“And he … showed me
the holy city, Jerusalem
… having the glory of God”
(Rev. 21:10-11):
Glory is
the expression of God, God expressed in splendor.
An outstanding feature of the New Jerusalem
is that it has the glory of God, His expression :
The entire city of New Jerusalem
will bear the glory of God,
which is God Himself
shining out through the city.
The glory of God
will actually be the content of the New Jerusalem,
for this city will be completely filled with His glory;
this indicates
that the city is a vessel
to contain God and express Him.
The glory of God
is actually God Himself
being manifested;
the fact that the New Jerusalem
is full of God’s glory
means that God is manifested in this city.
The church today
also should have God’s glory,
manifesting and expressing Him
in this marvelous divine attribute.
The glory of God
is intrinsically related to
the economy of God :
God is a God of glory.
God’s purpose
is to bring many sons
into glory.
God created us as vessels
prepared unto glory.
Sin is
falling short of God’s glory.
Christ’s redemption
has fulfilled
the requirements of God’s glory.
Through the gospel of the glory of God,
God has called us
into His eternal glory.
We have been predestined for God’s glory,
called into it,
and will be brought into it.
Christ in us
is the hope of glory.
We are being transformed
into the Lord’s image
from glory to glory.
The goal of God’s organic salvation,
and the last stage of this salvation,
is glory.
Christ as the Author, the Captain, the Pioneer,
of our salvation
is leading many sons
into glory.
We will enter
into the highest stage of oneness
—the oneness in the divine glory.
There is
glory to God
in the church.
There will be
the glory of God
in the kingdom.
The believers
will be glorified with Christ
to bear the glory of God
for God’s expression
in the New Jerusalem.
The glory of God
in the economy of God
involves deification
—God becoming man
that man may become God
in life, in nature, and in expression.
God has called us
to enter into His kingdom and glory :
God’s glory
goes with His kingdom
and is expressed
in the realm of His kingdom :
The kingdom is the realm
for God to exercise His power
so that He may express His glory.
The shining of the kingdom
is for the glorification of the Father.
The kingdom of God
is God being manifested through us;
the expression of God from within us
is the kingdom.
The kingdom of God
is God’s manifestation
in His glory
with His authority
for His divine administration;
hence, entering into the kingdom of God
and entering into the expressed glory of God
take place at the same time
as one thing.
Through the gospel
God has called us
“unto the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ” :
The glory which the Father has given the Son
is the sonship with the Father’s life and divine nature
to express the Father in His fullness.
This glory the Son has given to His believers
so that they also may have the sonship
with the Father’s life and divine nature
to express the Father in the Son in His fullness.
God has called us
unto the obtaining of
this glory, the glory of the divine life and the divine nature
to express the Divine Being.
The gospel is
the gospel of the glory of Christ :
Christ is
the image of God
and the effulgence of His glory;
hence, the gospel of Christ
is the gospel of His glory
that illuminates and shines forth.
The gospel is
the gospel of the glory of Christ,
which illuminates, radiates, and shines
in our hearts.
Through the illumination
of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
the Christ of glory as the excellent treasure
is received by the believers;
now the shining reality of Christ,
the embodiment and expression of the Triune God,
is the treasure within us.
God shines in our hearts
that we may shine on others
so that they may have
the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ,
that is, the knowledge of Christ,
who expresses and declares God.
Those who receive
the gospel of glory through our shining
will have Christ as the precious treasure
dispensed into them;
then, like us,
they will be earthen vessels
containing this priceless treasure.
The Lord Jesus
is coming
“to be glorified in His saints” (2 Thes. 1:10):
Christ is the Lord of glory,
and He was glorified
in His resurrection and ascension.
Christ is in us
as the hope of glory
to bring us into glory.
The coming again of Christ in glory
has two aspects:
On the one hand,
the Lord Jesus
will come from the heavens with glory.
