The Glory of Christ

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The Glory of His Provisions

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And in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?

Exodus 16:7

God had supernaturally delivered His people out of Egypt and providentially guided them into the wilderness. His providential reason was: “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt” (Ex. 13:17). He guided them into the more difficult way for their own protection.

     Not long thereafter, though, the people started to grumble, remembering “when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full” (Ex. 16:3). Furthermore, the supplies were running out. As we learn from their wilderness experience, we are to live “by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3)—we are to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), trusting the Lord when there is a need.

     God, however, was about to show His glory—the glory of His supernatural provision. He would provide for and sustain His people throughout their wilderness journey for forty years. In one sense all God’s provisions are the manifestations of His glory, while in another sense there are supernatural provisions that highlight His glory even more. All God’s provisions are the manifestations of His glory! Click To Tweet

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift!”

God’s Moral Perfection

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Let me soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.

Genesis 49:6

Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, had planned and enacted a heinous crime, killing all the males of the city of Shechem. Jacob, on his deathbed, completely distanced himself from their plan and action. He did not want to be associated with that at all: “O my glory, be not joined to their company”! He did not want his reputation to be tarnished with their sin, as though he had a part in it.

     Here we see that one’s glory—one’s character and reputation—is related to the separation from sin. In Jacob’s case it was the separation from their sin of killing all the males of the city. Obviously Jacob was not sinless, but, like us, fell short of God’s glory (see Rom. 3:23). His “glory” was preserved from his son’s sins, but was not blameless, for any sin tarnishes our glory and only produces shame: “And many of those who sleep in the dust shall awake . . . some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2).

     When we consider this kind of glory in relation to God, we see that He is “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Heb. 7:26). God is perfectly righteous! There is no moral blemish at all: “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong . . .” (Hab. 1:13). Therefore, God’s moral perfection is an intrinsic part of His glory. God’s moral perfection is an intrinsic part of His glory! Click To Tweet

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift!”

His Glory Is Our Salvation

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You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.

Genesis 45:13

In doing our glory word study, we see again that the King James Version renders it as glory: “And ye shall tell my father of all my glory . . .” What was the glory Joseph referred to? Pharaoh had promoted Joseph over his house, “and all my people shall order themselves as you command” (Gen. 41:40). Joseph was appointed as second in command over Egypt, with all the blessings and privileges. Besides Pharaoh, there was no one greater than Joseph. The whole nation was placed under his authority.

     He tells his brothers to bring his father to Egypt and let him know “of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen.” Joseph’s glory was, as the Bible states, for the salvation of his family: “And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Gen. 45:7-8). Later on he said: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Gen. 50:20).

     Joseph is a beautiful type of Christ. He was betrayed and sold by His brethren. He suffered unjustly, but, in the end, was glorified for our temporal and eternal wellbeing, freely forgiving and taking care of us. His glory is our salvation!

     What are we to do? We are to proclaim “all that you have seen.” We are to tell of Christ’s glory—the glory of His righteous life, sacrificial death, and victorious ascension on our behalf, presenting His finished work to the Father. In that sense, the Christian life is the seeing, savoring, and speaking of Christ’s glory. the Christian life is the seeing, savoring, and speaking of Christ’s glory Click To Tweet.

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift!”

The Glory of One’s Wealth

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Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.”

Genesis 31:1

The first Old Testament use of glory is found in today’s verse, translated as “wealth.” The King James Version actually reads: “And of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory.”

     One’s glory and esteem is certainly related to one’s wealth. We easily look up to those who are rich and have many possessions, while we easily look down on those who have hardly anything. Who are on the front covers of the various magazines? They are not the Joe schmo’s of society. Fame is generally related to one’s bank account—the more riches, the more glory. It’s like one who has won the marathon—he receives the glory for winning. The one who is the richest has the most glory of them all. That’s why we have the famous Forbes’ list.

     When we consider this reality in relation to God, we have the One who is most glorious: “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps. 24:1)—“The world and its fullness are mine” (Ps. 50:12). Or as God stated to Job: “Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine” (Job 41:11).

     All the riches of the entire Forbes’ list belong to God. He owns it all. When we go through life and see everything under heaven, we have to realize that it all belongs to God! Whether the hills, the oceans, the flowers, the animals, the buildings, or the people themselves, they all belong to Him and are part of His glory—the glory of His possessions and wealth.

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift!”

