GOD'S GLORY: It's IN and ON YOU, believe it!

Source: Google Images

The glory of God is His majesty and splendour, His glory is the weightiness, in Hebrew – Kabod of His presence. Even though God is Omnipresent, the manifestation of His glory signified His presence was at that place, many have witnessed this in various settings. I believe in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were intimately acquainted with the glory of God and they were actually full of it themselves but when they sinned, they tried to hide away from God, by avoiding the appearance of His glory, His presence in the garden.

No wonder the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to pen this verse:

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23 NIV

When Adam and Eve sinned, they fell short of the glory of God and the entire human race did so by default. The glory of God continued to appear to people from time to time though. This alone should give us an idea of how much God loves us and wants to restore us to Himself. He longs for us, He truly does and the Good News is, He has made the one and only WAY for us to be reconciled with Him and that is through Jesus, His Son.

The nation of Israel saw the glory of God (Exodus 16:10), prophets did too (Ezekiel 43:2) and so did many others. The Ark of the Covenant in the OT was a symbol, or a shadow if you will, of the presence and the Glory of God among His people. When the nation of Israel disobeyed God and the ark of the covenant was captured and taken away – the glory was said to have departed (1 Samuel 4:21)

Fast forward to the NT, towards the end of His ministry Jesus our Lord, prayed this way:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. – John 17: 1-5 NIV

But He didn’t end His prayer there, knowing full well that He was going to settle the sin question once and for all for us by the sacrifice of Himself on the cross, He prayed for us and I believe His prayer was answered:

²² I have given them the glory that you gave me…– John 17:22a NIV

So child of God, you who believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you who believe that Jesus Christ has taken care of all your sins, you who trust in His finished work on the cross to save you and make you righteous, you have not fallen short of the glory of God, on the contrary you are filled with it.You have received His life in you and since you are now His temple, His dwelling place as it were, God the Holy Spirit lives in you.

Let me hasten to assure you that God wants you to share in His glory otherwise Jesus wouldn't have prayed the way He did. All those scriptures about "God not sharing His glory with another or with idols" (Isaiah 42:8) or "not touching His glory" are not in contradiction to Jesus' prayer. Notice, God didn't want idols or another "god" (the devil and his cohorts) to be given His glory. He freely shared it with His own, the Bible is replete with accounts of His glory being manifested in and through His people. Again take note of the fact that it was the unbelievers, the ungodly, who got their just desserts as it were, when they attempted to "touch" God's glory, Herod and his famed speech come to mind.    

In the OT they had the Ark of the Covenant which signified God’s presence, that was a shadow; in the NT we have the real thing, the substance, Christ in us the hope of Glory. We have the presence of God in us and unlike the OT times where the glory departed and returned depending on how well they kept the Law, we have a New Covenant built on better promises, He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus said:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  – John 14:16-17 NIV

Source: Google Images

You have the glory of God in you and on you, and it does not fade away, the presence of God is with you, whether you feel it or not, the Word says it and that should settle it for us, as our faith is to be based on what HE says not on how WE feel. Once you settle this truth in your heart you will be emboldened to do what He has called you to do. You will experientially know what the Prophet Isaiah meant when He prophesied saying:

then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. – Isaiah 58:8b NIV

Our righteousness is not a result of our self effort, it is through Christ, it is His, it is imputed to us when we believe Him and now since we are in Him, it is His righteousness that  goes before us and it is His glory covers us. We stand before God without any sense of sin, guilt or condemnation just like Adam and Eve did before they fell. May we be renewed by this truth and all sin consciousness be purged from our minds.

Believe the Word of God, be bold, you are full of the glory of God, you are the light of your world, let His glory shine forth from within you. Believe His Word and see His glory manifested in and through you today. I’ll leave you with these words from our Elder Brother:

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” – John 11:40 NIV

Blessings!