« Will, Bill, Skill | Main | Reviewing the House of God »
Glory in John
By daniel | November 9, 2004
Brothers and sisters,
As I read each week I see so much. There?s just so much good stuff in these passages that it?s hard to choose what to write about, what to discuss in the 9 O?clock hour, and what to just enjoy and leave unsaid. But this morning I thought we?d spend a few minutes looking into the writings of our brother John. The passages you?ll want to be familiar with (if you?re not already) are John 1, John 17, First John 1, and Revelation 21.
Before we get into those some background is probably in order. Throughout the Old Testament any time a house is built for God to live in a big deal is made of His glory coming, filling the place up, and staying there. There?s a lot to God?s glory, but for now let?s content ourselves to understand it as the manifest presence and beauty of God. Whenever a house was built for Yahweh He put His glory in it, and thus He made His presence felt and put His beauty and grandeur on display for all to see.
But these Old Testament houses, magnificent and significant as they are, are mere shadows of the real deal. And the real deal is made much of by John.
John 1:14 tells us, “And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” In Jesus, the Word of God become flesh, God tabernacles among His people again, and His glory fills this Temple utterly; as Paul says, “the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Him.” In Jesus, the presence of God was made obvious, and the beauty and goodness and truth of God were on display for all to see, “full of grace and truth.” The glory was in the Temple, and the Temple was a man, so the glory could be seen and heard and handled and understood (I John 1:1-3).
Near the end of his life John has a lengthy vision that includes a front-row view of the New Jerusalem, the final and maximum expression of the house of the Living God. Revelation 21:10-11 reads, “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.” Here we see that the New Jerusalem now possesses the glory John spoke of in the first chapter of his gospel, “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Unchecked and constant, the beauty and presence and goodness and truth of God will be on display in the New Jerusalem for ever and ever.
But between John 1 and Revelation 21, between the man Jesus and the New Jerusalem, we have ourselves and we have John 17. This chapter is Christ?s prayer for us. Most relevant to our discussion here are verses 22-23. “The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as we are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in one, so that the world may continually know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” The glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, is now in the collective us, the Church. The glory is in the Temple, and the Temple is a collective man, so the glory can be seen and heard and handled and understood by the world. And this arrangement is better than Jesus alone. Jesus alone is limited in time and location. The Church is not. We can be everywhere at all times. In us, especially in our life together, God makes His presence felt. In us the beauty and goodness and truth of God are on display for the world to see.
But here?s the rub. The manifestation of the glory of God is contingent upon our living as one. The fullness of God is in Christ, and the fullness of Christ is in us (i.e. “I in them and You in Me”), but that fullness is seen only as our unity is practiced and apparent. Just as Jesus said, His two primary claims ? that God sent Him and that God loves us ? will be believed by the world only as our oneness adequately demonstrates the glory of God.
And so here is where we can apply ourselves. In an age where denominations rule and dogma chokes us all, let us leave off being right for being whole. In our families and our friendships let us devote ourselves to getting together rather than getting what?s ours. Let us make the meetings with our whole hearts and willing minds, looking for opportunities to give, to lend ourselves to the practice of the oneness we were supplied when Jesus gave us His glory. Let us simply love each other, and in this we will see the glory of God becoming obvious to a tragically dark world. The glory is the Temple and the Temple is us. Let us strengthen our hands to the work, finding and practicing our one Life that the world may see and believe. Let us fill the world with the goodness and beauty and truth of God. May our life together make His presence felt. Amen, Lord Jesus.
Glad for the chance to love you,
Virgil
Topics: Uncategorized |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.