The Glory of Jesus Christ, No. 2

RV107-02

Jesus Christ

Today, the overwhelming majority of mankind therefore view Jesus Christ as some fairy tale created by His followers; as an outright con man and liar; or, as a deluded mystic who got himself killed. The apostle John, however, sees in a vision the exaltation which is directed to Jesus Christ in heaven in contrast to the contempt which is heaped upon Him here on this earth. This scene, recorded by God the Holy Spirit, gives us the true evaluation of Jesus Christ as per God's viewpoint. God's view of Jesus Christ is thus in direct contradiction to mankind's view of Him. This is the old difference between human viewpoint and divine viewpoint. Thus the thinking and the commandments of Jesus Christ are absolutely essential for a human being to escape the ignorance and the delusions which are imposed by Satan upon the human mind. If you're going to have a true picture of Jesus Christ, you have to get it from the Bible. If you do not have the view of Christ which is in the Bible, you will have a disoriented view concerning Him.

The obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Father's plan of salvation for mankind has made the God-man worthy of receiving certain benefits and certain recognitions which are generally denied Him by the human race. Among these, we have seen recorded in Revelation 5:12, are that He is worthy of power, which means omnipotence – to make anything happen. And when I say "He," I mean not just the God Jesus, but the God-man Jesus – the one with true, pure humanity. He is also worthy of riches, which means unlimited material wealth. He is worthy of wisdom – to have the perfect divine viewpoint values to guide His decisions. He is worthy of strength – total physical health and capacity. He is worthy of honor; that is, esteem by all the rational creatures of the universe. And we stopped last week partway on the study of His worthiness of glory – the uniqueness of the deity of Jesus Christ as the God-man.

The Glory of Jesus Christ

In this session, we're going to continue with the concept of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and reviewing the concept of glory as it is used in the Bible. So we will add to the things that we have pointed out about the glory of God as it refers to Jesus Christ personally:

1. God the Father's Grace Brings Praise to Jesus Christ

   God the Father's unique grace in providing salvation brings praise to Him. In Ephesians 1:6, we have this statement: "To the praise of the glory of His grace." Now that you understand that the word "glory" indicates something that is in a class by itself (unique), you understand that he's talking about the glory of grace – that God's grace is unique. It's in a class by itself. There is nothing like it: "To the praise of the glory of His grace through which He has made us accepted in the beloved." And indeed, to be accepted in the beloved means to be placed in Christ, and having all of His all characteristics attributed to us, including His absolute righteousness. That is a unique act on the part of God – the praise of the glory of His grace.

   Sometimes people might feel a little intimidated at a Lord's Supper meeting, because folks stand up and say, "I just want to praise God, and to thank God for saving me." We hear that so often that we tend to receive it as something commonplace. But that is not a commonplace statement. It is an enormously wonderful statement, and one that honors God, and that pleases God, because that's exactly what this verse is saying – that God's uniqueness is demonstrated by a grace: a willingness to give sinners what they on no account deserved or could possibly have earned.

   Furthermore, He treats us with that grace. In those moments when we have been just as far out in left field, away from home base, as you can imagine, God's grace says, "I'll pick you up, and I'll dust you off, and I'll set you on the right road again, as soon as you're ready to say that was not a good thing to do. That was a wrong thing to do. That was a foolish thing to do. That was an evil thing to do. That was a stupid thing to say. I want to straighten it out, and I want to get back on track." God's grace is so fantastic (it is so in a class by itself) that it makes it possible for us always to stand up and get going again.

   It is amazing how people violate and blaspheme the grace of God. Recently I read an article. I think it was in the in "The Fundamentalist Journal" put out by Jerry Falwell, which in general has a lot of good articles. It had a little editorial by a man who is the head of a publishing company, one of these big operations that publishes Sunday school literature and Christian literature and so on. The point of his brief editorial was how he objected to the fact that the church has lost its sense of purity. He said, "All we have to do is to look upon our local churches, and what do we see out there in those local churches? We see people serving who are carrying official positions of authority who have been divorced." I just wish that I had been in a public meeting, as I have been with that man on other times, where questions were permitted. Do you know what I would have done if I'd have heard him say something like that?

