Let us now devote our attention to the spiritual fact of the GLORY OF THE BELIEVERS, WHO ARE THE GLORY OF GOD.
Whatever God does or creates, all His works or creations contain His GLORY which may at times be at least partially visible to men and at other times it is completely hidden. Nevertheless, all His works or creations usually manifest at least some of His GLORY especially at their beginnings and most certainly at their completion. His GLORY is eternal and the LORD shall always rejoice in His works. (Ps. 104:31) When the Plan of man’s Salvation was born in the Heart of God, it already contained an unfathomable GLORY. Part of that GLORY was clearly manifested to men at the birth of the Saviour, then at His Baptism, then partially during His ministry doing miracles, walking on the water, raising the dead, feeding multitudes, healing the sick, then on the Mount of Transfiguration, etc.
But THE GREATEST GLORY that He brought to the Father was displayed AT HIS CROSS when He yielded His life to the Will of God in order to accomplish His Magnificent Plan of our Salvation. This GLORY was completely hidden to men, but it was very much visible to the Father and to all His Angels in Heaven which greatly rejoiced while men saw nothing. All men that followed Christ and trusted in Him found themselves in despair, hopelessness and fear. (Lk. 24:21) There was no GLORY to be observed in those 3 days while the Saviour was in hell.
Then came the GLORY of His Resurrection and Ascension to Heaven which was visible to His Disciples, who were able to witness those events. Then came the day of Pentecost with its GLORY, which was also visible to men. Then the suffering of the early Church which also brought GLORY to God that, again, men could not see and understand at that time. The Rapture of the Bride of Christ and also of the rest of the Church later on will be other glorious events. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the following Kingdom of God on earth and finally the descent of the New Jerusalem will be nothing short of the FULL GLORY OF GOD.
The Lord says that the above principles also apply to us. There is a part of the GLORY OF GOD when we are born in Spirit and it may be visible to some, but it may not be visible to many others. Then comes the day of our “Pentecost” when we receive gifts from Heaven, including “visible” gifts such as healing, working of miracles, tongues or interpretation of tongues, etc. (1Cor. 12:8-10) This part of the GLORY may be quite hidden to men including ourselves unless we start practicing these gifts in our own lives or ministering them to others.
But THE GREATEST GLORY that we can bring to God is when we are yielding our life to His Will ON OUR CROSS! Again, this GLORY may not be visible to any man, including ourselves! But it is very much visible and appreciated and cherished by Our Saviour and Lord and by Our Father which are in Heaven!
It is written rather plainly in the Word of God that “he (man) is the Image and GLORY OF GOD; but the woman is the GLORY of the man.” (1Cor. 11:7)
THE GLORY OF GOD cannot be described in human words. Yet, it can be seen and experienced in some limited way in the earthly life of people to whom the Lord desires to show it. Moses once asked God to show him His Glory, and He did… in a limited way. (Ex. 33:18-23)
THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH should also be impossible to describe in human words or even to imagine. We should ALL be in the UNITY OF FAITH, have the same spiritual knowledge of the SON OF GOD; be a PERFECT MAN having the Measure of the Stature of the FULLNESS OF CHRIST! (Eph. 4:13)
The Lord desires that we all would see and understand the truth concerning His Glory and the Glory of the Church and discern it also in our practical life. We may speak about it, preach about it, sing about it, try to imagine it, but we may not see it, understand it, cherish it, or preserve it in our heart. In one church they greeted one another by shaking hands and saying: “Glory”, then the others replied: “Glory”. It was rather childish as they had no clue what they were doing or why; it was an empty word.
Let us firstly SEE and understand that THE GLORY OF GOD IS HIS UNAPPROACHABLE RADIANT LIGHT, HIS ABSOLUTE HOLINESS AND HIS FULL SATISFACTION AND PLEASURE. (Ex. 33:20-22// Mk. 1:11// Rev. 4:8,11, etc)
The light, holiness, satisfaction and pleasure are also the Glory of the Church as the Bride and Wife of the Son of God. (Rev. 21:9-11) Therefore, when our life “glorifies God”, it also means that it brings true satisfaction and pleasure to God and also our respect, admiration and worship for His absolute Holiness, Righteousness and Goodness. His Glory also rests in His Name and in anything to which He put His Name, including His Temple. (Num. 6:27// Deut. 12:5// 1Ki. 9:1-3// 2Thes. 1:12, etc.)
We should now also see and understand that whatever does not bring true satisfaction and pleasure to Him, whatever brings shame to His Holiness, to His Honour or Name, robs Him of His Glory, shall be destroyed. This also applies to any believer, who is the Temple of God by virtue of his being born by His Spirit and to which Temple God attached His Name. It is clearly written in the Word of God that if any such believer…
“defile the Temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the Temple of God is holy, which Temple you are.” (1Cor. 3:17, also Lev. 24:16)
This Word in 1Cor. 3:17 is NEVER PREACHED, taught and explained as it is inspired by His Spirit. Why? It is unacceptable to the natural believer, to his sense of justice, to his human doctrines or to his imagination of God, Who is Love, but Whose Holiness, Justice, Honour and Righteousness do not dwell in the conscience of that natural believer so he is not aware of them! Very few believers ever seek what this defilement truly means or how can we defile our Temple of God and thus bring shame to His Honour and Glory.
The vast majority of believers take the Word of God and His Judgments very lightly because the Glory of God is only a biblical expression for them, which they use or sing about, but do not see in their heart and spirit. They may thus not care whether they bring shame or Glory to God since they do not SEE what they are doing and bringing to God! For them, ignorance is bliss… until the day comes when they will see it.
Let us secondly SEE and understand that we may be bringing shame to God, to His Name and robbing Him of His Glory daily without being necessarily aware of it. Every time we ignore His Word or break His Word, we ignore His Will and Glory, His satisfaction and pleasure.
But it will take much more, much, much more for us all than to attend church services, read or preach the Word, hold seminars or conferences in order to achieve this GLORY of the Church. Even the Overcomers are not perfect as yet and the Word of Our Lord in Mt. 5:48 still remains our goal and, so far, we, in our humanity, see no way how to ever attain to it.
The simple truth remains that at the end of all events and after the Lord’s Judgment of our person, of our Christian life and also of our ministry in the House of God, we will experience either OUR GLORY or OUR TRAGEDY.
May Our Gracious, Merciful, Wise, Loving and Powerful Saviour and Lord have Mercy on us all in the Day of His Judgment and Assessment of our souls as members of His Holy Body. May He also enable us to discern His Living Body righteously and thus treat It with love, grace and respect.
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To be continued next week in chapter 8 – part 1
brother Hanola
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