The Hope of Glory (John 17:22)

Lesson #289

Now that we have stretched our minds with the concept of being in God and thus part of God, we now need to stretch them further and consider this next verse: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:22 ESV). Before we do anything else we need to try to figure what this glory is. How does one define glory? How does one describe beauty? How does one describe a basketball? Which is easier to describe; a basketball or beauty? Do you see the problem? Isaiah 6:3 might help: “And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”” (NKJV). Is the glory of God somehow a manifestation of his holiness? Maybe if we understand holiness we can get a handle on glory.

The holiness of God puts him in a class by himself. That holiness is what God is that nobody else is. His perfections, greatness and worth are matched by no one else. God is not determined by anything outside of himself; he defines himself; his infinite value. There also seems to be a connection given between holiness and glory in Leviticus 10:3: “I will display my holiness through those who come near me. I will display my glory before all the people” (NLT). As we draw near to him and can apprehend and reckon with his holiness we can then is some sense perceive to see his glory. Maybe we can say that the glory of God is the infinite beauty of his holiness in terms of his perfection, greatness and worth. Maybe it is that unapproachable light of his holiness that veils the Father.

Moses asked God to show him his glory and God responded with: “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name” (Exodus 33:19 ESV). Here there seems to be a relationship between glory and goodness. A few verses later we read: “while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:22 – 23 ESV). This seems to suggest an unapproachable light shining from his face. I think this because of the transfiguration of Jesus when “he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Matthew 17:2 ESV). To connect us to this glory we need to look at 1 John 3:2 (ESV): “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” We shall be like him by becoming partakers of his divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). When Moses went up Mount Sinai to talk with God, he returned and “did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34:29 ESV). In heaven we will be given a new sinless body that will allow the glory of God who dwells inside of us to radiate out from us. The unapproachable light of God’s glory will permeate every part of the body of believers. We cannot begin to comprehend what this will be light! Paul refers to this as a great mystery: “how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27 ESV). What a mystery; what a hope; what glory we will experience in all of its characteristics.

Prayer

Father, I only touched on the mystery unfolding in this lesson. When I think of Christ in us and he with the glory he is asking you to restore to him and our new bodies to radiate that glory, I can’t begin to comprehend our potential beauty. Father, as we absorb ourselves in this world, we lose sight of this coming glory as we become willing to live like spiritually homeless people. Preparing this lesson sure pointed this out to me and hopefully to my readers.