SHARING GOD'S GLORY WITH HIM - PART 4

THURSDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2025

In Hebrew word, glory denotes splendour, magnificence, grandeur, and beauty that command supreme honour and esteemed reverence. This is the honour we share with God, ever since the Lord Jesus Christ Himself came to permanently dwell in chosen gods. More below!

Reference: John 17:22 English Standard Version (ESV)

"The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one."

There is this particular generation of people, especially the disciples, that beheld Jesus' glory as He walked the earth. On account of this verity, Johannine literature numbered as John 1:14 reads, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (NIV). Did you notice that the disciples saw the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father? Jesus came with the glory from His Father, to give it to us. And this is exactly what the first segment of our versified reference implicitly expressed: The glory that you have given me I have given to them.

They beheld Jesus' glory by looking steadily upon Him and by paying ardent attention to His teaching and healing ministry. And this is a special kind of "look" evocatively filled with fervent earnestness that claimed their full attention for grace and spiritual truth, which later signalled the introduction of a new line of God's relationship with mankind by mediative influence of Christ.

Have you ever heard some Christians who speak of the fact that God will not give His glory to, or share it with anyone else? That was true before the new creation came into existence, and its still true today, which is considered as twofold truth, and I will further expound it in this manner: The New Living Translation of Isaiah 42:8 reads, "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols." Beloved, are you aware that this versified statement is absolutely true? Of course, God does not share His glory with ordinary humans, and more so, the revelatory insight embedded in this versified statement is extremely astonishing and overwhelming, and therefore, be sufficiently patient, as I properly shed light on it in the next article based on this topic.

The Contemporary English Version of the same Scripture reads, "My name is the LORD! I won't let idols or humans share my glory and praise." Why so? Pauline epistolary expression numbered as Romans 3:23 has the answer: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (KJV). But interestingly, God introduced Himself in human flesh, full of glory, and since then, there is an extraordinary exception and eternal exemption tailored for those in Christ Jesus (the gods). They are the ones that God has given His glory through Christ and in Christ. To that effect, our referenced  Scripture says, "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). So in a superior manner, we, as the gods, share God's glory with Him, on account of Christ's atoning sacrifice for all mankind.

In another level of my biblical exegesis, you must gain the ideational comprehensive analysis that God Himself has actually given His glory to all of mankind, but ordinary human beings have refused to receive it by faith because they have rejected their Saviour. To that effect, Johannine literature numbered as John 3:16 reads, "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him..." (CEB). So the glory given by God is perceived as a universal gift, but unfortunately, it is not everyone that believes in Christ, which implies that the ordinary human beings still come short of divine glory, and therefore, can't share God's glory with Him.

As for the saints who have received the glory of God by accepting Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord, Pauline epistolary expression numbered as Colossians 1:27 says, "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (ESV). Mark the expression: "hope of glory."

Beloved, there is present glory of the saints in the Kingdom of light, and there is a future glory with Christ Jesus and God throughout eternity. By symbolic redemption, only the gods are the true recipients of God's glory, but the glory can still remain dormant in them until the hope is translated to actionable and manifested glory by active faith in the Word. To instantiate this verity, let us assume that you're gifted with a new car by a loved one, and its the only vehicle which you ought to be driving after celebrating the arrival. Did you know that the car is the hope of arriving at any destination you desire, but if you don't drive the car, it will remain quiescent or motionless in your garage - as the hope of all your intended destinations? Got it!

In a similar manner, Christ in you can remain latent or hidden, in a literal sense of His glory existing within but is not made manifest in your outward life, unless you convert the "hope" to faith-based realities, by symbolic actions rooted in yielding to the ministry of the Word and Spirit.

Scripture Reading - Isaiah 6:3; John 11:40; Romans 8:18; Revelation 21:11. 

Exuberant Declaration:

I experience a glorious life in Christ, and I function according to living a hope and unshakeable faith in Him to the praise of His glory. Praise God!