Houston Colonial Hills Conference 1995-06 7 Aspect of Glory of Christ — William MacDonald

I'm here with you in Houston and to share the ministry with Brother Steve Holzscheiser. I'm going to have to slip out after this portion of the meeting, so I'd like to express thanks to all of those who've had a part in the conference.

All the hard work that's been done behind the scenes. The Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given to thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you've done unto the saints and which you've ministered and do minister.

The Seven Aspects of Christ's Glory

I'd like to speak to you this afternoon on seven aspects of the glories of Christ. And just to introduce the subject, we'll read a couple of verses in John 13. John 13, verse 31. John 13, 31. So when he had gone out, that is when Judas had gone out, the betrayer, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.

If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately. Well, that's quite a mouthful, isn't it? The repetition of the word glory and glorify. And what does it mean?

Well, that's what we'd like to talk about this afternoon, among other things, among other scriptures. First of all, the word glory. I want to confess to you that as a young believer, I had a great deal of difficulty with that idea of glory.

What does glory mean? I mean, it's used all through the Bible, all through the New Testament. We sing it all the time. But what does it mean? Does it convey some concrete idea to you, or is it kind of vague and mystical and hard to define?

Well, I think if most of us were honest, we'd say it's hard to define. And one of the reasons it's hard to define is because there's a lot of different meanings. A lot of different meanings. For instance, glory has to do with bright, shining radiance.

We think of the glory of the sun. Well, it means the brightness of the sun. That's one of the meanings of it. Then it has to do with the idea of perfection, moral or personal perfection. We speak about the glories, the moral glories of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That means the perfections of his person, his attributes. And then, of course, it's used in the sense of boasting. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

And it's used in the case of honor, in the meaning of honor. We sing glory, glory everlasting be to him who bore the cross, who redeemed our souls by trusting. There it means we give honor to, we exalt, we worship, we praise.

So, we're going to be thinking of the word glory, and we're going to think of seven aspects of it, and it will have some of the shades of these meanings, except the one of boasting. It won't have that.

It's impossible to number the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. They absolutely exhaust human vocabulary, and so all we can do is think of seven of them this afternoon. First of all, I'd like to think about his personal, internal glory as the Son of God from a bygone eternity in heaven.

Christ's Personal Glory as the Eternal Son of God

In other words, think of the Lord Jesus before he ever came to earth. He's in heaven with God the Father. He's in heaven with the Holy Spirit. What was it like? It was a scene of absolute splendor and radiance.

It was a scene of inexpressible peace and joy. It's a scene where the Son of God was the object of angelic worship. I mean, think of all the hosts of heaven bowing down and worshiping him there in heaven.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 describes it. It says, "...who being the brightness of his glory," the brightness of God's glory, "...and the express image of his person.". That is the original, personal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"...who being the brightness of God's glory, the express image of his person.". Now, let me probably say, he could not lay that glory aside any more than you could cease to be you. We're talking about his person there, and that was his person and is his person for all eternity.

He could not empty himself of this glory or lay it aside. It's just an intrinsic part of his beings, and it includes all his marvelous attributes and characteristics and virtues. Now, in coming to this earth, he veiled that glory in a body of flesh.

It was there all the time. All that pre-incarnate glory, personal glory of the Lord Jesus was here when he was a man on earth, but it was veiled in a body of flesh. Aside he threw his most divine array and veiled his glory in a garb of clay, and in that garb this wondrous love display, restoring what he never took away.

I think that's wonderful. Sometimes the glory kind of peaked out. One day he's there on a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and the storm comes up, and the waves are tumultuous, and he rises and he says, Peace be still, and the winds and the waves obeyed his will.

Christ's Positional Glory and His Self-Emptying

They still do, dear friend. In case you're going through a tumultuous time in life at the present time, the winds and waves still know him who ordered them when he was here upon earth. Secondly, his positional glory in heaven.

Now, this is different. The first is his personal glory in heaven. The second, his positional glory in heaven. From all eternity, the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven occupied a position of indescribable honor and splendor.

He was daily the delight of his Father and the object, as we said, of angelic worship. But then God looked down from heaven, and he saw a race of mankind, you and me, lost in sin. A race that needed to be redeemed.

