Christian Living
Understanding the Dimensions of God’s Glory
In our last article, we spoke about our spiritual growth when we grow, “FROM GLORY TO GLORY”. Today, we are going to “Understand the Dimensions of God’s Glory”.
Hi Faith-writers, I thank God for another opportunity to share HIS Word with HIS people. Remember in the Kingdom of God there are Phases, Stages, Measures and Levels to everything we encounter as believers on earth. Jesus, Paul, Luke, John, Peter, and James spoke about this in the New Testament. The topic of Glory is also taught in Dimensions (Different Levels and Areas) of which we can experience in our lives as we grow spiritually, “FROM GLORY TO GLORY”.
God’s Glory Dimension #1: The Gospel (The Word of God)
The Apostle Paul wrote, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the TRUTH commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor. 4:2 NKJV)
But even if our gospel is veiled to those who are perishing, (2 Cor. 4:3 NKJV)
Whose minds the god of this age (satan) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the GLORY OF CHRIST, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (2 Cor. 4:4 NKJV)
For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. (2 Cor. 4:5 NKJV)
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the GLORY OF GOD in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6 NKJV)
Paul stated that the Word of God, (The Gospel of the GLORY of Jesus Christ) that they preach…has shone in their hearts (that is, in the Church of Corinth). Therefore, we see that the 1st Dimension of Glory is the TRUTH of the Gospel that’s clearly taught—when we preach and teach about what Jesus did and what HE came to accomplish on earth as the Son of God, to die for the sins of mankind and God the Father raised HIM from the dead.
The Apostle John presented Jesus in his Gospel in this manner; And the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld HIS GLORY, THE GLORY as of the only begotten of the Father, full of GRACE AND TRUTH. (John 1:14 NKJV)
Notice what Paul and John said, God’s Glory and God’s Son Jesus Christ are one and the same. Secondly, when we preach about Jesus Christ clearly and thoroughly—the GLORY OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST will shine in the hearts of new believers who hear and are open and receptive to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
Therefore, THE WORD OF GOD that’s spoken by a man or woman of God—will manifest the Glory of God in the hearts of all new believers who receive the TRUTH about Jesus. Then the GLORY will pierce the darkness in the hearts of new believers and cause them to believe in Jesus Christ so they may be Saved (Born-Again).
God’s Glory Dimension #2: From Glory to Glory
Paul taught us about the 2nd Dimension of God’s Glory. Paul said; Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (2 Cor. 3:16 NKJV)
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor. 3:17 NKJV)
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 BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. (2 Cor. 3:18 NKJV)
Notice the process of how we experience God’s Glory on the 2nd Dimension:
1. When we hear the Gospel and turned to the Lord.
2. The veil of darkness and ignorance of God is removed.
3. The Spirit of the Lord brings us liberty.
4. Then we are able to see without the veil blocking our spiritual eyes to see God’s Glory.
5. As we behold the MIRROR THE GLORY OF THE LORD. (What’s that?) The MIRROR is a metaphor to mean, THE WORD OF GOD.
6. The Spirit of God and the Word of God working together will begin to TRANSFORM us into the SAME IMAGE of JESUS CHRIST FROM GLORY TO GLORY.
In other words, the more we take the time to read the WORD (Look in the MIRROR) the more the MIRROR will tell us what needs to change so we can TRANSFORM into the Image, Personality, Character, and lifestyle of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Peter confirmed and affirmed this process of us gaining more GLORY AND VIRTUE. Peter said it is our CALLING to develop more GLORY and VIRTUE. (2 Peter 1:2-10 NKJV) And in case you are wondering how we are able to develop Glory and Virtue—Peter explained that we have a DIVINE NATURE in us to motivate and inspire us to do it. (See, 2 Peter 1:3-4 NKJV). Then Peter spelled it out for us (2 Peter 1:2-10 NKJV).
In the future, I will share this teaching that Peter shared in more detail, but I cannot squeeze it into this article. I must go on to the 3rd Dimension.