Old Testament Meaning

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As we’re still embarking on Christ’s glory, we want to do so by looking at the meaning of glory from both the Hebrew and the Greek, and also how it’s used throughout the Bible—considering every verse. We will first look at the Old Testament with all the verses, and after that the New Testament with all its verses. In order to define the Hebrew word glory, I’m using the “Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.”

     The root word means “to be heavy, weighty.” This is rarely used in a literal sense. Figuratively it means someone or something that is weighty: a “person in society, someone who is honorable, impressive, worthy of respect.” The word is commonly translated as “honorable, honored, glorious, glorified.” The noun is “often in construct with a preceding word, thus taking on an adjectival aspect (King of Glory” equals “Glorious King”).” This “occurs two hundred times, never with the idea of weight or heaviness in view.”

     I find it intriguing that the root word means weighty. When we consider a “weighty issue,” we consider something very important and worthy of our attention. Is God’s glory not the weightiest issue in this universe and throughout history? Nothing is more important! It easily outweighs everything else combined. Tomorrow we will start with looking at each Old Testament verse and how the word is used.

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift!”

Ultimate Meaning and True Fulfillment

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One should expect from every rational creature a thorough investigation into the meaning of life. If that’s not the case, one has to at least question the creature’s sanity, for who wants to life without real meaning, significance, substance, value, and worth?

     Man’s fall into sin, though, has left him insane at the very core of his life and being: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isa. 55:2). God emphasized the clear contrast between Himself and “that which does not satisfy.” Man’s pursuit has been to seek satisfaction apart from God. The results are quite evident each day.

     There can be no true fulfillment—satisfaction—apart from real meaning. Unless we discover the meaning of life, there can be no true fulfillment. Therefore, those who reject God are ultimately aimless—they miss the only goal for why they exist. They are like Don Quixote, pursuing things that are not real.

     Discovering Ultimate Meaning … Finding True Fulfillment is the tagline for this site. Since the Glory of Christ is the ultimate meaning of the universe and history, we can only find true and lasting fulfillment in Him. Can we truly enjoy a car as a boat? It would completely ruin the car. Even so our existence is ruined when we reject God.

     The good news is that Jesus came to deliver us from our self-destruction—seeking meaning, fulfillment, and satisfaction apart from God. The essence of sin is a falling short—a not reaching—“of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). He came to reconcile and restore us!

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift!”

Sharing

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One of the main goals of this site is to flood it with anything related to Christ’s glory. Therefore, if you have a post, article, sermon, quote, song, book recommendation, or anything else that truly promotes Christ’s glory, please send it to me so that we can be blessed by it. You can either be personally named as the author/submitter or remain anonymous … whatever you prefer. Obviously I have to agree that it does truly promote Christ’s glory.

     Since this is a rather short post, I want to add the first song to the blog:

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvlQmV9GDqY

 

Introduction

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Yesterday we officially launched The Glory of Christ and looked at the reason why I started this site in the “About” section. Today we want to give the “Introduction” to the subject matter of this site:

     When we walk into a Christian bookstore, should there not be clear signs pointing to a large section of books on the Glory of Christ? Why is that not so? Is it because the Bible does not really make it a priority? Is it because the subject is limited in scope? Is it because writing on Christ’s glory has already been exhausted and we know it all? No doubt you will agree there is a three-fold no to these questions. Why, though, are there hardly any books specifically written about His glory?

     Today (10-10-15) I googled The Glory of Christ and out of the ten entries seven were in relation to John Owen’s book. The other three were from Desiring God, Spurgeon, and Bible.org. While I treasure John Owen’s book and do not seek to compete with it at all, should there not be much more “rivalry” on Google’s first page than a book from 1684? Should there not be a constant change, featuring new books, articles, and posts about Christ’s glory?

     This website’s address comes from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). It is Satan’s purpose to keep people from seeing the good news of Christ’s glory. If that is the case with unbelievers, is it not also his purpose to distract believers from clearly seeing this wonderful reality?

     Obviously believers have seen some of Christ’s glory in and through the gospel. However, is it not to the enemy’s benefit and to the believer’s detriment to be either distracted from it or have a distorted view of it? The glory of Christ is the heart, essence, and totality of the gospel. That means it embodies the fullness of our temporal and eternal bliss. It also depicts Satan’s total defeat. No wonder he wants to either distract us from it or seek to distort it to us.