   I would have stood up and said," Mr. Sam Jones (that's not his real name), I think you are exactly right about that terrible condition that exists in the local church. And I know how you feel, because I have the same feeling about you being the head of a publishing company that's putting out Christian literature that our children are reading, and that our children are being influenced by, with all those mental attitude sins that you have been guilty of. That just offends me that you are in a position of such influence of leadership. It just bugs me to no end to think that you are giving us ideas, when all those times you were guilty of mental adultery. It just shatters me to think that you're up there doing that. Who are you to have that kind of a leadership, with all those times that you were willing to steal those little things that you wanted to pick up along the line that you needed, and all those times that you gave the facts and didn't tell the truth, because of the way you slandered it? It just bugs me to no end to realize that you are a man in a position of publishing, and you have been guilty of these evils, and yet you go on thinking that you can go ahead and still serve God. If you had any decency, Mr. Sam Jones, you'd resign your position at the publishing house, and let's get a perfect person up there to do it."

   Do you see the asininity of the statement? And it's amazing. When I'm talking about publishing, I'm talking about a big publishing company from which thousands of churches buy their materials and use it. And here's the head of the organization who doesn't even understand the principle of divine grace. He does not understand the glory of grace. And if you don't understand grace orientation, which is one of the basic qualities of spiritual maturity, then you haven't gotten to the first place. And I think that's a tragedy.

   Grace

   But the apostle Paul knew, who knew grace, said that if he could praise the glory (the uniqueness) of God's grace, that no matter what has transpired in your life in the past, before you were a Christian or after you were a Christian, God has provided steps of healing that bring you right back up to full operational status. That is grace. That is a glorious grace. That is a unique quality that only almighty God has been able to come up with. He has, through that, made us accepted in the beloved. That's a great little phrase right there: "accepted in to be beloved." You are accepted in Jesus Christ. On the human level, you and I do not always accept one another.

   Christ's Power Base is Love

   When God the Father realized that He was going to have to send His Son and attach Him to human flesh, God the Father knew that He has to provide the Son with a power base by which He could operate. He had to give Him a base from which He could function as a God-man within the human race. So, He created the system of love. He created the power base of love, which is why the Bible speaks so much about mental attitude love. That was the power base by which the God-man Jesus Christ was to function, and if He functioned on that basis, He would fulfill all of the Mosaic Law. That's what Jesus said: "Love fulfills all of the Mosaic Law." What was he talking about? That's just a little glib phrase, and we just run it by. But He was telling you that the power of God to overcome Satan; to overcome all the evils in your life; and, to overcome everything you come up against is based upon the love quality. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, "Now, I lived successfully, with the devil at every turn, with the power base of love.

   Satan's Power Base is Arrogance and Hatred

   The power base of Satan's world is arrogance and hatred, which are the two key qualities of the sin nature – arrogance and hatred. And that's a power base. That's the power base by which the whole world functions today: arrogance and; and, hatred. That's what motivates most people in what they do. That base is a defeated face. That base always goes down. You can play your role of arrogance, and you can play your role of hatred, but you will be defeated. But the Lord Jesus Christ said that love fulfilled every good thing that the Mosaic Law ever asked us to do. The person who is acting in love – that person has the power base to succeed in life. He will fulfill the righteousness of God.

   So, the Lord Jesus Christ says, "If you want to love Me, keep My commandments. That clues us into the fact that if you are going to be able to function on that love power base, you must know the doctrines of Scripture. That is where it's all at. Without that, you're just an empty-sounding piece of brass that's clanging along, standing up, sounding off your particular cute little ideas, and you have nothing of substance to offer any. In Ephesians 1:12, this same concept is expanded: "That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ (these early Christians) would be to the praise of the glory (the uniqueness) of Jesus Christ who provided the grace that could bring sinners into God's heaven.

   Ephesians 1:14: "Who is the earnest (that is, the down payment) of our inheritance (that is, the Holy Spirit that we have is the down payment – the promissory note of our inheritance) until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory." It isn't only that His glory is to be praised. It is so unique that it has brought us into salvation. Its uniqueness is also to be found in the fact that it keeps us secured in that salvation. The Holy Spirit is the assurance that you cannot ever be lost again. He is the down payment of the possession that you have of having been purchased by the Lamb of God.

2. The Gospel

   The gospel is the means by which lost a lost sinner secures the glory of God. A lot sinner, through the gospel, secures the glory of God. 2 Thessalonians 2:14: "Unto which He called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Wonder of wonders, we too are going to share the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. We too are going to share that which constitutes the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been called by the gospel. That is the vehicle for our obtaining the glory that is characteristic of the Lord Jesus.

