Glory

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.”

(Psalm 19:1–6 NIV)

Glory isn’t a mirage, but there are mirages, vainglories—lies. 

“For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

2 Corinthians 11:14–15

There are little glories too. A grain of sand and a mountain are made from similar things, but trading one for the other implies both a fool and a con in the deal. Yet, even the tiny parts of creation show the overwhelming glory of God. Everything God gives, he gives freely of himself so that his nature might be displayed. And he warns us—

 

“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”

Romans 1:25

What is glory?

Defining glory, as many have admitted, is impossible for us. But we can get pointed in a general direction. When the truth about God is made known or displayed, he is glorified, because, as it turns out, he is glorious, and there is nothing we can do about that. If you squeeze a wet sponge, water comes out. And when God does things, glory is revealed. When we understand what he has done and what he is doing, his glory is displayed because his nature is reflected in what he does. It’s like reading the ruling from a just judge. It is good. It is glorious to hear the truth ring out—”good is good, and evil is evil.” They are not the same. And when a just ruling is read, the judge is proven to be just in the ears of those who hear, and that is his glory.

We can wonder, “what is God really like? Who is he, really?” We can be wrong, and we can be right. But our imagination cannot change what he is. So then, imagine how terrible it would be if God were bad. There would be nothing we could do. Take courage, for though God is too big to measure, he has demonstrated his love for us, and that he is good.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

(Romans 5:6–8 NIV)

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8 ESV)

Does this glory matter? More than we can imagine. The actual word it comes from means weight. Great glory is great weight. Sometimes we say we have something weighty to talk about—something heavy. We mean we have something that matters. 

Another way we talk about this is with the word gravity. Does gravity matter? Desperately, and you must take it into account; it will not be ignored. 

God has gravity that is so powerful that ultimately everything will come into his orbit. Gravity is a powerful force. But glory is the gravity of the one who made gravity—and it results from his relentless goodness. 

“And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.””

(Exodus 33:19–20 NIV)

Why all this talk in such serious tones when we’re talking about something good like the glory of God? God isn’t partly anything; he isn’t lukewarm.  He’s so good, his goodness is terrifying. His goodness will destroy you. And that’s a problem for us and him, because he takes no pleasure in our destruction. So Jesus laid his glory aside and became a servant, offering himself up as a sacrifice for our sins. Think of that. He protected us from the weight or gravity of his glory, and he became a servant. And he taught us to do the same. He said, the one who is greatest is the servant of all. Make nothing of yourself, make much of God, and he will make much of you at the proper time. 

“The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

(Matthew 23:11–12 NIV)

Is glory the same as light? No. But sometimes glory is displayed as light. And certainly, light displays God’s glory. And it is written that God is light. His whole being is glorious.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

(1 John 1:5 NIV)

The sun helps us understand the glory of God. The Sun is heavy, and we orbit around it. It shines so bright that we cannot look at it without harming our eyes. It nourishes us, and gives the whole earth energy. If we were to stand in its presence we would be burned up. Yet, it sustains us. We walk by its light, and by its light we see more of what God has made. And in seeing more of what God has made he is known more—all of this is God’s glory—a revealing of the truth about him.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

(James 1:17 NIV)

“I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.””

(Isaiah 6:1–3 NIV)

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

(Romans 1:20 NIV)