On the other hand,
He will be glorified in His saints;
that is, His glory
will be manifested
from within His members,
causing their body of humiliation
to be transfigured into His glory,
conforming it
to the body of His glory.
“He comes, He comes,
Christ comes
to glorify me!
/ My body He’ll transfigure,
like His own
it then will be.
/ He comes, He comes,
redemption to apply!
/ As Hope of glory
He will come,
His saints to glorify”
(Hymns, #949).
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7 replies on “Having the Glory of God”
Prophecy note, 17 August 2014
When others see
that we are not anxious about our living,
the light of the lamp
will penetrate into their being
and shine within them.
This is not the general shining from outside;
it is the particular shining from within.
If we are proper kingdom people,
we shall be a lamp
without any covering
shining into others.
This inward shining
penetrates the inward being of others
and convinces them.
Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus
will eventually become a glorified son of God.
We will all be brought into the glory of God
and shine with His glory.
This is the full salvation of all those
who believe in Christ.
At that time,
we will bear
the righteousness of God outwardly,
be saturated
with the holiness of God inwardly,
and shine in the realm of His full glory
as His sons.
In this glory
God will be expressed
in a full way
in His redeemed, transformed,
and glorified people.
This will be the ultimate issue
of the dispensing
of the processed Triune God.
The shining of God in our hearts
is to illumine us
that we may know
the glory in Christ’s face.
The glory of God
manifested in the face of Jesus Christ
is the God of glory
expressed through Jesus Christ,
who is the effulgence of the glory of God;
to know Him
is to know the God of glory.
God shines in our hearts
that we may shine on others
so that they may have
the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ,
that is, the knowledge of Christ,
who expresses and declares God.
For us to be redeemed in our body
is not only to enjoy the full divine sonship
but also to have our body of humiliation
transfigured
and conformed to the body of Christ’s glory.
When the Lord Jesus returns,
our body will be
transfigured, fully redeemed, glorified.
This is
the ultimate consummation
of God’s salvation.
After we are transfigured,
we will be the same as Christ
in all three parts of our being.
Day 6
In 2 Thessalonians 1:10
Paul speaks of Christ
coming to be glorified in His saints.
The Lord is
the Lord of glory.
He has been glorified
in His resurrection and ascension.
Now He is in us
as the hope of glory
to bring us into glory.
At His coming back,
on the one hand,
He will come
from the heavens with glory,
and on the other hand,
He will be glorified
in His saints.
For Him to be glorified in His saints
means that His glory will be manifested
from within His members.
It will transfigure their body of humiliation
into His glory
like His glorified body.
He will be
marveled at, admired, wondered at,
in us, His believers,
by the unbelievers.
From Colossians 1:27
we know
that we have Christ in us
as our hope of glory.
This indwelling Christ
is the coming glory.
Christ will come
from the heavens,
but He will also come out
from within us.
Therefore, the coming of the Lord
is both from the heavens to the earth
and also from within us.
For Christ to come from within us
is for Him to be glorified in us.
Christ is now within us as glory.
But this Christ of glory
is concealed in us;
He has not yet been manifested.
At His coming back,
the Christ of glory within us
will be glorified in us.
This means
that He will come out of us
and will be made manifest from within us.
Thus, His coming
will be a marvel.
This is the reason
that Paul says
that when Christ comes,
He will be glorified in His saints
and marveled at in all those who believe.
The Christ
who is glorified in us
will be marveled at
by unbelievers.
We have Christ in us,
and we are in the process of being filled with Christ.
But our Christ is veiled,
even to us.
When the Christ of glory
comes out from within us
and is manifested,
others will marvel at us.
The day will come
when the Christ in you, the hidden Christ,
will be made manifest.
That manifestation
will actually be
the glorification of Christ in us.
When He comes out from within us,
He will be marveled at
by all the unbelievers.
For us to be redeemed in our body
is not only to enjoy the full divine sonship
but also to have our body of humiliation transfigured
and conformed to the body of Christ’s glory.