A race that needed to be saved. And in order to do that, there had to be a substitute to die for us. He had to be man to die for man, otherwise it would be an unequal exchange. He had to be God. He had to be infinite to die for an infinite number of people.

He had to be willing to shed his blood. He had to be willing. And do you know there was only one person in the universe who met all the qualifications of Savior? And his name was Jesus. And he was willing to give up that position in heaven.

That position in heaven to come down to earth to suffer, bleed, and die for us. Notice, he didn't give up his person. Couldn't do it. You can't give up your person. You are who you are. But you can give up your position.

And that's what the Lord Jesus, he did not feel that he must hold onto that position at all costs. Philippians chapter 2. Steve was talking about Philippians chapter 2. We'll go back to it again today and just reinforce what he said there.

Philippians chapter 2. It says in verse 8, "...who being in the form of God.". That doesn't mean he was like God. It means he was God. "...who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.".

Positionally equal with God. He was equal with God. He had all the attributes of God. But this is his position. "...he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of men, being found in fashion as a man.

He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.". Now notice in verse 7 it says,. "...he made himself of no reputation.". And the literal translation is, "...he emptied himself.".

Of what did he empty himself? He emptied himself of the positional glory that he had with God from the foundation of the world. "...he took the form of a servant and came in the likeness of men.". And it was doubtless this positional glory that Charles Wesley was speaking about when he wrote in the Christmas Tarot, "...mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more to die.".

That's the glory he laid by. "...mild he lays his glory by.". His positional glory with God the Father in heaven. It's so important here to realize that the Savior's self-emptying refers only to his position, not to his person.

A prince could leave the royal palace and go down and live in the slums, but he's still the prince. His person is still the same. His position has changed radically. The Lord Jesus came down to this world fully God, fully man, and his position has changed, but not his person.

Now, turn to John chapter 17, and we will be looking at John 17 quite a bit, Lord willing. John 17, verse 5. John 17, verse 5. The high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus, and he says there in verse 5, "...and now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was.".

Well, when you read that verse, you should ask yourself what glory is imbued here. "...glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was.". Well, that's his positional glory.

He's praying there for a restoration of his positional glory, not for his personal glory. His personal glory was untouched, but his positional glory. Just let me pause there and say, glorify me together with yourself.

What does that mean, together with yourself? It means in your presence. That's what it means. Together with yourself means in your presence. Take me back to heaven. Glorify me back in that positional glory which I had with you before the world was.

That's what he was praying for here. That glory which he laid aside in coming to the earth. That's his second aspect of his glory. Third, the glory of his life as a man here on earth. The glory of his life as a man here on earth.

The Moral Glory of Christ's Earthly Life

As the son of man. This refers to his moral glory, to the excellency of his character. It's wonderful. It passes human description. I almost feel tongue-tied when I want to speak about it. As a man here on earth, the Lord Jesus was glorious, for instance, in the miracles that he performed.

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory. Manifested his glory. The glory of his ministry as a person, as a man here on earth. He was glorious in the perfection of his character.

He knew no sin. He did no sin. There was no sin in him. That's wonderful. No wonder Renan, the French skeptic, said it would take a Christ to invent a Christ. And it would, too. You and I, no living human being could write the story of a sinless man.

We have four of them in the Gospels, don't we? But you couldn't write the story of a sinless man. And no other writer ever could. You'd find some flaw in his character, some imperfection in his life. None in the life of the wonderful Lord Jesus Christ.

Three times Pilate had to admit there was no fault in him. Herod had to say, I can't find any reason why he should be punished. And even Judas, the betrayer, said, I betray the innocent blood. Dear friends, those testimonies didn't come from friends of Jesus.

They didn't come from men who were standing for Jesus. They came from those who were opposed to him. Officers, he was glorious, he was glorious in his speech. Officers were sent to arrest him. And they came back empty-handed.

And their leader said, where is he? They said, no man ever spoke like that man. Even they could recognize the difference. The Lord Jesus was perfect in his perfect humanity. What a wonderful life lived here on earth.

