UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF THE GLORY OF GOD

We often hear the word ‘glory’, used every now and then. I am sure that you love to hear the word glory, just as I do. Have you ever wondered what exactly is the true is the true meaning of the word -glory?

Depending on your usage and your objective or motive, the word has many different meanings which are good. It is the same with the scriptural usage of the word. There are different places where the word is used in the Bible, and each of these, you will find out, or most of them, mean different things.

I will be illustrating from the scriptures, and you will find out at least six different meanings, with some of them closely related.

1.   Heaven and the atmosphere of heaven!

One of the meanings of glory which I love the most is that glory, in some places in the scripture, refers to heaven and its atmosphere. We can see this from the Book of 1Timothy chapter 3, and verse 16. Here we read as follows:

16“And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God  was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,believed on in the world, received up into glory”

God-talking about Jesus, was received up into heaven: he ascended up into heaven according to the Book of Acts, with his disciples watching him. This happened on Mount Olives. In this sense of usage of the word-glory, the Bible talks about heaven and its atmosphere. See also, Luke 2:9, and John1:14.

2. Beauty

Again, from 1 Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 27, we read as follows:

27 “Glory and honor are in His presence; strength and gladness, are in His place”.

This particular reference to glory refers to beauty, and by extension-a heavenly atmosphere.

This atmosphere of beauty is made beautiful by two things, which I am going to talk about next, which are also interchangeably used with the word-glory. This takes us to the next word and scriptures:

 

 

2. Praise and worship

Again, in 1 Chronicles chapter 16, verses 28 and 29, we read as follows:

28 “Give unto the Lord ye, kindred of the people, give unto the LORD, glory and strength.

29 Give unto the Lord, the glory due unto his name: bring an offering and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness”.

Here in these verses of scripture, you can see that glory refers to the worship of God. When the Bible says give unto the Lord glory, it means, bring your offering, praise and worship the Lord, and create an atmosphere of heaven, for God to inhabit.

In that atmosphere of heaven, we have a very important personality-the most important:

4. God Himself

The presence of God himself is glory. We will explain this from the Bible using three simple scriptures. Firstly, in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23, we read as follows:

23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Secondly, in Exodus chapter 16 and verse 10, we read as follows:

10 “And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel that they looked towards the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud”.

What the Lord showed in the cloud, was himself, the Lord appeared to them. And if you study from the same Book and other Pentateuch, you will see the instructions of the Lord concerning what the children of Israel are supposed to do, so as to experience his glory (his presence). You will find this in Leviticus 9:6, and Leviticus 23.

Again in Exodus chapter 24 and verse 19, we read as follows:

19 “And there, I will meet the children of Israel, and the Tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory”.

God was saying here that when He meets Israel here, the tabernacle shall be sanctified by His glory or His presence. This can help you to understand the scripture better that says, in Romans ,chapter 3 and verse 23, that ‘All have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God’.

When man fell,  his sin cut him off from the presence or the glory of God.

Therefore, without God himself, there is no glory. You will understand this better, by reflecting on the fact the Bible tells us, that there is also the glory of man. This refers to the full weight of a man, his substance, and his authority.

Something exciting happens in the presence of God, and that takes us to the fifth Bible usage and meaning of the word-glory.

5. Joy (The Joy of the Lord)

The Bible uses the word glory, occasionally interchangeably, with the word joy. The reason for this is that heaven is a place of joy, and in Psalm 16 and verse 11, we read as follows:

11 “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore”.

Thus in the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 9, verses 23-24, we read as follows:

23 “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

24 But let him that glory, glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the LORD which exercises loving kindness, righteousness, and judgment, in these things I delight saith the LORD.”

Looking at the word glory in the above scriptures, you can understand that God is talking about rejoicing, or celebrating, or being prideful. He is saying, rejoice in one thing-that you know me, and my ways (summary is mine).

Lastly, but not necessarily, all there is to the word glory, we have the sixth usage or meaning, of the word glory-God’s miracle working power.

6. God’s miracle working power

In John chapter 11 and verses 39- 40, we read as follows:

39 “Jesus said, “Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

40 Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?           

Jesus was, that if Martha believed, she was going to see, God’s miracle working power, and she eventually saw it. She saw it when her brother was raised from the dead.

Finally, in Roman’s chapter 6, and verse 4, we read about how that the power of God raised Jesus from the dead:

4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life”.

It was God’s glory-Himself, with his miracle power, that raised Jesus from the dead!