A few months ago, someone asked me on Quora, “What is the Glory of God and what is its purpose?” At that time, I couldn’t answer it, so I passed on the question. After doing more studying to provide material for this blog and podcast, I can now answer the question and it’s an important one.
The Glory of God
I found this, of course, in one of the Bible studies in the free, YouVersion Bible app. by Jack Graham of PowerPoint Ministries…
The glory of God, if you want a theological definition, is the visible manifestation of all His attributes – His love, His character, His omnipotence, His omnipresence, His holiness.
His glory is who He is. When He created the heavens and the earth, it was for and by His glory that all things were created.
Heaven is sometimes referred to as “glory,” because God in all of His glory is there! Heaven is all about Him! And when we are in heaven, we will be glorified with God!
Remember that salvation is a process in which God has and is and will save us. You might call it salvation in three tenses: past, present and future. We have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved.
We have been saved – that’s justification. When we repent and receive Christ we are at that moment transformed, justified in the sight of God. And we are sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit, making us more and more like Christ. He’s bringing God’s glory into our lives every single day! That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. That’s sanctification.
Then there’s glorification, and that’s what Christ is going to do in every one of our lives when we are glorified in His presence. To be glorified in the presence of God means we will have His redemptive body. We will live in immortal, eternal bodies, glorified forever, without sin, without suffering, without pain, and heartache, and heartbreak.
All of us who have received this gift of God’s glory must share the gift! We believe in heaven. We also believe in hell. Eternal destinies are at stake.
We live in a broken world, and it should break our hearts. We want our family, our friends, our neighbors to go with us – an incredible motivation to boldly tell about the Good News of Jesus!
Jack Graham, PowerPoint Ministries
Only God Knows When We’ll Die
I have a friend who recently died after a horrible, suffering battle with prostrate cancer. I met him and his wife in one of the small Bible study groups I had to the pleasure of being in. He was very talented and creative. He built a gorgeous house in the hills in north Phoenix and even made some of the furniture. Everything thing he did was for the Glory of God. His brother started one of the ministries that I support, Good News Productions International. His nephew runs it now. Also, for the Glory of God.
A few weeks ago, he called me by accident. He had been talking to his sister and accidentally hit my number. I told him I’d been praying for him and would continue to do so. I was so grateful to be able to speak with him. He sounded so weak and I felt he only had a short time left.
I pray this prayer for healing every day….
Jehovah Rapha — the God Who Heals: Father, I come to you right now knowing you are the Great Physician. Thank you for your complete and total healing over the lives of ____________. Then I list the people who I knew that need healing. (And, I’d stick myself in there every once in a while.)
Did God heal my friend of his cancer? Not in the earthly way. Right now, he is with Jesus, cancer-free and pain-free. He is totally healed! Because Jesus rose from the dead and has victory of death.
Confident Hope – Do You Have It?
That, my friends, is the confident hope that we have only if we are born-again believers in Jesus Christ. We made the conscious decision that we believed in Jesus as the Son of God and that He died on the cross in redemption of our sins. We repented of our sins and turned from our sinful ways. We invited Him into our hearts and were baptized – dying to our old selves and rising anew in a new life with Christ.
I know I’ll see my friend in Heaven one day. Either when I die or when the Rapture happens — whichever comes first. He and another friend of mine who died of cancer a few years ago already are in God’s Glory.
I work everyday for God’s Glory. And, my confident hope is that I will see His Glory myself sometime in the very near future!
Jesus Christ is coming back soon! Are you ready?
If you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven and that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
Pray this prayer humbly and wholeheartedly…
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Please forgive me. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and my life to you. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. I surrender my whole life to you and I will follow you for the rest of my life. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Next Steps in Your New Walk with Jesus…
- Start reading the Bible daily to get to know God. If you don’t have one, I recommend the YouVersion, Bible.app and Through the Word app — both are free and have a lot of great Bible studies.
- Pray every day. Talk to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you daily.
- Find and join a Bible-believing church — preferably a non-denominational one and be baptized!
And as I say after each post….
Soli Deo Gloria — To God Alone Be the Glory!
Why? I don’t want any accolades. I do it for Him and to further His Kingdom. And I’ll keep doing it until He calls me home either way. because I believe in what Jesus said…
“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”
~Matthew 24:14 NLT
Amen!
