The Glory of Jesus Christ

RV107-01

© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)

Please open your Bibles to Revelation 5:11-14, as we deal with the universal adoration of God. This is segment number 9.

The Parable of the Talents

In the parable of the talents and the servants, which we read in Matthew 25:14-30, the master recommends and rewards the servants who invested wisely and multiplied their holdings. Let me read that for you: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods; and to one, he gave five talents; to another, two; and, to another, one – to every man according to his ability, and straightway took his journey. Then he that received the five talents went and traded with the same and gained another five talents. Likewise, he that had received two, he also gained another two. But he that received one, went and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

"After a long time, the lord of those servants came and reckoned with them. So, he that had received five talents, came, and brought other five talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.' His lord said unto to him, 'Well done, you good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make the ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

"He also that had received two talents, came, and said, 'Lord, you delivered unto me two talents. Behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.' His lord said unto him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

"Then he that had received the one talent came, and said, 'Lord, I knew you, and you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not spread. I was afraid, and went and had your talent in the earth. Lo, there you have what is yours.' His lord answered and said unto him, 'You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I don't sow, and gather where I have not spread. You ought, therefore, to have put my money to the exchangers, and then, at my coming, I should have received my own with interest. Take, therefore, the talent from him and give it to him who have 10 talents; for unto every one that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that does no not have shall be taken away even that which he has. And cast the unprofitable servants into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

A talent is a measure of weight. Here it amounts to a measure of about 75 pounds of silver. You observed in this parable that the two servants who did a good job were praised, and then were entrusted with the responsibilities. Verses 21-23 indicate that they were commended, and their master said, "Because you did a good job with the little thing that I gave you, therefore, you are entitled to keep your office, and to be given even greater responsibility." However, the servant who did not do a good job was not praised and was not entrusted with further responsibility, but actually was dismissed from further service, as we see in verses 28 and 30. Here, of course, is a very basic biblical principle. Performance in duty is to be rewarded with confidence and continued performance in recognition rewarded with honor for what has been done as a good and faithful servant of the Lord.

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled this picture precisely. He proved to be a faithful servant who responded to the authority of his Heavenly Father, and succeeded in providing a basis for saving sinners. That was the reason He was sent. That was the mission that He was given. That was what His Master, His Heavenly Father, told Him to do. He executed the mission. In John 8:29, we read, "He that sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I do always those things that please Him."

So, the Lord Jesus Christ was able to publicly proclaim that what responsibility He had been given by the Father, He had executed as the good and faithful servant. Consequently, according to the biblical principle of what one does with a good and faithful servant, the Lord Jesus Christ was recognized and commended by His Father for His obedience to His mission, and to the authority which the Father had delegated to the Son.

Therefore, for example, in Matthew 3:16-17, we read, "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him, and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased." This is the clear statement of commendation for a good and faithful servant. This is the way God acts toward good and faithful servants.

In Matthew 17, we find another commendation concerning the Lord Jesus: "While He yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, "This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. Hear Him." This was on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Years later, Peter, who was on that mountain and saw this incident, and heard this condemnation of Jesus Christ, spoke of this event. When Peter was an old man writing the book of 2 Peter, he reminisced a little bit about this incident on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the commendation of Jesus for His faithfulness to His mission. In 2 Peter 1:17-18, Peter says, "For He (that is, Jesus) received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, 'This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.' And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the Holy Mount."

So, it is the order of the living God that those who are servants of the living God are entrusted with responsibilities. Having performed those responsibilities in a commendable and acceptable way, they are to be commended, and the honor is to be expanded upon them. So, the angels of heaven, John sees executing this very principle within the throne room of God Himself. The angels in heaven are heard to pick up the same commendation of the Lord Jesus that here on earth certain individuals heard relative to the Sun on several occasions. The angels are heard by the apostle John chanting the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ for His faithfulness in dying on the cross as God's Lamb in paying for the sins of mankind.

He was faithful in that very limited objective, and it was a limited objective. There are some people who think that Jesus Christ was providing for the sins of the world when He was walking the dusty streets of Palestine, preaching the Word of God; when He is going about healing people of their illnesses; when He was providing food for those who are hungry; and, when He was doing all those divine good things. That is not so. He was not providing eternal life until he came to the point where He was on the cross, and the sewage of human evil was poured out upon Him at the point of high noon to three o'clock in the afternoon, when God the Father and God the Holy Spirit left Him, and He died spiritually. Then, and only then, did He pay for the sins of the world.

