Again we quote, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory” (Psalm 84:11). Of what use is it for the Lord to speak to us of glory? What do we know about it? Why, we have it before us every day. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Still more plainly does the psalmist put it in these words, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! who hast set Thy glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). The heavens declare the glory of God, not only because they do His will, but because they are clothed with His glory. The glory of the sun when it shines in its strength is but the reflected glory of the Lord. That glory in which God dwells–the light which no man can approach unto–is partly revealed in the firmament. So it is true in the most literal sense, that Christ, the great Creator, is the Light of the world.
But grace and glory are equal and interchangeable. Thus we read that Christ is the brightness of the Father’s glory. The Revised Version has it, “the effulgence of His glory.” “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7). He is “full of grace and truth,” and “of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:14, 16). Therefore it is evident that grace and glory are the same in measure. When God gives grace, it is according to the riches of His glory; and when He gives glory, it is according to the riches of His grace. This will appear still more plainly.
There is power in the glory of God. Christ was raised from the dead “by the glory of the Father” (Romans 6:4). The inspired prayer for us is that we may be “strengthened with all power, according to the might of His glory” (Colossians 1:11, R.V.). What this power is, the heavens reveal. It is the power that holds them in their places. It is the power that they exert over the earth, the power by which all life is maintained. As we behold the glory of the sun, or of the heavens when they are studded with stars, and the moon is at her full, we may remember that they in their splendor are declaring the glory of God, and therefore are telling of the fullness and power of His grace, which is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
God’s glory is His goodness. The apostle tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Mark well that the coming short of the glory of God consists in the fact that men have sinned. If they had not sinned, they would not have come short of the glory of God. Therefore it is evident that the goodness of God is His glory. But it is by the goodness of God that men are saved. The apostle declares that it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Romans 2:4). And the psalmist says, “Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!” (Psalm 31:19). It is His goodness, or righteousness, which we are to seek, and which is put into and upon every one that believes. The goodness of God conceived the plan of salvation, and accomplishes the whole work of redemption. But “by grace are ye saved.” Therefore the grace of God is simply the manifestation to men of His goodness, and His goodness is His glory; therefore the grace and the glory of God are in reality the same thing.
“The Lord will give grace and glory.” When will He give these? Is it grace now and glory hereafter? No. He gives both now to those who take Him. He gives glory now in the form of grace, and grace hereafter in the form of glory. Hear the words of Christ, who is the brightness of the glory of God, when He prayed the Father, “Glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” Speaking of His disciples (not merely the twelve, but all who should believe on Him through their word), He said, “And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them” (John 17:5, 22). So that glory is ours now, if we will but have it.
When Christ came to this earth, His real nature did not appear to the most of those who saw Him. To them He was only an ordinary man. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” John 1:11. Yet He was the Son of God. Even so it is with those who through Him have received the adoption. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1,2).
With this agree the words of the apostle Paul: “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Philippians 3:20, 21).
Remember that Christ says He has given to His disciples the glory that the Father has given Him. That glory was once seen upon Christ when the three disciples were with Him in the Mount of Transfiguration. That same glory will be ours when he comes, although it does not yet appear. The brightness of His glory was veiled when He was on earth, and so it is in those in whom He dwells. But it is there nevertheless, only waiting the coming of the Lord to be revealed. And the apostle again says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:16-18). Mark, the glory is to be revealed in us. The glory will have been there all the time in the shape of the grace of God, and when He shall appear, it will be revealed.
This also appears in these words: “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:5,6). so the grace of the Lord has glory. It is glory.
But the interchangeability, or rather the identity of grace and glory, are further shown in these words: “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7).
That is, just as in this present time the glory of God is given to us in the shape of grace–grace according to the riches of His glory–so that we may be to the praise of the glory of His grace; even so in the ages to come, when the righteousness shall “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43), “the brightness of the firmament” (Daniel 12:3), with which they will be clothed, will only show forth the riches of His grace by which they were saved. The glory of the stars in which they will shine forever and ever will be but the flashing forth of the grace with which, in their mortal life, they were filled by the indwelling of Christ.
Note still further. We have learned that the goodness of God is His glory, and that it is with His goodness that He clothes us. Now read the further evidence that we, in this present time, receive glory from God: “But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory even as from the Lord the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, R.V.).
The allusion is here to the face of Moses when he was conveying the words of God to the people. He talked with God face to face, as a man with his friend, and his own face became glorified by the glory from the face of God. Thus we are to reflect the glory of God. But as Moses “wist not that the skin of his face shone” (Exodus 34:29), so the one who is progressing from glory to glory in the light of the Lord will himself be unconscious of the transformation.
In view of the transforming power of the glory of God, how rich is the blessing pronounced upon the children of Israel: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).
Therefore, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou art the glory of their strength” (Psalm 89:15-17).
Lord, Thy glory fills the heaven;
Earth is with its fullness stored;
Unto Thee be glory given,
Holy, holy, holy Lord!
Heaven is still with anthems ringing;
Earth takes up the angels’ cry,
Holy, holy, holy, singing,
Lord of hosts, Thou Lord Most High.
Jesus, hail! whose glory brightens
All above, and gives it worth;
Lord of life, Thy smile enlightens,
Cheers and charms Thy saints on earth;
When we think of love like Thine,
Lord, we own it love divine. H
allelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Amen.
King of glory, reign forever,
Thine an everlasting crown;
Nothing from Thy love shall sever
Those whom Thou shalt call Thine own;
Happy objects of Thy grace,
Destined to behold Thy face!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Amen.
Saviour, hasten Thine appearing;
Bring, O bring, the glorious day,
When, the awful summons hearing,
Heaven and earth shall pass away!
Then with golden harps we’ll sing,
Glory, glory to our King!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Amen.