The Glory of God

Based on the message last Sunday, I thought of sharing some thoughts on the glory of God.

Glory (Hebrew kabod; Greek doxa) has the meaning of ‘heaviness’, ‘weight’ or ‘worthiness’

Glory of God: revelation of God’s being, nature and presence to mankind, often with physical manifestation such as a cloud (Ex 16:10; Mt 17:5).

The glory of God speaks of His character as in Ps 57:10-11, talking about God’s love and faithfulness being over all the earth. This is a case where one verse of psalm restates the other to help us get a better understanding of the thought of the Psalter.

Another scripture to look at is Ps 145:8-12

8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in love.

9 The LORD is good to all;

he has compassion on all he has made.

10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD;

your saints will extol you.

11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might,

12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Here we see that all creation would praise God (v10) for His character – gracious, compassionate, goodness. The glory of God’s kingdom is associated with His might and mighty acts (v11-12).

In the NT, the glory (character) of God is seen in Jesus Christ (Heb 1:3), through His signs (mighty acts) in Cana of Galilee (Jn 2:11). Man has been made in the image of God and reflects God’s glory (1 Cor 11:7) – this was true of Adam before he fell. Adam and Eve were covered with glory and had no shame, even though they were naked. However, when they sinned against God, the glory covering was lifted and they hid themselves (Gen 3:8-10). That’s why Paul declared in Rom 3:23, “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” But God is in the business of restoring us back to the days of glory by His Spirit which He has poured out on the day of Pentecost. He has anointed each one of us for works of service to reflect His glory (character & mighty acts). The way to do so is to build up our spiritual house by reading, meditating and memorising God's Word; and to pray continually.  This is the direction of the church for this season to help usher the glory of God in our midst.