Behold His Glory

Lesson #9

Before we move on I want to spend more time on John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (ESV) and raise a question about this glory that the disciples saw. When I think of his glory I am reminded of Revelation 21:23 which says, “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (ESV). His glory is pretty intense light to be able to illuminate an entire city. So, what is this glory that the disciples saw while they lived with Jesus?

When John said, “We have seen his glory,” did he mean all or part of it? When God became flesh did he cease being fully God by giving up some of his glory? I don’t think so. I don’t think he could and still be fully God. Consider a clear sunny sky with the ground covered with clean white snow. Without a pair of good sunglasses it would be extremely difficult to see and easy to damage your eyes. Standing before God’s glory as a sinner without some form of protection would be disastrous. So, what is the protection the disciples had that allowed them to look at God’s glory and later talk about it? I think the answer lies in the phrase “full of grace and truth.”

We learned in a previous lesson (January 18^th blog entry) that Jesus was the source of truth and what he came to tell us and accomplish for us we could believe and accept through faith. We can believe that God became flesh, to graciously die on the cross in our place so that we could experience his glory in us by having the Spirit of Christ living in us. When God’s spirit came to live in us, was he fully God or not? Consider 2 Corinthians 4:4. “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” (ESV). In Revelation the bright light that illuminated the city was from God’s glory, but that same glory is the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ and produces the light that illuminates the lives of believers. I believe that after physical death this light of God’s glory will explode from us in brilliant light as from God. After the disciples were born spiritually and received God’s spirit, they were able to understand and say that they did behold his glory and through eyes of growing understanding knew that they were seeing, as through a veil for now, what was the full glory of God.

As I wrestle with this concept I sense a growing insight on this that I don’t have words yet. If I didn't take time to prayerfully dig into the Scriptures I wouldn't even have this veiled insight. More study and more prayer will gradually add more and then one day I will be ushered into his presence and I will know. I need to study now to lay the foundation of what I will see later. What foundation are you laying?

Prayer

Father, this has been an exciting lesson to try to come to grips with what God has given us in the form of a new creature that was produced in us through being born again. The characteristics of God that were made part of us we can begin to see and understand and then one day they will be unhindered by our sinful flesh and will explode into the realm of the eternal in ways we don’t yet comprehend. I believe the disciples were beholding this in Jesus and as I humble myself before you now I can also behold this for me as Jesus lives in me. Father, how do I thank you for your sacrifice of your Son, and Lord, how do I thank you for dying for me that I can have this light of your glory illuminating my soul. From the depths of my heart I thank you.