     It is my full conviction that Christ’s glory is ultimately the only good news in this universe. Anything that does not stand in relation to it has missed the mark (to “miss the mark” is the literal definition of sin). It is “The End [goal] For Which God Created the World” (a book title by Jonathan Edwards).

     In his foreword to the second edition of his book The Sovereignty of God, A.W. Pink wrote: “We grant that this book is one-sided, for it only pretends to deal with one side of the Truth [as in relation to the other side, which is the responsibility of man] and that is, the neglected side, the Divine side.” He wrote that in response to criticism that his book was “too extreme and one-sided,” neglecting man’s responsibility. He also wrote: “Probably 95 per cent of the religious literature of the day is devoted to a setting forth of the duties and obligations of men. The fact is that those who undertake to expound on the Responsibility of man are the very ones who have lost ‘the balance of Truth’ by ignoring, very largely, the Sovereignty of God.”

     This site is extremely one-sided. Here, however, there is no other side of the truth. It is the sole grand reality of this universe. There is no other reality! Everyone and everything stands in relation to it and finds its meaning from it. It is God’s sole purpose, design, and goal: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).

     In order to help us understand that to some small degree, we want to answer three important questions and state three profound realities. While each of these questions and realities can be books in themselves, we want to give the essence of each one.

What is the glory of Christ?

The glory of Christ is the infinite perfection of magnificence, splendor, beauty, wonder, grandeur, brilliance, and excellence of who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. Everything about Him—who He is and what He does—is infinitely and perfectly glorious!

     Consider anything that has some measure of magnificence, splendor, beauty, wonder, grandeur, brilliance, and excellence. The glory of Christ excels that by at least a trillion times. Actually, that “anything” is a small reflection of who He is and what He does.

     His glory stands in direct relation to what He does. For example, if I were to make a beautiful cabinet from scratch, I will receive all the praise for it. If you had helped me, no matter how small a part, I would have to share the credit in proportion to the part you did. That’s why the glory of Christ strikes at the very heart of man’s own corrupted desire and pursuit to be glorified—to be the center of attention and be praised. It slays any credit man seeks to take for himself

Is it distinct from the glory of the Father and the Holy Spirit?

There are three distinct persons in the Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each has a distinct role, yet perfectly unified. Obviously the Father or the Holy Spirit did not die on the cross but Jesus. However, the Father and the Holy Spirit were fully involved in Jesus’ coming, living, dying, and rising from the dead.

     No doubt we can make distinctions as to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in accordance with their specific roles. However, this site is not meant to actively to so. When Paul wrote: “To keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,” he added, “who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). God has purposed to show forth who He is by sending His Son: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

     Jesus is “the radiance [the reflected brightness] of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). He perfectly reflects God’s glory. Therefore, to emphasize and highlight the glory of Christ as the second Person of the Godhead is to emphasize and highlight the glory of God.

Why is it the best news ever?

There are two basic answers to this question. It stands in relation to who God is and to our salvation. The definition of “best” is “that which is the most excellent, outstanding, or desirable.” Obviously God is! To have Him is to have the best. Our highest (and only!) good and our highest (and only real!) enjoyment are found in God alone.

     Wisdom’s personification of Jesus in Proverbs states that absolute reality in unmistakable words: “For whoever finds me [Jesus] finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death” (Pr. 8:35-36). When we have Jesus we have the Best. When we are without Him we only have nothingness, which is to our own temporal and eternal detriment.

     Secondly, it stands in relation to our salvation. We have been created to enjoy and reflect God’s glory. That is the meaning of our existence. Anything that does not stand in relation to it has missed the goal—to sin literally means “to miss the mark.” Salvation is God’s work to completely reconcile and fully restore us to the (eternal) state of enjoying and reflecting His glory. See also “The Glory of Christ as Savior” as to why it is the best news ever.

The Glory of Christ as Creator

John wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3). Paul wrote: “All things were created through him and for him” (Col 1:16). Revelation states: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11).

     These verses are unmistakably clear. Jesus is our Creator and we exist “through him” and “for him.” He alone is worthy to receive all glory, honor, and power for everything that exists. Indeed, “he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:26-28).

     Creation exists to declare and proclaim His glory (see Ps. 19:1). It reveals who He is: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Rom. 1:19-20).

The Glory of Christ as Lord

The glory of Christ as Lord cannot be separated from the glory of Christ as Savior. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason I treat them separately is to highlight each aspect. When we consider the glory of Christ as Lord, we consider that He is absolutely sovereign and supreme over everyone and everything.

