His Personal and Moral Glory

The Glories of Christ are fourfold:

1. His Eternal, Personal Glory.
2. His Official Glory, of Deity in the Godhead.
3. His Moral Glory, shining out in His Humanity.
4. His Added Glory, flowing out from His Pathway of Sufferings.

His Personal Glory

This in very essence is what He is in Himself, an identity of essence shared in the Trinity, for there are no degrees in the Godhead: One Person is not more God than another. Such unity of eternal glory as “thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee”, John 17. 21, qualifies the Son alone to say in prayer, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was”, v. 5.

His Official Glory,

1. His very character merits Him alone as “King of glory”. Little wonder the angelic beings thunder in rapturous reply to the cry “Who is this King of glory?”, “The Lord of hosts, HE is the King of glory”, Psa. 24. 10.
2. His throne, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever”, Heb. 1. 8, is the seat that displays His position and power to be sure and stable, a throne that John on Patmos saw in his vision, “and, behold, a throne was set in heaven”, Rev. 4. 2.
3. His righteousness is the rule of all His official authority in eternity and in time; before men and angels “a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom”, Heb. 1. 8.

How good to know that, in contrast to the godless chaos and confusion of mankind today, there is the promise from heaven of an eternal age of glory ahead! There will also be the millennial reign on earth of God’s mighty Victor when

1. His will be a throne established in righteousness, Prov. 25. 5,
2. As Israel’s “King of kings”, He “shall reign in righteousness”, Isa. 32. 1.
3. The Gentiles shall see His righteousness and all kings His glory, 62. 2.
4. “He shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness”, Psa. 9. 8.

In a general sense, in the pathway of our Lord’s humanity, His personal and official glories were commonly hidden as He passed through the circumstances of life day by day. Only when faith discovered it, or when an occasion demanded it, was the veil drawn aside to reveal these glories. Thus:

1. Simon Peter in his testimony at Caesarea Philippi said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”, Matt. 16. 16.
2. The three disciples upon the mount of transfiguration “saw his glory”, Luke 9. 32; “His face did shine as the sun and his raiment was as white as the light”, Matt. 17. 2.
3. The band of men and officers who, with Judas, came to the garden to bring Him to the chief priests and Pharisees, were compelled to retreat and fall to the ground before the presence of the authority of the One who is the “I am”, John 18. 6.
4. Thomas at the sight of His risen Humanity and at the bidding of his Master, “Behold my hands”, cried “My Lord and my God” John 20. 27, 28.

His Moral Glory

In every area of His perfect Humanity, there shines out in supreme beauty and loveliness a moral glory seen by men when “the Word became flesh” (not made in the sense of created, but by a willing identification with a human body and with human circumstances and environments) “and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory”, John 1. 14.

In the divine programme prepared for Him, and into which He so willingly entered, there was in unblemished display a glory full of “grace and truth”, unfolded in every word that He spoke, every work that He did, and in every step that He walked.

1. The Glory of his Words. “Never man spake like this man”, John 7. 46, was the comment to their masters of the officers sent to apprehend Him. Little wonder God’s Man could not be restrained, for His were the words of fife, “The words that I speak … are spirit, and … life”, 6. 63. To whom else can one go?, “thou hast the words of eternal life”, v. 68.

The words of grace, coming from the Saviour’s lips in the house of Simon the Pharisee to the woman “which was a sinner”, have come to many through the long years—with heaven’s richest blessings. “Her sins which are many, are forgiven … Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace”, Luke 7. 47-50.

How precious to the saints are His words of promise; none shall “pluck them out of my hand”, John 10. 28; “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”, 16. 33. “I will never leave thee, nor (a repeated negative!) forsake thee”, Heb. 13. 5.

2. The Glory of His Works. Shining out in the devoted surrender of a life wholly consecrated to His Father’s will, He fulfilled the prophetic Scripture, “Lo I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God”, Psa. 40. 7, 8. This was partly done in the agony of “strong crying and tears”, Heb. 5. 7, when He prayed “not my will, but thine, be done”, Luke 22. 42.

Sympathizing with all the griefs and sorrows of humanity which, in very experience, He came to know, He was moved in active compassion to meet the deep needs of men, “For in that he himself hath suffered … he is able …”, Heb. 2. 18. Here, in the qualification of His right to help man, there shines out in His works the manifestation of His glory, John 2. 11, bringing men to believe, worship and serve Him. Thus the blind man in John 9. 38 came to believe and worship, and Bartimaeus, receiving his sight, “followed Jesus in the way”, Mark 10. 52. How great is the need in these godless days for the saints, moved by the vibrations of the mountain sermon, so to “shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven”, Matt. 5. 16.

3. The Glory of His Walk. This involved a perfect identification of Deity with history and humanity, and, as we have already noted, the eternal Word became flesh, “and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory”, John 1. 14. The pathway that He so willingly took found its commencement in eternity, continued into the scenes of time, carrying the glory of God to the hearts of men, and setting the supreme pattern for them to follow. As He could pray “I have glorified thee on the earth”, 17. 4, so He calls His saints to “glorify God”, 1 Cor. 6. 20; “Walk worthy of the Lord”, Col. 1, 10; “Walk by faith”, 2. 5-6; “Walk in love”, Eph. 5. 2. Little wonder that John’s disciples, “looking upon Jesus as he walked”, John 1. 36, willingly left the banks of Jordan and followed Him, v. 37.

How great is the honour for the child of God, so to live in identification with the indwelling Christ of glory, that the world around will see “Christ … the hope of glory”, Col. 1. 27, and because of this, they will glorify God, Gal. 1. 24.

Altogether lovely,
Jesus, Lord art Thou,
Fairest of ten thousand,
At Thy Feet we bow;
As we view Thee coming,
Saviour from above,
All our hearts are ravished,
With Thy wondrous Love.
Yea, those hidden glories,
That reside in Thee,
By The Holy Spirit,
Lord, reveal to me.
That with quickened footsteps
And with grateful praise,
I may follow fully,
All my earthly days.