   In 2 Timothy 2:10, Paul says, "Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sakes." That is Christian service! Few of us can say that, I assure you: "Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake." We only do to endure the things that we like. We only endure the things that are bouncing right. And when the elect have bounced wrong, we no longer endure it. There are soldiers who can stay in the field, and you fight even when you're driven to your knees. However, there are soldiers who are summertime, who are easily driven from the field of battle: "Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory;" that is, with the eternal sanctification. Here again, the gospel is the means by which we enter the glory of God, and we are to share that glory. Furthermore, it's a means that gives us an access to glory that we will share forever.

3. Live to the Glory of God

   The Bible makes it very clear that the basic guiding principle of the Christian life is to live it to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether, therefore, you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." In your eating, do it to the glory of God. Do it in such a way that God is set apart as being the unique God.

4. I am surprised how often we get comments concerning the series of tapes that dealt with pig meat. People are always writing to me about the pig meat series; the problems that they have with their relatives about it; the reaction that they get; and, how crazy that they think they are to say that there is something about God sanitary laws that is important for us to remember, because they were given for the explicit purpose of giving us physical protection and physical well-being. And to violate those dietary laws is to play a fool's role, because God told people things in the pre-scientific era that they didn't understand, but which they needed to obey for their physical well-being.

   So, here is a God who comes along and He tells us that there are certain things that you shouldn't eat. It has physically bad effects upon you if you eat it. And instead of setting Him aside as a unique God of wisdom who knows about these things, we shrug our shoulders and say, "Oh, that's dumb. I'm for pork. That's dumb. I can't believe that anybody wouldn't eat pork and all that good stuff that is on a pig."

   I got a whole new appreciation for this verse. This summer, I went back to one of my old stomping grounds on a sentimental journey back to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. For many years, we used to run a bus to a camp there for many of you who are now adults here. You remember those among our halcyon days of camping in Tennessee. One of the places we revisited was the Pioneer Village up toward Cherokee. We walked around this village which had been brought together to show how early Americans used to live. The people who moved across the Appalachian Mountains, after the Revolutionary War, headed west, and they flowed into these Smoky Mountains. They became so enamored with the Smokies that that's where they stopped. The rest of the westward migration flowed around these people so that they became an isolated island. We call them "hillbillies" (mountain folks). They became an isolated island that had a culture all of their own, while the mainstream was bypassing them, going out to the western United States. This village brings together how a man and his family lived as per of the divine institutions of marriage; family; and, personal prosperity through the family. It shows what he used of the surrounding country – those hardwood trees that were there, and everything that he could construct to make life easier.

   Well, one of the things they had was the pigpen. I was interested in going by and watching it, because they had a mother pig with their piglets in it, and she was feeding them. And, suddenly, feeding time was over, so she got up; shook them all off; and, sent them scurrying. Then she lumbered over to the corner where there was the biggest, filthiest, stinking pool of water I'd ever seen in my life. And she walked over to it; put her snout in it; checked it out; was satisfied with it; lumbered into it; shook herself over it; then flopped down in it; and, just sat there with this stuff oozing all around her. ... But she was acting as per the pig. That external is not why God said, "Don't eat pigs, because they act like that." It's because there is something internally in the structure of the animal that is debilitating to human health.

   You want to think a little about this that says, "Whatever you eat, do it to the glory of God." Eat it as one who says, "I'm going to separate. I'm going to treat God as a unique source of wisdom. When he advises me on a thing, I'm not going to go to the doctors." What are you going to find out from doctors? The last time I went to a doctor, he said, "Did you ever have this before?" I said, "No." He said, "Well, you've got it now." I said, "What is it?" He said, "I don't know. We're going to call it Danish Disease for lack of a better name." That's all doctors know. They make stuff up as they go along. So, you have to recognize that there's not all that divine wisdom out there, even in the medical world. You have to look to God, and treat Him as the unique person who understands these things.

   In any case, whatever we eat and whatever we drink, we do it because God who is unique says, "This is good, and this is bad."

   Glorify God

   For this reason, 1 Corinthians 6:20 becomes more specific as to how we glorify God. We glorify God by the use of our physical bodies: "For you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." You're bought with a price, so glorify God with your body: morally; and, in your Christian service. Glorify God with what you do with your physical capacity. Glorify God with what you do when you've got good health. Glorify God with how you treat your body, and glorify God with how you treat your spirit in feeding it the Word of God, so that in your human spirit is stored the divine viewpoint wisdom of doctrine. That's how you glorify God. What you are doing right now, in taking into your human spirits the Word of God is one of the greatest moments in which you glorify God. You set Him apart and say, "God, You are unique. The wisdom that You have is worth everything else that I possess. It is the gem of all gems."

