The Glories Of Christ

by F. McCormick | Category: The Glories And Excellencies Of Christ | Jan 1958

The Psalmist said, "The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup" (Psalm 16.5), and those who know the Lord in truth have a rich inheritance and a full and overflowing cup. It is good to meditate upon the glories of the One whom we have come to know and love, or who has wrought for us such a mighty deliverance from the power of sin and Satan, and upon whom the future fulfilment of those precious and exceeding great promises given to us depends. Our hearts will rejoice, our faith will be strengthened, our love will wax warm toward our great Redeemer as we muse upon His glories and excellencies.

Twice in the Scriptures we are told that God is "the God of glory" (Acts 7. 2; Psalm 29.3), and we may think of His inherent glory, and His manifested glory. The Psalmist could say, "0 LORD my God, Thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment" (Psalm 104. 1, 2); and Paul wrote of Him as "dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see" (1 Timothy 6.16). "Shew me, I pray Thee, Thy glory," said Moses, and God answered

"Thou caust not see My face: for man shall not see Me and live.

It shalt come to pass, white My glory passeth by, that I wilt put thee in a cleft of the rock, and wilt cover thee with Mine hand until I have passed by:

and I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back: but My face shall not be seen" (Exodus 33.18-28).

It will be seen that man's vision of the glory of God, and his knowledge and apprehension of the Divine Being, are very limited indeed. Man cannot for one moment sustain the ineffable original glory of the Infinite.

"Holy and Infinite, viewless, eternal,

Veiled in the glory that none can sustain,

None comprehendeth Thy Being supernal,

Nor can the heaven of heavens contain."

THE EFFULGENCE OF HIS GLORY

While it is true that man is limited in his apprehension and knowledge of God, there is One who not only knows the Father fully and completely, but who is capable of bearing the absolute fulness of the glory of Deity. This is none other than the Son, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father Himself uncreated possessing the underived, unbestowed glory of Deity (Hebrews 1. 1, 2). "Who being" denotes the unchanging fact of His eternal Being He never became, He always was and ever remains, the effulgence of His glory." He is the revealer of God the radiation and outshining of the character, nature and Being of the Infinite. "Being (originally) in the form of God" in the essence of His nature for only One who is God can contain in Himself, and manifest the glory of Deity in its fulness, "the effulgence of His glory, the very image of His substance," it is evident therefore that the process of divine revelation and manifestation is through the Son.

Prior to any created being or thing external to the Godhead existing, the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, existed in the glory of their original Being in perfect unity and bliss, finding in each other perfect satisfaction according to the desires of their own nature in infinite plenitude, Trinity in perfect equality and unity, One God. Even then, the Father could behold in the Son His own perfect image, and through the Son the Father's glory radiated, the outshining, " the effulgence of His glory, the very image of His substance."

THE LORD, AND KING OF GLORY (1 Corinthians 2. 8; Psalm 24). Of created things it is said, "because of Thy will they were, and were created " (Revelation 4. 11). Creation is the result of the exercise of the Divine will, and the first of all created beings are the heavenly hosts, who already existed when the foundations of the earth were laid.

When the morning stars sang together,

And alt the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38.4-7).

Colossians 1. 16 tells us that " in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Him, and unto Him." "Without Him was not anything made that hath been made" (John 1.3). His treasures of wisdom and knowledge are displayed in the works of

His hands, revealing infinite knowledge and omnipotence. The marvellous designs of Creation's works are truly past tracing out.

"0 LORD, how manifold are Thy works!

In wisdom hast Thou made them all:

The earth is full of Thy riches" (Psalm 104.24).

The devout believer may see somewhat of the glories of Christ in the works of creation, and admire His handiwork with adoring wonder, for,

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament sheweth His handiwork"

(Psalm 19.1).

David was led to exclaim, when he considered the heavens, "What is man, that Thou art mindful of Him?" The everlasting power and divinity of the Creator are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, and it was the Creator incarnate who "made purification of sins" (Hebrews 1.3). Isaiah "saw His glory; and he spake of Him " (John 12.41). He said, "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up," and "mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6.1-5).

Among the vast host of heavenly inhabitants, the seraphim are seen standing above Him with wing-covered faces and feet, as though unworthy (even in their sinless state) to Took upon the majestic glory of the enthroned King, or to walk before Him with the dignity required of such transcendent greatness. "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory " (R. V. M. the fulness of the whole earth is His glory).

Here we see the glories of His throne linked with the glories of His Creatorship, and we know He will yet take full possession of all created things on the basis of His mighty redemptive work, and the authority and power of His throne. (Hebrews 2.7, 8; 1 Corinthians 15.27, 28 ; Revelation 12.10). He is "the LORD of hosts," the Lord and King of glory, who "doeth according to His will in the army of heaven," amidst the innumerable hosts of angels. He rules and reigns amidst those sinless, holy beings in heaven as their Lord and King. "Jehovah of hosts, He is the King of glory" (Psalm 24. 10). He is an everlasting King, possessing Lordship over all He has made, and the inhabitants of heaven are called to" Bless the LORD, ye angels of His : Ye mighty in strength that fulfil His word, Hearkening unto the voice of His word.

