7.
The Expectation of Glory
According
to Paul, we are to walk worthy of the God who calls us into His own kingdom and
glory (1 Thessalonians 2.12). At least one translation uses the phrase His own reign and glory (YLT). The coming eon is about entering the celestial realm of the
The
conquering believers in Christ will be enjoyers of an allotment in the
How
do we enter into the reign and glory? We enter by the grace of God given to us
in Christ Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, the Resurrection and the Life.
There is no other way, for no one, not even those who believe in this day, are
worthy of God’s grace. Grace is that overwhelming power of God that takes the
ugly and transforms it into the joyously beautiful and that comes through
believing in God’s Son and the finished work of His cross.
Grace
is God’s favor poured out on the ugly, the unbeliever and the sinner. We are
not worthy of God’s grace. No one of mankind is worthy, but in God’s grace, all
mankind will eventually be brought into the glory of God. If we were to have a
balance sheet with God in which our merits were listed on one side and our
demerits were listed on the other side, we would discover that we all have no merits,
only demerits. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Sin means “to miss,” and all mankind has
missed the mark of God. But thank God, in and through the Son of God, all
mankind will experience the grace of God, not all at once, but each in its own class
and in its own era. We, who have been called and chosen of God before the
disruption of the world, have the glorious blessing of receiving the grace of
God in this day so that we might enter the glory of the eons of the eons with
Christ.
If
this does not excite your heart, then nothing will.
Now,
grace and glory go hand-in-hand, and as we near the conclusion of this book
that has been titled The Purpose of the
Eons, it is appropriate that we consider glory or, more specifically, the
expectation of glory.
The
number of times the word glory
appears in the English translations of the sacred Scriptures varies considerably
from a low of 209 times to a high of 434 times. Most of the variation occurs in
the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), for there are at least ten Hebrew words
that could be translated into the word glory.
There is more uniformity in the translations of the Greek Scriptures (New
Testament), where the word glory is
discovered from 165 to 174 times, based on one primary Greek word, doxa. What we need to see is that the
word glory is a very significant word
in Scripture and one worthy of our utmost consideration.
To
look at every verse in context is beyond the scope of this chapter; therefore,
this study has been restricted to mostly Paul’s epistles and, even with this,
only a few verses are presented. Nevertheless, I trust the spirit of God to
open the eyes of your heart to be enlightened as to the true nature of glory.
According
to Paul, glory is to be revealed to us (Romans 8.18). We are to be glorying in
expectation of the glory of God (Romans 5.2). We are to know the riches of His
glory (Romans 9.23; Ephesians 1.18; 3.16; Colossians 3.4). We are to be raised
in glory (1 Corinthians 15.43). We are to be transformed into the image of
Christ, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3.18). We are to come into the Light
of the knowledge of the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4.6). We are to suffer
momentary light afflictions for the eonian burden (weight) of glory (2
Corinthians 4.17). We are to come into the glory, having no spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, being holy and blameless (Ephesians 5.27). We are to be
transformed into conformity with the body of His glory (Philippians 3.21). All
our needs are to be supplied according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 4.19). We are to be revealed with Christ in glory (Colossians
3.4). We are called into God’s own kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2.12). We
are to gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2.14; 2 Timothy
2.10). We will be taken up in glory (1 Timothy 3.16). We are to be looking for
the blessed expectation and the appearing of the glory of our great God and
Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 2.13).
These
verses alone should pique your interest in this essential matter of glory.
The
evangel of the glory of Christ.
Paul
uniquely called his evangel the evangel
of the glory of Christ, which he was called to dispense to the nations. It
is the good news of the glory of Christ. We will never know glory apart from
our beloved Lord. Praise God; when we are saved, we are placed on a pathway to
glory that will never fade but will only grow brighter and brighter until the
new day dawns.
The
god of this eon blinds the understanding of the unbelievers to this evangel,
but for those who believe, it is illuminated to be seen spiritually with the
expectation that one day, we pray soon, we will literally see and experience
glory in spiritual bodies of glory.
In
his second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul first mentioned this evangel in light
of Moses receiving a fading glory when the Lord appeared to him on the
mountain. Moses’ glory had to be covered, but the glory of Christ is unveiled
to the spiritual.
