THE GLORY OF GOD – A MUST-READ

In Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, a lowly young man, Pip, was informed by a prominent lawyer that a secret benefactor had made him his heir and would generously finance his education and all of his expenses to elevate him to a position of prominence. However, this benefactor would only reveal himself when he was ready to do so. Furthermore, even if Pip had some idea of who this benefactor might be, he had to keep it to himself.

After Pip had become a British gentleman, the mysterious benefactor revealed himself at great threat to himself. And his appearance cost Pip’s benefactor his life.

Sound familiar? It should. We too have such a Benefactor, who had remained hidden throughout the annuls of the Old Testament. We read:

·       It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. (Proverbs 25:2 (ESV)

Instead, we might think that the glory of kings is to build great cities or to conquer great nations. However, their highest glory is to discover the hidden things of God. If this is the glory of kings, we must not underestimate how glorious this knowledge should be for us.

What had God concealed? Before, all else, He had concealed His Messiah:

·       He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified”…He says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:2-6; 51;16)

This secret was so guarded that when the discouraged Moses had asked to see God’s glory, God told Moses that he’d would only be permitted to see a tiny aspect of His glory:

·       But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20)

The face reveals everything about the person, even about their plans. However, through Jesus, the Father’s glory had been revealed:

·       For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

We must not take this literally. The face or the image (likeness) of God was matter of the character and intents of God:

·       and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:23-24)

This is why that when God did show Moses His glory, it consisted of a revelation of His Personhood:

·       The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. (Exodus 34:6-8)

Notice that God had left a lot out of His self-revelation. Nevertheless, Moses was pleased with what God had revealed to him. Therefore, he worshiped God. What had He left out? His Messiah and His glorious Gospel:

Later, Jesus revealed to His disciples:

·       “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9)

Again, we cannot take this literally, because no one has even physically seen the Father who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16; John 1:18). Instead, we have learned of the nature and plan of God through Jesus’ incarnation:

·       He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint [likeness] of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…(Hebrews 1:3)

This brings us to the great mystery, “What exactly is the “Glory of God.” His power? His creation? His coming kingdom? The answer to this glorious truth is actually hidden in the Holy of Holies, the place that only the High Priest could enter once a year. It was covered by the outstretched wings of the Cheribim, lest if the High Priest looked upon this object, he would be struck dead. This object also symbolized what had to remain hidden until the fullness of time.

The High Priest also had to enter this room with his censor spewing forth billows of smoke so that the chances of him seeing this object might be further reduced (Leviticus 16). When I ask my students to tell me what this secret object had been, they inevitably guess the Ark of the Covenant of Moses containing the Ten Commandment. However, this object was far more humble. It was merely the cover of the Ark, called the “Atonement seat” or “cover,” also mysteriously called the “propitiation” (Romans 3:25), pointing to the thing that would ultimately satisfy God and would pay the price for our reconciliation to Him. What then is the Glory of God? The most unlikely and unappealing thing in the world:

·       And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:23-24)

The Cross had been the highest pinnacle and expression of the Glory of God. It is the most pivotal moment of the past and the future. It is the moment upon which all else rests – the fulfillment of all the promises and plans of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). It is the moment that God had proved His love to us:

·       but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8-10)

Why did God so carefully hide this from His people? Well, why had Pip’s benefactor hidden His identity from Pip until the appointed time? He was an escaped convict. He knew that if he had revealed himself to Pip before the right time, he would have been rejected. Nevertheless, Pip was initially horrified by this revelation. Only afterwards was he touched by this man’s great sacrifice for him. Why for Pip? Only for the “flimsiest” reason – he loved Pip.

Our Lord finally revealed Himself to us during the time of the oppression of His people under Rome. Even then, they hated and rejected Him. Had He come as a conquering hero, things would have been different, but this hadn’t been God’s plan. Instead, His plan was to die the most painful and humiliating death to prove His love and righteousness (Romans 3:24-26).