God's Glory Is His Power, Presence, and Praise

Glory is a strange word.  It has very little real significance in our every day usage.  I do not hear it very often in every day talk, so when I come to the scripture and see it everywhere it creates a conflict for me.  Several years ago in my personal study of John, I realized that Glory was more than an abstract concept, it was vital to understanding what Jesus was all about (John 1:14).  If we do not rightly understand the Glory of God we do not rightly understand Jesus or why He came.

Romans 1:23 informs us that the problem with man is that we have exchanged God's glory for images of man, birds, animals, and creeping things.  So at our core is a Glory problem, or as it is stated in Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (fall short = lack).  We do not possess what we should about God, namely His glory.  And our fallen nature stems from this lack of Glory.  But what is this Glory?  Well Romans 1:20 says that His eternal power and divine nature should have been clearly perceived.  Trace the word Glory in the OT and when it refers to God, it was either a display of His power in miraculous ways or a manifestation of His presence to the people.  God's Glory is His power and presence on display!

What makes this even more amazing is that Jesus, called the Glory of God, is also described as being the power and presence of God on display.  Colossians 1:15-20 tells us that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus and that all of Creation came about and is sustained through Him.  Look at Hebrews 1:3, "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."  Jesus is the radiance of God's glory, the imprint of His nature, and upholds the universe by the word of His power!  Glory is Power and Presence on display!

But God's Glory revealed demands acknowledgment.  This is the other use of the word Glory.  We give glory to God when we recognize His Glory.  By glory we mean praise.  In giving praise to God we are not giving Him something that He does not already possess, like a Christmas present.  Rather we are recognizing a truth that already exists.  We are joining with all creation to declare the mighty deeds of God (Psalm 19:1).  In fact, the only saving response to our recognition of the revelation of God's is to give praise to Him (Ephesians 1:11-14).  The Glory of God on display in Jesus moves us to give Glory to Him.