Now, if our evangel is covered, also, it is covered
in those who are perishing, in whom the god of this eon blinds the
apprehensions of the unbelieving so that the
illumination of the evangel of the glory of Christ, Who is the Image of the
invisible God, does not irradiate them. For we are not heralding ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord, yet ourselves your slaves because of Jesus, for the God
Who says that, out of darkness light shall be shining, is He Who shines in our
hearts, with a view to the illumination
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2
Corinthians 4.3-6 CV)
We
are no longer in darkness like the rest of the world, for God has shone in our
hearts a view of which the world of darkness knows nothing. It is a view that
enlightens our heart with the knowledge of the glory of God. How do we come to
know this glory? It is in the face of Jesus Christ. We do not see Him with our
physical eye but rather with our spiritual eye; with the eye of the heart we
see Jesus and, in Him, we see the glory of God. How do we see Jesus? Where does
this spiritual sight begin? It begins as we see Him in Scripture and, in some
measure, through life’s experiences.
As John recorded: And
the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of
the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1.14 NASB). John, along with the other disciples from among the
circumcision, in many respects, only saw the veiled glory of Jesus, the
However,
Paul saw the risen and glorified Christ in heaven (Acts 9.1-19) and was charged
with unveiling the marvelous glory of the Lord to the nations. He saw the Lord
in glory, and the secret of all that this means was unveiled to this most
unlikely Pharisee.
Through
Paul’s evangel, the eyes of our heart are opened to see that Christ is the
image of the invisible God. No man can see God, but He has given us His exact
image in His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As we behold the Son, we see
the Father. As we behold the glory of Christ, we behold the glory of God. The
Father delights in His Son and delights to reveal His Son to us and in us. This
is why Paul, in his letter to Timothy, called it the evangel of the glory of
the happy God (1 Timothy 1.11 CV), with which he was
entrusted.
Paul
is the apostle of the nations and, according to his own words, he was charged
to dispense the evangel of the glory of Christ to the nations.
Let
us be perfectly clear that glory does not come apart from Christ; there is no
other way to glory but through Christ. The Lord of glory was crucified so that
we can enter the glory of the Lord. Christ is our Life, and He is our
Expectation. Paul wrote to Timothy, his beloved child of the faith, and
declared that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Expectation
(1 Timothy 1.1 CV). Christ is among us to bring us into His glory.
Christ
among the nations.
The secret which has been concealed from the eons
and from the generations, yet now was made manifest to His saints, to whom God
wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the
nations, which is: Christ among you, the
expectation of glory…. (Colossians 1.26-27 CV)
Paul
was given the charge to dispense the secret of God in Christ. Today, it is no
longer to remain secret, for it has been revealed through Paul’s epistles. Notice
that in these verses, Paul referred to the glorious riches of the secret of God,
and this secret was made known among the nations. It was one secret, and this
secret is that Christ is among the nations, the expectation of glory. In other
words, He is among those who have been called out from among the nations, which
refers to the believers of the body of Christ.
When
He came to this earth in His first advent, Jesus walked among the lost sheep of
the house of
Christ
among you, the nations, is the expectation of glory. In other words, because
Christ is among us, we can be assured that glory will come to us one day. He
has not left us nor forsaken us but continues to walk among us to bring us into
His glory. What comfort this should bring to our hearts!
Further,
Christ is now walking among the unbelievers of the nations and is saving many
in these dark days right before His arrival in the air. Praise God!
Now,
this is all well and good as sound doctrine, but let us ask ourselves a
practical question.
What
is our expectation or hope?
If
this question were asked of believers, most would probably respond that their
expectation is eternal life. Of course, by now the reader should understand
that Scripture refers to eonian life and not eternal life. Nevertheless,
inherent in the response of eternal life is the thought of an endless life. Those
who will have the joy of entering the celestial realm in the next eon will
enter into the fullness of eonian life, which really is the same as having an
endless or eternal life.
No
matter which term one uses—eonian life, endless life or eternal life—the
expectation is actually summed up in the word immortality. Isn’t immortality truly the desire or expectation of
believers?
What
is immortality? It is having life beyond death, that is, a life that can no
longer be touched by death. If there is no longer death, there also can no
longer be sin, for death brings on sin. Through
one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and thus death
passed through into all mankind, on which all sinned (Romans 5.12 CV). Death brought sin into mankind and in death sin reigns. Remove
death and sin can no longer exist. Thus, being immortal puts the believer
beyond death in which sin reigns. The sting of death, which is sin, is
swallowed up by victory, for which we will be forever praising and thanking
God, who is giving us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ (see 1
Corinthians 15.54-57).
As
tremendous as immortality is, the
word in itself does not tell us anything about endless life other than there
will be no death or sin. This truly is tremendous, but it tells us little of the
quality or the character of the life that the believer will have in the eons of
the eons and beyond into what could be called eternity. How do we know that
living forever will not be a boring or dull existence? How do we know that it
will be a most pleasing and satisfying existence? How do we know that it will
answer every desire of our heart beyond anything we hope or expect? How do we
know that it will be beyond anything our eye has seen and our ear has heard (1
Corinthians 2.9)?
