Seeing the Glory of God

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Moses pulverized the golden calf and returned to Sinai to once again receive the 10 Commandments (Exodus 34). On Sinai the Lord passed before Moses, proclaiming His holy character. When Moses descended, he didn’t find Israel frolicking like pagans, but a nation terrified of him.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai … Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him … and they were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29-30). And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face (Exodus 34:33). This happened whenever God spoke face to face with Moses with one catch. The glory on Moses’ face dimmed until he met again with God (2 Corinthians 3:7, 13).

Fourteen hundred years later, Jesus stood on Mount Tabor in Israel with three of His apostles. There, the disciples saw the face of the King of Glory, veiled in human flesh, shine like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:2). This was a foretaste of what the world will witness when Jesus returns at His Second Coming (Matthew 16:27-28).

This same glory experienced temporarily by Moses, and embodied in the Son of God from eternity, is the future of every child of God. In the chain of salvation Paul said, Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:30). This glory of grace bestowed upon the believer, awaits each of us, yet is experienced by us daily in veiled form. 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 Corinthians 3:18).

God’s glory on Moses created fear in Israel. Seeing Jesus transfigured caused great fear in the disciples (Mark 9:6). I dare say if we saw the glory of God as He sanctifies us from day-to-day, we’d be tempted to worship one another, thus God hides it from us except in His Word on the face of Jesus Christ.

O Holy Night – John S Dwight (1847)

O holy night! the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope- the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the Wise Men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend.
He knows our need— to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

 … that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11)

He Died for His Wife

My Grandparents, Edward and Helen Losli

My grandparents had a wonderful, yet interesting marriage. The last decades of their lives they had what seemed to be a well-timed trade off.

My grandmother had many serious heart ailments and multiple heart surgeries from the time I was old enough to know what those terms meant. But as far as I know, my grandfather was in great health, but that changed as they aged. When my grandmother’s health failed, my grandfather was strong; but when he became ill and incapacitated, she was surprisingly strong.

My grandfather lived for my grandmother, but he didn’t die for her.

The Bible describes the relationship between Christ Jesus and the Church as like that of husband and wife. Yet there is a vast difference between Him and the Church and earthly husbands and wives. Jesus suffered more for the Church than any human husband has ever suffered.

Jesus suffered the loss of all He possessed, surrendering His splendor as Heaven’s born Prince to shelter in the womb of a servant girl. The King became a pauper by choice.

The Glory of God became a helpless Babe, a rough-handed Carpenter, a Suffering Servant and Man of Sorrows. He was humiliated, despised, and crucified between thieves. The Creator who adorned the blackness of space with flickering stars by the word of His power, was crowned with bloody thorns. The Friend to sinners died to make us friends of God.

Without concern for His own welfare, Jesus, the Bridegroom plunged into the ocean depths of the Father’s wrath to become the rescue for His bride.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25).

When Jesus Returns

A sun pillar formed in Wyoming as sunlight reflected off falling ice crystals in the clouds (2022).

… to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels (2 Thessalonians 1:7).

Paul was certain that Jesus was coming back. He wrote, “when” Jesus is revealed, not “if”. Jesus will be revealed literally, physically, and bodily from Heaven with unimaginable splendor to conduct a great judgment of the unbelieving and reward for the saved.

We have a tiny glimpse of what Jesus will be like in His glory in Matthew 16:24-17:8.

Matthew 16 begins with a request from the Jewish leaders for Jesus to perform a sign to prove He’s the promised Messiah. Jesus refused, saying He’d already given plenty of signs. Then Matthew records several revelations about Jesus. He’s the Christ in verse 16, the Rock of the Church in verses 18 and 19, the One who will die and be resurrected in verse 21, the righteous Rewarder in verse 26, and then the glorious returning King in verses 27 and 28.

Then Jesus took His disciples Peter, James, and John onto a mountain to pray. The three disciples were tired and fell asleep (Luke 9:32, 37). When they awoke, Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah about His soon death (Luke 9:31).

Matthew 17:5 says a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” This is the Father speaking of His Son.

If these two factors wasn’t an experience enough, they saw Jesus transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:2). Jesus shone like the noonday sun! The word transfigured is profound. The Greek word is metamorphose, meaning to be changed from the inside out. The brightness of Jesus wasn’t from an outside source shining on Him, the light resided within Him and shone out through Him! He is the true Light and the Light of the world. (John 1:9; 8:12). His glory is not something lacking that we adorn upon Him, He is the glory of God. Him, And the Word 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).

One Day – Wilbur J Chapman (1910)

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He!

Refrain ~
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely, forever;
One day He’s coming: O glorious day!

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected,
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!

One day they left Him alone in the garden,
One day He rested, from suffering free;
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;
Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He!

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door;
Then He arose, over death He had conquered,
Now is ascended, my Lord ever more!

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
One day the skies with His glory will shine;
Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;
Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine.

Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:23-25)