Bless the LORD, all ye His hosts" (Psalm 103.20, 21).

Amazing grace, that He should be made a little lower than the angels because of the suffering of death, yet, having triumphed gloriously over every foe, He has been " made higher than the heavens," exalted "Far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Ephesians 1.21)! He now

possesses an acquired Lordship by reason of His redemptive work, in that He has bought the field and all therein (Matthew 13.44). "God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified" (Acts 2.86) He has Lordship over all that has been purchased at Calvary, and that Lordship will yet be universally acknowledged. Even though men may now despise and reject Him, the day will come when it will be true "That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2.10, 11) "He is now on the right hand of God, ... angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him" (1 Peter a. 22); "Who is the Head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2.10). The vast hosts of the angelic throng in heaven are subject to the Man of Calvary, our Lord and our Redeemer. Of them it is written

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the

sake of them that shall inherit salvation? " (Hebrews 1.14).

What we owe to the ministry of angels under the authority of our exalted Lord we but little realize.

"Swiftly they fly at His command,

To guard His own of every land,

To keep the heirs of glory."

Many scriptures speak of the ministry of angels, both to the Lord and to men, which are worthy of our meditation.

Who has not been entranced with the scene depicted in Revelation 5? Those heavenly beings and myriads of angels say "with a great voice," "Worthy art Thou" "Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour, and glory, and blessing" ... "And the four living creatures said, Amen."

Amen, Amen, it rolls along,

Re-echoing from the throne again;

Be ours to mingle with the throng

In that eternal, loud Amen."

Thus, like a vast panorama we may view the inherent and manifested glories of Christ from eternal ages past, " The effulgence of His glory" and the glory which He had with the Father before the world was, His glory amidst angelic legions, the Lord and King of glory ; then on to eternal ages future we will briefly trace " the sufferings of the Christ and the glories that should follow them."

"AND WE BEHELD HIS GLORY"

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth" (John 1.14).

Thus "we behold Him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus" as Man a Sharer in blood and flesh, the Word incarnate. We have before remarked that man could not bear the glory of God's original Being, but that glory is veiled in perfect human flesh, in Christ. It is the same glorious Person, the eternal Word through whom all things were created and are upheld, the Word which was "with God" (showing distinction) and who "was God" (showing unity) eternally. It was He who became flesh, "Immanuel," God with us, full of grace and truth.

The glory they beheld was "as of the Only Begotten from the Father." God has spoken unto us in His Son. His is a glory unique, unseen, and unknown before among men. God the Son was before them in actual living manifestation, the Only-Begotten, the perfect representation and living embodiment of the Father, revealing the attitude, character, and the heart's desires of the Father toward men, that through the Son the Father may be made known, and that men may know the Father with the object of His being able to dwell among them. (See John 17).

The Son pitched His tent or tabernacled among those who accepted Him and kept God's word, and it was they whose hearts were enlightened by divine revelation, who saw His glory. To others there was no beauty that they should desire Him. He could say, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father " (John 14.9).

"No man hath seen God at any time; the Only Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1. 18). Here are limitless depths and inexhaustible riches of grace and truth, and " Of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace," the waves of the mighty ocean of the plenitude of God's blessing upon the souls of men, according to the riches of His grace. Here truly is our satisfying portion for time and eternity. Oh that with enlightened eyes and hearts we may the more intently gaze upon the glories and excellencies of Him "who is the Image of the invisible God"!

True, there were hidden beauties and excellencies which could only be seen and known by the Father in fulness, which gave God such pleasure and delight that "the heaven was opened, ... and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased" (Luke 3.21, 22). "He hath declared Him," He has told out, and revealed God who is invisible to men, not in the awful majesty of His unapproachable glory, but in human form, in love and grace. The perfect humanity of Christ is indeed proof that God had come down to speak to and dwell among men. No perfect human being had ever lived on earth since Adam, and here was One who had a prior knowledge and existence, who knew whence He came, the purpose for which He lived and must die, and whither He was going after His work here was completed. With calm majestic mien, He trod the pathway of suffering to the cross. His every thought, emotion and desire were in perfect unison with the will of His Father, and withal manifesting to men the inward feelings, the sympathy and love of God to the perishing sons of men. He lived, walked, talked, and acted as God would do as a man, for indeed He was no other than God with us, "He who was manifested in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3.16). "We beheld His glory" said John, and that glory uniquely belonged to One who was the Only Begotten from the Father.