We
need something to qualify immortality, some expectation of what immortality
will be like. We know that we will be with the Lord forever, but even this
thought does not tell us what it will be like. What will it be like to be in
the presence of the Lord?
Sure
and certain hope—expectation.
The
answer to these questions lies in the word glory,
for in this word we discover the expectation of the believer and what
immortality is all about. We are to expect glory. What does expectation mean?
It means the sure and certain hope in something that we cannot see today but
fully expect to see in a future day. Hope as revealed in Scripture has no
uncertainty implied in its meaning. The hope that Paul revealed is a sure thing,
and we should never doubt for a moment that it will come to pass, for as sure
as Christ was raised from among the dead, our hope, one day, will be
manifested.
When
the fulfillment of our hope comes, then hope will be no more. As Paul wrote: Hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes
for what he already sees? (Romans 8.24 NASB). Today,
faith, hope and love abide, but in the coming eons only love, the greatest of
these, will abide.
Paul
referred to hope in several ways. We are to abound in hope by the power of the
Holy Spirit (Romans 15.13). We are waiting for the hope of righteousness
(Galatians 5.5). We are called in one hope of our calling (Ephesians 4.4). We
have a hope laid up for us in the heavens (Colossians 1.5). We have the
steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and
Father (1 Thessalonians 1.3). We have the hope of salvation (1 Thessalonians
5.8). We fix our hope on the living God (1 Timothy 4.10; 5.5). We have the hope
of eonian life (Titus 1.2; 3.7).
Further,
a word that, most likely, many fail to grasp declares that the Father of glory
has the hope of His calling (see Ephesians 1.17-18). The call going out to the
ecclesia, which is the body of Christ, comes from the Father of glory. This
alone indicates that the hope and calling have something to do with glory.
Hope
or expectation is something great, with many dimensions to it. Paul was not
alone in bringing to light the hope that is in Christ, for many call Peter the
apostle of hope. However, Paul was unique among the apostles, for he has
revealed to us the reconciliation of all, the justification of all, and God
being All in all, which ultimately is
the hope of all mankind, whether mankind knows it or not. Further, Paul alone
has given us the unique expression the
expectation of glory. [1]
Glory
is to be seen and experienced.
The
expectation of glory means that we are to expect glory. We are to anticipate
it, to desire it and to long for it. But what is glory? If we do not know what
it is, how will we know what to expect?
In
Scripture, we discover the expressions the God of glory (Acts 7.2), the Father
of glory (Ephesians 1.17) and the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2.8). We also
discover the expressions the glory of God (e.g., Acts 7.55; Romans 3.23; 5.2;
Philippians 2.11; Revelation 21.11), the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4.4)
and the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3.18; 8.19). On the one hand, glory is
presented as coming forth from God and His Son. On the other hand, glory is
presented as an attribute of God and His Son that is theirs alone. As we behold
God and His Son, we behold their glory. In other words, it is a descriptor of
who they are. We behold the Son, and we must proclaim glory. When the Son
shines upon us or moves in our lives in very special ways, we too proclaim
glory. However, this alone does not explain glory to us.
Actually,
glory is a difficult word to define. In many respects, glory is something to be
seen and to experience. Mere words seem to fall far short of expressing the
depths of glory. There are many facets to this word. Glory does not stand alone
in Scripture, for it is often joined with other words or concepts, such as
grace, light, love, freedom, oneness and happiness. It is through these
concepts or attributes of God that we see glory. We could say that glory is an outcome. The outcome of
grace is glory. The outcome of love is glory. When glory bursts forth there is
freedom, there is oneness and there is happiness. At times, glory is likened to
something that is heavy, as a weight or burden. And yet, glory is often
portrayed as light; perfect, unadulterated light. God is light, and when we see
God in the face of Christ, we see glory.
Glory
must be seen and experienced in the Person of our Lord Jesus. It is not
something to grasp through head knowledge or intellect. Most assuredly, when we
enter the celestial realm, behold our beloved Lord Jesus and grasp our
spiritual bodies, the new creation in Christ, one word will come forth from our
transformed lips: “Glory!”
This
reminds me of the day when my beloved wife was faced with a very serious, even
life-threatening illness. I stood in the emergency room of the hospital and
looked down at my wife as she lay on the stretcher ready to be taken into the
operating room to have surgery. We did not know what the outcome would be with
this illness, whether it would be life or death. The doctors did not give us
much hope. All we could do was trust the whole matter to the Lord that His will
would be done. Our prayer was: “Lord, Thy will, will be done and to You will go
all the glory.” This was not a prayer for healing; it was an acknowledgment of
faith that God’s will was being worked out in this situation no matter what the
outcome. In death, God would receive the glory. In life, God would receive the
glory. Either way, it would be to the glory of God.