I think we mentioned the fact he was so perfect that he only did the things that the Father gave him to do. He only said the things that the Father gave him to speak. This is known as the moral glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some of you have read a book by J .G. Bellet called The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus. If you haven't read it, you should. It's about that thick, and it's just a little jewel, a little gem. That brings us to the next glory of the Lord Jesus, and that's his acquired glories.

Christ's Acquired Glories Through Incarnation and Redemption

What? My Lord is perfect. My Lord has everything. Dear friends, in coming to earth he acquired some glories. And we're going to look at those. If he had remained in heaven, the Lord Jesus could never have been your Savior and mine.

He never could have been your Savior and mine. But by going to the cross and rising from the tomb, he came perfect as Savior. That's lovely. Turn to some scriptures with me. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 10.

Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 10. Some of these verses might be difficult for people reading the Bible. But I think if you put these keys in the door, they help to unlock difficult scriptures. Hebrews 2 .10.

For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Now, dear friends, how can you make a perfect person perfect?

Listen, when you come to difficulties in the Bible, the key is usually hanging in the door. And you don't have to look very far to get the key to that. How could he be made perfect? As the author of eternal salvation.

That's how. Says it right in the verse, doesn't it? As the author. If he hadn't come down, he never would have become the perfect Savior. And dear friends, I want to tell you this afternoon, we have in the Lord Jesus Christ a perfect Savior.

He was no amateur Savior. He finished the work there on the cross of Calvary for your redemption and mine. And now all we have to do is come and accept him by simple trusting faith, and he saves our guilty souls.

Wonderful, wonderful Jesus. Hebrews 5 .9. Hebrews 5 .9. Here's another one. Another verse that blows people's minds. They say, well, I've always been taught that Jesus was perfect. He was. It says in Hebrews 5 .9,.

And having been perfected, or perfected, however you wish to pronounce it, having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. How did he become perfected? As the author of eternal salvation.

If he had stayed in heaven, that could never have been said about him. If he hadn't been willing to lay aside that positional glory in heaven and come down here. Ah, but he acquired that wonderful glory, the glory of Saviorhood, by coming down to this earth.

And the Lord Jesus alluded to this acquired glory in John chapter 12 and 23. John 12, 23. But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. He was speaking in anticipation of Calvary.

I mean, the hour hadn't come. There were still a few hours to come before he went to the cross, but he was looking forward to that moment. And he says, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

I think it's worth just to pause and think about that passage for a minute. Some Greeks, verse 20, came up to worship at the feast. And they came to Philip, verse 21, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we want to see Jesus.

Jesus came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. And most assuredly I say to you, lest a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, remains alone.

But if it dies, it produces much fruit. Now, see, you know what the Greeks were like. The Greeks loved wisdom. The Greeks loved to have a guru, somebody that they could take out by Mars' hill there, and they would sit at his feet, and he would expound all manner of wisdom and philosophy to them hour after hour.

The Greeks loved that. And so here are some Greeks come up, and they're fascinated by Jesus. And I think they would like to take Jesus back to Athens with them as their guru. They said, Sir, if we would see Jesus.

And they came to Jesus and told him. Andrew and Philip told Jesus. And what did Jesus say? Well, I'd be very happy to pack my suitcase and go and fill that vacancy in Greece. Is that what he said? No, he said, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

What was he thinking about? About the cross. What was he saying? He said, I have to have sent the altar of sacrifice before I can ever ascend the throne of glory. That's what he was saying. There's a certain priority to my ministry down here on earth, and it's not to go to Athens as your favorite guru.

It's to go to the cross of Calvary and shed my blood there for the redemption of mankind. And that isn't the only acquired glory. In fact, there are so many acquired glories of the Lord Jesus. Without the incarnation, Jesus could never have been the Messiah.

The Messiah is an acquired glory of Jesus Christ. Why? Because the Messiah had to be descended from David. He had to come in incarnation and be descended from David. Apart from his work at Calvary, he never could have been the Good Shepherd.

Why? Because the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Without going to Calvary, he never could have been the Redeemer. Redeemer is an acquired glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The intercessor, the high priest, the heir of all things, the king.

