick cloud cooled them in the hot desert sun, and at night the blanket of fire warmed them in the frigid cold desert. Through other Scriptures we discover the “glory of the Lord” is a term that reveals a physical dimension and manifestation of God in severely limited ways, but almost always in a vision of great thunder and flashing light, quaking power, and pummel clouds of dark and heavy smoke and fire. This was first manifest to Abraham whom God called out to be His servant. In a striking ceremony, God came down to Abraham and struck a covenant between him and God. A cutting of a covenant ceremony was performed where animals were cut in two and the presence of God passed between the animal parts. We read of this in,

Gen 15:17 (NIV)  When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

Then again in the desert God chose to partially reveal His presence to Moses. God in the second person of the Trinity, the pre-incarnate Christ, came upon a bush which glowed with burning fire but was not consumed,

Exo 3:2 (NIV)  There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

But perhaps the most dramatic manifestation of God’s glory was at Mount Sinai where God gave the Law to Moses and the people of Israel. Moses gives us this account,

Exo 19:6-18 (NIV)  you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites… Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death… 16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently,

Following that God revealed to Moses that His intention was that He wanted to dwell in the midst of His people called out and consecrated to serve Him. In order for God’s glory to be present with them, they had to build a tabernacle in the wilderness, followed by a special temple for His presence. Yet when God came down to dwell there, His glory was seen physically in the presence of great light and fire.

The Bible further tells us that one day because of great sin and disobedience of God’s people Israel, God’s glory departed from the temple where He dwelled among them. We read in,

Ezek 10:18-19 (NIV)  Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

Ezek 11:22-23 (NIV)  Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it.

It appears that the term “glory” in the Bible has a number of meanings. For instance, the most common word used for “glory,” is the Hebrew word “kabod.” Its meaning is – something of great splendor or honor, abundance, riches and wealth. Yes, “glory” in the Old Testament carries associations of weight, worth, wealth, splendor, and dignity, all of which are present when God is said to have revealed his glory.  It’s a difficult word to use and explain, but when applied to God it is the very essence of the character and presence of God’s omnipotent Being and power.

 It is something so great, so powerful, so consuming that only terms like light, fire, thundering, shaking power can describe it in human terms. What’s more for any human being to see it with their eyes or touch it with their presence is to bring instant death and consuming destruction.

God is so great, His power is so immense, His very existence so consuming that no human being can live in His presence or sight because of our corruption and sin. God said to Moses when he asked to see God,

Exo 33:20 (NIV)  … “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Yet, amazing as this is, this same God of fiery glory desires to be in our presence and for us to enjoy His as well. How can that be? Friend, the answer is Jesus Christ!

Yes, the triune God of eternity, designed and fashioned a way for sinful fallen man who is separated from and banished from God’s holy and glorious presence, to be brought back and enabled to live and stand in the presence of this immense and powerful glorious Being.

Why? How? Well the number one reason is God created us in the beginning to live and be in His presence. We discover this is how the very first human beings lived. We read again in,

Gen 3:8-10 (NIV)  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

Apparently this God of great glory, light, power and fire communed with Adam and Eve before they sinned. They were originally fashioned in the perfection and image of God so they could dwell together in mutual love, affection, and physically visible communication. But when sin entered Adam and Eve, they lost something which was in effect the ability to dwell with God. Now we can’t be dogmatic about this  ¾ but how was it they were “naked” in the presence of God? I believe the answer is God had previously clothed them with His garment of light. Henry Morris in His Defender’s Study Bible says about this term “walking in the garden,”

 “This is not a crude anthropomorphism, but an actual theophany. The "Word of God," Christ in His preincarnate state, regularly appeared in the garden for fellowship and communication with His people.”

Indeed God appeared to them in the form of what in the Bible is called the “Shekinah Glory,” the form of God’s great light and out of it came forth the voice of God. This was in a real sense a primal “Parousia,” appearing of God before men. God was appearing unto them in the form of great light. Moreover, as I said, this same light I believe was the clothing God covered them with from creation. Now, when they sinned they lost the “light of God” and were able to see their nakedness with out it. Immediately, there came a loss of innocence and glory and a sense of guilt. They tried to cover their nakedness with their own works, garments that God did not accept (v. 21).