The
grace of God came upon both of us in such a powerful way that the peace of God
that surpasses all understanding filled our hearts. I will never forget looking
at the lovely face of my wife as she lay there. Her body was in distress, but
her spirit was soaring among the celestials in glory. She looked so peaceful,
so calm, so rested, even as she was about to enter something that was filled
with risk and uncertainty. I not only saw and experienced grace that day, but I
also saw glory. I cannot describe it; all I can say is that I saw the glory of
God in the face of my wife. I will carry this image in my heart until the day
that we enter glory. Grace and glory go hand-in-hand, and we experienced both
over the months that followed as the Lord began to restore her back to health. We
experienced the outcome of the lavish grace of God; the outcome of grace upon
grace was glory unto glory. We give God all the praise and glory!
The
point of sharing this is that no matter how much any of us write or teach on the
matter of grace and glory, there is always this sense that we have merely
touched the edges of the essence of God’s grace and glory. Mere words that
attempt to explain these gifts of God seem to fall short. Grace and glory are
to be experienced and to be seen, not merely talked about.
Glory
is the outcome of grace.
In
unfolding one of the pillars of his evangel, Paul brought grace and glory
together.
Being, then, justified by faith, we may be having
peace toward God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have the
access also, by faith, into this grace
in which we stand, and we may be
glorying in expectation of the glory of God. (Romans 5.1-2 CV)
We
are justified by faith so that we may have peace toward God. Peace refers to being reconciled to God.
Justification and reconciliation go hand-in-hand. Grace is what gives us access to God,
and by faith we are to stand in grace and be glorying in expectation of the
glory of God. Notice we are to be glorying, which means that our justification
and reconciliation give us a foretaste of glory. So, right from the beginning
of our being justified by faith we are to have the expectation of glory. We
could say that as we stand in the grace of God, we glory in the expectation of
the glory of God that is ours in Christ Jesus, our Lord. It is by grace that we
see the glory of God and will come into His glory. The two are inseparable.
To
add to this thought, we are given a word of encouragement about grace and glory
through a Psalm.
For the LORD God is a
sun and shield; the LORD gives grace
and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
(Psalm 84.11 NASB)
The
Lord gives grace and glory, which is a good thing. He does not withhold grace
and glory from His people who walk uprightly or with integrity. This is an
encouragement to press on toward the goal, to run the race of the faith
according to the rules, to get hold of eonian life.
It
is significant that this verse starts with the Lord God is a sun and shield,
for these describe glory and grace. Glory is a sun and grace is a shield. As a
shield, grace keeps us, protects us and preserves us for God and His Son. It is
by God’s grace that we will arrive safely at His celestial kingdom. Glory is a
sun which means it is a light, but not just any light; it refers to God who is Light
and to His Son who is the Light of the world. Consider these verses.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to
you, that God is Light, and in Him
there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1.5 NASB)
In Him was life, and the
life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1.4-5 NASB)
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who
follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8.12 NASB)
God,
who is the invisible God and Father, is Light, and His Son, who is the visible
image of God, is the Light of the world. There is no darkness or even shadow in
them. They represent the purest of light in which no evil or no sin or no imperfection
of any kind lurks. Darkness often refers to that which is evil, but in the Son there
is no evil of any kind.
My
wife’s illness could be placed in the category of something ugly. After all,
when we face death, is this not something ugly? But praise God; the
overwhelming grace of God transformed what was ugly into something joyously
beautiful, the glory of God. When we see the grace of God in action, it brings
joy to our hearts. It makes us happy, and the outcome is glory. It is like
being refreshed and cleansed in the light of God. Again, words seem to fail in
describing glory.
Glory
is light.
Nevertheless,
as we press on in this matter, as we have seen, glory can refer to the purest
of light. In encouraging the saints, Paul wrote that God the Father makes us
competent for a part of the allotment of the saints, in light.
Therefore we also, from the day on which we hear,
do not cease praying for you and requesting that you may be filled full with
the realization of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, you to
walk worthily of the Lord for all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work,
and growing in the realization of God; being endued with all power, in accord
with the might of His glory, for all endurance and patience with joy; at the
same time giving thanks to the Father, Who
makes you competent for a part of the allotment of the saints, in light, Who
rescues us out of the jurisdiction of Darkness, and transports us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love…. (Colossians 1.9-13 CV)
Paul
contrasted the jurisdiction of darkness and the kingdom of the Son of His love.