The objective was very limited. And even as He approached it in the Garden of Gethsemane, He looked at this, and in His humanity, He recoiled from it. This was a humanity totally governed by His deity, and a humanity that had been perfect in total compatibility with divine holiness. He recoiled over the thought of finding the sewage of human evil poured out upon Him on that cross, and He reached out with one tentative hope: "Is there any other way, Father? Is there any other way for us to do this than what is going to be experienced by Me in the next few hours: the human suffering; the psychological suffering; the emotional suffering; and, the spiritual suffering." There was no other way. He fulfilled that limited objective.

The Things that Jesus Christ is Worthy to Receive

That's what the angels are praising Him for. They said, "Because He did that, He is worthy of certain recognitions. And that is what we have been reading here in Revelation 5:12: "Saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.'" He had achieved His limited objective as a good and faithful servant to receive power (the power of omnipotence); to receive riches (the riches of unlimited access to material wealth; to receive wisdom (the wisdom of total divine viewpoint insights to guide His decisions); to receive strength (the maximum physical capacity and well-being); and, to receive honor (the total esteem and respect of all rational creatures).

Glory

Now we look at the next quality that He is declared worthy of, and that is the quality of glory. The word in the Greek Bible looks like this: "doxa." "Doxa" is a noun. This word refers to something that is impressive about a person which gives him influence and status. That's what glory means. It is something that is so impressive that it gives a person influence, and it gives him status. It connotes a quality that sets a person apart from others. It exalts him above others.

Unique

It makes him unique. Please remember that the English language does not permit you to add any qualifying words (any adjectives) before the word unique. You cannot say, "This is the most unique experience I've ever had," because the word "unique" means that there isn't any other one like it. It is in a category by itself. If you want to try to anchor in your mind what the word glory means, it means "unique." That's it. If you anchor there, you'll finally know what this little squishy word "glory," that people use in so many ways, means. The word "glory" means "unique." And it's OK to use the word. Sometimes people are in a very highly emotional meeting. Charismatics like to do this. I've noticed that one of the things they like to do is sit in a meeting and say, "Oh, glory, glory." And I don't think they know what they're talking about. Now, they might, "Oh, uniqueness of God. He is unique. There is no one like Him. He is separate. There He is, all by Himself out there. He's in a category all alone. Then it's a significant thing to say. That's what the word glory means.

Here, in a very specific way, referring to Jesus Christ, it refers to His divine essence. What is it that is the glory of Jesus Christ? What is it that makes him unique? It is the fact that He has a divine essence which is, on occasion, visibly displayed in dazzling brightness; majestic splendor; and, beauty. It is that external appearance that tells us of something that is internal concerning the unique person of God – His deity.

For example, Exodus 24:16-17 describes the glory of God as the Jewish people observed it: "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. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud and got up into the mount, and Moses was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights." The people of Israel, as they stood at the foot of Sinai, watched Moses go up into that dazzling flaming mountaintop, walking right into it. What was he walking into? He was walking into the presence of the glory of God. What that external light was conveying was the internal quality of God's essence.

Deuteronomy 5:24 refers to that same thing: "And he said, 'Behold the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness (His deity). And we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God does talk with man, He lives." One of the things that came through at Sinai, out of all that dazzling light of glory, and of the thunderous voice of God the Father speaking, was that they said, "We know there is a living God. He is not like those dumb idols that we have known in Egypt that the pagans around us worship. He is not like an animal which had been turned into gods by the pagans – animals which cannot communicate in intelligible speech. There is a God who is alive, and He talks to us, and we understand Him." That is the essence of deity – a communicating God. He is unique.

Deity

He is a God who has the qualities of deity. What are those qualities that make Him unique?

Sovereignty

First of all is His sovereignty. He is king of all. Nobody tells God what to do. He is in absolute control. The moment of our birth is under His control. The keys to death is in the hand of Jesus Christ, and when He decides to put it into the lock of our lives and click it, we die. It is an absolute sovereign God from one end of life to the other for us. To be sovereign is certainly unique in itself.

Absolute Righteousness

Furthermore, He is absolute righteousness. There is no break of perfection in Him. He never does a single, solitary thing that is wrong. He is absolutely right. That is a unique quality. To be absolutely right is unique.

Perfect Justice

He is also perfect justice. He will not wink at what is evil. He will not compromise with evil. He will not pretend that something is all right when it isn't all right. He will not play that little game that human beings play of using euphemisms to cover something that's rotten and bad – giving it dignified language when it stinks. God's justice says, "If it's out of line, My righteousness identifies it, and My justice demands that it be punished. And it is punished. That's why it is foolish to think we get away with anything. God does punish. He is a God of justice.

