I’ve seen it a number of times. A limo eases up in front of a building. The person who gets out probably owns the place. His suit, as the saying goes, costs more than my education. There’s an immediate respectful hush from passersby, who try not to gawk at the stretch Hummer, or the important person now surrounded by an entourage (whose clothing also costs more than my education).
We correctly judge that this scene of wealth isn’t the result of a winning lotto ticket. The guy at the center of it has probably gotten where he is by being the smartest person in the room–any room.
This is glory.
You probably cringe at my using that word in such a materialistic context, and yet it’s appropriate. Glory, after all, is an expression of life with its abilities, achievements, and potential. We could just as easily cite glory as belonging to a blossoming flower, or any life, for that matter, operating at full capacity, or peak maturity.
The problem with such generic glory lies in its severe limitations. The petals of those prize-winning roses will desiccate, and collapse into a pile of brown chaff. The once powerful lion will die in a heap, finally eaten by Hyenas and buzzards.
In this horizontal continuum, glory is fleeting.
And it’s possibly most tragic when seen among human beings. The athletic prowess that awed spectators, gets undermined by the revelation of appalling character failures. Talent that entertained so effectively, diminishes, its powers eroded by advancing age. Beauty once sought after, fades under the onslaught of wrinkles, weight, and gravity, finally resisting every artificial attempt to preserve its luster. And the genius of vast wealth? At the grave, every bank account nulls to zero–the amount each of us will have to take with us on our way out of this world.
At best these were all brief glimmers of a created glory. At worst, they did nothing worthwhile for anyone. The people admired, loved, worshiped, and emulated, only fell into a delusion about the greatness and permanency of their station. Those beholding it were stirred to lust or idolatry, and sometimes depression, or seething jealousy. At any rate, the Bible describes it as a kind of vain glory, one that is empty, and performs no function.
The formidable glory of God, however, by its own virtue of brilliance, works relentlessly, at once exposing, attracting, judging, and blessing, terrifying and thrilling.
From the midst of Israel’s apostate condition, Ezekiel writes,
8:4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.
Ezekiel had been witness to that glory in chapter 1 of his book. Having been captured by its awe, the prophet had exhausted the limits of human vocabulary to describe it (and what reader hasn’t had trouble comprehending the vision in that chapter?). Now its magnificence manifests again:
8:6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”
And so the effortless, intrinsic ability of divine glory to expose everything around it begins. And yet it is capable not only of illuminating the obvious things done in the open but also the hidden things, walled off from sight, in chambers we believe even God cannot access.
8:7 And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9 And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’”
The extremes of abomination only increase, uncovered by the limitless, effortless exposure of divine glory.
8:13 He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”
And again,
8:15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.”
God only need manifest Himself, and all things become clear, regardless of their degree or concealment.
Yet the same glory can exert an equally powerful attraction upon us:
John 1:14 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.
Sinners who stand so starkly naked in the glorious truth of His presence, can at the same time sense the full measure of His glorious promising grace. Yes, they say, “He is both terrible and beautiful.”
For this glory of God in Christ levels all human subterfuge, while inviting all comers into eternal embrace.
There is nothing temporary here. No incitement to jealousy or despair.
It is real glory at work.
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This is an updated edition of a post originally published on John Myer
Featured Image by lmaresz from Pixabay