One kingdom or domain is dark and the other is light. The enjoyment of an
allotment will be an allotment in the kingdom of light. What does this mean? It
means that in the kingdom there will be absolutely no evil, no corruption, no
illness, no sin, no death, no war, no pain, no suffering, and the list could go
on almost endlessly. The kingdom of light is one in which everything is as pure
as the Son of God is pure. There will be no imperfection in the kingdom of the
Son of God’s love. This is the glory of God, for God is Light and His Son is Light.
All
imperfections, all darkness, all failures, all the bad will be settled at the bema
of Christ so that we will enter the celestial realm unhindered and
unencumbered; set free from corruption and all that hinders the glory of God.
Today,
our Lord makes His home in inaccessible light that no man can perceive, for Christ
alone possesses immortality.
He is King of kings and Lord of lords, Who alone
has immortality, making His home in
light inaccessible, Whom not one of mankind perceived nor can be
perceiving, to Whom be honor and might eonian! Amen! (1 Timothy 6.15b-16 CV)
Praise
God; a day is coming when the body of Christ will possess His immorality and
will enter the kingdom of light, which is the kingdom of glory. So, we can see
that, in some respects, light and glory are the same.
Glory
is the outcome of love.
Further,
just as grace and glory, and light and glory go together, so do love and glory
go together.
“Father, those whom Thou hast given Me, I will
that, where I am, they also may be with Me, that they may be beholding My glory which Thou has given
Me, for Thou lovest Me before the
disruption of the world.” (John 17.24 CV)
Love
brings forth glory. The Father and the Son have an unbroken, unrestrained love
relationship that must reach out to all mankind and all creation. However,
until the consummation of the eons, only those who are the Lord’s in our
current eon and the eons of the eons to follow will be with the Lord in glory.
They will behold His glory that He alone possesses as the Son of God. In love,
Christ will reveal Himself to His people. When love is unrestrained, glory
breaks forth.
The
kingdom of glory is the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. Love and glory go
hand-in-hand. Again, when we believe, we are transported into the spiritual kingdom of the Son of His love
(Colossians 1.13). In His kingdom, we are bathed in the love of God that is in
the Son and we experience the glory of God.
In
the midst of our trial, my wife and I knew the love of God for us and the love
that we have for each other. In her days of illness, we saw glory and love kiss
each other in such a way that it is hard to describe. Obviously, this is poetic
language, but it is meant to convey the thought that glory is the outcome of
love. When we see the love of Christ manifested, we have to say that we behold
the glory of Christ.
But
again, words seem to fail in describing glory.
Glory
is freedom.
When
you woke this day, you did not know what the day would bring. You probably had
many thoughts on your mind, some good, some bad and some perplexing. You had to
make a multitude of decisions. You most likely were also bombarded with a host
of thoughts, perhaps doubts and things that bothered your mind. You may be
struggling with some sin in your life or with some conflict with another
person. Perhaps you have had some anger build up in you over some conflict you have
encountered. Perhaps you are feeling ill or hungry. Perhaps your day started
out good and joy filled your heart but now it is gone and you are wondering
what tomorrow will bring. Perhaps your soul is screaming at you for some form
of pleasure and satisfaction. Perhaps you are suffering in some manner. Perhaps
you are uncertain about your future and perplexed as to what lies ahead and how
you should proceed. The list of issues that you have faced and that you will
face tomorrow, the next day and all the days to follow seem countless. We could
say that this list contains many points of darkness and shadows in the midst of
light. It would be the most unusual person that goes through a week without
some weight or pressure weighing down his spirit, soul and body, without some
darkness or shadow lurking in his day.
Meditate
on these questions: What would it be like to live free of all these countless
weights and pressures, with no darkness clouding your days; to live free of the
pressures and demands of the soul? What would it be like to live every day in
the most marvelous light with no doubts, worries, cares or uncertainties? What
would it be like to live in the perfect light of God? What would it be like to
live in perfect righteousness, joy, peace and love? What would it be like to
live every moment for God, bringing Him pleasure and delight? What would it be
like to be in continual fellowship with our God and our Lord? What would it be
like to be bathed continually in the love of God?
Dear
brethren, this is a glimpse of glory. It is being set free from all the weighty
encumbrances of living in bodies of death that only bring us affliction of
body, soul and spirit. It is living in the full expression or complement of
God’s Son.