Eternal Life

Then He is unique because He is eternal life. He is life that had no beginning, and life has no ending. We can understand no ending, but no beginning blows our minds. We can't grasp that. He has eternal life. And, wonder of wonders, that's the kind of life you have now as a born-again believer – eternal life, without beginning, and without ending.

Love

He is unique because He is love. He has no mental attitude bitterness in this person. He is a God who, when He sends people to the lake of fire for all eternity (a horrible thing to imagine), does not do it out of vindictiveness or out of meanness. He does it because He is a God of love and because He loves His own righteousness and because He loves His own justice. Since these are the supreme objects worthy of His love, He cannot permit sin to go unpunished. But because He loves those who have been found in that desperate condition of evil, He has made a way out. He is a God of love.

Omnipotence

He is of God, of course, of omnipotence. He has total (all) power. Nobody has greater power than He has.

Omniscience

He has omniscience. He knows it all. There is nothing down the line that He does not know. He does not foreknow things by looking down the corridors of time and discovering what's going to happen. He doesn't look down the corridors of time and say, "Oh, there's Sam Jones, he did accept the gospel. There is Suzie Q. I thought she would, but she didn't." If that were true, then God doesn't know it all. The reason God knows that Sam Jones goes for the gospel and Suzie Q doesn't is because His sovereignty has determined that by election. And that's the reason that you're sitting here born again. He has omniscience.

Omnipresence

He has omnipresent. That is unique – to be able to be everywhere at the same time. Many of us feel like we are everywhere at the same time because we're having so much we're trying to do. But we are not. But God is. He is everywhere at the same time. That's unique.

Immutable

He is immutable (unchanging). There are a few of us such that every time you meet us, we're the same thing. There are not many of us like that. The rest of you are always flickering back and forth. One time you're up, and one time you're down. It's like the old song says, "Sometimes I'm up; sometimes I'm down; but, always I'm heaven-bound." But God is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and ever. There is no shadow of flickering. You can depend on Him. Now, the devil – that skunk is always changing. You never can trust him. He tells you, "Why don't you do this evil? You'll love it. It'll be big kicks. Go ahead and do it." And you do it, and then that little bitterness rides in you for the rest of your life, and sometimes you have consequences that ride with it forever, because the devil is not immutable. Furthermore, he is a liar. He is not veracity.

Veracity

God is veracity. He is absolute truth.

This is what constitutes the essence of God, and this is what the word "glory" means. It means this is a unique person because of these unique qualities. Therefore, in Romans 1:23, we read about the glory of God. When men became ingrates for Bible doctrine – information that they had transmitted to them from Adam, here's what happened to the human race: "They changed the glory of the incorruptible God (this unique quality of His deity) into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things?" You see how loathsome the things were that human beings did when you understand that the glory of God means these things that make God unique (His qualities of deity), and they change them into animals and snakes and bugs.

One of the greatest gods of Egypt was the dung beetle. Dung is the old English word for manure. One of their great gods was the God who sat on the manure pile – the manure beetle. Romans 6:4: "Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death. That as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father." Can you understand that verse? How is Jesus Christ raised from the dead by the glory of the Father? It was by a unique quality that the Father has. What is the unique quality? It is deity – the essence of deity God has because He is omnipotent. He is capable of raising the dead to life. That's what that verse means. It was by the essence of God who has the capacity to raise the dead to life: "By the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life;" that is, we who are going to follow Him in that resurrection.

The glory of God is His perfect character then – His attributes of deity setting Him aside.

Why is Jesus Christ Worthy of Glory?

The angels in heaven are saying that Jesus Christ is worthy of glory. He is worthy of being recognized as the unique person of the universe, and to be exalted in that respect. So, here is what the Word of God says about Jesus Christ in respect to His glory.

Deity

Jesus Christ is worthy of glory, first of all, because before His incarnation, He possessed deity since He was God. In John 17:5, we have this pointed out to us: "And now, O Father, glorify Me with Your Own Self with the glory which I had with You before the world was:" "Before there was any creation at all, Father, bring me back into the fullness of the relationship of my glory that I had before there was ever any creation." What is He talking about? Well here on earth, His glory has been veiled. Bring me back where all the dazzling beauty of what I am as God can now shine forth once more. This is the high priestly prayer the night before He was crucified. That's what he's looking forward to – returning to the full expression of His glory. But He had that glory before there was any creation. He had it before He had a human body. His human body, of course, came after the point of creation.

