From:
A reader
To: Steve Van Nattan
Subject: Glory
I have searched through your word search net and have looked at how the word glory
is used and applied in scripture. I still can not get a definition or a wrap insight
as to what it applies only to whom it applies.
-- Is glory the Presence of God?
-- Is it His overall saving plan for man?
-- Is the word glory like crediting Him?
-- Is it the preeminence of Christ?
-- Is it the brilliance of LIGHT into our hearts that makes
us
fall on our knees.
-- Is it a Heavenly word of praise reserved for God as
to the
completion
of his works because we now see and hear it?
-- Is it that God made us in
his image and then makes us
into
his likeness, through Christ?
I don't want to use the word "glor"y flippantly; I want my heart to
know, my LIFE in Christ, to give the glory to Him that He so deserves.
I would greatly appreciate your views and I wouldn't be surprised if you said
it was all of the above but I'm still trying to go deeper into the real meaning
as I know that it is to be applied to Whom I believe and I don't want any un-worthiness
or non-fruit to be present . This is hard for me to express but this one word,
glory, keeps coming up inside of me.
Thanking you in advance, I am Carol __________
Good
word study, and your questions are great. The answer is "yes" to all of them.
Because God is infinite, any adjective that applies to him, AS USED IN THE KING
JAMES BIBLE, is limited only by our limitations.
Also, there is a rule of exegesis, the study of the words of the text of the Bible--
"If the plain sense makes good sense, do not look for any other sense."
The meanings you found, and possibly a couple more that you missed, tell you the
context of the word "glory", as used of God. God did not give you his Word for
you to bury yourself in some monastic picky panic party over such details.
Here is what he wants of you:
Psalms 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name;
worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
God is far more interested in your personal approach to him in worship, in your
words, than in your use of the vocabulary details. Just use the words he gave
you from the Bible.
Revelation 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honour, and glory, and blessing.
Try a simple exercise in getting closer to your God-- Step up to a rose and take
a sniff, or look at the moon rising, and just tell God, in your own words, what
you think about his creative works in that thing and at that moment. Just talk
to him. He really likes that. If Jesus got into trouble with the Pharisees for
spending too much time (according to them) with publicans and sinners, imagine
how he likes to be with YOU, his child for whom he died, when you are paying attention
to him !!
If the word "glory" is not in your words and praise to him at some point, Glory
is what he receives from you, even if you don't know it.
Do you know that YOU have glory?
Psalms 57:8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp:
I myself will awake early.
9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people:
I will sing unto thee among the nations.
Psalms 108:1 (Song of David) O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise,
even with my glory.
When you are "feeling good" in holy living, your are sins confessed, then turn
to God and say, "Here God, this is your work in me, I give it back to you." That
is what David meant above. The glory God loaned you then goes back to him, and
he is intensely pleased with your spirit. He will then give you a larger measure
of glory, knowing that you will give it right back to him. We talk about wanting
to be a good testimony. There is NO way to be a better testimony than to give
God the glory over and over through the day for blessings. When the wicked hear
this, they are silenced. When the righteous hear you give God the glory, they
are refreshed and challenged to do the same.
Many,
many, times I have given God the glory for rain or sunshine or whatever, and the
person before me brightened up and started praising God with me. God is omnipresent,
in them and in you, and there is something beyond us in him that bursts forth
when two saints start praising God and giving him the glory before other men.
He seems to add a great power to the moment in which he is intensely exalted.
And, YOU will never feel better about yourself before God than at such times.
This
is what is meant by "worship" in the Word of God, and it is very hard to find
in the Body of Christ these days, especially on Sunday morning.
Just do it, stop fretting about the vocabulary so much. I am not belittling your
zeal, but you could get lost in this study and miss the application of it.
In Christ Jesus
Steve Van Nattan
2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's
sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory.