Yes the “glory of God” is then, the very manifest presence of all that God is. This presence was first given to man but lost by sin and is still missing from humanity. Man cannot regain it by any works of his own. He can never approach God and live. All who do try, by attempting to manifest their own glory which is corrupt and dark, will be consumed by the eternal fire of God’s own glory.

This is where Jesus Christ comes in. He is the manifest presence and representation of this glory. Indeed, He is the matchless, all powerful and perfect consuming God of fire and light. 

Heb 1:3 (NIV)  The Son [Jesus Christ] is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The Bible tells us that because of His death and resurrection, God has restored a way for fallen sinners to return to the first estate man once had – that is to be able to dwell in the presence of God and for God’s glory to dwell on and in man. We read of this in the promise God gives to all who surrender their hearts to the God/Man Jesus Christ by calling upon Him to rule and reign in their hearts,

2 Cor 3:16-18 (NIV)  But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Today, God’s glory again dwells among men, but only in His Church that is called out, saved and sanctified for His use. Yes, God indwells every believer ¾  where He has taken up residence by His Holy Spirit, upon being saved by grace through faith in the Person and work of Christ,

Rom 8:9-11 (NLT)  But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.) 10 Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you.

What a marvelous teaching truth! God’s Word says all who are redeemed by the blood-death of Christ, become restored children of God and God comes to live in us and to manifest His glory in and through us.

The New Testament writers proclaim that the glory of God’s nature, character, power, and purpose is now open to view in the person and role of God’s incarnate Son, Jesus Christ and more through us who are his own!  The Scriptures say,

John 1:14 (NIV)  The Word [pre-incarnate Christ] became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Therefore, all life’s activities of the believer indwelled by God, must be pursued with the aim of giving God the homage, honor, and pleasure due Him, which is glory-giving on the practical level,

1 Cor 10:31 (NIV)  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Oh how we who are Christ’s own, need to remember who we’ve become, and as Moses imaged the glory of God on His face after leaving Mt. Sinai, so too we must shine God’s “light,” walk in His power, and declare His praises before men. Why? For we inwardly have this “glory of God,” that needs to shine forth through us to a needy and watching world.

Are you God’s light in the world of darkness around you? Are you God’s power manifested in great acts of love and kindness to bring hope and help to people suffering around you? Are you God’s representation of truth, purity, passion, love, and in all forms of wealth and abundance? This is the glory of God that must be let out and delivered to the world in which we live. Jesus said it well,

Mat 5:14-16 (NIV)  "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

So Jesus tells us this “glory of God,” is not something to be hidden, but let out and to shine into a world of darkness and sin,

John 17:22-23 (NIV)  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

The thought of God’s great glory residing in us who are saved by grace through Christ, should cause all God’s children to fall on their faces before God, giving thanks for so great salvation and restoration to the sinners we are.

The Westminster Confession of historic Presbyterianism states, “the chief end of man is to glorify God.” But that is not totally correct. Yes, this should be the chief end of all our living, but more it is the chief end of God Himself! Restated it should read: “The chief end of God is to glorify God!” That my friend is the summation of all creation and existence. The majesty and glory of God is the reason for all creation. Nothing is more important to God that to reveal Himself in all His perfections, for nothing should or could be praised more than that! Why does the universe exist? Why do you and I exist? It is for the glory and majesty of God, as we represent and duplicate a measure of Him in our lives and hearts.

Thus, we discover God created everything for the display and the admiration of His glory! Is this your purpose in life? Is this the meaning of your existence? If not, there is coming a day when the glory of God will consume all that does not align with this purpose. May God reveal to you His glory in the Person and work of Christ who died for the sins of the world, who offers forgives and restoration to all who come to Him by expressing a heartfelt prayer of faith and commitment to crown Him, Jesus Christ our Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen…

… Yes friends, the glory of God is surely a difficult concept to grasp, but not one we cannot come to appropriate in a measure of our humanity. The answer is God wants “all that you are to be all that He is.” When that day comes in glory, you and I will reflect in purity and purpose the glory of God for all eternity. May God so bless this to your hearts today for Jesus sake, Amen.