John 17:24: "Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me from the foundation of the world." Here, Jesus Christ looks forward to the time when you and I can be in heaven to view the glory – the external brilliance and light and splendor of the God-man, Jesus Christ, the unique person of the universe.

For this reason, the Bible calls Jesus Christ by the attractive title of the Lord of Glory. James 2:1 says, "My brethren, do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, with respect of persons." He is called the Lord of Glory.

Notice also 1 Corinthians 2:8: "Which none of the princes of this age knew (referring to Jesus Christ), for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." He is the Lord of Glory because he is the Lord of Deity.

As you know, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ was externally veiled from human view while He was here on this earth. The brilliant splendor of His glory was not seen. In Luke 9:28 we read, "And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings that He (Jesus) took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the appearance of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening. And, behold, there talked with him were two men who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and spoke of His decease, which He should accomplish in Jerusalem." Here, suddenly, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the internal essence of deity of Jesus Christ (His glory – His uniqueness) burst forth in the external light that people in the Old Testament had on occasion seen:

"But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they were awake, they saw His glory (the external splendor), and the two men that stood with Him. And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, that Peter said unto Jesus, 'Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three booths: one for You, one for Moses; and, one for Elijah,' not knowing what he said (as was often the case with Peter). While he thus spoke, there came a cloud that overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud (the glory now surrounding them). And there came a voice out of the cloud saying, 'This is My Beloved Son. Hear him.' When the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone, and they kept it closed, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen."

When it was passed, Jesus was now again in His human form without the external brilliance. His glory was shielded. But that event on the Mount of Transfiguration gave those disciples a preview of what the Lord Jesus Christ was going to look like when He returns to this earth. The glory seen by the disciples was particularly significant because it was the glory not just of God, but in the case of Jesus, of a God-man. This speaks worlds for the glory that will surround us.

In John 1:14, we read, "And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

You may add to that 1 Peter 1:17-18, as Peter reflects upon that incident.

After the incarnation, Jesus Christ was, of course, still total deity. His glory was not set aside. In Philippians 2:6, we read, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Here is the doctrine of the kenosis. I know that you're well-acquainted with this doctrine – that Jesus Christ, while He was the unique glory of God as deity, was a human being who did not set aside that glory. The idea of kenosis is that He humbles Himself (He emptied Himself) of the visible aspects of His glory, but he was internally still the living God.

After the ascension of Jesus Christ, the glory of his deity is no longer veiled – only until the ascension. But now it is no longer veiled. So, anytime He appears after the ascension, He is in the full brilliance of letting everybody know externally what He is internally as the unique deity.

For example, Acts 7:55 tells us that. Here, speaking of Stephen, the first martyr, at the point of his death, looking up to heaven: "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." Here he saw the glory of God, and the Lord Jesus in that glory at the point of his death.

Then notice Acts 22:6-11, in the case of Paul: "And it came to pass, that as I made my journey, and was come near unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shown from heaven a great light round about me, and I fell onto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.' And they that were with me indeed saw the light and we're afraid. But they did not hear the voice of Him that spoke to me." They actually heard it with their ears, but this word "heard" here means they didn't understand the words. They heard words, but they didn't understand what the words were saying.

"I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said unto me, 'Arise. Go unto Damascus. There you will be told of all the things which are appointed for you to do.' And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus." Paul saw Jesus Christ alive, and remember that this is why he could be an apostle. All of this nonsense about apostolic authority today, such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Episcopal church or the Methodist church or other churches claim – all of that is nonsense. The Bible makes it very clear that to be an apostle, you have to be able to testify to one very important fact: I, with my physical eyes, saw Jesus Christ alive. He is alive. He has been raised from the dead." If you could not testify that with your physical eyes you actually saw Him alive, you could not be an apostle. That unique gift was only given to those who qualified in that way.

So, Paul, in order to qualify as an apostle, had to see Jesus Christ alive. Well, he looked up there and he saw Him, but he saw Him in all the brilliance of His glory which is no longer shielded now that He is resurrected. And this caused Paul's physical eyes to go blind.

In Acts 26:12, we have another reference to this: "Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priest, at midday, O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me, and them who journeyed with me." This was worse than looking into the sun: "When we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' I said, 'Who are you Lord?' He said, 'I am Jesus whom you persecute.'" So, again, the glory that blinded Paul was the glory that Jesus now possesses, and which is no longer shielded.