   In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul says, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord (the uniqueness of God), are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." So, we glorify God on a moment-by-moment basis. As every day goes by, you go from one stage of glory to another stage of glory; that is, you yourself become more unique as a human being, and more one-of-a-kind as you move ahead to reflecting the glory of God; reflecting His deity; and, reflecting His integrity.

   Christians are transformed into the glory of God by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit who indwells them. That goes to ultimate sanctification. In heaven, we will be reflecting this glory of God in a complete and total way.

   Romans 8:18: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." Someday in heaven, every one of you, without exception, is going to look just like the Lord Jesus Christ did on that mouth of transfiguration. You're going to be just that brilliant – a demonstration of the glory of God.

   Philippians 3:21: "Who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.: Our bodies will be reflecting someday the body of Jesus Christ. That's why we know that someday, physically, we will all once again be perfect.

   Then 1 Peter 5:1: "The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." Then in verse 10: "But the God of all grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strength, and settle you." There is a glory to be revealed in us – a glory that we have been called to, and it's going to be an eternal glory, and exalted above the angels.

5. Giving glory to God means to exalt Him with praise for His character and for His works. That's how we give glory to God. We exalt him by praising Him for His character and for His work. In Luke 2:14, we have this illustrated: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." The angelic proclamation of giving glory to God means to exalt Him with praise. That's what the angelic hosts were doing on this occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ.

   Luke 17:18: "There are not found that return to give glory to God except this stranger." This verse has to do with ten men who are dying with the terminal disease of leprosy. Jesus Christ met them, and he healed them. Only one of them came back and thanked the Lord Jesus. That's what Jesus meant when He said, "There are not found that return to give glory to God except this stranger." In verse 17, Jesus says, "Were not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?" They're not found. Only one came to give glory to God. What did he mean? It meant that only one came back. Verse 15 says that one of them, when he saw that he was healed: "Turned back, and with a loud voice, glorified God." He exalted God and proclaimed the uniqueness of God Himself, and the capacity that God has to heal. That indeed is the only place that healing can be found – in the capacity of God Himself.

   Romans 11:36: "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen." Giving God glory means that we praise Him and exalt Him for His character and works.

   The Bible tells us that all mankind falls short of the holy standard of God's glory; that is, His essence and His duty. So, all mankind is doomed to the lake of fire, apart from receiving the glory of God through Jesus Christ. So, in Romans 3:23, we have it summed up this way: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Everybody comes into the human race short of God's perfection as deity. If you're going to go to heaven, you must be as perfect as the God-man Jesus Christ. The only way you get that is through a gift from God.

6. Restoration to Physical Health

   Then God is glorified when believers are restored to physical health. Here is one of the reasons people get sick. People get sick, and people sometimes get very sick, so that God may demonstrate His glory (His uniqueness as God). I'll tell you, that's the time when you discover the glory of God – when you're really sick. In my second year in Dallas seminary, I got to feeling like I was really washed out, and it was the strangest feeling. I was tired. Finally, I went to the doctor, and he checked some things out, and didn't come up with anything definitive. The year before, my father had died from virus hepatitis, and there were little signs that rang a bell with me. So, I went back to the doctor and I said, "Could this be a case of hepatitis?" And he said, "Well, we'll run some blood tests." And I hardly to get back to where we were living at the seminary when I got a call, and they said, "Come right in. You're going in a hospital. You've got virus hepatitis. I was leaving the doctor at that time myself. But at least I had come up with the diagnosis. Do you see what I mean about doctors? If you help them, they can do a lot for you.

   Anyhow, he said, "We're going to put you in the veterans' hospital. So, I packed out and went. After they got through with all of their routines, the head man comes up and says, "Yep, that's what you've got, and there's no cure for it. All we can do is give you a lot of vitamins, and give you rest. And you get over it by yourself. Now I understood what the glory of God was in that moment. I didn't even have a doctor that I could lean on. He already told me he was out of the picture, and had washed his hands of the whole matter, because he didn't know what to do. Now, you have the uniqueness of the power of God to heal. And God comes in, and glorifies Himself when He pulls you through what no human knowledge can help you pull through. That is the glory of God in considerable action. And indeed, that's one way we learn it.