When the Lord Jesus returns,
our body will be
transfigured, fully redeemed, glorified.
This is
the ultimate consummation of God’s salvation.
After we are transfigured,
we will be the same as Christ
in all three parts of our being.
In Philippians 3:21
Paul refers to our body
as “the body of our humiliation.”
This describes our natural body,
which is made of worthless dust
and damaged by sin, weakness, sickness, and death.
But one day
this body will be transfigured
and conformed to the body of Christ’s glory.
Christ’s body of glory
is His resurrected body,
which is a mystery.
On the day of His resurrection,
He appeared to His disciples
with such a body.
Although He had a body
that could be seen and touched,
He came into a room
while the doors were shut.
Christ’s resurrected body,
the body of Christ’s glory,
is saturated with God’s glory
and transcendent over corruption and death.
The transfiguration of our body
will take place
at Christ’s appearing from the heavens.
At the time of the Lord’s coming back,
He will transfigure our body of humiliation.
Hence, we are waiting for Christ to come back
so that we may be brought
into the ultimate consummation of God’s salvation
—the transfiguration of our body.
Day 5
Second Corinthians 4:4 indicates
that the terms God, image, Christ, glory, gospel, and illumination
are all in apposition to one another;
thus, they all
refer to the same wonderful person.
God is the image,
the image is Christ,
Christ is the glory,
the glory is the gospel,
and the gospel is the illumination.
The image of God
is Christ.
As the image of God,
Christ is the expression of the invisible God.
Christ is the glory.
This is confirmed by Hebrews 1:3,
which says
that Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory.
Christ, the glory,
is the gospel.
Acts tells us
that the believers preached
Christ Jesus as the gospel.
This shows
that the gospel is not
something separate from Christ;
rather, Christ is the gospel.
The gospel is God Himself
embodied and expressed in Christ.
The gospel is
the illumination, the enlightenment.
The gospel is
the gospel of the glory of Christ,
which illuminates, radiates, and shines
in the heart of man.
When the gospel came to us,
it came to us by shining,
and this shining brought into us Christ,
who is the image of the processed Triune God.
As a result,
Christ, the living person,
was illuminated into our being.
The shining of God in our hearts
is to illumine us
that we may know
the glory in Christ’s face.
The glory of God
manifested in the face of Jesus Christ
is the God of glory
expressed through Jesus Christ,
who is the effulgence of the glory of God;
to know Him
is to know the God of glory.
God shines in our hearts
that we may shine on others
so that they may have
the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ,
that is, the knowledge of Christ,
who expresses and declares God.
We need to preach the gospel
in a very illuminating way.
This means
that while we are preaching,
God shines into the hearts of those
to whom we are speaking.
We also need to help them
to call on the name of the Lord Jesus
in order that they would be brought
to the face of Christ,
have personal contact with Him,
and experience God’s shining
in their hearts.
To preach in this way
is to present
not merely a gospel of certain facts
but a gospel of glory.
Those who receive the gospel of glory
will have Christ as the precious treasure
dispensed into them.
Then, like us,
they will be earthen vessels
containing this treasure.
The Christ of glory
as the excellent treasure
is received by the believers
through the illumination of the gospel
of the glory of Christ.
We need to remember
that we have within us the treasure,
a living person
who is more excellent than the world.
Christ is the most excellent One
in the whole universe;
there is nothing
that is more excellent than He.
Since we have Christ
as the treasure, the most excellent One and the most lovely One,
we do not love the world.
It is not
that we should not love the world
but that the world is inferior
to the treasure, the excellent and lovely Christ.
We are the earthen vessels
to contain the Christ of glory
as the excellent treasure.
These vessels
are like today’s camera,
into which Christ the figure enters
through the flash of God’s shining.
The shining reality of Christ
is the treasure in us, the earthen vessels.