It is Satan's practice to blind people to the fact of the glory of Jesus Christ for the explicit purpose that they will not believe the gospel. Now, because you understand the word "glory," you understand what Satan is out to do. Satan, we are told, blinds people to the glory of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? It blinds them to the fact that He is God. So when Jesus Christ speaks, and when the Scripture says that through Him, and through Him alone, you can have eternal life, it is true because He is God.

Notice 2 Corinthians 4:4-6: "In whom the God of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of them who don't believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shown in our heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ:" to give the knowledge of deity of Jesus Christ, and thereby to recognize that we are not just dealing with a man.

So, when the Muslims treat Jesus Christ as just a human prophet like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, they are very wrong. Those human prophets do not have glory. They do not have deity. When the Jewish people treat Jesus Christ as just another one of the great Jewish rabbis, they're very wrong. Because they have been blinded by Satan to the glory that is the deity of Jesus Christ, it's going to cost them their souls for all eternity. That is what people have to understand – that Jesus Christ is not just another good, nice guru who's got some inspiring thoughts to share. The Bible points out to us that the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ obviously demonstrate His glory and His deity in John 2:11: "This beginning of miracles (that is, the changing of the water into wine) Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed on him."

This was a big impact. What did the disciples have to know? "Concerning this Man that we knew so well as a carpenter; whose family we knew so well; and, whom we've been acquainted with here up and down in the neighborhood where we live – is this man really what he says He is? Is he God?" Well, how could you demonstrate that you are God? You could demonstrate it, certainly, if you can in truth, indeed override natural laws. The God who makes the natural laws has the power to override those laws. If you can take something like water, and by your power, change it into anything you want, then you have overridden a natural law.

When a human body is dead, life is gone. What a body is dead, that means that the soul and the spirit are gone. It isn't just getting Dr. Frankenstein to get some powerful electrical cords and electrodes properly placed on a dead body, and then juice it up, and shoot it so that it'll all get reactivated. That was Dr. Frankenstein's problem. He had a dead corpse, and he could put the pieces together, but he could not bring a soul and spirit back into the body. The story gives you the impression that a good jolt of electricity will make you alive. Well, if you're alive, a good jolt of electricity will make you a little more active. But if you're dead, it isn't going to do any good at all. And that was the thing that is pointed out here – that Jesus Christ proved His glory (His deity) by his miracles. He indeed could override the natural laws.

John 11:4: "When Jesus heard that, concerning Lazarus being dead, he said, 'This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.'" Jesus Christ was to be glorified by the death of Lazarus. How? Because He's going to show His duty by bringing Lazarus back to life.

John 11:40: "Jesus said unto her, 'Martha, didn't I say unto you that if you would believe, you shall see the glory of God?" In the preceding verse, Martha says, "Oh, don't open the grave. He's been dead now for four days. The body is decomposing. He stinks." And Jesus said, "Martha, didn't I tell you that if you just trust Me, you're going to see the glory of God in action?" What does this mean? He says, "You're going to see My divine powers working. That's what glory means. You are going to see my divine powers in action. And the reason I didn't come sooner, though, the word came to me early enough that Lazarus was on his deathbed, was because I wanted him to die, so that I would demonstrate My deity in raising him from the death." And Jesus did. For we are told that it was following this very incident of raising Lazarus from the dead that the Pharisaical rulers of Israel said. "That's it. We can't let it go any further." The Scriptures tell us that at this point in time, they made the decision, "He has to be killed." It was the incident of the raising of Lazarus that finally precipitated the religious authorities to say, "We've got to execute Him. That's the only way we're going to stop what He's doing." What did they want to stop? They wanted to stop the fact that He was showing that He was God in action.

The Word of God also tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ was glorified by the cross. John 13:31-32: "Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, 'Now the Son of Man is glorified;'" that is, Judas had the supper in the upper room: "Therefore, when he (Judas) was gone, Jesus said, 'Now the Son of God is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him.'" What this is referring to is that Jesus Christ, at this point in time, was now going to be shown indeed to be God – the God-man who, because He was absolutely perfect; totally righteous; and, totally sinless as the God-man, was going to die on that cross, and all of history would be changed. God was going to be glorified, demonstrating His deity. Jesus Christ was going to be glorified, demonstrating His deity, because here was the death of a man that was the watershed of human history. It made a tremendous difference in the human experience because His death paid for the sins of the world.

