The Glory of God

    I was reading the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, in John 11, when the Lord showed me something new (at least, new to me.) Jesus promised the crowd that if they would only believe, they would see the glory of God. I always wondered when and how they would see it. Suddenly I realized that the raising of Lazarus was itself the glory of God. Jesus was referring the glory to himself because he was the only one with power over death. He wasn’t referring to a distant place and time—he was referring to there and then. But how many in Bethany that day “believed” and “saw the glory of God” and how many saw only the miracle?

     Then I started looking at other evidences of the glory of God. Where else can we see it? In Psalm 19:1, David tells us that “the heavens declare the glory of God.” In Acts 7:55, Stephen “looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” And Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:6, tells us that God has given us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Finally, in Revelation 21, John indicates that the heavenly city “does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light.” 

     Before we close this piece, we should note another place where the glory of God can be shown and seen. Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Again, in Philippians 2:11, he refers to a time when “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That other place where the glory of God can be shown is in us, and we consider that the best way to show that glory is by getting closer to Christ and learning to know him. Private communication and one-on-one time together is the only way we really come to know another person. So prayer is us talking to the Lord and Bible reading is Him talking to us—let’s give Him all the time He needs with us.