Happy New Year to all.
Since I allowed the Christmas season to pass by without creating a Christmas blog post, please kindly consider this blog post as a belated Christmas/New Year’s Day blog post.
Jesus came to this earth as a baby and grew up to be a Man who did for the world what no one else has done or will ever be able to do. Today, I would like to discuss the topic of God’s glory, with an emphasis on how Jesus reveals this to us, and I would like for us to ponder how we can experience His glory in our lives.
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In John 17, near the end of His time on earth, Jesus prayed a beautiful prayer.
I would like to invite you all to take a moment to read the first verse of this prayer. “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee…” John 17:1 (KJV)
In this verse, Jesus asks His Father to glorify Him so that He can, in return, glorify His Father. Today’s study will focus on the topic of God’s glory. What is God’s glory? We all know that God’s bright, awe-inspiring, physical presence-what Jesus gave up when He became a Man, is glorious. We all know that heaven is a bright and beautiful place- a place that can rightly be described as glorious. But does God’s glory also include something that appeals not always to the eyes, but always to the heart?
Let us review the following scriptures as we explore the answer to this last question.
In Exodus 33:18 (KJV), Moses made a request of God. He said, “…I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.” God’s response was, “…I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” Exodus 33: 19 (KJV)
God placed Moses in the clift of a rock, and covered him with His hand, showing him only His back parts as he proclaimed His Name before Moses. (Exodus 33:20-23, and Exodus 34:1-7 KJV) “The name of the LORD,” as outlined in Exodus 34:6-7, is a description of God’s balanced character of mercy and justice.
In John 1:14 (KJV), we read the following regarding Jesus: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” In this verse the word “glory” is mentioned. We are also told that the Word, who is Jesus, was “full of grace and truth.” This verse matches well with the account we have just explored in Exodus 33 and Exodus 34. Just as the LORD responded to Moses’ request that he be shown the glory of God with proclaiming “the name of the LORD,” which was a description of God’s balanced character of love and justice, while on earth, Jesus lived out a character of grace and truth. He lived a life on earth that showcased “the name of the LORD.”
We are most definitely privileged to view God’s glory in the form of His character.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV)
How profound and wonderful! We are blessed to be able to view “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
In 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV), we read “…But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light…”
So, here is my appeal to all of us for this new year: let us behold Jesus through reading His word. Let us soak in the loveliness of the glory of His character of love. Let us believe in and accept His mercy and let us thank Him also for being a just God.
As we behold the glory of God’s character, we will become more and like Him.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV)
May this New Year find us all closer to Jesus, is my prayer.
Learn and Grow 4ever 