     While He has always been sovereign and supreme from everlasting, His coming, living, dying, and rising from the dead, in order to save His people, has been the clear evidence that He is, indeed, Lord. When Jesus was about to ascend to the Father, He said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). Everyone and everything is subject to Him.

     After Paul had stated the gospel as the good news of “the glory of Christ,” he wrote: “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor. 4:4-5). The good news is that Jesus came and conquered sin and death. His resurrection declared His glorious victory. That’s why genuine gospel preaching has one clear emphasis: Jesus and Jesus alone! That brings us to the other part of the same coin.

The Glory of Christ as Savior

In response to His disciples’ bewilderment about salvation, Jesus stated: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). In John Jesus emphasized that also when He said: “For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). His glory stands in direct relation to our impossibilities. It is rather quite simple: “I will thank you forever, because you have done it” (Ps. 52:9). He who does the work is entitled to the praise!

     Paul made that also very clear when he wrote: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:27-29).

     God’s choice eliminates all human boasting and gives all glory to God as Paul continued: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification  and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:30-31). Jesus has become our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and that’s why all boasting is to be in Him! His perfect righteous life and sacrificial death, fulfilling all God’s righteousness on our behalf, entitles Him to all the glory for our salvation.

Conclusion

The Glory of Christ is the sole grand reality in this universe and throughout history. That’s why the meaning of life stands in full relation to Him. Apart from Jesus there is no true meaning but only meaninglessness, as the Preacher of old stated: “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). Consequently, true and lasting fulfillment can only be found in that which is truly and lastingly meaningful–God Himself.

     Sin is a falling short of “the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). It means missing the goal for why we exist. It is a rejection of ultimate reality and, as a result, a rejection of true fulfillment.  Man’s quest has been to pursue fulfillment apart from God, leaving him empty at the very core of his being. God sent His Son to save us from our sins, which also means saving us from a life and an eternity of meaninglessness and saving us to a life and an eternity of meaning and fulfillment, found in Christ alone.

     Lastly, He has designed salvation is such a way that it is all about Christ’s glory. Any other way would have given a definite deficit in knowing Him. That’s why the Glory of Christ is the best news ever, for it is fully related to our greatest bliss.

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift! – God’s Astonishing Grace“

Why This Website?

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Today is the official launch of The Glory of Christ. While you can read the reason for this site in the “About” section, I want to give it by sharing the “About” as the first post:

     The thought for this site was born in a time of struggle—feeling a deep need for Christ. As I meditated on His glory and also googled it, I came across these quotes from John Owen from his book, The Glory of Christ, as quoted in an article by Jonathan Parnell, called Getting the Glory of Christ Before Our Eyes:

“Let us live in the constant contemplation of the glory of Christ, and virtue will proceed from him to repair all our decays, to renew a right spirit within us, and to cause us to abound in all duties of obedience.

It will fix the soul unto that object which is suited to give it delight, complacency, and satisfaction . . . when the mind is filled with thoughts of Christ and his glory, when the soul thereon cleaves unto him with intense affections, they will cast out, or not give admittance unto, those causes of spiritual weakness and indisposition . . .

And noting will so much excite and encourage our souls hereunto as a constant view of Christ and his glory.”

     His statement, “and virtue will proceed from him to repair all our decays,” struck me as very good news. That’s what I needed! As I result, I wanted to start a site fully dedicated to Christ’s glory, realizing that His glory is the heart, essence, and totality of the gospel—the good news from God.

     As I continued meditating on His glory that evening, the thought struck me that Christ’s glory is also a binding unity of all Christians among all denominations and theological persuasions, or at least it should be, right? Should His glory not be the center of our focus? In that sense I hope and pray that this site will deepen and strengthen the unity among Christians, by helping us to realign our lives with God’s sole modus operandi.

     I am not an expert on Christ’s glory at all. Actually, I don’t treasure it as I should or want to. I also don’t display it in and through my life as I should or want to. I am a pilgrim on my way to the celestial city with many struggles–inward corruptions and outward dangers. I simply have come to the realization that Christ’s glory is my only hope. That’s why Paul stated the gospel as “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4). His glory is the gospel! I need to see and treasure it much and much more than I do! I hope you will join me on my journey.

Jan Blonk
Author of “An Unfathomable Gift! – God’s Astonishing Grace”