   One of the great examples we have is that in the Bible is the case of the illness that struck Mary and Martha's brother Lazarus. That was a sickness that was so serious that Lazarus died. And Jesus Christ explained why Lazarus died in John 11:4: "When Jesus heard that (that Lazarus was seriously ill, He said, 'This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified by it." When Jesus, "It's not unto death," he didn't mean that Lazarus wasn't going to die, because Lazarus did die. But what He meant was it was not going to be permanent death because He was going to raise him back to life. But He said that He was going to let him experience death so that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, might be glorified.

   You know what that means, don't you? It meant that it might be demonstrated how unique the God-man, Jesus Christ, was, that He could walk into that tomb and bring Lazarus back out. I'm not quite sure how Lazarus struggled out of there. He was all bound up in those great clothes, but somehow his feet, at least, were able to move, and he may have come out looking like something out of a Halloween night, like a mummy man, and he struggled out. And Jesus Christ said, "Loose him and let him go." And they unwound those cloths, and there was Lazarus just as good as new. They looked at this man, Jesus Christ, and they said, "He's in a class by himself. He's unique." That's what it meant to glorify Jesus Christ.

   As a matter of fact, it is this incident (as I pointed out to you before) that the Jews saw indeed in this how unique the Lord Jesus Christ was, and that he was absolutely so distinctive that it was at this point, because of this matter, that they decided that they were going to kill Him. John 11:57: "And both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment that if any man knew where He was (that is, Jesus), he should show it, that they might take Him." Verse 53 gives the reason they put out that order: "Then from that day forth (the raising of Lazarus and the glorifying of Jesus Christ by that act), they took counsel together to put Him to death." And the following verse say that, thereafter, Jesus then had to take security measures for Himself that He would not be killed before beforehand, as He moved among these people that were now totally hostile. Why? Because He had demonstrated His glory.

   3 John 2-4 are an interesting connection of people who had good health, and who know the Word of God. It's an interesting connection: "Beloved, I wish, above all things, that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, even as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." And here you have the statement that there is a connection between knowing doctrine and thus knowing how to deal with your body and having good health.

7. The Christian's Resurrection Body

   Furthermore, we find that the concepts of glory is used in reference to the Christian's resurrection body. We're told that that body, when he is resurrected, is going to radiate the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 15:43: "It is sown (the Christian's body) in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power." The Christian's body is going to be raised in the full radiant glory of God, because the Christian, who now possesses absolute righteousness, will be radiating the glory of that righteousness.

   Philippians 3:21 says, "Who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." We are going to indeed have a unique physical structure.

8. Christians are to Glorify God

   The Bible tells us that it is the highest duty of the Christian to glorify God. In Romans 15:6 we read, "That you may, with one mind and one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." That's what we do at the Lord's Supper meeting. With one mind and one mouth, we are going to glorify the son of God, Jesus Christ. We are going to proclaim to one another how distinctive and unique is Jesus Christ in our personal experience.

9. The Crown of Glory

   In Peter 5:4, there is a special heavenly medal of honor called the crown of glory. This is a medal given only to pastor-teachers: "And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that does not fade away." The "you" in the context is referring to other elder-pastor-teachers is in the local church who have done the job of feeding the flock upon the Word of God, and receiving the recognition of this special medal of honor in heaven.

10. A Woman's Long Hair

    In 1 Corinthians 11:15, we have a comment concerning ladies hair. Paul says, "But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given hair for a covering." A woman's female-style hair is a glory to her. How is it a glory to her? Well, if the word "glory" means unique; being set apart; and, distinctiveness, you can see how a woman's hairstyle is her glory. It identifies her in her feminine role. It identifies her as a woman. It identifies her in that distinctive characteristic which qualifies the womanly role.

    By the same token, you see why verses 14-15 say that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. Why? Because it does not glorify a man to have long hair. That is, it does not distinguish him for what he is as the male: Doesn't even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given for a covering." So, the woman's hair is a glory because it distinguishes her from the male. And when the male comes along and does not want to be distinguished from the female, it is no glory to him. The Bible says, "It is an enormous shame to him." And that is the unisex concept of our society. We struggle with this even in Christian literature – the concept of unisex (the concept of blurring the distinctions between the male and the female role). It is a very serious thing when an organization does that, and they put out materials that encourage that sort of thing. If there's ever a ground (if there's ever a contributing factor) to homosexuality, it's exactly that. Increasingly, the people who study this are coming to the conclusion that blurring of male and female roles is a major contribution to learning homosexuality. And don't forget that you're not born as a homosexual, but you learn homosexuality. The way you learn it is by losing the distinctions between what is male and female. So, the long hair of the woman is a mark of her distinction. It's a mark of her glorious role as the female.