In Hebrews 2:9 we may add: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels (that is, in His humanity) for the suffering of death." He had to be a human being so that He could suffer for sin: "Crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man." Aren't you glad that He tasted death for you? And that refers to eternal death.

When he returns to this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ will return in the full display of His glory. As we've said, His glory now, after the resurrection and after the ascension, is no longer shielded. So, in Matthew 24:30, we read, "And then he sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven. Then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." When the Lord Jesus Christ returns, all the earth will see Him. Wherever they are on this planet, they will all see Him, and they will see Him returning in great glory. Don't forget that you're going to be part of that glory picture when He returns.

In John 1:18, we're told that the Lord Jesus Christ glorified God the Father by making the Father known to mankind, which gives us a clue as to how we may glorify God the Father: "No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Then, John 17:4-6: "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which you gave Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me with Your Own Self, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I manifested Your name unto the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word." So, the Lord Jesus glorified the Father by making the Father known to mankind.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the agent who brings a believing sinner into the glory of God. When we come into the glory of God at the point of your death (when the angels pick you up and carry you into the into the Father's presence), Jesus Christ is the agent who has brought you into that divine presence.

Hebrews 2:10 says, "For it became Him for whom are all things (the Lord Jesus), and by whom are all things in bringing many sons (many children) into glory; to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." He knew what suffering is. There is nothing that you and I go through that He doesn't already understand by His own experience. And He is bringing us through all of our hard times into the presence of the God of glory – the God in whose presence full deity will be displayed.

In 1 Peter 5:10, we read, "But the God of all grace who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, makes you perfect, stablish, strength, settle you." That has brought us into eternal glory by Christ Jesus. So, again, we have it made very clear that anybody who wants to spend eternity in the presence of God, which is to say in the presence of glory, must be carried there on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done. That is a true thing. Sometimes when loved ones die, you will hear people say, "Well, I will see him in glory." Or they may even stand at the casket, and their words might be something to the effect: "I'll see you in glory." What do they mean? They mean that because of what Jesus Christ has done, they have an assurance of being carried into the very presence of the living God in heaven, where this loved one already stands in his human spirit and in his soul. So, that is a very correct statement.

Colossians 1:27: "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." This is one of the things the apostle Paul did – to make known to you the glory of the mystery. A mystery is something that was not previously revealed. The glory of what mystery? The mystery that Christ in you is your hope of glory. What a statement! Because as Jesus says, "You in Me I, and I in you" (John 14:20). That's the great relationship: "You in me, and I in you." Because He is in us (the Lord of Glory is in us), He is our hope of glory. I do hope that you remember that when we studied the doctrine of hope, and we define the word "hope" as it's defined in the Bible, that it does not carry the English connotation of uncertainty. When the Bible speaks of hope, it means a certainty. It's a sure thing. It is not just something that possibly is going to come to pass, and you're just really trusting (hoping) for the best. That is not biblical hope. Hope in the Scriptures is a sure thing. So, when it says, "He is our hope of glory," he is saying that that is where we are going to be.

That's a great comfort. Whatever difficulties; whatever struggles; whatever moments of rejection; whatever moments of exultation; whatever moments of failure; whatever moments of deceit; or, whatever moments of personal disappointment you have, you are indwelt with the hope of glory. You are indwelt with the absolute certainty that someday you will stand, as John stood, in the presence of God on His throne, in all the glorious splendor of that heavenly scene. You will be there. Wherever else you go between now and then, I can assure you that you will be there. The hope of glory is within you. Jesus Christ is the agent who makes that certainty.

One other thing about Jesus Christ and His worthiness of being associated with glory is that we are told that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the Fathers glory. Romans 6:4 tells us: "We were buried with Him by baptism (Holy Spirit baptism) into death; that is, Christ is raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. Even so, we also should walk in newness of life." We've been raised up by the divine power of God, so how should we live? We should live as people who are compatible to divine standards. We should live as people who are compatible to God's integrity. And that's the point.

The subject of glory is one of the big ones in the Bible. It is a tremendous subject. Once you start looking into it, you're amazed how much by how much there is about this subject of God's glory, because it is related to God himself. It's such an important subject to understand who the God-man Jesus Christ is, and what the nature of God is as God. So, we're going to have to spend at least a part of another session on glory, as it is now used in the rest of the Bible. In this session, we've only looked at glory in some basic ways in which it's related to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that is the important part. Because He is in us, how it applies to Him is very directly applicable to us. It gives us a future that is beyond our fondest dreams.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1982

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