Outwardly
we are earthen vessels,
but inwardly
we have a priceless treasure
—Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God
to be the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
This treasure has a power,
and this power is excellent.
Christ as the life-giving Spirit in us
is the One who shines and works.
This is the treasure
we have in us.
Day 4
Which in 2 Thessalonians 2:14
refers to salvation
in sanctification and belief
in the preceding verse.
God chose us unto salvation in eternity,
and then in time
He called us
unto the obtaining of the glory of our Lord.
Salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth
is the procedure;
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord
is the goal.
The glory of the Lord
is that He, as the Son of God the Father,
possesses the Father’s life and nature
that He may express the Father.
To obtain the Lord’s glory
is to be in the same position
as the Son of God
that we may express the Father.
Second Thessalonians 2:14 says
that God has called us through the gospel
so that we may obtain
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the glory given to the Son by the Father,
which is the sonship
with the Father’s divine life and nature
to express the Father in His fullness.
The Son has given this glory to us
so that we also may have the sonship
with the Father’s divine life and nature
to express the Father in the Son
in the Son’s fullness.
What a glory!
God has called us
to obtain
this glory, the glory of the divine life and the divine nature
to express the Divine Being.
According to Romans 8:21,
when the believers are glorified,
they will enjoy
the glory of the children of God
with its freedom.
Although we are sons of God,
we have not yet been manifested,
for we are still under a veil.
One day
the veil will be removed,
and that will be our glorification.
The sons of God
will come out from under the veil
and will be revealed
to the whole creation.
Then the sons of God
will enjoy the glory of the children of God
with its freedom,
and the whole universe
will behold the sons of God in glory
and participate in the freedom of this glory.
As a result of the fall of Adam,
the entire creation
is under bondage and corruption.
All creation,
which has been subjected to vanity,
is groaning,
and it is travailing together in pain until now.
Therefore, creation is
anxiously watching, eagerly awaiting
the revelation of the sons of God
in the hope that it will also be freed
from the slavery of corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
This indicates
that God has promised
that we, the believers in Christ,
will be glorified
and will enjoy
the glory of the children of God with its freedom.
However, creation will share
only in the freedom of our glory,
not in the glory itself.
When the believers are glorified,
they will be in the glory of the divine sonship.
Hebrews 2:10 says
that the Father with the Son
is leading us, the many sons, into glory.
We are sons of God,
but we are not yet in glory.
Just as a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly,
we are being led into glory.
One day
we will be in glory
as the many sons of God.
Our glorification
will be our full sonship.
We will be glorified
in the divine life and the divine nature
to bear the glory of the Triune God
for His expression.
Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus
will eventually become a glorified son of God.
We will all be brought into the glory of God
and shine with His glory.
This is the full salvation of all those
who believe in Christ.
At that time,
we will bear the righteousness of God outwardly,
be saturated with the holiness of God inwardly,
and shine in the realm of His full glory as His sons.
In this glory
God will be expressed in a full way
in His redeemed, transformed, and glorified people.
This will be the ultimate issue
of the dispensing
of the processed Triune God.
Day 3
The kingdom is the realm
in which God exercises His power
so that He can express His glory.
God’s calling
is according to His selection,
and it follows His selection.
As worshippers of idols,
the believers were in the kingdom of Satan (Matt. 12:26).
Now, through the salvation in Christ,
they are called
and have believed into the kingdom of God,
which is the sphere
for them to worship and enjoy God
under the divine ruling
with a view of entering into God’s glory.
God’s glory
goes with His kingdom.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:12
Paul exhorts the believers to walk
in a manner worthy of God.
If he himself
had not walked worthily of God,
how could he
have exhorted others to do so?
In this matter also,
he set an example
for the believers to follow.
Verse 12 indicates
that walking worthily of God
is related to entering into His kingdom
and being ushered into His glory.
The thought here,
in contrast to that in verses 1 through 11,
is quite deep.
Here we have a matter
often neglected by Christians.
