What is glory? How can you see glory?
When I ask those questions, what comes to mind? Perhaps you tasted glory on your wedding day, or when you won a state championship, or when you experienced artwork at one of the great museums for the first time, or perhaps at the birth of your child.
Glory is hard to define, but we pinpoint it when we’ve experienced it.
The angels were so thrilled with Jesus’ birth they testified to God’s glory from the heavens:
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:13-14)
Perhaps you hear Vivaldi’s famous setting of this in Latin even as you read these words, “Gloria! Gloria! In Excelsis Deo.” Marvelous, isn’t it?
We get a peek of the angels declaring God’s glory in heaven at the end of days in John’s Revelation. Several times the angels sing songs of praise to God, ascribing him glory, such as this one,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12)
But John doesn’t just see God’s glory manifest in Jesus in heaven; he sees it on earth as well.
John explains, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known” (John 1:14, 17-18).
Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to live? Why didn’t God the Son put on flesh as an adult and immediately become a sacrifice for us? There are many reasons for this, including Jesus offering to us a new understanding of our relationship with the law, explaining how the Spirit would live in us, thereby fulfilling the law through his perfect life. Among those reasons is also the fact that in the flesh, Jesus let us behold the glory of God.
We, of course, did not behold Jesus’s glory face-to-face as John did, but I bet there have been moments in your life where God has allowed you to experience his glory through the pages of the gospels, where the person of Christ has met you in compassion, beauty, or power. Maybe you’ve felt that nudge, thought, lifted burden release, orchestration of events, or revelation that you know couldn’t have come from within yourself.
As you celebrate Christmas tomorrow, would you look for signs of the glory of our God-made-flesh?
Gloria! Gloria! In Excelsis Deo. Our Savior has come, and the glory of God has been shown to us. Merry Christmas.
You may also appreciate:
John 1, Part 1: A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away
John 1, Part 2: The Light That Overcomes
John 1, Part 3: Can I Get A Witness
John 1, Part 4: Will You Receive Him?
John 1, Part 5: I Hope Your Advent Is In Tents
John 1, Part 6: Glory Incarnate
Photo by Darius Cotoi on Unsplash