Living
in the pure light of God is living in freedom. Glory is freedom! We see this in
Paul’s message to the Romans. All creation is groaning as it waits to be set
free from the slavery of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children
of God. When we are set free, all creation will be set free as well. All creation
groans and travails along with us until that day comes in which the children of
God are freed from the corruption brought on our bodies by sin and death (see
Romans 8.15-25). Freedom means glory!
During
the time of my wife’s illness, we experienced a freedom that we had never
known. We were cast upon the Lord; we were bathed in His love; we were shut in
with the Lord and all the cares and uncertainties of the situation faded from
our sight. Each day was a new day to trust the Lord and to experience His life.
This does not mean that we did not have what could be called “bad days,” for we
most surely did, but when we look back over those days, we both realize that
there was a power beyond us that moved us along each day. We could say that
they were momentary light afflictions; they were only for a moment, and then
the grace of God overwhelmed and the glory of God shone brightly on the
situation and we were at peace and in love with one another in a way that we
never knew in our 30 years of marriage. To God be the glory!
As
Paul experienced a daily renewal within (see 2 Corinthians 4.16), we can say
that something was renewed within both of us during this time that has remained
with us even after four years.
Glory
is the image of the Lord’s glory.
What
is this renewal within? It has to do with grace producing glory within our
spirit, our inner man. We are to go from glory to glory as we are transformed
into the image of the Lord’s glory. Notice that the image we are to take on is
glory, which means it is actually an appearance just like our Lord.
Now the Lord is the spirit; yet where the spirit of
the Lord is, there is freedom. Now we all, with uncovered face, mirroring the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into the same image, from
glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the spirit. (2 Corinthians 3.17-18 CV)
Do
you see how Paul connected freedom to glory? We may not see it but it is there,
doing a work on the inside of all of us that will burst forth just as it did
with the Lord on the mount of transfiguration. It is His life within that is doing
the transforming work. We are being
conformed to His image. This is a present work of the spirit of the Lord.
His spirit is a freeing spirit.
Glory
to glory comes as we see more of the secret of the evangel of the glory of
Christ. We are to continually see Christ in this evangel. As the secrets of God
were revealed to him, Paul went from glory to glory. He began by seeing the
body of Christ taken up in the air, then he saw all the members of the body
changed in the twinkling of an eye, then he saw the third heaven of the new
creation, then he saw the body of Christ as a new creation in Christ identified
with the new creation, and then he saw the new creation in Christ ascend to the
heavenly realm, seated among the celestials. In this evangel, we see the Lord’s
glory, and the more we see Him and His glory, the more we are transformed into
the same image.
Dear
brethren, this is going from glory to glory. As the secret of the evangel of
the glory of Christ is revealed to our heart, we too go from glory to glory
until we see ourselves seated among the celestials and, one day, we literally will
be seated among the celestials in glory. Until that day, we are, in some
measure, to experience the grace and glory of God in Christ Jesus through the
spirit of the Lord as we are being transformed into His image of glory, from
glory to glory. However, this requires suffering in this day.
Glory
is heavy.
Paul
wrote of the struggle that he had in bringing the evangel to the nations. He
was afflicted in every way, and he declared that death worked in him but life
in the Corinthians (see 2 Corinthians 4.7-12). He was continually encouraged by
the spreading of grace to more and more people. He did not lose heart even as
he recognized that his outward man was decaying, as it suffered daily
affliction. However, something within him was being renewed day by day.
For all is because of you, that the grace,
increasing through the majority, should be superabounding
in thanksgiving to the glory of God. Wherefore we
are not despondent, but even if our outward man is decaying, nevertheless that
within us is being renewed day by day. For the
momentary lightness of our affliction is producing for us a transcendently
transcendent eonian burden of glory, at our not noting what is being
observed, but what is not being observed, for what is being observed is
temporary, yet what is not being observed is eonian. (2 Corinthians 4.15-18 CV)
For the all things are because of you, that the grace
having been multiplied, because of the thanksgiving of the more, may abound to the glory of God; wherefore,
we faint not, but if also our outward man doth decay, yet the inward is renewed
day by day; for the momentary light
matter of our tribulation, more and more exceedingly an age-during weight of
glory doth work out for us…. (2 Corinthians 4.15-17 YLT)
Paul
considered the affliction that he encountered as momentary (for a season) and
light compared to the glory to come in the eons or the ages to follow. The suffering
and affliction of this day is child’s play compared to what is to come to us in
the eons. It is in suffering that we become more like our Lord. If indeed we
are suffering together, we will be glorified together also (Romans 8.17). We
are to glory in our afflictions, for they produce endurance and testedness that
result in expectation (Romans 5.3-5).
