Behold God's Glory

God's glory has recently penetrated my mind a lot! It has boggled my thoughts and shattered my universe! His awesomeness has made me fist punch while uttering an obnoxiously pronounced positive, unclassifiable part of speech ("Yes!"). Ponder and wander upon His glory with me!

God created everything! He spoke a few words over the course of 7 days and wouldn't ya know it - there's the universe! Even His words carry power beyond measure. His imagination is limitless. Just take a look around you. From the clouds with which He paints the sky at dusk to the pouring rain and lightning He sketches into the night. Consider the billions of species of creatures which dwell on earth, each with it's own unique costume, cry and habits. Cast your eyes upon the clear night sky, see the moon, the stars and everything in between. Marvel at creation's beauty, complexity, variety and grandeur. What you are marveling at is God's (Psalm 24:1)! Fashioned by His words (Psalm 148:5)!

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork"(Psalm 19:1).

Let us sing with the angels:"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory"(Isaiah 6:3).

Let us praise Him along with the rest of His creation (Psalm 148). "...for His name alone is exalted; His majesty is above earth and heaven" (Psalm 148:13).

But the most amazing thing about all of this work of creation is that God decided to create mankind in His own image (Genesis 1:27)! He thought it good to bestow that amazing gift on us. That we might have a relationship with Him which no other part of creation could. We, the creation, are able to commune with God!

God's glory doesn't stop there though! This God who created the world is also perfect in wisdom, goodness, power, love, justice and knowledge to name but a few. He never makes mistakes, He always does what is right, nothing can even come close to surmounting His power, He knows everything, the list goes on and on. His greatness lasts forever, it is too much for us to fathom or even scratch the surface of! We cannot even begin to understand the depths of His glory.

But man sinned. The glorious Lord's "special creation" turned it's back on Him. Those God had bestowed with His very image destroyed it by being that which God is not - evil. Had the glorious God's perfection been tarnished forever? Now we ponder on how man could do this to his Creator Who loves him. How could beings so blessed and loved by the greatest of all beings simply eat a piece of fruit that God had forbidden them to eat? For goodness sake, it was the only thing God withheld from them!

The world slouched into evil and God cursed His own creation because of man's evil (Genesis 3:14-19). Death entered God's creation. After Adam and Eve ate of that fruit, there was death - the shedding of blood. The greatest evil of all entered God's glorious world through His most glorious creation. And no longer can it be said of man that they are glorious.

But this is not where the story ends. For it is not a story of God's glory being trampled on by His own creation, that would make for a rather weak and inglorious God. No, this is the beginning of the story.

After the fall, man spread throughout the world, bringing their sinfulness with them. Every man, woman and child sinned. For thousands of years man continued sinning, some repented and turned back to God but that never lasted, soon they went back to the evil desires of their heart. Few followed God and none perfectly. Would the glorious God stand for this any longer? Would He destroy His now blemished creation?

No, God promised a saviour through His prophets. One who would lead His people back to Him forever. A better than Adam would come.

This saviour was there at the beginning, before the world fell. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it"
(John 1:1-5). There is hope! The very Word which created the glorious world contains life! The life is light that darkness has not overcome. The darkness of sin and death has not won!

And then God did something amazing:"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:14). My typing has quickened at the excitement! God takes on the flesh of His creation and walks the earth! The light of life walks among the world darkened by sin and death! A light that is not overcome!

The Word is Jesus Christ! He led the first sinless life, having perfect communion with God the Father. He restored the image of God in man by bearing it perfectly! He performed wanders and miracles showing His glory to the world! He healed and taught! He brought hope to a hopeless earth.

But the people of earth reverted back to their sinful ways again. They turned their back on Christ and murdered Him. We killed the only Person Who didn't deserve it! We tortured Him and heaped insults upon His bleeding body. Had God failed to reach His creation again? Had the world put out God's glory once and for all? Again we ponder the depths of man's sin. We grieve for our own race's evil, an evil from which we all partake and for which we are all responsible.

So Jesus is dead, brutally murdered. What hope is there for man? The darkness has overcome the light it would seem. Perhaps John meant "...the darkness has not overcome it yet." Could this be the end of the story?

No, for Christ Jesus, the perfect Lord of all, the Word which created the glorious universe could not be held by the tight grip of death! He rose again, destroying sin and it's penalty! His light shone across the world as he defeated the darkness once and for all! Through this He saved the creation!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already..." (John 3:16-18).

All we must do to be saved and escape the condemnation of sin and death is believe in Jesus Christ.

Peter's sermon in Acts 2 reveals the twist in the story:

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." (Acts 2:22-24)

Look at the underlined text. It was God's plan all along! From the fall of man to Christ's death and resurrection. God not only saw it coming, but He planned it! The Gospel story of Christ coming to save the world is mentioned as a story of God's glory by Paul (1 Timothy 1:11). Truly, this is a glorious God Who not only creates galaxies, but also plans all of time and loves the unlovely so much that He would send His Son to die for them.

Let this story of God's glory make us respond with all we've got so that we can say with the psalmist:

"Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens!
Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!
Praise Him with tambourine and dance;  praise Him with strings and pipe!
Praise Him with sounding cymbals;  praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!" (Psalm 150)