30th April - 7th May
BEHOLD HIS GLORYEvery time we gather for Worship as the people of God we are, by the grace of God, in the glorious presence of God himself (Heb. 12:18–29). That’s a big deal. Although the Lord doesn’t share/give his own glory to others (Isa. 48:11), He has created human beings in His image to reveal something of His glory to the rest of creation through reflecting his glory (Gen. 1:26–27). This is difficult to wrap our heads around because we have yet to experience or receive a vision of His divine glory. But be encouraged, that day is coming, at the final resurrection and the wedding metaphor of “consummation” of the faithful to Christ, we will see God and His glory in its fullness (1 John 3:2).
The Bible promises us a sublime vision and description of God and His glory, and yet it still falls short because we don't have the language to describe in full what it will be like. We do know that at the resurrection of our spiritual body—one glorified by the Holy Spirit, sinless and sins effect removed is necessary for the fullness of the vision of God to occur. 1 Cor.15:35–56, is the most thorough passage on the resurrected body in all Scripture, yet it doesn’t give us a lot of information on what our resurrected bodies will be like. Comparing Christian salvation to that offered in other religions or traditions is not salvation from the body, an escaping of the soul from the body, as the ancient Greeks thought. Rather, it is the salvation of the body, the purification and transformation, fit to live in God’s presence forever. We will now in this glorified state, see God face-to-face (1 Cor. 13:12). Given that the Lord is invisible and thus cannot be seen with our physical eyes (1 Tim. 1:17), how will that be possible? Again, Scripture does not give us a full explanation. Attempts have been made over the centuries by theologians to explain the how. But in the end this is conjecture and have to settle for “we do not know”. Nevertheless, we do know that we will see God and that the vision of Him will fully satisfy our deepest longings forever. QUESTIONSWhat are you looking forward to?
What has been the most memorable/best experience you have ever had so far? Do you consider seeing God is the highest end, the purpose of our existence? If it is, the actual vision, not our speculations, will be far more glorious, beautiful, and satisfying than our earthly imaginings. The best experiences of this life cannot even begin to be compared to what it will be like to see God. Do we really believe that? Do we long to see the face of God? Let us seek the Lord and ask Him regularly to give us a yearning, a longing to see Him as He is. |