Not many believers
are taught to have a Christian walk
that will enable them
to enter into the kingdom of God,
a walk that will usher them into God’s glory.
Many Christians have never heard such a word.
Nevertheless, this is included
as part of Paul’s teaching
to young believers.
To walk worthily of God
is actually to live God.
Only a life that lives God
is worthy of God.
When we live God,
we walk worthily of Him.
Such a walk
will lead us into the kingdom
and usher us into the glory of God.
This is the goal of God’s calling.
God has called us
to enter His kingdom and glory.
Eventually, our shining
will be for the glorification of the Father,
for it will give glory to Him.
Concerning this,
the Lord Jesus says,
“Let your light shine before men,
so that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father
who is in the heavens” (Matt. 5:16).
As regenerated children of God,
we should have good works.
These good works
are the behavior of the kingdom people
through which others may see God
and be brought to Him.
Our shining
will glorify the Father
because it expresses
what God is.
To glorify the Father
is to give Him the glory.
Glory is God expressed.
When the kingdom people express God
in their behavior and good works,
others see God
and give glory to God.
God hidden
is God Himself.
But when God is expressed,
that is the glory of God.
If as the kingdom people we have such a shining light,
God will be expressed in this shining,
and all those around us
will see
the glory, God expressed.
When others see God in our shining,
that is the glory of God.
Therefore, the shining of the kingdom as light
is for the glorification of the Father.
Matthew 5:15 speaks of the light
shining to “all who are in the house.”
The light as a city on a mountain
shines over the outsiders,
whereas the lighted lamp on the lampstand
shines over those
who are in the house.
As the city,
the light shines upon people,
but as the lamp in the house,
the light shines into people.
This indicates
that our influence over others
should not be just outward
but also inward.
When others see
that we are not anxious about our living,
the light of the lamp
will penetrate into their being
and shine within them.
This is not the general shining from outside;
it is the particular shining from within.
If we are proper kingdom people,
we shall be a lamp
without any covering
shining into others.
This inward shining
penetrates the inward being of others
and convinces them.
Day 2
The last step of God’s great salvation
is to bring His many sons into glory.
Romans 8 tells us
that God’s work of grace upon us
began with His foreknowing,
passed through His predestination, calling, and justification,
and will end with His glorification.
Also, Romans 8 tells us
that the whole creation
eagerly awaits the revelation (glorification) of the sons of God,
in hope that the creation itself
will enter into the freedom of the glory
of the children of God.
This will be accomplished
by the Lord’s coming back,
at which time
we will be manifested with Him in glory;
this is our hope.
This glorification of the sons of God,
as the goal of God’s salvation,
will last through the millennial kingdom
and will be manifested in full
in the New Jerusalem for eternity.
We have been predestinated
to be glorified.
This is our future.
Today Christ is living in us as our hope of glory.
Glory in Colossians 1:27
is “the glory” in Greek
and denotes Christ,
who is
God’s expression,
the effulgence of God’s glory.
Hence, this glory
is not a thing
but a living person,
the indwelling Christ,
the all-inclusive embodiment of the processed Triune God.
Through regeneration
Christ as the glory
came into us,
and now we have the seed of glory in us
as our hope of glory.
When Christ returns
to glorify us,
this glory will come out of us
and will be manifested to the fullest extent.
Hence, the glory is a hope;
it is the hope of glory.
Christ Himself
is this hope of glory.
In the completing stage
of God’s full salvation,
the believers
reach the goal of God’s predestination.
This goal
is our glorification.
Our glorification will be
our participation in the goal of God’s predestination.
We are vessels of mercy,
which God has before prepared unto glory,
and He has called us into this glory.
Christ Himself
is our hope of glory,
and today we exult and boast
in this hope of glory.
When this hope, Christ, is manifested,
we “also will be manifested with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
At that time,
God’s glory
will not only have spread
from our spirit into our soul
but will also be expressed
through our body.
