Rising from the pages of God’s Word comes an exhortation which is repeated many times and with many different wordings, but the essence remains constant, as in Psalm 22:23. You who fear Yahweh, praise Him; All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him, all you seed of Israel. Because we Gentile believers are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:29), we therefore share in this inspiring exhortation to glorify the God of Israel.
For those born again by the Spirit of God, this should not be difficult. We know that through Christ, Yahweh is revealed to us as overtly glorious. Of all the subjects and objects of our possible meditations, this is the pinnacle of all that demands our attention. On the glorious splendour of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate was the commitment of David’s thought life (Psalm 145:5). No subject is more worthy of a Christians’ daily attention than focusing on and walking in the reality of God’s glory.
The world happily follows the arch enemy of God, who constantly challenges believers to relegate the God of glory to a low place in their priorities. The allurements of fleshly pleasures and materialistic possessions are daily calling God’s people to exchange the glory of God for self-glory. The Lord challenged Israel through the prophet Isaiah, to whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? (Isaiah 46:5). Obviously, the answer is no-one. No human, and no angelic being is holy or majestic enough to even be compared with Yahweh. Yet, our self-deceiving hearts (Jer 17:9) are inclined to distraction, to self-promotion, and to anything that de-escalates the transcendent glory of God.
Although God alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see (1 Timothy 6:16), yet He has provided a single way of access for sinful humanity to Himself. By God’s immeasurable grace he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1:2-3). Access to God is precisely as Jesus said, no one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). Jesus alone, being divine in nature, is qualified to redeem sinners of their sin and grant access to His holy heavenly Father. Jesus alone opened a path of access to God through the Cross of Calvary. Therefore, it is right that saved sinners proclaim that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God.
God, who had previously been unapproachable is now approachable through the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 17:3, Jesus prayed, this is eternal life, that they (sinners) know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Through faith in Jesus, we are not only able to know about God, but we are able to know God actually and personally. This is a magnificent expression of God’s glorious character; He wants to be known, and He has done everything necessary for rebellious humanity to know Him.
This amazing gospel truth is both humbling and exciting. As Christians, we are a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).
To be continued…