The
word burden or weight has the meaning of being “heavy.” We might think that
something heavy does not sound very good, but we must understand that we will
have bodies like our Lord’s body, and they will be able to carry the weight or
burden of glory. The bodies of death that we occupy today would be crushed
under the weight or burden of glory. It is as if Paul wanted the brethren to
know that glory is a crushing thing to that which is not suited for it. Glory
is something very special; it requires a very special body to take on the
exceedingly great glory of God or, as the Concordant Version states, a transcendently
transcendent eonian burden of glory.
This makes the glory that is for all who are conformed to the
image of Christ something beyond measure. No mere mortal can ever experience
this glory. It requires the resurrection and transformation that comes when the
Son comes from heaven to meet us in the air.
Resurrection
and transformation bring us into immortality, and immortality leads us into
glory and this comes about through Christ who is the Resurrection, the Life and
our Expectation of glory.
Glory
is Christ’s body.
For our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of
which we are awaiting a Saviour also, the Lord, Jesus Christ, Who will
transfigure the body of our humiliation, to
conform it to the body of His glory, in accord with the operation which enables
Him even to subject all to Himself. (Philippians 3.20-21 CV)
Today,
we occupy bodies of humiliation. Those of us who have a few years under our
belts remember when we were young and full of energy. Then, our bodies seemed
almost indestructible. However, as we have aged in our earthly tents, the
humiliation of our bodies has become more and more apparent, and we long to be
freed from these restricted and disease-prone bodies. We long to be like our
Lord and put on His celestial body.
Our
hope is to be like our Lord one day, to be conformed to the body of His glory.
No more humiliation, no more suffering, no more disease, no more death! We have
been sown in dishonor, but when Christ comes, we will be roused in glory.
Today, we wear the image of the soilish, but then we will be wearing the image
of the Celestial (see 1 Corinthians 15.47-49 CV).
Hallelujah!
Whenever Christ, our Life, should be manifested,
then you also shall be manifested together
with Him in glory. (Colossians 3.4 CV)
Not
only will we be conformed to His body of glory, but we will be in glory.
Entering the coming celestial kingdom will be glory through and through. This
is all possible because Christ is our Life, and when He is manifested as who He
is, we will be manifested as He is. Think about it!
Glory
is oneness.
Being
conformed to the body of His glory is an individual glorification, but
according to our Lord Jesus, glory is oneness of the body, as well.
And the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we
are one…. (John 17.22 KJV)
The Father and the Son are one in glory and all who belong
to Christ are to share in Christ’s glory and be one.
Paul wrote of the one body of Christ (Ephesians 4.4;
Colossians 3.15). Today, it seems that what we see with our eyes that most
people call the “church” is parted and far from expressing oneness. There are
so many divisions among God’s people that it seems that the Lord’s prayer to
His Father has not been answered. But let us not be distracted by what our eyes
see. What matters is what the Lord sees and knows to be His body. The Lord
knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2.19). Do we think that this prayer has gone
unanswered and that the glory given to the Lord will not yield oneness? May it
not be coming to that!
Paul exhorted the saints who are faithful in Christ Jesus
with this matter of oneness.
There is one body
and one Spirit, just as also you
were called in one hope of your
calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4.4-6 NASB)
This is the spiritual reality. The one body was hidden as
a secret from all the previous generations. In many respects, the true
ecclesia, which is the body of Christ, remains a secret to the world at large
and to Christendom itself. All that we see is a shell that many call the
“church.” But what does God see? He sees the true ecclesia. We might not see it
but the Lord sees it, and when He comes for His body, glory will come forth, as
well. Glory demands oneness, for Paul revealed the very heart of oneness. There
is one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
The Father will answer the prayer of His Son, and all His
people will be one with one God in glory. There can be no glory without oneness,
but we can be assured that in glory there is oneness. Praise God!
Glory
is seem.
This
leads us to attempt to answer the question of what is glory. There does not
seem to be a good definition of glory, but the following is offered for
consideration.
The
word glory is translated from the
Greek word doxa. The Concordant Greek
Text sublinear word for doxa is esteem. The Greek-English Keyword
Concordance word for doxa is seem, which is defined as “a highly
favorable opinion and that which impresses on the senses or the mind.” Both esteem and seem have similar meanings. However, let us start by looking at the
common meaning of seem.
According
to Webster’s Dictionary, the word seem
is derived from a Middle English word that means “to conform to” or “to bring
into agreement.” It is defined as “to appear to be,” “to appear to exist,” or
“to be apparently true.”
