Through Isaiah, God promised 'the glory of the LORD will be revealed'—and, not only revealed, but that 'all flesh will see it.’ How was that to become reality? How could all flesh get to see the glory of the Lord? And … what is the glory of the Lord?
Glory Defined: It’s important to understand what the Bible means by 'glory'. Its meaning may surprise—and may be a little difficult to get your head around! Most people will say glory equates with radiance or splendour—but that is only half true. In OT, 'kabod' really means to be heavy, to have substance or weight—or even, intrinsic value. It’s what something is comprised of and gives it value—what we call its quintessence! In the NT, ‘doxa’ has essentially the same meaning —the characteristics within that determine value or reputation (cf. 2 Cor.4:17 ‘weight of glory’). In physics it’s mass. Our nearest star, the Sun, has both glory and radiance. Its glory is the trillions of tonnes of gases and nuclear fusions that constitute it. Its radiance is the product of the glory—the warmth and light emanating from the glory.
So, let’s see what this means with respect to God. In Ex. 33 Moses speaks with God at his tent of meeting away from the camp, God promises His presence to go with Moses. Then Moses audaciously says, 'please show me your glory' (KABOD)—in effect—'show me what you're made of'! And God obliges! He says to Moses 'stand on this rock nearby' (type of Jesus) and I will hide you in a cleft of that rock and cover you with my hand as I pass by.' But what constituted God's GLORY? He said, 'I will make all my goodness pass before you and proclaim the name (character) of the LORD (Yahweh) before you.' And then He unpacks that even more and reveals His essence—what He's made of—what constitutes His being. Look at 34:6 for here it is—the substance of God, 'I the LORD (Yahweh) Elohim, compassionate and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth - keeping mercy for thousands and forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin ....'
That is what God is made of! That is His glory. And that glory has a manifestation—and that is the radiance. Glory manifests outwardly. (See Psm 78:38 'He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity'). Here’s another example/illustration from the other scripture I read: Hebrews 1:3 speaking of Jesus, 'He is the radiance (or brightness/outshining) of God's glory AND—the express image of His person.' Can you see that the glory is one thing and the product of it (it's radiance) is another. Yes, glory does and will manifest itself with an out-shining. But the radiance is not the glory—it is the evidence of it. The glory is what is within. The radiance is the product of the glory! (If there is nothing within, there will be no radiance to see!)
Glory Manifested (in Jesus): So … Jesus came and manifested the glory. John says (Jn. 1;14) 'and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory—the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of—grace and truth.' We saw what He was full of! It began with His first miracle at Cana of Galilee, turning the water into wine, John says 'thus He manifested His glory'. Then on through His ministry He manifested what was within—goodness, kindness, mercy.
It is the outshining of what God is made of, that all flesh is to see! And—again and again we read that the same glory that was revealed to Moses—mercy, grace, longsuffering, goodness and truth—shone from Jesus as He was moved with compassion at the multitudes, as people cried out 'Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me', and as He fed the multitudes and brought the grace and favour of the Father to people as diverse as adulterers and thieves and tax extortioners—to rich and to poor and distressed!
And so, the glory of God was manifested in Jesus. But did all flesh see it? No. Jesus the man was (intentionally) limited to a time and place for a brief 32 or 33 years, of which just 3 and a half years was His emergence and ministry.
Glory Imparted; Glory in Succession: Yes—glory is something that can be imparted. We read Jesus' words from John 17. These were among His most important words for they are words of succession;
He is handing His ministry over to these men. He said, 'Father, the hour has come ....' He said, 'I have finished the work you gave me to do.' And then in His discourse and prayer He talks about what He has provided for the ongoing work—
•I have manifested my name - my authority (vv 6 and 26)
•I have given them your Word (v 14) - that's TRUTH (that can be trusted)
•I have given them the glory—that they may be one' (v 22). All possessed of the same substance; the nature of God—compassion, mercy, grace, kindness and goodness!
Jesus said, 'when He, the Spirit comes, He will take what is mine and make it yours’.
And John again in 1:16 'and of His fullness have we received and grace after grace ...' So now, we can see the plan. Jesus displayed the glory/substance of the Father, but He was limited to a tiny fragment of history. The plan was to impart the glory to an entity that, through succession and expansion would not be limited to one time or one space. His Body, the Church!
So Paul says in Eph. 1 that Jesus has been raised and seated with the Father, above all principality and power and might and dominion, not only in this age but in ages to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.' And what about Eph. 3;16-19!
16 that He would grant you (plural) according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you (plural) may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The glory of God—His goodness, compassion, mercy, grace, longsuffering and lovingkindness is being beheld by all flesh, because Jesus has a Body that is not bound or limited in time and space: it is a succession. His glory is being seen in Iraq and Iran and China and Indonesia and Myanmar and North Korea—and Australia, USA, Africa and every nation of the world—and yes, in your sphere. It is by the Spirit of God that the glory of God is infused into that Body and into its members and when it is, it will always have an outshining; a radiance.
The glory of God is within you; it’s within me. It’s up to me to allow its radiance. In goodness, compassion, mercy, grace, longsuffering and lovingkindness. Now. Today.
Ponder these words from an old hymn—Let The Beauty Of Jesus Be Seen In Me
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me
All His wondrous compassion and purity;
O Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine
‘Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
Let the fruit of the Spirit be seen in me
Grant me grace all sufficient that I may be,
True and faithful each day, every step of the way
Pointing souls to the Saviour on Calvary.
Ian Heard, March 19, 2017