Can you define the glory of God? We readily speak of the glory of God, glorifying God, giving God glory, but do we really know what we are saying? Over three hundred occurrences in the scriptures suggest this is a concept of significance. I admit that I struggle with the concept and the following attempt will leave more covered than uncovered.
DEFINING GOD’S GLORY
Searching for a more concrete understanding of the glory of God, I encountered Mark Ballenger’s definition. He writes, “The glory of God is the invisible qualities, character, or attributes of God displayed in a visible (or knowable) way.”[i]
[i] Ballenger, M., nd, What is the glory of God according to the Bible, Apply God’s Word: The teaching ministry of Mark Ballenger, https://applygodsword.com/what-is-the-glory-of-god-according-to-the-bible/, accessed 6.23.2023.
A discussion from David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge, similarly asserts that God’s glory is a revelation of His nature and attributes.[i] These definitions seem to be on track, defining God’s glory as the intangible characteristics of His nature, attributes that can’t be held in the hand; but contrarily, can be displayed in a visible or knowable way. How does this happen? How does God’s glory become visible?
[i] Wilkerson, D., nd, The revelation of God’s glory, World Challenge, https://www.worldchallenge.org/revelation-god%E2%80%99s-glory. accessed 6.23.2023.
Moses was bold enough to ask God to show him His glory. Instead of refusing this request, as we might have expected, the Lord promised Moses that He would make all His goodness pass before him. (Exodus 34:7). To fulfill His promise, God descended from the cloud, stood by Moses, covered Moses face with His hand to protect Him as no man can see God’s face and live, passed by him and proclaimed. that He was merciful, gracious, longsuffering, good, truthful and forgiving. Isn’t it telling that when asked to reveal His glory, God chose to reveal His goodness? This is a clue. To know His glory we look to His nature.
Notably, Dave Wilkerson points out that, as Moses waited for the Lord to pass by, there was no thunder, lightning, or shaking of the earth, but rather, a simple revelation.[i] God’s glory does not have to be a pyrotechnic display. I am reminded of His admonition, “Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).
[i] Ibid.
Lord, Dave Wilkerson asserts that understanding Your glory equips us for the storms and reassures us in our everyday life. Show me what this means. Help me acquire an understanding of Your glory that infuses and transforms my everyday life.
JESUS REVEALS GOD’S GLORY
Hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus is the exact representation of the person of God. In His life on earth, Jesus made visible the invisible attributes of God’s character. The goal of many of my previous blogs has been to unmask the person of Jesus through examining events in His life, to unwrap Him from religiosity and apprehend Him live as a living breathing person. This is so important if we want to have a real relationship with Him. It is something which we must constantly pursue or else He falls back into stale stereotypes and outworn clichés.
Every miracle Jesus performed—and there were hundreds of them—was a display of God’s glory—His good and merciful nature. Further, not only the miracles, but every account of Jesus interactions with others offers us an opportunity to discern the glory of God.
AN EXAMPLE
As Jesus left Jericho walking, two blind men incessantly cried out to Him from the side of the road (Matthew 20:29-34). It was God’s goodness and mercy that brought a halt to Jesus’ travels. Jesus might have ignored the two men. They were not on His agenda. Calling out to Him was an inconvenience. The crowd tried to silence them. Why go against the crowd? Why not just keep walking? Instead, Jesus heard the cries of two desperate blind men and through His compassionate nature, stopped to find out what the two men wanted from Him. Stopping for the two men was a display of God’s glory as much as the act of healing the two men. In this action, we witness God’s glory becoming visible as compassion that is willing to be inconvenienced.
This small example of Jesus healing the two blind men through inconvenient circumstances helps us to recognize that God’s glory can show up in the most mundane of everyday situations. Through this example, we recognize that even allowing ourselves to be inconvenienced when prompted by the Holy Spirit can reveal God’s glory and glorify Him. Many occasions in our lives would take on a very different perspective if we saw them in terms of revealing God’s glory and glorifying Him. Much of our lives offers such possibilities, if we only understood them in that way.
Lord, Your glory passed before Moses without fanfare, in a quiet revelation of Your goodness. Help us comprehend that just as Your glory can be displayed in stunning demonstrations of majesty, power, and splendor it is equally revealed in everyday manifestations of compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and goodness.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
As earlier remarked, Wilkerson asserts that seeing and understanding God’s glory matters because it “equips his people for the storms of life.”[i] The Lord, Wilkerson states, chooses to show us his glory, to show us, how he wants to be known by us.
[i] Ibid.
He further observes:
You see, when God reveals his glory to his people, it is with a purpose in mind. And he allowed Moses to see his glory so he might be changed by the understanding of it. The same is true for us today. God reveals his glory to us so that we may be reassured in our daily walk.[i]
[i] Ibid.
Do we understand that knowing God’s glory translates into knowing His compassion, faithfulness, goodness, mercy—all the attributes of Hiswonderful character?
Do we understand that knowing God through His glory brings a closeness that will transform our relationship with Him?
Do we understand we can find needed rest through contemplating God’s glory?
Do we understand that God does not hide His glory from us, but passionately desires to reveal it to us?
Lord, reveal Yourself to us through Your glory. Let us witness it every day. Let it take hold and change us upgrading our faith as we observe Your goodness, kindness, mercy, and compassion in the most ordinary of events and those which challenge us. Let us behold our lives and the lives of others through Your glory—Your unchanging nature.
BELIEVERS REVEAL GOD’S GLORY
Jesus tells us that all believers have God’s glory in them. In His final prayer at the Last Supper, Jesus prayed:
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one… (emphasis added) John 17: 22-23
As possessors of God’s glory, we are in a unique position to display His goodness, mercy, forgiveness and compassion to the world. It is a dual project. On the one hand, God reveals His glory to us, showing us His goodness, mercy, compassion, forgiveness; and on the other, we reveal His glory to the world through displays of His character.
THE PAINTING
The twelve panels express hope through organic forms that bulge and push outward.. There is wishful hope which we often engage every day. We hope it will not rain or the shoes will be one sale or the mail will come soon, but this is different. This is serious hope based on the nature of God. not wishful thinking. God’s hope is a certainty based on His character. It never changes. fades or disappoints.
I view hope as expanding and living. As serious hope, the forms are not static, but lively and animated. Pressing outward, suggesting expansion rather than contraction. Real hope, God-hope, is alive, filled with life. It looks outward and forward toward a realization of that which is hoped for.
Lord, I return to Wilkerson’s conviction that Your glory equips us for the storms or life and gives us needed reassurance for living every day. This seems like serious hope to me. Your glory is nothing less than the hoped-for security and support we yearn for to underpin our lives, knowing we have someone who is not only all-powerful, but also compassionate, merciful, forgiving, kind and goodness itself. This someone watches out for us and, as they say, has our back, conferring and empowering us with serious hope.
A quote from teacher and pastor Bill Johnson captures the essence of what I have been trying to say throughout this blog. He writes:
“Because God is better than I think, I must adjust my thinking and the tenderness of my heart until I live conscious of both His nature and His presence. And that awareness becomes the reality I live from. His nature defines who I am and what I do.”[1]
[1] Johnson, Bill., God is good: He’s better than you think, (2016), Destiny Image Publishers, Inc. Shippensburg, PA.
Sydney Walker, June 26, 2023
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