These are all titles that come to him as a result of his work at Calvary's cross. Apart from Calvary, he never could have had the name, which is above every name, that is the name of Jesus every knee should bow.

Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You know, that's a solemn verse, isn't it? Just think of the people today that have blasphemed in the name of Christ. Just think of the people today that are speaking out against Jesus Christ.

That tongue is going to confess him someday. Those knees are going to bow to him. Every knee in the universe is going to bow to Jesus Christ someday. You can bow today in submission, in loving submission to him and receive him as your Savior.

Someday you'll bow by compulsion if you don't. You know, there's another touching acquired glory of the Lord Jesus that's absolutely marvelous to me. It just blows my mind. John chapter 17 and verse 10.

John 17 and verse 10. It says, And all mine are yours. This is Jesus praying to the Father. He says, All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. That is an acquired glory. What does it mean?

It means he's glorified in his people. How could that be? I mean, look at what we are. Well, I'll tell you, my mind immediately goes back to my young friend back in, well, he's in Brazil tonight as a servant of the Lord.

But when he was a young man, he was a wild guy. He was on drugs. He was on booze. He was riding around on a motorcycle that said, Hellbound, on the side of it. He had a picture of the devil on the side of his motorcycle.

He had the pitchfork and the horns and all the rest. And it said, Hellbound. This guy was a wild guy. He used to drive around on a motorcycle and be standing up on it with a girl riding on the back of it.

And crazy, he was in trouble with the police. One day, he was walking through a shopping mall with his brother and sister, and a young wisp of a girl came. He didn't know her at all. She walked up to him, and she said, Have you heard about Jesus?

And the brother and sister started to mock. But Eric said, No. And she took him aside and talked to him briefly. Well, nothing happened at that particular time. So, he used to see tracks. He used to see chick tracks about hell, you know, and he said, Boy, I don't want to go there.

And then he decided he'd straighten up his life, and he went to one of our junior colleges, Chabot Junior College. And some of our interns were having Bible studies out there. And there was a girl that used to ask him to come to Bible study and say, Sure, I'll go.

But he never went. But one day, he changed his mind, and he went. And that day, Carl Knott was speaking on hell. And Eric Shorkin was shaken to the very root. And at the end of the meeting, another of our young men, Rick Dellis, got a hold of him and led him to Christ.

And you talk about a transformed life. You talk about a transformed life. That fellow glorifies the Lord today. And he's down preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ in Brazil today. That's glorifying the Lord.

That's what he's saying here. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. An acquired glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul refers to that also in 2 Thessalonians 1, 10, when he speaks about the coming again of the Lord Jesus.

Actually, it's coming in power and great glory. And he says, when he comes in that day to be glorified in his faith and to be admired among all those who believe. It's really humbling to me to think that a common believer, common, vanilla-flavored, ordinary, garden-variety believer brings glory to the blessed Christ of God.

Christ's Resurrection and Ascension Glory

That's what he says here. Next glory is the glory of his resurrection and ascension. The glory of his resurrection and ascension. In John 17, verse 1, the Lord Jesus is speaking as if Calvary had already come.

John 17, verse 1, he says, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you. What did he mean by that? Glorify your Son. He's saying, I'm going to the cross, Father. I'm going to die for the sins of the world.

Glorify me, how? By raising me from the dead. That's how. When it says, glorify your Son, that means by raising him from the dead. See, the resurrection of Christ is God's seal of approval on the work of Christ at the cross.

That your Son also may glorify you. Think of the glory that has come to God the Father through the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, and his ascension back to heaven.

It's absolutely unspeakable. Mine can't even take it in. Somebody said, no tree ever brought forth such fruit for God as the cross of Calvary. But it's true. That's what the Lord's talking about here.

You glorify your Son by raising him from the dead, that your Son may glorify you in the salvation of sinners, taking a great host of sinners home to heaven, dwell with him and with you for all eternity.

And then that brings us to the passage that we read at the beginning. John 13, verses 31 and 32. John 13. Let's just dwell over this for a minute and see if we can unscramble it. It's a difficult portion of Scripture.

If you have trouble with this, don't worry. Other people have trouble with it, too. Verse 31. So when he had gone out, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified. Again, when he says that, he's speaking about his work on the cross.

