What Glory is and How to benefit from the Glory of God Part 2

Theme: Understanding the Glory of God

Message for Sunday October 11^th 2015

What Glory is and How to benefit from the Glory of God Part 2

Introduction: Last week we began to look at glory in relation to God and we established that God’s glory is all that God is and has. We also saw that God’s glory is demonstrated by His qualities and we began to examine five of these qualities namely: His Holiness, His word, His name, His Love and His power. Last week, we saw His holiness and his word. This week, we shall be looking at His name, love and power.

1.     His name: As is often said, the name of a person can give one an insight into his or her personality. God is referred to by many names in His word – the Bible and each of these names are covenanted to his people with specific roles He plays in their lives. For example in Gen.17:1, He introduced Himself as Almighty God. By His name here, it is evident that He is the greatest and the most set apart person in the entire universe to whom all must pay allegiance.

In Exodus 3:6, He called Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Making him the transgenerational God whose blessings outlive its beneficiaries and whose curses also outlive one generation until they are averted by sacrifice. In the past, the sacrifices used to be the blood of goats and bulls but in the new dispensation, the sacrifice was offered once by his Son Jesus Christ. This shows Him to be merciful and gracious.  

In the same account of the burning bush in Exodus 3:14, when Moses sought to know how to introduce Him to the children of Israel He was sending Him to, He referred to Himself by this name: I AM THAT I AM. This goes to show that to his creation, He is able to play His role as God in all its ramifications.

Further, He said these words to Moses in Exodus 6:2-3: “… I am the LORD:

And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. Here, He clarifies to Moses his role as a covenant keeping God. This is so exciting when you realize here that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had all since transitioned from time into eternity. This should make us understand that the God we are talking about never forgets to do what He promises. He also never fails no matter how long it seems to take.

We can go on and on about his name but in spite of all the gloriousness of His name, He has chosen to exalt His word above all His name [Ps.138:2]. This explains why God means different things to different people and idols are also called gods. However, God’s word is the same as His Son. [John 1:1-3, 14-17]. And He has conferred His name on his Son and made His Son’s name to be the name above any other name that at His name, every knee shall bow and confess that He is the Lord. His Son however worked for it that is why He also got the name by conquest and the father also caused Him to inherit it. See Philippians 2:5-11, Heb.1:1-2, 4, 8-10.

In summation here, God’s name is Jesus the Christ. This is the only name that we are called to believe in for salvation, deliverance; protection, longevity; victory etc. and we would not be disappointed. Those claiming that God permits evil lifestyles are not speaking about the true God; they are speaking about the pretentious one who is God’s archenemy; Satan.

2.     His Love: Another great quality of the true God is that He is love. In the book of 1John 4:8, we are told that God is love. This is his great attribute that cannot be copied. It is His DNA. To walk in love, you must be born into His family to receive His DNA otherwise it is impossible. Love is the manifestation of the fruit of the spirit of the believer. It is what proves that a person has actually become one of God’s children. See Gal.5:22; 1Jn.2:5, 8. Last month, we took time to look at the characteristics of the love of God. So we shall not spend time there now. Should you desire to do a further study, see 1Cor.13 and John 13:34-35; 15:13-17.

3.     His power: So much can be said of his power. However, we have spoken about some of His power when we were looking at His word. For instance He created the entire universe by His power [Ps.33:6, 9; Isa.42:5]. He is the only one who has the ability to measure the sky, decide the boundaries of the sea determining how far it can go and overturn the mountains from their roots [Jer.5:22; Job 9:5-12].

He is the one who stopped the flow of the red sea that the children of Israel may pass through on dry land [Ex.14]. He kept them and fed them forty years without having to seek aid from anyone [Ps.114; Deu.8:3-4].

He is the one with the ability to reverse time like He did for Joshua and Hezekiah. Joshua 10:12-14; 2Kings 20:8, 10-11; Isaiah 38:5-8.

He also is the only one with the ability to kill and make alive. He is the God of all knowledge and by Him, actions of men are weighed. He is the only one who can tell what is in a man’s thought without the man speaking. He knows the end from the beginning and has the power to bring what He says to pass. He is the eternal Judge from whom nothing can be hidden. He holds the entire universe under the influence of His word. This explains why even when Satan was allowed to tempt Jesus, he did not argue over the authority of the word of God. See 1Sam.2:1-9, Heb.1:2, 1Sam.16:6-7.

Having known what God’s glory is, let us now look at some steps we can take to benefit from it.

First, we must take God’s side through repentance so that we can be forgiven our sin and receive the gift of eternal life. John 3:3, 6-7 & 16-19; Deu.30:19-20.

Second, we have to deepen our relationship with Him through prayer, His word and fellowship with likeminded people who would help us improve in our walk with Him. This was the example Jesus and the early Church fathers set for us. Mark 1:35, Acts 4:23-24 and Ps.1:1-3.

Third, the more we grow in our knowledge of Him, the more grace we would receive from Him and therefore, the more of His glory can be manifested in and through us. 2Pet.1:2; 3:18; 2Cor.3:18. You would recall that the more Moses understood God, the more God revealed His glory through Him to the point that the glory of God rubbed off on him without his first realizing it. See Ex.34; 29-30, 35. The more we behold the Lord, the more we are transformed to become more and more glorious like Him.

However, this blessing is meant for those who have entered into the covenant relationship of the New Birth with the Lord. The bible says that Christ in you is the hope of glory and this mystery was hidden from the foundation of the world for our glory. They are not hidden from us but for us to be able to discover them. If you desire this new birth experience so as to take advantage of what God has given us, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved and granted access to the mysteries of God that would enable you manifest His glory on earth. When Jesus was about to round off His mission on earth, he said he had brought glory to God by fulfilling His purpose. See John 17:4. If you want to be able to say the same thing when the time comes, please say the following prayer out loud and God would honor your faith:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

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Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!