The three parts of our being
—spirit, soul, body—
will be the same
as Christ is
and will be fully saturated with God’s glory.
This is our participation in the ultimate goal
to which God has predestinated us in eternity.
The glory in 2 Corinthians 3:18
is actually the life-giving Spirit.
From glory to glory
means from the Lord Spirit to the Lord Spirit,
because in this verse
glory and Spirit are synonyms.
Therefore, to be transformed from glory to glory
is to be transformed from the Spirit to the Spirit.
The more we live and walk
in the life-giving Spirit,
the more glory is added
into our being,
and the more we are transformed
into the same image
from glory to glory
which far surpasses
a mere outward improvement of behavior
according to religious or ethical teachings.
The glory of God
is the expression of God, God expressed.
When God is manifested,
that is glory.
We have been ordained for this glory
and called to this glory.
We are being transformed into this glory,
and we shall be brought into it.
Eventually, we shall be glorified with Christ
to bear the glory of God
for God’s expression in the New Jerusalem.
Day 1
The glory of God
is the very content of the New Jerusalem,
for the city is completely filled with His glory.
This means
that the city is a vessel
to contain and express God.
To illustrate this point,
let us consider a common table lamp:
a typical lamp
has an outer covering,
which is the lampshade,
and within the lamp
there is the fullness of light.
The lamp expresses the light,
and the light is the very content
of the lamp and the shade.
The glory of God
is simply God Himself
being manifested.
The New Jerusalem
is full of God’s glory;
therefore, God is manifested in this city.
The normal church life today
is the same:
it is full of God’s glory,
manifesting and expressing God.
A marvelous attribute of God
is glory.
Acts 7:2 says,
“The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham.”
Acts 7:55 says
that Stephen “looked intently into heaven
and saw the glory of God.”
Glory is
the expression of God,
God expressed in splendor.
God’s glory was a great attraction to Abraham,
separating him from the world unto God.
God’s glory was also a great encouragement and strength,
enabling Abraham to follow God.
Second Peter 1:3 says
that God has called us
to, or by, His own glory.
Furthermore, 1 Peter 5:10 says
that God has called us
into His eternal glory.
According to 2 Timothy 2:10,
God’s salvation
is with eternal glory.
This indicates
that eternal glory
is the ultimate goal
of God’s salvation.
God’s salvation
leads us
into His glory.
In the Gospel of John
we read
that the Word, who was God,
became flesh and tabernacled among us,
and that we beheld His glory.
John 1:18 goes on to say,
“No one has ever seen God;
the only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father,
He has declared Him.”
There is
glory in the declaration of God.
When we see God,
we see glory.
Romans 3:23 says,
“All have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God.”
Man was made by God in His image
in order that man may express Him for His glory.
But man sinned.
Now instead of expressing God,
man expresses sin and his sinful self.
Therefore, man is short of God’s glory.
Nevertheless, we have been ordained for God’s glory
and called to it.
As believers,
we are being transformed into this glory
and shall be brought into it.
Eventually we shall be glorified with Christ
to bear the glory of God
for God’s expression
in the New Jerusalem.
God created us as His vessels
to contain Him and express Him.
God makes known
the riches of His glory upon us, His vessels,
which He has prepared unto glory.
We were predestinated by His sovereignty
to be His containers, vessels of honor,
to express what He is in glory.
This will be fully revealed
in the New Jerusalem.
An outstanding feature of the New Jerusalem
is that it has the glory of God, His expression.
The entire city of New Jerusalem
will bear the glory of God,
which is God Himself
shining out through the city.
Actually, the glory of God
will be the content of the New Jerusalem,
for this city will be completely filled with His glory.
This indicates
that the city is a vessel
to contain God and express Him.
The fact that the New Jerusalem is full of God’s glory
means that God is manifested in this city.
The church life today
should also have God’s glory,
manifesting and expressing Him
in this marvelous divine attribute.