God's Glory (Part Three)

God says in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols,"  yet, Paul explains, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."  Is this a contradiction?  No, when we look in the face of Jesus, the glory of God is revealed and "actual deposits of God’s very glory are attaching themselves to my person and transforming me from one level of glory to another.  This transformation is deep and abiding, and unfadingly displays the glory of God to others" (Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer).  Our participation in God's glory is not a participation that reveals the weightiness of our worth, but this transformation via the Gospel reveals the weightiness of God's worth, namely His glory.

Jesus Himself said, "And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them" (John 17:22) "And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 2:14) "those whom He justified, these He also glorified" (Romans 8:28-30) "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself" (Philippians 3:20-21).

"Christ in you, the hope of glory” is the heart of the gospel - God’s story of glory. In Christ and by the Spirit, we are hallowed (sanctified), glorified, and beautified. This glory is permanent rather than fading (2 Corinthians. 3:18; 4:16-18). It finds its fullest expression in glorified resurrection bodies in a renewed and restored new heavens and new earth. Through the saving work of Jesus, humanity is liberated from sin, and all creation is as well. The earth, created to be a cosmic temple where God’s glory permanently resides, finally fulfills its intended purpose: “And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22-23).

The glory of God is the source, means, and end of existence. It is the purpose and goal of all things. God will not rest until “all the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num 14:20) - until all creation is hallowed, glorified, beautified by God. For this reason, the Western church has spoken of the beatific vision - a holy and glorious vision of God that leads to the eternal enjoyment of God’s infinite and inexhaustible glory. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). (TheoCentric - The Weight of Glory)