Tag: Glory

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The Glory that Awaits Us

Mercury Morris was a running back with the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team in NFL history to go undefeated throughout an entire season. When asked what it was like to have been part of this unequaled feat, Morris thoughtfully reflected, “I asked Buzz Aldrin once, ‘What was it like to walk on the moon?’” Pausing briefly, Morris continued, “I still don’t know. All I know is what [Aldrin] told me.” Which is to say there are some things in life we cannot understand until we experience them. Such is the case with God’s glory.

God’s gift of grace is the overflow of His nature of grace. He is full of grace and truth,1 and in great love He lavishly pours out His merciful kindness to us undeserving people. In prodigious proportions, He showers us with His own righteousness, strength, and sufficiency, and in unmatched generosity, He saves us, redeems us, and transforms us into the image of Christ. Then consider this, also: though “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”2 the “God of all grace [has] called [us] to his eternal glory in Christ.”3 Even now, we are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,”4 and it shows, for God works through our spiritual gifts, which is “the manifestation of the Spirit,”5 and “the fruit of the Spirit”6 in our lives testifies to the divine nature of Christ in us. And in all things, God’s glory in us ultimately glorifies Him. Paul writes, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”7 This is truth; this is grace.

Yet a far greater glory awaits us. To the Colossians Paul wrote, “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”8 To believers in Rome, he reflected, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”9 And to the Corinthians, Paul marveled, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him.”10 So, what will it ultimately look like to fully experience God’s glory? I still don’t know. All I know is what the Bible tells me. But it’s going to be good . . .

Father, Your promises are sure. Enlighten our hearts, that we may know the hope of Your calling, the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in us, and the greatness of Your power toward us who believe.11. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 John 1:14
2 Romans 3:23
3 1 Peter 5:10
4 2 Corinthians 3:18
5 1 Corinthians 12:7
6 Galatians 5:22-23
7 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
8 Colossians 3:3-4
9 Romans 8:18
10 1 Corinthians 2:9
11 Ephesians 1:18-21

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Running with Purpose

I heard a new family story over the holidays. My niece, Meghan—I’ve written before of her excellence as a high school track athlete—was competing one day in the 400-meter dash. As she ran this grueling event, her mind actually wandered for a while, losing sight of her situation until at some point she snapped back to the reality of the moment. “And I realized, ‘I’m in a race!’” she recalled. Then regaining her focus, Meghan mustered a final “kick” and won. I find her story to be so unrelatable on so many levels—running fast and thinking about anything other than gasping for air, to name a couple. Yet in another sense, Meghan’s story serves as a reminder to all of us that our life here is more than going through the motions while we stride toward the finish line and what awaits us on the other side—we run this life with a very specific purpose.

And what might this purpose be? What is it that demands our all? We are here to bring glory to God. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus exhorted those gathered to hear him, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”1 We do this by letting Jesus shine in us and through us in all things and at all times. Wrote Paul to Corinthian believers, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”2 The glory of God—this is why we are here; this is “the reality of the moment” on which we fix our focus.

Then how does this celestial aspiration become reality in our terrestrial existence? We align our will with God’s will in trusting union with Him, so that we “do not run aimlessly.”3 And we rely on His strength, for “by his power he [brings] to fruition [our] every desire for goodness and [our] every deed prompted by faith . . . so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in [us], and [we] in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”4

We’re in a race! We run with purpose: To bring God glory. We win in Christ.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:8

Father, sometimes my mind wanders and my focus drifts away from You. Draw me back into the moment that I would live with purpose—to glorify You in all things by the power of Your Spirit. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Matthew 5:16
2 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
3 1 Corinthians 9:26 ESV
4 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

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Glory To Go

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1)

When I first saw him on that Kairos Prison Ministry weekend, his body betrayed the weight of his wrong—bent at the shoulders, anguish commandeering his face, emotionally distanced, without hope. But as we gathered the final morning of our time together, the inmate entered the room with a radiant glow that testified outwardly that something glorious had transpired inwardly. And it had—he had come to trust that Jesus’ death and resurrection were for him, too. Later that day, he told the 70-plus men listening, “This morning, for the first time in 19 years, I looked in the mirror and liked what I saw.” I’ve seen this man many times in the ensuing years, and his face still beams newness of joy.

Over the past few weeks, we have been beholding God’s glory—the splendor of His infinite perfection—proclaimed with power throughout creation, magnified in character of Christ, and then born in the unlikeliest of places—“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”1 As Paul writes, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”2 We gasp in wonderment, and we ask, What do we do with such lavished love?

In short, we shine, for glory is not something to be hoarded, rather we’ve been given “glory to go”—the radiance of a people who go as we’ve been sent, serve as we’ve been served, give as we’ve received, and speak liberating truth in the language of love. For all around us are people who “blinded, … cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”3 We’ve all been there; we can all relate. So, we go with this in mind: “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”4 We don’t know who will be liberated or in what way, but we can be confident in this: We’ll like what we see.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16).

Father, in great mercy, you’ve given us your glory. Grace us to shine it however you’ve called us, wherever you lead us, and to whomever you send us. Be happy with us, your people. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

1 Colossians 1:27
2 2 Corinthians 4:6
3 2 Corinthians 4:4
4 1 Corinthians 10:31