20, November 2005
Dakota Community Church
The Glory of God
We sing about.
We speak about experiencing it.
We do different things “All to the glory of God”.
We say we want it, that we want to bring it to His name.
When someone compliments us on an act of Christian service we respond with, “Glory to God.”
But do we really understand it?
1. What is the Glory of God?
Isaiah 6:1-4
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
In Strong’s Concordance you will find this is Hebrew word #3519 – “kabowd” – (kaw-bode) meaning weight (as in significance), splendor, or copiousness.
So then the glory of God is:
a.) The “weight” or significance of God.
When you get one of those insights or have one of those experiences that children of the sixties would have described as “heavy man”. That is a manifestation of the glory of God.
Genesis 28:16
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
b.) The splendor of God.
This is the brightness, brilliance, ceremony, dazzle, display, effulgence, gorgeousness, grandeur, luster, magnificence, majesty, pageant, radiance, renown, resplendence, richness, stateliness, sumptuousness of God.
1Kings 8: 10-11
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.
c.) The copiousness of God.
This one is about God’s abundance. During the spring of 1997 the Red River Valley had a copious supply of water. Get the picture.
Here are the synonyms and antonyms from my thesaurus:
Synonyms: alive with, ample, aplenty, bounteous, bountiful, crawling with, extensive, exuberant, full, galore, generous, heavy, lavish, liberal, lush, luxuriant, no end, overflowing, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, profuse, prolix, replete, rich, superabundant, thick with, verbose, wordy
Antonyms: lacking, meager, rare, scant, scarce, sparse
Exodus 16:7
So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him.
2. Are you recognizing God’s Glory?
If the whole earth is filled with God’s glory then we, as God’s people, ought to be noticing it all the time.
Numbers 14:20-23
The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
1Chronicles 29: 11-13
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
I think our religious traditions hinder us from recognizing the glory of God. We think that it is something that happens in church.
The most powerful memories I have of the Glory of God are from outside church.
- My first serious date with Kathy.
- In the birthing room.
- Baptizing Jim.
- Swimming with the youth in Ponhook Lake.
Troy and I have been getting together for coffee on Tuesday afternoons when he has a spare class. This past week the coffee shop was deserted except for the two of us and one other student. She was lost in her studies. (Laptop open, books and notes everywhere) As we were sitting there talking I couldn’t help but notice a young law student come in and sit near her, he struck up a conversation and I overheard little snippets of it, “Oh I guess I would consider dating a lawyer if he weren’t to high intensity.”
Before we left they were completely enthralled in each other.
On the way to the car I asked Troy if he had noticed it. He had.
So did Solomon.
Proverbs 30: 18-19
"There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.
Question:
How often would you say you recognize the glory of God?
What it really comes down to is what you are looking for. If you want to see the effects of sin you will surely notice them everywhere. The truth is though that God sees what every person was meant to be in Christ and so can we if we look hard enough.
How about in things like secular music? (What a Wonderful world by Louis Armstrong.) In a well written or acted movie? You can see it in art of every kind. How about in a strong businessman in action; or a passionate politician or lobbyist? The glory of God is evident in a fine dining experience, and in the company of good friends and conversation.
What I am saying is that we need to open our eyes and widen our definition of what it means to enjoy Godly living. The glory of God is everywhere. The horrors of sin are all around us as well. God wants us to focus on His work, not the devils.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
3. Rejoice in the glory of God.
Once you start to see it more you will not be able to stop yourself from rejoicing in it.
Quote:
“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
C. S. Lewis – “The Weight of Glory”
We need to lose this notion that the Christian faith is all about difficult struggles and come alive to the reality that it is about life!
Full life!
Enjoyable life!
Taste and see that the Lord is good LIFE!
Jesus came to give us life!
Isaiah 60:1-3
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
John 1: 14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 15:7-8
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The truth is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
PowerPoint available on request – dcormie@mts.net
