God’s Glory

It is the manifestation of God’s essence, it’s the sum total of His majesty and holiness in display

According to Westminster Catechism

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Exodus 24:17  ”The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.”

Old Testament always present– Glory of God as mysterious, hard to define, impressive, supernatural and inspiring.

Exodus 20 – God wrote the 10 commandments

Exodus 32 – People got impatient and asked Aaron to make them a god made of golden calf to worship.

Exodus 33 - God was angered, but Moses pleaded and God gave them second chance.

Exodus 33:23 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

Exodus 34: 29-30 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork

What About The New Testament?

John 1:14 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.

The Father took the mysterious, hard to define, impressive, supernatural and inspiring and compressed it in the person of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Colossians 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

How do we Manifest the fullness of the glory of God?

Jeremiah 18:1-6 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? says the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand.”

Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

It is a natural fact; every vessel is designed to contain something

So what are we designed to contain?

The vessel of honour was designed to contain the Creator.

He was made to contain the glory of God. The ultimate purpose of God for mankind is that the creature would contain the Creator.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”

There is no greater attainment you and I can obtain in this life. There is no higher purpose for living. This is the pinnacle of human achievement.

How can we become the Perfect Manifestation of the Glory of God?

We are to be like a wedding planner

Facilitate a beautiful wedding

No wedding planner put all the attention to himself or herself

The job of the wedding planner is to put the spotlight to Bride and the Groom

In the Bible

• Jesus is the Groom
• Church is the Bride

My job and Your job is to make the Groom and bride famous and give them honour

Isaiah 48:11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We glorify God with our normal, usual daily activities

The Challenge

Who can shine and manifest the glory of God?

Every single person that knows God and has given their heart and life to Christ.

How can we shine?

By dying more and more to the impulses and desires of the old nature. Self must be dethroned with all its pride, selfishness and sin.

The more we die to self the more Christ can be seen.

The more Christ can be seen the more we shine. The more we shine the more the glory of God is manifest in and through us.