THE GLORY OF GOD
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church, pastor
The GLORY OF GOD consists of the beauty of His being. God’s glory comprises the fullness of his infiniteness of all His excellencies arrayed in marvelous splendor. It does not refer merely to something that is made that catches the eye or comes across as aesthetically beautiful, but rather the glory of God is the emanating effulgence of His infinitely arrayed excellencies. Some have said that God’s glory is the “magnificence, worth, splendor, loveliness and grandeur of His many perfections which He has and which He displays in His being, in His creative actions, and in His redemption.
Quite simply, in a word, the glory of God is the fullness of His beautiful being. That’s why the Hebrew word for glory speaks often of His weightiness and heaviness of His manifold and wondrous being! This is why King David exulted and said: “We praise your glorious Name” (1 Chronicles 29.13)! We meditate on the glorious splendor of God’s majesty (Psalm 145.5). One day, Jesus Christ, the Lord of majesty, will return and reign and He will be beautiful and glorious on the earth (Isaiah 4.2-5). The Apostle Paul calls Jesus the “Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2.8). That means that Jesus is the fullness of God’s excellencies in His person.
First, the glory of God consists in the manifold beauty of His infinite perfections. God’s glory is not a part of who God is or what God does, but it is the blessed and boundless magnitude of His wonders all harmonized and working together. God’s glory is His enjoyment of Himself because of His infinite perfections.
Second, God shows His glory visibly and manifestly at certain times when He tangibly displays His wondrous character and unrivaled power before the eyes of men. For example: before the eyes of all the sons of Israel, the glory of God appeared like a consuming fire on time of Sinai (Exodus 24.17). Moses couldn’t enter the newly constructed tabernacle because the glory of God filled it (Exodus 40.35). When Solomon prayed after he built the Temple, fire came down and consumed the sacrifices and the glory of God filled the Temple (2 Chronicles 7.1). John said that Jesus the Word became flesh and we saw His glory (John 1.14).
Third, the glory of God appears in His wonderful acts as He created all things, sustains all things, upholds all things, and brings all things to their appointed end (Psalm 19.1; Isaiah 43.7).
Fourth, humans must behold the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3.18) by gazing on Christ so as to respond and reflect, to mediate and marvel, to proclaim and ponder, to praise and honor the God of glory. We must glory in His Holy name (1 Chronicles 16.10). We are to worship God by ascribing — giving — God glory and strength (Psalm 29.1). We shall speak of the glory of God’s kingdom (Psalm 145.11). And one day, in the Kingdom, we shall all cry out: “Glory to the Righteous One” (Isaiah 24.16). We must grow strong in faith (like Abraham), giving glory to God (Romans 4.20). In fact, everything that we do, whether eating and drinking, should all be done for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10.31).
Fifth, what is heaven by the infinite effulgence and happy radiance of God’s glory for endless eternities and our enjoyment in His glory. The Lamb who sits on the throne shall receive glory forevermore (Revelation 5.12,13; 7:12; 21.23).
So then, in conclusion, if the glory of God consists in the fullness of God’s personhood and the going forth of His beauty and the happy enjoyment of God being God and putting His wonders on display for all to behold, then let us contemplate God today. Let us get lost in wonder in His deep splendors and bottomless excellencies. And let us think on Him, and consider Him, and speak of Him, and worship Him, and ascribe the highest honors and reverence and praises to Him and to Him alone (Psalm 96.3)!
**More on this ongoing blog-series on the Attributes of God HERE.
