The New Jerusalem has the glory of God as its content, and it expresses God by shining Him out to the entire universe (Rev. 21:10-11). The glory of God is intrinsically related to the economy of God. In His economy, God wants to make the same as He is in life and nature (but not in the Godhead) so that all His divine attributes may be expressed through man’s human virtues.
Our God is a God of glory, and His purpose is to bring many sons into glory. For this, He created us as vessels prepared unto glory, but we fell in sin: we came short of God’s glory. Through His redemption on the cross, Christ fulfilled the requirements of God’s glory, and by believing into the gospel of the glory of God we receive Christ as the hope of glory!
God has called us into His eternal glory: He predestinated us for glory, called us into glory, and will bring us into glory! Day by day we are being transformed into Christ’s image from glory to glory, and the goal of God’s organic salvation is glory!
Christ led the way into glory and now He is leading many sons into glory. The glory of God is in the church today, in the kingdom in the millennium, and in the New Jerusalem for eternity. God will glorify all the believers in Christ to make them His corporate expression in Christ, shining God out to the entire universe.
Our salvation is a story of glory, God’s economy will consummate in glory, and our destiny is glory! Hallelujah!
We need to see a panoramic view of the glory of God in the economy of God, and we need to cooperate with the Lord today to be renewed, sanctified, transformed, and built up so that God’s glory would spread from our spirit through our soul and into our body, and we would be transfigured into the body of His glory! Hallelujah!
A Panoramic View of the Glory of God in the Economy of God – as seen in the Bible
If we carefully study the Bible we will see that the glory of God is intrinsically related to the economy of God (see Eph. 1:10, 12; 3:9, 16-17, 21). Let us see a panoramic view of the glory of god in the economy of God throughout the Bible.
Our God is a God of glory. He appeared to our father Abraham as the God of glory (Acts 7:2), and He is the Father of glory (Eph. 1:17) strengthening us through His Spirit into our inner man according to the riches of His glory (Eph. 3:14, 16). Christ is the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8) and the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ for us to be illuminated and see (2 Cor. 4:6). The Spirit is also a Spirit of glory (1 Pet. 4:14). The entire Triune God is a God of glory!
God’s purpose is to bring many sons into glory. Christ passed through many sufferings and was perfected as the Author of salvation so that He may lead many sons into glory (Heb. 2:10), and this is a mystery – God’s wisdom predestined before the ages for our glory (1 Cor. 2:7). In Christ God graced us to the praise of the glory of His grace, that we would be to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:6-7, 12, 14).
God created us as vessels prepared unto glory (Rom. 9:23). We are created in God’s image and according to His likeness to be vessels of mercy prepared unto glory – we are destined for glory, that is, we are being prepared right now that we may express God corporately!
Sin is falling short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). To sin is not merely to make a mistake, but it is to fall short of God’s glory, to not express God in His glory. We have sinned and have contradicted the holiness and righteousness of God – instead of expressing God, we express sin and the sinful self, falling short of God’s glory. This offends God and brings all men under God’s condemnation, since we offend God’s holy being, break God’s righteous law, and fall short of God’s glory.
Christ’s redemption has fulfilled the requirements of God’s glory (Rom. 3:24-25; Heb. 9:5). Due to the fall of man, God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory stopped man from coming to God (see Gen. 3:24). But through His redemption, Christ fulfilled all the righteous, holy, and glorious requirements of God, and He has opened the way for us to come to God and for God to come into us. Now Christ is our propitiation place, the place where we can meet with God under the shedding of the blood, and we can come to God!
Through the gospel of the glory of God, God has called us into His eternal glory. We heard the gospel of the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Tim. 1:11) and through it we heard God’s call to His eternal glory (1 Pet. 5:10; 1 Thes. 2:12). God called us into His glory so that we may partake of His glory in Christ Jesus, and He is now perfecting us, establishing us, strengthening us, and grounding us.
We have been predestined for God’s glory, called into it, and will be brought into it (1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Thes. 2:12; Heb. 2:10). God predestinated us not merely to be good Christians or exemplary members of the church; He predestinated us for God’s glory, He called us into His glory, and He is making sure we are being brought into glory! He foreknew us, predestinated us, called us, justified us, and is now in the process of glorifying us (Rom. 8:29-30). The whole creation eagerly awaits the revelation (glorification) of the sons of God, in hope that the creation itself will enter into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:19-21).
Christ in us is the hope of glory. Hallelujah, Christ is now in us as the hope of glory (Col. 1:27) – He is a mystery that is full of glory now, but when He returns to glorify His saints we will be glorified with Him; until then, He is now in us as the hope of glory. When Christ our life is manifested, we will also be manifested with Him in glory (Col. 3:4). Our life, Christ, is now hidden, not manifested; but when He returned, we will be manifested with this life within us in Christ’s glory! We may have some crisis, we may have shortcomings, we may have some periods of discouragement, but deep within we have a hope of glory! Christ is our hope, and He as our real Joshua is fighting to bring us all into glory!
We are being transformed into the Lord’s image from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). As we spend time with the Lord, behold Him face to face, and enjoy Him day by day, we are being infused with what He is and what He has done; this results in an inward metabolic transformation and outward shape of His image! We are being transformed by the renewing of the mind to be in the image of Christ (Rom. 12:2). Though we may not see this outwardly, we are being daily transformed from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. Our salvation is a glorious process where glory is increasing in us day by day!