God’s Glory Dimension #3: Praying for Revelation of more Glory and Inheritance
Paul shared with the Christians at the Church located in the City of Ephesus, Paul wrote down how he Prayed for them; I’m going to outline the Prayer…and give short comments.
* May The FATHER of GLORY…(v. 17)
* Give to you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of HIM…(v. 17)
* The eyes of your Understanding being enlightened; (For what purpose?)…(v. 18)
* That you may know what is the hope of HIS Calling (on your life personally!)…(v. 18)
* What are the riches of the GLORY of HIS INHERITANCE in the saints, (v. 18) (Ephesians 1:17-18 NKJV) This way we may understand our calling when it comes to God’s Inheritance for us that is in connection with the saints (other believers who are presently alive and living among us). Not dead saints just to be clear!!! The Revelation we receive will tell us what role we must play as we minister and are ministered too by them.
Paul Prayed this Prayer for the Christians at Ephesus. We can Pray this Prayer for our Church in the City we live in or on behalf of other Churches in other cities. We can also Personify this Prayer and Pray it for ourselves so we may catch a Revelation of The FATHER of GLORY (GOD The FATHER).
Now, for what purpose are we Praying this Prayer???
1. So we can gain Revelation of God as Our Heavenly FATHER. So we can free ourselves from thinking that FATHER GOD is some OLD MAN with white hair in Heaven that has a baseball bat ready to crush us when we commit the slightest sin.
2. Once we catch a Biblical Revelation that GOD THE FATHER is THE FATHER OF GLORY—then can we consider HIS DIVINE CALLING on our lives.
3. THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS—has a Spiritual, Emotional, Mental, Physical, Moral, Relational, Social, Occupational, and Financial application. It’s a well-rounded healthy INHERITANCE we can partake of when we catch a Revelation of our Calling to do some great things for the Kingdom of God on earth with HIS PEOPLE.
For example, Pastor John Hagee loves to share the story of Milton Hershey (from HERSHEY’S Chocolate). Here is a man who captured a Revelation of what God wanted him to be—a Chocolate Maker. Mr. Hershey, after many attempts to create Chocolate finally figured out that Calcium holds Chocolate together well. And when he made the first batch well—you and I both know that it came out great.
Now, Milton became a wealthy man. He shared his wealth. HERSHEY Pa. is a city God blessed him to build with the wealth that was generated by Chocolate.
* He was able to build a company and hire many workers…
* He built schools, halls, Churches, Hospitals, Day care centers, orphanages…and so much more.
* When his workers needed transportation, he built Trolley train systems to get to work and other places and gave loans to his workers who wanted to buy cars and trucks.
* When the city was expanding, homes had to be built for his workers, Mr. Hershey mortgaged the properties for them at a very low rate.
* This is how we should take our God given Revelation and build God’s Kingdom on earth.
* This is a SUPERNATURAL GLORIOUS INHERITANCE ON EARTH that God desires to bring to our lives.
* Mr. Milton Hershey is a modern day Joseph from the Old Testament. Joseph did not keep God’s people out of loop. God provide for Joseph and made him leader over Egypt. Then Joseph treated God’s people to all the INHERITANCE that GOD THE FATHER PROVIDED for them. (Genesis chapters 37-50 NKJV)
One of the Meanings of GLORY
There is a Biblical rule of interpretation called, “The Law of first reference”. Do you know the first time the Bible mentions the word, “GLORY”, it was in reference to the Material possessions Jacob had!!! (See, Genesis 31:1 NKJV). Oh yes, now, it’s not to say that we are to interpret every word with that meaning. The Bible interprets the Bible. So the Bible will clearly indicate what Dimension of Glory it’s referring too. So, we must preach the entire Bible on every topic. And we must handle the Word of God honestly like Paul said, (2 Cor. 4:2 NKJV)
Therefore, if God Called you to be a Basketball player, or any professional athlete that’s earning Millions guess what? Part of the INHERITANCE you’ve gained is not for your own consumption—it’s to invest it in God’s kingdom. So after the big house with all the toys, then it’s time to build God’s kingdom, schools, churches, neighborhoods, orphanages, day care centers etc.
