GLORY

     When we were selecting Glory Girls as the name for our ladies’ fellowship I had some doubts.  I thought only God could have the glory, not us.  So I looked to the Bible for help.  The concordance at the back of my study Bible had many, many references but the Holy Spirit lead me to 2 Corinthians 3.  Here, beginning in verse 7, was a subtitle “The Glory of the New Covenant.”  2 Corinthians 2:18 says it best  “…we all are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  

    This totally works for me.  One of my favorite quotes is, “Salvation is the miracle of a moment and the labor of a lifetime.”   As the Holy Spirit works in my life, I’m being perfected one layer at a time…from glory to glory.  God’s word says glory is our journey, from glory to glory; from our past, in our present, as well as our final destination.  I am a true Glory Girl, not perfect but definitely a work in progress. Sign me up!! 

     I found many more wonderful scriptures regarding Glory and I wanted to share those with you today. 

     Whenever I start an in depth word study one of the first books I will pick up is the dictionary.  Here is what Webster had to say about the meaning of GLORY.  GLORY can mean: 

(1) Great honor and admiration won by doing something important or valuable.  I think everything Creator God did, is doing, or will do is something worthy and important and has enormous value!  The Bible tells us God is love…I think, by this definition, God is also GLORY.

(2) Glory can mean worship, adoration and praise.  Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”  The Psalms are full of worship and praise to God’s glory.

(3) Glory can also be the condition of highest achievement and splendor.  In heaven, the highest realm of creation, God’s throne room, seated at the right hand of God the Father is Jesus Christ who, upon His resurrection, returned to His original position of highest splendor and glory.  Jesus prays for his disciples, the twelve with him and his future disciples (us) in John 17:24.  Jesus says, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”  Here Jesus says he wants to share His glory with us. 

     Remember creation?  Human beings are the highest achievement of God’s creation.  We are His creation, the reflection of His glory, made in His image.  But just like Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden; we, all of us, as their children, have also disobeyed God’s will.  The disgrace of our disobedience covers our glory.  Jesus came as our way back to glory.  His grace covers our disgrace.

(4) Glory can be a halo or its representation.  In paintings and pictures, artists use halos to show the outstanding brilliance the Bible speaks about. In Exodus Moses wore a veil after speaking with God “face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”  The glory of the Lord made Moses’ face radiant which made the Israelites afraid.  In Exodus 24:17 we find a clue why God’s glory needed to be hidden…“To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire.”  When unbelievers reject our words about Jesus, it is because of their own fears, fears based on lies, not God’s truth.

     The best look at the brilliance of glory comes in the story of Jesus’ transfiguration found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  Luke 9:28-36 tells us about the scene as seen by the disciples Peter, James and John. “As Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.  Two men…appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus…the (disciples) saw his glory.” 

     Other forms of the word glory are “glorify” meaning to exalt and honor in worship; or “glorious” meaning full of glory or giving glory, splendor, majesty; and then there is “glorification” (my personal favorite) “the ultimate state of the believer after death when he or she becomes like Christ.  Here we reach our heavenly destination. 

     Glory then is a past event.  The Bible tells us Glory was seen in God and us before creation.  In Romans 8:28-29 Paul says it this way:  “And we know that in all things God works for the good (good can come from the discipline that comes from trials and tests) of those who love him, who have been called (do all who are called come?) according to his purpose. (Stop here and break down that verse.)  For those God foreknew (you will see many times in scripture that God knew us before the foundations of the earth were formed) he also predestined (God’s plan from the beginning) to be conformed to the likeness of his Son (we are to be made like Jesus) that he (Jesus) might be the first born (meaning Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead to eternal life) among many brothers (all believers are raised from death to eternal life).  And those he (God) predestined (I believe all of mankind was who God predestined…all should come to a saving grace), he also called (he invites us through the Holy Spirit’s leading); those he called (invited), he also justified (declares “Not Guilty”); those he justified, he also glorified (looked upon us as He looks upon Christ).”

     Glory is a present event as we are being made into the likeness of Jesus by becoming like Jesus.  How?  By reading and heeding the Word, by studying Jesus life on earth through the Gospels, by being filled with his Spirit and by doing his work in the world. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, 33  “…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God…so many may be saved.” And in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”  Did you hear the hard part, “do it all.”  This means our attitudes as well as our actions.  Ouch!  I heard a preacher say Ruth Graham, Billie Graham’s wife (now deceased) hated to wash dishes but over her sink she had a plaque that said “Divine Service Done Here Three Times Daily.”

     Future Glory is the hope we have as Christians.  We know our glory will be seen in the eternity yet to come when we stand in God’s presence.   Romans 2:6-7 “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’  To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.”  Future glory is our assurance as seen in Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

    As Glory Girls we should understand our glorification glorifies God.  How does that work?  Psalm 50:23 says, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.” And in 1 Peter 1:7, “These (grief & sorrow) have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold…may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  By our thanks, praise and gratitude, by our trust in God through our faith and our obedience to His will we glorify God as we move from glory to glory both now and for all eternity.  To God be the Glory!