The goal of God’s organic salvation and the last stage of this salvation is glory (Heb. 2:10). Right now we may pass through sufferings and trials, but if we suffer with Him we will also be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17, 30). Our glorification is our participation in the goal of God’s predestination (1 Cor. 2:7). Daily He is spreading from our spirit into our soul and eventually into our body to completely saturate our being with His element, and the goal of His salvation in life is glory. At the time of our transfiguration, we will be fully saturated with God’s glory!
Christ as the Author, the Captain, the Pioneer, of our salvation is leading many sons into glory (Heb. 2:10). Hallelujah, Christ as a Man entered into glory through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and now He is in the heavens being very active to lead many sons into glory. He is not passively waiting for us to struggle to please God but actively leading us into glory through many trials, sufferings, and experiences that will help us be renewed, transformed, and glorified. Our destiny is glory; Christ cut the way into glory; now He is leading us into glory as the many sons of God.
We will enter into the highest stage of oneness — the oneness in the divine glory (John 17:22). The Lord Jesus prayed about it before He died, and the Father will accomplish this. The glory the Father gave the Son is the sonship with the Father’s life and nature, and this sonship was given to us, His believers, so that we also may be sons of God expressing the Father in the Son in His fullness. Christ is now perfecting us into one, even the highest oneness – the oneness in the divine glory, in the corporate full expression of God.
There is glory to God in the church. The Lord Jesus prayed about this in John 17:22-23, and today in the church there is glory to God in all His believers who enjoy Christ and live Christ for His magnification. To God is the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever, Amen (Eph. 3:21)! As we are daily strengthened into our inner man according to the riches of God’s glory, God is being wrought into us and will return to God with us. This is a two-way traffic: God being wrought into us and we being brought to God, and in this traffic the church takes the lead to give glory to God!
There will be the glory of God in the kingdom (Matt. 6:13; 16:27; 26:64; Rev. 5:12-13). In the millennium kingdom God will get all the glory, and every creature blesses Him and praises Him. Christ will be on the throne, God will be glorified, and we all will enjoy being in God’s glory for 1000 years. When the Son of Man will return to the clouds of heaven, He will rapture those who are ready and they will enjoy Christ in the wedding feast for one thousand years, and in this time God will get the glory!
The believers will be glorified with Christ to bear the glory of God for God’s expression in the New Jerusalem (Rom. 8:17, 30; Rev. 21:10-11). For eternity, all the believers in Christ will bear God’s glory and will be glorified with Christ in and as the New Jerusalem. Right now we are in the process of being glorified – the process of God’s organic salvation. But for eternity in the New Jerusalem God as light will shine in Christ as the Lamb-lamp and through the holy city as the diffuser – we will be the expression of God’s glory to the whole universe. We are glory-bound, we are being glory-filled, and glory is our destiny!
The glory of God in the economy of God involves deification. The entire Bible shows us that God became a man so that man may become God in life, in nature, and in expression (John 1:14; Col. 3:4; Heb. 2:10; Rev. 21:10-11). God will not share His glory with anyone – you have to become the same as He is by being born of Him, growing in His life, and having His life transfigure you in His image, so that you may have God’s glory. In order to have the glory of God you have to be God in life, nature, constitution, and expression, but not in the Godhead. This is God’s economy, this is the process we are in today, and this will be our destiny!
God of glory, thank You for Your desire to bring many sons into glory, conforming them to the glorious image of Your Firstborn Son! You created us as vessels prepared unto glory, You called us into Your eternal glory, and You will bring us into Your glory! Hallelujah, Christ is in us as the hope of glory, and we are daily being transformed from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. Lord, You lead the way into glory as the Pioneer, and You are bringing us into God’s glory in Christ. Hallelujah, there is glory to God in the church, there will be glory to God in the kingdom, and we will all be in God’s glory expressing God corporately in the New Jerusalem! To God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever, AMEN!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Revelation (msg. 64), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem, week 8 / msg 8, Having the Glory of God,
- Further reading: recommending the verses in this article with the footnotes in the Recovery Version – they are very enlightening!
- Hymns on this topic:
# Christ is the hope of glory, my very life is He, / He has regenerated and saturated me; / He comes to change my body by His subduing might / Like to His glorious body in glory bright! (Hymns #949)
# O Lord, we’ve seen Your purpose to bring the many sons / To share in Your full glory and see Your kingdom come. / We praise You, Lord, this glory is You, Yourself within, / Spread out in all Your people to shine in all of them. (Hymns #1290)
# By that final transformation, / We’ll be fully sanctified; / God will bring us into glory, / With His Son identified. / All creation is expecting / Sons of God revealed to be, / That they might be freed from bondage / Into glorious liberty. (Hymns #741)
# God’s eternal economy / Is to make man the same as He is / In life and nature, / But not in the Godhead / And to make Himself one with man / And man one with Him / Thus to be enlarged and expanded in His expression / That all His divine, that all His divine / Attributes may be expressed in human virtues. (Song on, God’s economy)
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