The Glory of the Lord

As New Testament believers, do you realize that we have an even greater, more awe-inspiring revelation of the glory of the Lord than what we ever see in the Old Testament consuming fire of God? How so? In no greater, more dramatic, life-changing, ever-present form, God has revealed his glory in the incarnation—the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. Yes, we have beheld God’s glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Journey// Focus: Leviticus 9:22-24

After presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, Aaron stepped down from the altar. Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. Fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.

I long for the glory of the Lord to be revealed! The physical manifestation of the sum of all that he is—the beauty of his love, righteousness, kindness, perfection, power, grace, mercy, goodness, and justice. I long for that in my personal times with God, and I long for that every time the spiritual community I lead gathers to worship our great and glorious God. My sense is that you do too!

After the dedication of Aaron as high priest and his sons as priests over Israel, after the sacrifices for the ordination were made, after the newly minted high priest had lifted his hands and blessed the people, the glory of the Lord showed up. And boy, did it show up! Fire blazed from his presence and the sacrificial offerings were vaporized in a dramatic blast of holy fire from the Eternal Presence. And the people did what you and I would have done—what others throughout Scripture did in the manifest presence of God: they fell flat on their faces in awestruck wonder and holy fear of the Lord. There are no words in the library of human language that would adequately describe the human emotions experienced in this moment, except perhaps, WOW!

The glory of God’s presence—that is what I long for.

At various times throughout the Bible, God appeared in similar fashion to his people. He appeared in holy fire to Moses in a burning bush in the desert of Midian. (Exodus 3:1-6) He appeared in a pillar of fire before the Israelites to guide their journey to the Promised Land. (Exodus 40:35-38) He appeared to Moses similarly as he gave the law on Mt. Sinai and when he revealed himself while hiding Moses in the cleft of the rock. (Exodus 24:15-17, 33:18-23) God’s glory also filled the tabernacle when it was dedicated. (Exodus 40:34) And later, the glory of God filled the temple in Jerusalem as King Solomon dedicated it. (1 Kings 8:10-11) The glory also appeared when the prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven on the false prophets. (1Kings 18:38-39)

That’s what I’m talking about—that is the glory I long to see. But wait, there’s more. Did you realize that we have an even greater, more awe-inspiring revelation of the glory of God as New Testament believers? How so? In no greater, more dramatic, life-changing form has God’s glory been revealed than in the incarnation—the birth, life, death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. The Apostle John tells us,

The Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:14)

In Jesus Christ, your personal Lord and Savior, the One who lives in you, is with you always, has inhabited you through the very Spirit of God, is preparing a place for you and will come again to receive you unto himself with great brilliance, power and justice, you have,

The visible image of the invisible God.
who existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
and through whom God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

Congratulations! By his grace, you have beheld the glory of God—the sum and substance of all he is: his righteousness, his holiness, truth, his love, his wisdom and his grace!

Going Deeper: Rejoice this day, for God has revealed his glory to you. How blessed you truly are!

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

Leave a Reply