His Glory is Glory-Us
Today, I’m inspired to write about the nature of God’s glory and our ultimate union with Him. Both the wort art piece I created (His Glory is Glory-Us) and Revelation 19:6-9 came to mind when reflecting on these things:
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
To be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb? What a blessing! What will that day be like? I can only imagine. When we will see God’s glory as immortal beings, we will behold the One who is so glorious, so perfect, so majestic! No wonder the great multitude in heaven praises God forever. We will not be able to get enough of Him, ever!
When I think about the importance of humans to God, I’m struck every time with the reality that now, one of the Persons of the Trinity exists as a human being. God's Son, Jesus Christ, has always been and will always be, but upon His incarnation, He became a human forever. Now, God has inextricably united himself to humanity in a way that cannot be undone. That’s why the incarnation of Christ is such a significant doctrine. That’s why Christ coming to earth matters so much. He is worthy!
And so, God’s glory is indeed glory-us. We will be married to God in the new heavens and new earth. God has united Himself to humanity through the incarnation and will do so to its total and complete extent upon the consummation of all things. We, as human beings, will be able to pray the prayer that Moses did so long ago, “God, show us your glory!” and we will be able to withstand the weight of God’s presence, forever (Exodus 33:18).
God has united Himself with a broken, fallen humanity, in such a way that ushers in total redemption for us. And also brings God joy. He delights in seeing humans repent and believe upon Christ! The heart of God is a heart of passion for the people He created and came to seek out and save. He bent down low and into the trenches, the pits, the muck of fallenness to redeem all things. Praise God for His glory, and for His plan of reconciliation and union with us!
Now this hope, if anything, fuels our joy for the present moment. How are we to live now, knowing these truths about what is to come? This should compel us to love one another as Christ loves us, to serve one another as Christ serves us, and to speak the good news of Emmanuel, God with us, to those who are lost. We’re to bend down low into the muck of fallenness ourselves, and speak life into the deadest, darkest places, within both our own hearts and the hearts of others. If ever there was a way to conclude, may it be with these words: Come, Lord Jesus, come!
