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GOD IS GLORY & VIRTUE “Called us to glory and virtue” – 2 Peter 1:3 “…that our God would count you worthy of this calling… That the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in Him…” – 2 Thess. 1:11-12 |
Perfect Glory & Virtue ------------------------------------ God is glory; and he that dwelleth in glory dwelleth in God, and God in him. We must be as He is in this way NOW (Jn. 17:22), and in the time to come we shall also be enveloped by His glory in a consummating finality! |
GOD IS GLORYAND VIRTUE – “In God is my salvation and My glory” (Ps. 62:7). We are called to show forth the glory of God to the world (1 Pet. 2:9), and, God’s glory is His Person (John 15:1, 5) which we have been connected to. He is the virtue from His glory we are nourished up in, and thus, His Name is also His person (Col. 3:17). A Christian going deeper into His person is therefore described as an “image” transformation “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). His Image is His glory, and this Image is our predestinated end (Rom. 8:29). To be an extension from God, we are therefore, filled with the glory of His personal deeds of glory, called His own works (Eph. 2:10), and in another placed called “the fruits of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:21). Let it be understood then: God’s glory is His Person, goodness, and name, and so again, God’s glory is His face (Ex. 33:18-20)!
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“I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory… I will make My goodness pass before thee… I will proclaim the Name of the LORD before thee… thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live.” (Exodus 33:18-20)
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“I kept them in Thy Name” (John 17:12)”, Jesus said, and those who are kept in His Name will also have, as Jesus said, the “glory... I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are One” (John 17:22). Did you understand that?! The glory of God is our oneness in Him! Therefore let us be channels only for the Master’s Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ said of the Holy Ghost, “He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:14). If we walk in Him, then we will be “a glorious Church” (Eph. 5:26-27) – arrayed worthy to be in marital union with the Living King of heaven! Glory marries Glory! God’s glory is the chief end of our lives as Christians. All efforts that are properly aimed do point to the glory of God. God is glory, to walk in God is to walk in glory, and therefore, perfection in glory is to glorify God! Paul taught that a man must walk in “the work of faith with power”, so that, “the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” would be “glorified”, and, this is so that “our God would count [us] worthy of this calling”. Consider the entire passage:
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“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 1:11-12)
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Is this the aim of all your prayers? Is this your understanding of worthiness and perfection? The purchase of the gospel is for this end – to “glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20) – and there is no excuse if you are rendered impotent and without grace for glory.
Now we see God’s glory in part because we have been saved, but there is a consummation of His glory to come! Jesus said, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovest Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). “Glory shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18) at “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), and then all of creation will follow into “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21)! This is when “He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe… in that Day” (2 Thess. 1:10). We shall see Him then in His glory, “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12), being “glorified together” (Rom. 8:17) with Him!
Now we see God’s glory in part because we have been saved, but there is a consummation of His glory to come! Jesus said, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovest Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). “Glory shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18) at “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), and then all of creation will follow into “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21)! This is when “He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe… in that Day” (2 Thess. 1:10). We shall see Him then in His glory, “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12), being “glorified together” (Rom. 8:17) with Him!
