The glory of the Lord.

It’s an early summer morning after a hard night's rain; the sun is creaking through the eastern sky and  it’s a tremendous and stunning dawn.  The glory of the Lord has similarities to that sunrise. It is like those rays of eminence shattering the fog of the previous night’s condensation. Light replaces darkness. God’s insight, God’s truth, scatters our lack of knowledge. 

God’s glory appears very bright after the gloom of disparaging events, sour attitudes and maligned behaviors. The first rays of sunlight could be a description of the appearance of the glory of the Lord. God’s luminescent glory breaks through the humdrum collection of discouragement, boredom and frustration. The glory of the Lord is that feature or quality of God that truly defines him and changes us. It is his power and character translated to the human heart, mind and soul. It is his performance and his faithfulness coming alive in our conception of truth. It is His essence.

For the purpose of this weekend’s message and this pastor’s note, we are going to consider the Glory of the LORD in this way: “The Glory of the LORD is present when there is an internalization of the truth.”

What Exodus 40 shows us is brightness, brilliance, and overwhelming presence as the Glory of the LORD settles on the tabernacle and claims the attention of all the Children of Israel: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34-35).

How is this an internalization of the truth? It seems like the Glory of the LORD is more of a physical presence that kept Moses out of the tabernacle. John 1 actually helps us to put this together using the word, “tabernacle,” so that we grasp what is happening in Exodus 40 as well as in the whole of Scriptures. John sees the Glory of the LORD filling one man, Jesus, the Christ. Here are John’s opening words, inspired by God, to teach us about the Glory of the LORD: “And the Word [God] became flesh [Jesus] and dwelt [tabernacled] among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Here’s how this Glory of the LORD became an internalization of the truth. God, who is the Word of God and therefore the truth of God, settled Himself into a human being, the perfect son of God and Mary. God’s truth filled Jesus and that internalization of God’s truth caused the people around Jesus to see the Glory of the LORD. This also happened personally for John and the disciples. They saw Jesus’ glory. The Glory of the LORD settled on Him and in Him.

So what does this mean for us?

In short, this means we look at Jesus and see His personality. Because the Glory of the LORD became an internalization of the truth, Jesus will perfectly live out that truth. Or as John put it: “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Jesus is the Glory of the LORD because he does not overlook those whom the world would overlook: the widow of Nain who lost her son, the ten lepers who were tossed away from society and shunned,  and even those who betrayed Jesus’ allegiance and ran away (Peter and the other disciples). Jesus works with each individual according to the Glory of the LORD.  He offers grace. He forgives. He loves where love should not be expected. Jesus is unusual because He is filled with grace AND truth. 

My guess is that you could find Jesus reacting and working with someone in the Bible who is a lot like you in some way. I tend to think that is why Jesus had so many interactions with so many different people. With whom do you relate? Which person that Jesus meets in the gospels most resembles you? How might this strengthen your resolve knowing that Jesus’ grace and truth meets you in similar ways? “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). 

May the Glory of the LORD be with you so that you can more greatly experience the LIFE in His name!