This would be the practical application of Praying for Revelation of GOD’S GLORIOUS INHERITANCE. Catching the Revelation of it and practically living it out and then experiencing the results of that answered Prayer. As Joseph caught the Dream and flowed with it. As well as, Mr. Milton Hershey and he flowed with it.
God’s Glory Dimension #4: Praying for GOD to GLORIFY you—so you can GLORIFY HIM.
When Jesus Prayed that long Prayer in John chapter 17, Jesus demonstrated to us how we should Pray so we can ask for the same GLORIOUS POWER to do the Divine Will of GOD.
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up HIS eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. GLORIFY YOUR SON, that Your Son also may glorify You, (John 17:1 NKJV)
God granted me Revelation of this Prayer. I Pray it! And a Special Anointing comes over me. I never knew we could Pray this. But what the Holy Spirit revealed to me is that Jesus Prayed this while HE was on the earth ready to face Crucifixion—that is not easy. So HE needed a Special Dimension of God’s Presence and Glory to go through the mission of dying on the Cross.
Verse 2 and 3, gives us the Revelation of this unique Prayer for Glory;
“As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that HE should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. (v. 2)
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (v. 3) (John 17:2-3 NKJV)
Now, we need to make something very clear. We are to Grow FROM GLORY TO GLORY. We are to be TRANSFORMED TO JESUS’ IMAGE FROM GLORY TO GLORY. Now, of course we are not dying for all mankind to bring them eternal life. But we are sacrificing ourselves to serve GOD to bring the Gospel of the GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST to all the world. And in doing so, we might be Martyred doing it! So when the thought of dying comes to us when we are sent on a mission to do God’s Divine Will. We need to consider this Prayer—and Pray it in humility so that GOD’S PRESENCE AND GLORY can GLORIFY our beings and empower us so we may GLORIFY HIM in return.
This is not a self-centered, egotistical Prayer. This is another method of Praying for God’s Presence and Glory to empower us to do the Will of God. Similar to the Prayer in Acts chapter 4. (See, Acts 4:24-31 NKJV). I hope you can see the parallel in both Prayers. It’s a Seasoned Ministers Prayer—only Mature Christians can catch this Revelation of both Prayers in (John 17:1 NKJV and Acts 4:24-31 NKJV).
God’s Glory Dimension #5: Glorifying God
Since we used Jesus as an example, let’s continue to use HIM to show us how to operate on the 5th Dimension of God’s Glory. Jesus said, in HIS Prayer;
“I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work which You have given ME to do. (John 17:4 NKJV)
There are many Biblical references to God being Glorified in the Old and New Testament. I cannot include them all or just a few in this article. But I want to leave everyone with this thought and we will go deeper in the next article. WE CANNOT GLORIFY GOD IF WE DON’T KNOW HIM! We can sing hymns and songs along with God’s people during Church services. We can do charitable deeds, give money to the poor, give food to the hungry, visit the prisoners and go to hospitals. But if we are not Born-Again our good deeds will not bring GOD GLORY.
Good deeds may draw GOD’S attention toward you—like it did with Cornelius in Acts Chapter 10. But it does not Glorify HIM per say. Now, after the Angel appeared to Cornelius and instructed him to go get Peter, if Cornelius would not have followed those instructions he would not have become a full-fledged Christian.
Today, we have people who give, support and help. But don’t want anything to do with Jesus, or HIS Church. They say, Christians are a bunch of hypocrites, and many other nasty things. However, Glorifying God means, we know what HE desires, we met the requirements, and we have experience HIS Supernatural Touch in our lives and we are living for HIM. As a result of living for HIM, we are Worshipping HIM with our lifestyles that bring HIM GLORY as HE TOUCHED and TRANSFORMED us. Amen.
We will learn how to Glorify God in our next article, Amen. May God Bless you with Revelation about HIS GLORY, in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
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