We have seen the surpassingness and transcendence of Christ, and now we come to see the glory of Christ. The term glory has a special meaning in the Bible, a meaning that is hard to explain clearly with human language. Some Chinese people think that when someone has obtained a high position, has become rich, and lives in a luxurious house, he is “glorified.” This kind of usage, however, is not according to the biblical meaning, and it is not even according to the meaning of the Chinese words jung yao. If you look at these two Chinese characters, you will see that the first character jung contains two radicals for fire, while the second character yao contains the radical for light. When two fires burn brightly and give forth light, that is jung yao or glory.
The “glory” mentioned in the Bible, however, refers to God Himself, the expression of God’s radiance, the expression of God Himself. God is hidden and invisible, but when He shines forth in His radiance, He is visible. We can use electricity as an illustration. Electricity is very hidden. Strictly speaking, up to this day no one has ever seen electricity. Although electricity is invisible, electric lights can shine forth the brightness of electricity. The light that shines forth from electric lamps is the brilliance of electricity, and the brilliance of electricity is the glory of the electricity. In other words, when the electric lamps shine forth with light, the electricity is glorified. Today we are accustomed to using electric lights and do not feel that electricity is very marvelous. However, if we have never used an electric light before and see one suddenly turned on in a dark room, we would say that the room is certainly full of glory. Within the electricity there is a hidden light, and when this hidden light is expressed, it is glory. The glory of God is the expression of God. When God is not expressed, He is hidden; when He is expressed, there is glory. Genesis 12 in the Old Testament is a record of God’s appearing to Abraham and speaking to him. This matter is referred to in the New Testament in the Book of Acts as the appearing of the God of glory to Abraham (7:2).
According to the biblical definition, glory is not our attaining to a high position and making a great amount of money, but it is God being manifested in us. For example, I may go to a couple’s home for fellowship, and while I am standing at the door ready to knock, I may hear the husband and the wife arguing inside; then when the husband opens the door, I may see the wife crying. This kind of situation is not glory. It is a shattered lightbulb that no longer shines. Suppose, however, that when the husband opens the door, the wife is praying with her head covered, and I sense that the husband also has a spirit of prayer with him. Although this situation does not have an outward, visible kind of brilliance, it is full of the Lord’s radiance. Inwardly I would say, “This is really glorious!” because I can see God expressed in that couple.
Hebrews 1:3 is very difficult to expound. It says that Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory. We can use an example to explain this: In the daylight we see the sun in the sky, but strictly speaking what we see is not the sun itself but the brilliance of the sun. Christ being the effulgence of God’s glory means that we cannot see God Himself, just as we cannot see the sun itself, but we can see the effulgence of God’s glory, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, people marveled at the words He spoke. They asked, “Where did this Man come from? How can He speak such things?” Also while He was on the earth, He did many marvelous things that were difficult for people to understand. People saw a little Galilean, Jesus, and wondered how He could do such great and marvelous things; they wondered who He really was. The Bible, however, says explicitly that He is the effulgence of God’s glory.
I have studied the Bible and am convinced that according to Isaiah’s prophecy this Jesus grew up like a tender plant before God and like a root out of dry ground. He had no attracting form or majesty, and He had no beautiful appearance that people would desire Him. He was despised and forsaken of men; His visage and form were marred. Yet, within this man the glory of God was concealed. He lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years. One time He took Peter, James, and John to a high mountain. Suddenly, He was transfigured before them, His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light. In other words, His entire being was shining radiantly; this means that the glory which was concealed within Him was now expressed outwardly.
The three disciples saw Jesus the Nazarene appearing in God’s glory. God’s glory was completely expressed through Him. Therefore, Peter told us in his Epistle that on the mountain they were eyewitnesses of His glory (2 Pet. 1:16-18). In his Gospel, John also said, “In the beginning was the Word,...and the Word was God....And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality” (John 1:1, 14).
When the worldly people encounter difficulties, they have a sad look and become depressed. However, when we believers suffer persecutions and encounter difficulties, we can still joyfully say Hallelujah! This is because we not only love the Lord, but we are also filled with the Lord. When we are filled with the Lord, He overflows from within us. This overflow is glory.
Colossians 1:27 says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The Christ within us is glory, but this glory is concealed. The first line of the first stanza of Hymns, #403 says, “Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me.” The second stanza says,
Consecrated is Thy temple,
Purged from every stain and sin;
May Thy flame of glory now be
Manifested from within.
This hymn tells us that Christ is concealed within us, waiting to be manifested.
Even though Christ is concealed within us, this hidden glory cannot always remain covered and sometimes becomes manifest openly. I know that some parents are against their children’s becoming Christians, especially in the Chinese families that accept the ideologies of Confucius and Mencius. Such parents always think that when their children believe in Jesus, they are believing in a foreign religion, which is not a glory but a shame to their ancestors for three generations. This is why parents oppose their children’s believing in the Lord Jesus. Among the brothers and sisters here today, there is one who believed in the Lord and was saved under such a circumstance. This brother was saved in junior high school. Before he was saved, he was a naughty teenager, but after getting saved, his living changed completely. When people scolded him, he remained pleasant. His parents would beat him for believing in the Lord, but he would go meekly into his bedroom to kneel by his bed and pray to the Lord. Time after time, day after day the Lord Jesus would manifest His glory in this previously naughty teenager. His parents were so touched that eventually they also believed in the Lord. Many parents oppose when their children first believe in the Lord, but eventually they end up believing in the Lord also. Hallelujah! It is hard to find a family in which the parents do not follow their children to believe in the Lord. Everyone who is genuinely saved has the glory of the Lord Jesus manifested in him; this means that the invisible God is expressed through him.
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