It
would make for very awkward reading if we used the word seem in the place of glory. The word esteem fits a little better into these verses. Christ among you,
the expectation of esteem; together
with Him in esteem; conformed to the
body of His esteem. Each conveys the
thought of coming into a highly favorable place (opinion). Of course, Christ
truly is highly favorable. However, if we carefully consider the definition of seem, we will see an apparent truth of
Scripture. The key words in the definition are conform, agreement, exist, true.
What
is God’s purpose for mankind? The answer is given in Genesis, the book of
beginnings. Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1.26). We
were created to look and be like the Son of God, to be in His likeness and
image, to be like Him in appearance, in character and in glory. When creation
looks at the sons of God, they are to see an image of the Son who is the Image
of the invisible God (Colossians 1.15). The Son of God reflects God the Father,
and the sons of God are to reflect the Son of God. It is like the moon and the
sun. At night, the moon shines brightly, not because it has any light of its
own, but because the sun, which is hidden from sight, is shining on it and
giving it light. This is a picture of the sons of God reflecting the image and
likeness of the Son of God.
When
all the saints and, eventually, all mankind (at the consummation) put off
corruption and put on incorruption, and put off mortality and put on
immortality, there is only one word to describe such a wonder. The word is glory.
Glory means that mankind is conformed to the Image of
the invisible God as reflected in His Son. It means that all mankind reach
their ultimate destiny and purpose for being, and that is to be in agreement
with God, and God to be in agreement with His entire creation; to exist in the
true state in which God always intended man to be. There is no more discord, no
more disagreement, no more separation, no more hatred, no more evil, no more
darkness, no more sin, no more death, no more crying, no more fear, and no more
disappointment.
We
could say that glory is reaching God’s intended end, which is explained in the
purpose of the eons.
Glory
is the happy God.
When
mankind is in total and absolute agreement with God, then God is the happy God,
the God who is fully satisfied, the God who fills All in all and the God who fills the entire creation with love. The
entire creation is in love with God the Father of mankind. This is
reconciliation!
Now,
to some, the happy God might be a strange expression. However, in his first
letter to Timothy, Paul had to deal with some issues which opposed the sound
teaching, the evangel with which he was entrusted.
If any other thing is opposing sound teaching, in
accord with the evangel of the glory of
the happy God, with which I was entrusted. (1 Timothy 1.10b-11 CV)
Paul
described his evangel, which contained the secrets of God, as the evangel of
the glory of the happy God. Happy
means “joyousness springing from within.” In other words, when God is happy,
glory springs from within Him and flows throughout His creation. What will
bring supreme happiness to God? When mankind is fully reconciled to Him through
His Son!
Glory
will be the happy God when His end is reached.
God’s
glory will no longer be measured out, but it will burst forth to fill all when
everything in God’s creation is in total, absolute harmony and agreement with God. Everything in God’s
creation will pour forth the very life of God, for He will be in all.
Everything in God’s creation will come into the reason for its existence. Everything in God’s creation will
continually worship God and pour forth songs of praise, adoration and love that
will make one harmonious tune that soothes the heart of God. Everything in
God’s creation will be true; there will
be nothing false. Everything in God’s creation will be in a highly favorable opinion which is impressed
on the senses and the mind. Everything in God’s creation will be highly favorable to Him and be the
delight of His heart. Everything in God’s creation will be in a continual state
of ecstasy—full of love, joy, peace, righteousness and absolute harmony.
It
will be like a finely-tuned orchestra that plays a continual love song that
flows through the heart of creation. All creation will be reconciled to God!
Glory
is wow!
This
is not based on Scripture, but when we enter glory, the one expression or word
that I believe will come forth from believers and, eventually, all mankind will
be—Wow! Glory is wow!
I
recall the first time I stood on the edge of the
Glory
is God is All in all.
There
is only one way to sum up glory. It is summed up in the word all. Glory is when Christ is All in all and God is All in all. We could say that glory is
the outcome of all.
Does
your heart long for the day in which God is fully satisfied and He fills His
entire creation? In that day, it will seem,
for life will be as it was always intended to be, highly favorable in the
presence of the Almighty.
Everything
will seem as it was always meant to
be! Like the Son of God!
This
is the purpose of the eons.
Let
us exult in the expectation of the glory of God!
[1] The Concordant Version uses the word expectation in place of the word hope. Expectation is probably the more accurate rendering, for within
this word is the concept of hope with the added dimension of certainty that
what is not seen will most definitely come to pass. In the world, the word hope does not always convey the thought
of certainty. Many people hope for things that they never receive. In this
regard, it is more like a wish or wishful thinking than a sure thing. The hope
of the believer will not disappoint (Romans 5.5). It cannot disappoint, for it
has no uncertainty in it. Consequently, expectation more appropriately
describes our hope. Henceforth, the word expectation
will be used.