It was a glory no other could possess, and which could never be manifested by any other. He was the Prince and Head of a perfect humanity, and in resurrection glory He will yet be seen as "the Firstborn among many brethren," by reason of the fact that their Redeemer became a partaker of blood and flesh, and they have become co-sharers in His triumph. We can never of course be sharers of that unique glory which is His as the Only Begotten Son.

He glorified His Father in life - " I glorified Thee on the earth

(John 17.4), and in view of the hour of His death He asks that the

Father may "glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee" (John 17.1).

Before Him lay the dread ordeal of the Cross. Unknown suffering, agony and shame were to be borne by Him in the loneliness and darkness of Calvary, in that dreadful conflict with the powers of darkness, yet He could Say, "He is near that justifieth Me" (Isaiah 50.8).

God glorified His Son in His crosswork; He showed His appreciation of that work, upholding the reputation and honour of His Son and God's favourable Opinion is true glory. In that work the Son glorified the Father, vindicating God's righteousness, thereby laying the sure foundation whereby God could come out in grace to men, and fulfil His eternal counsels and purposes. In this the Father will be glorified. " The gospel of the glory of Christ "is the divine means of illuminating men's hearts, " who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4.4, 6).

Well might we who have been delivered out of the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love be found "giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light " (Colossians 1. 12, 13). It is God's purpose to conform every believer to the image of His Son in a day to come.

"Whom He foreordained, them He also called ... justified ... and glorified" (Romans 8.30).

GOD'S PRESENT PURPOSE

While the believer is once for all secure in Christ on the ground of sovereign grace, yet God has a present purpose to fulfil here on earth in those who have been redeemed. It was this which burdened the heart of the Lord Jesus in the night of His betrayal, and in the light of His soon departure out of this world by way of the cross, He prayed,

I pray... for those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine:

And all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine:

And I am glorified in them."

"Holy Father, keep them in Thy Name ... that they may be one."

"I pray ... that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil one."

"Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."

"Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on Me through their word; that they may all be one" (John 17).

Herein is envisaged a visible unity of all disciples on earth, perfected into one, or one thing, by sanctification in the truth. "That the world may know," "that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me."

Here is contemplated one united Testimony of all believers set apart in the truth. Alas, that believers should be self-pleasers and self-choosers in the sects of so-called Christendom, while these words from the heart of Christ remain on the page of Holy Writ.

Then He says,

"And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as We are one" (verse 22).

This may be best illustrated from the shadows of the past. When God desired to dwell among His people Israel, He said,

"And let them make Me a sanctuary; that 1 may dwelt among them"

(Exodus 25.8).

This was to be a sanctified, or set-apart, place wherein He would dwell in the midst of His people, but it had to be built according to the pattern which He Himself gave in minute detail, and from which Moses was not to deviate in the smallest degree. " Thus did Moses according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he" (see Hebrews 8. 5; Exodus 40.16).

"And the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle" (Exodus 40. 34).

The glory of God rested upon the mercy-seat between the cherubim, upon the ark containing the unbroken law. God can only dwell where His will is done, and there His glory is revealed. God's glory rested in and upon His Son who was the perfect Fulfiller of God's law. "Believe the works; that ye may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father " ; " It is My Father that glorifieth Me" (John 10.38; 8.54). Of whom God also said

"This is My beloved Son; in whom I am well pleased"

(Matthew 3.16).

Divine approval was thus expressed, for in Him God's name was glorified, and the Son was glorified, in a living witness to God's truth.

He was about to leave this world, and in His absence the disciples were to become God's witness-bearers as they were perfected into one in visible unity and testimony. The glory of the Divine presence was passed on to those who were found together on the day of Pentecost in obedience to His will. God's approval of them was seen in the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, filling them all, as the glory of the LORD had filled the tabernacle.

Thus we see a habitation of God in the Spirit, firstly in the church of God in Jerusalem, and later in the unity of all churches of God in one thing, forming one temple, one house, keeping "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

"For we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (2 Corinthians 6.10).

This people, sanctified in the truth, are God's spiritual house in this dispensation, "the pillar and ground of the truth " in which His will is done, and godliness is the characteristic feature which should be manifested, according to the perfect pattern as seen in Him who is the Mystery of godliness." There is therefore to be the indwelling glory, and there is to be the manifested glory. In regard to the Lord Himself, there was (1) the divine glory (John 1.14), (2) the glory which He had with God (John 17.5) and (3) the glory given to Him by God, of which He said, "the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them" (John 17.22). The Psalmist could say

"LORD I love the habitation of Thy house,

The place where Thy glory dwelleth" (Psalm 26.8).

How true, as we think of the temple of His body, and also what should be true of all those who form part of God's holy habitation today according as it is written,

"In His temple everything saith, Glory " (Psalm 29.9).

F. McCormick | Jan 1958
The Glories And Excellencies Of Christ