ASPECTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND CHURCH LIFE SEEN IN THE NEW JERUSALEM
Message Eight
Having the Glory of God
Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:10-11, 23; 1 Thes. 2:12; 2 Thes. 2:14; 1:10
I. "He…showed me the holy city, Jerusalem…having the glory of God"—Rev. 21:10-11:
A. Glory is the expression of God, God expressed in splendor—v. 23.
B. An outstanding feature of the New Jerusalem is that it has the glory of God, His expression—v. 11a:
1. The entire city of New Jerusalem will bear the glory of God, which is God Himself shining out through the city—vv. 23, 11b.
2. The glory of God will actually be the content of the New Jerusalem, for this city will be completely filled with His glory; this indicates that the city is a vessel to contain God and express Him.
3. The glory of God is actually God Himself being manifested (Acts 7:2); the fact that the New Jerusalem is full of God's glory means that God is manifested in this city.
C. The church today also should have God's glory, manifesting and expressing Him in this marvelous divine attribute—John 17:22; Eph. 3:21.
II. The glory of God is intrinsically related to the economy of God—1:10, 12; 3:9, 16-17, 21:
A. God is a God of glory—Acts 7:2; Eph. 1:17; 3:14, 16; 1 Cor. 2:8; 2 Cor. 4:6; 1 Pet. 4:14.
B. God's purpose is to bring many sons into glory—Heb. 2:10; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:6-7, 12, 14.
C. God created us as vessels prepared unto glory—Rom. 9:23.
D. Sin is falling short of God's glory—3:23.
E. Christ's redemption has fulfilled the requirements of God's glory—vv. 24-25; Heb. 9:5; cf. Gen. 3:24.
F. Through the gospel of the glory of God, God has called us into His eternal glory— 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Tim. 1:11; 1 Pet. 5:10; 1 Thes. 2:12.
G. We have been predestined for God's glory, called into it, and will be brought into it—1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Thes. 2:12; Heb. 2:10.
H. Christ in us is the hope of glory—Col. 1:27; 3:4.
I. We are being transformed into the Lord's image from glory to glory—2 Cor. 3:18.
J. The goal of God's organic salvation, and the last stage of this salvation, is glory— Heb. 2:10; Rom. 8:17, 21, 30.
K. Christ as the Author, the Captain, the Pioneer, of our salvation is leading many sons into glory—Heb. 2:10.
L. We will enter into the highest stage of oneness—the oneness in the divine glory—John 17:22.
M. There is glory to God in the church—vv. 22-23; Eph. 3:21.
N. There will be the glory of God in the kingdom—Matt. 6:13; 16:27; 26:64; Rev. 5:12-13.
O. The believers will be glorified with Christ to bear the glory of God for God's expression in the New Jerusalem—Rom. 8:17, 30; Rev. 21:10-11.
P. The glory of God in the economy of God involves deification—God becoming man that man may become God in life, in nature, and in expression—John 1:14; Col. 3:4; Heb. 2:10; Rev. 21:10-11.
III. God has called us to enter into His kingdom and glory—1 Thes. 2:12:
A. God's glory goes with His kingdom and is expressed in the realm of His kingdom—Matt. 6:10, 13b; Psa. 145:11-13:
1. The kingdom is the realm for God to exercise His power so that He may express His glory—Rev. 5:10, 13.
2. The shining of the kingdom is for the glorification of the Father—Matt. 5:16.
3. The kingdom of God is God being manifested through us; the expression of God from within us is the kingdom—vv. 14-15; 1 Cor. 4:20; 10:31.
B. The kingdom of God is God's manifestation in His glory with His authority for His divine administration; hence, entering into the kingdom of God and entering into the expressed glory of God take place at the same time as one thing—Heb. 2:10; Matt. 5:20; Rev. 21:9-11; 22:1, 5.
IV. Through the gospel God has called us "unto the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ"—2 Thes. 2:14:
A. The glory which the Father has given the Son (John 17:22) is the sonship with the Father's life and divine nature (5:26) to express the Father in His fullness (1:18; 14:9; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3).
B. This glory the Son has given to His believers so that they also may have the sonship with the Father's life and divine nature (John 17:2; 2 Pet. 1:4) to express the Father in the Son in His fullness (John 1:16).
C. God has called us unto the obtaining of this glory, the glory of the divine life and the divine nature to express the Divine Being—2 Thes. 2:14.
V. The gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ—2 Cor. 4:4:
A. Christ is the image of God and the effulgence of His glory; hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates and shines forth—Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; 2 Cor.4:3-4;Rev.6:2.
B. The gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, which illuminates, radiates, and shines in our hearts—2 Cor. 4:4, 6.
C. Through the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, the Christ of glory as the excellent treasure is received by the believers; now the shining reality of Christ, the embodiment and expression of the Triune God, is the treasure within us—vv. 6-7.
D. God shines in our hearts that we may shine on others so that they may have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, the knowledge of Christ, who expresses and declares God—2:17; 4:2, 5; John 1:18.
E. Those who receive the gospel of glory through our shining will have Christ as the precious treasure dispensed into them; then, like us, they will be earthen vessels containing this priceless treasure—2 Cor. 4:4, 6-7.
VI. The Lord Jesus is coming "to be glorified in His saints"—2 Thes. 1:10:
A. Christ is the Lord of glory, and He was glorified in His resurrection and ascension—1 Cor. 2:8; John 17:1; Luke 24:26; Heb. 2:9.
B. Christ is in us as the hope of glory to bring us into glory—Col. 1:27; Heb. 2:10.
C. The coming again of Christ in glory has two aspects:
1. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus will come from the heavens with glory— Rev. 10:1; Matt. 25:31.
2. On the other hand, He will be glorified in His saints; that is, His glory will be manifested from within His members, causing their body of humiliation to be transfigured into His glory, conforming it to the body of His glory— 2 Thes. 1:10; Phil. 3:21.
3. "He comes, He comes, Christ comes to glorify me! / My body He'll transfigure, like His own it then will be. / He comes, He comes, redemption to apply! / As Hope of glory He will come, His saints to glorify"—Hymns, #949.