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Romans 5:2b says; And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. I read that last week and realized that if someone asked me what the “glory of God” meant, I would not be able to answer the question, so I started looking. Our dictionary has many different meanings: very great praise bestowed by common consent; an object of pride ; adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving; resplendent beauty or magnificence; a state of great splendor; to exult with triumph; to boast. As followers of Christ, we would exalt all of these definitions as on to the Lords glory would we not?
Throughout the bible, God’s glory is presented in many different ways. In the old testament it was a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire, a burning bush, the law of Moses, the glow on Moses' face reflecting the fact that he had seen the face of the living God, and His glory was present in the temple.
In the new testament, coming to earth as a man through Jesus Christ, God’s glory was manifest as a servant/savior, God “dwelt among us”, dying for our sins, and rising back to life again to ascend into heaven to be with God the Father. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. John 17:4
Now His glory is shown through the Holy Spirit. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: John 15: 7,8. And as the reflection of the Glory of God was manifest in the old testament through the unveiled face of Moses, we through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit are to be the reflection of His glory to the world today. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. II Corinthians 3:18. So we must live by the spirit, not of the flesh so that the world will know who we are and who He is. The only way I can do that is to keep Him ever before my eyes. I must look to Him constantly, surrender to Him in everything, spend time with Him, allow His glory to fill me and His power to possess me. Vertical focus in everything I do, it must become part of me—habit (in my heart).
God’s glory in the future is where our hope is. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2b. Jesus is coming back to take us into the everlasting presence of God. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:22-27
Amen—look up brothers and sisters.