    In 1 Peter 1:24, we're warned about a glory that a lot of people pursue in our society and want, but which isn't worth anything. Man creates moments of fame, pageantry, and popularity which are transient glory: "For all flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away." What is it that you're chasing in life? You may be seeking some distinction, and some unique, identifiable position that somebody has to give you in the world system. Do you really want it? Do you really want to pay the price to have it? It's a passing transient glory, and men are always creating these great pageantry of impressive glory which don't amount to anything.

    Some of you may have seen the interview on TV with Albert Speer. Albert Speer was the only man who pleaded guilty at the Nuremberg trials. He was Hitler's architect to create a new Berlin, and to create a new Germany architecturally. Albert Speer was a university graduate who came from a very cultured family. It was rather amazing that here was a man who would had been captivated in a beer hall, listening to Hitler speak, and for Albert Speer, with all that he had in his background, to be drawn to this man, and to be drawn into that terrible system of national socialism. And as the commentator said, "How could you do it? How could you do that from what you knew; from your background; from who you were; and, from your family? How could you have been drawn into that?"

    And Speer was a very gifted man. When the Germans were at the very end, Hitler had made Speer the director of all armaments – the production manager. And Speer said, "I don't know how to do that. I don't know anything about that." Hitler said, "I have no one else. You must do it." He did it so well that to the very day of the defeat of the Germans, they were making as much in aircraft and in military armaments in every respect, practically, as they did at the start of the war. He knew how to get things done. How could a man like this fall into that? And he said, "Well, there was the sense of power. It was the sense of being able to make things happen that you thought should happen that were good for the people, and good for the country. I'm not the same man now that I was then." There were things I should have seen, and that I should have asked. I should have recoil from," which he didn't.

    One of the things I'm sure that carried him along, and that must have come to his mind, was in the same city of Nuremberg where he was put on trial, and then given that 20-year sentence. That very city was where all the glorious pageantry of the Nazi rallies were held, where you looked out upon the sea of thousands and thousands of uniformed troops standing in front of you, all cheering together, and all shouting the glories of the Third Reich. That is heady stuff when you get to that kind of pageantry.

    That's what Peter's talking about. You go ahead and get carried away with this human glory that can be put together. And governments are good at putting on human glory and human pageantry. But Peter says, "It's not worth having. It's like grass that just needs to be denied water and get hit with a hot sun, and it's burned and gone. Man creates moments of fame, pageantry and popularity, which are transient. So, you just be careful of the people you're popular with now to realize that that human popularity can snap just like that. The only popularity that counts is being popular with God. That you will keep. The only promotion that's worth anything is the promotion that God gives you. That you will keep. The rest will be gone.

11. Unbelievers Find Glory in their Shame

    The Bible tells us that the unbelievers, because they are so degenerate, find glory in their shame. Philippians 3:19, describing unbelievers says, "Whose end is destruction; whose God is there appetite; and, whose glory is in their shame, who might earthly things." You've seen that, haven't you? You've seen the world's people consider themselves distinct and unique in the shameful things they do. They get together, and they relate to each other the vile immorality that they've engaged in. What are they doing? They're trying to find a moment of uniqueness in the shame of their debauchery. They're trying to show how they are distinctive and unique by something that is degrading and animal. And God says, "That is the nature of unbelievers – that instead of being ashamed of what they do; instead of not wanting to talk about what they do; and, instead of wanting to have it covered up and forgotten, they glory in standing up and shouting at all the world. Their shame is the thing by which they seek to find a distinction.

So, the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed worthy, as the angels are chanting, of all glory. The God-man possesses the full essence of deity. We call this the doctrine of the hypostatic union – the human and the divine nature in one person. He is 100% human, and He is 100% divine. There is no mixture of the two, and no compromise of one with the other. The total God-man, the unique person of the universe, is worthy of glory because that deity that he possesses is not compromised by His humanity. For this reason, the Lord Jesus Christ is set apart in all of God's creation as the unique person of the universe. The church-age believers, you and I, are going to live forever in this kind of glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the exalted Son of God. Someday our bodies will reflect His glory. Someday we will live in the presence of that glory. That will be our normal environment. That will be where we feel perfectly at home. That will be where we will function better than we have ever functioned before. The glory of God is going to be your glory someday.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1982

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