Now the Son of Man is glorified in the work that he was going to perform on the cross of Calvary. He speaks as if Calvary were already present, an accomplished fact, and God is glorified in him. This speaks of the glory that has come to God the Father through the wonderful work of the Lord Jesus on Golgotha.

Now he says, If God is glorified in him, and that doesn't mean if in the sense of conditional, but since God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself. How? By raising him from the dead.

By raising him from the dead. And glorify him immediately. What does that mean? It means he's going to do it right away. Did he? That's the third day he rose from the dead. He raised him from the dead the third day, according to the Scriptures.

He was speaking of the cross, of his death, as a way in which he was glorified, and by which he brought great glory to God the Father. So let me paraphrase verse 32. Since God is glorified by Christ's work on the cross, God will glorify him, that is, by raising him from the dead, and will do it promptly.

This is exactly what happened. He raised him on the third day. The glory of his resurrection and ascension. Marvelous, really, when you stop. Let me read you some other verses of Scripture. We won't turn to them for the sake of time.

Other verses of Scripture which speak of the glory of his resurrection and ascension. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? This is what he said to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, wasn't it?

Luke, chapter 24. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? John 7, 39. But he spoke this concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The Holy Spirit could not be sent from heaven to earth, till Jesus had gone to heaven, and was glorified there at the right hand of God. Did you know that the presence of the Holy Spirit here on earth is a witness to a rejected Christ?

When he is come, he will convict the world of sin, because they believe not on him. The presence of the Holy Spirit of God on the earth today condemns the world for not believing on Christ. Let me say it this way.

The Holy Spirit shouldn't be here. Christ should be here sitting on a throne, the object of the worship of all the earth. In the very fact he isn't speaks of a rejected Christ. The Holy Spirit is here condemning the world of having rejected him.

He went back to heaven. The Holy Spirit came. Of sin, because they believe not on him. Of righteousness, because I ascend to the Father. Judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged. Of righteousness, because I ascend to the Father.

The ascension justified the Lord Jesus, and the work that he had done showed that he was right after all. And judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged. Here's another verse that speaks of the glory of his resurrection and ascension.

John 12, 16. His disciples didn't understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that those things were spoken about him, and that they had done these things to him.

When Jesus was glorified, that is, after he went back home to heaven. Beautiful. Acts 3, 13. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go.

1 Timothy 3, 16. He was received up into glory. 1 Peter 1, 21. Who through him, the Lord Jesus, believed in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. So that's the glory of his resurrection and his ascension back to heaven and to the throne on which he sits today.

The Glory of Christ's Second Coming and Kingdom

Then you have the glory of his second coming and kingdom. And would you be surprised that this is the glory that's mentioned most often in the New Testament? The glory of his second coming and of his kingdom.

There are more references to this in the New Testament than to any other glory. Let me read you just some of them, just to remind you. I couldn't turn to them and take so much time. The Son of Man will come in the clouds of heaven with power and with great glory.

What a revelation that's going to be when the Son of Man comes back and every eye will see him and all kindreds of the earth will wail because of him. He's not going to come as the lowly Nazarene. He's not going to come as the babe of Bethlehem.

He's going to come on a white horse in power and great glory. In that day when he will be glorified in his saints and admired among all those that believe. We just read that in 2 Thessalonians 1 .10. When he sits on the glory, he's going to reward the apostles and all of his followers at that time.

And he's going to judge the nations. In that day, he's going to be ashamed of those who are ashamed of him and his works when he comes in his own glory. Remember when James and John unwisely asked to sit next to Jesus in his kingdom.

And that was at the glory of his second coming. The glory of his coming kingdom. They thought that it was a matter of political favor just because they knew him on earth. But he disabused their minds at that.

I think it's good for us to remember that the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus on the mount was a pre-picture of the glory of his coming kingdom. The people who were there, Peter, James, and John, Moses, and Elijah, they saw a little fore view of what the kingdom would be like.

Peter says that very clearly. And John in John 1 .14 says, We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And he's referring to the mount of transfiguration.

Luke 9. When Peter and those who were with him were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were with him. And what did they see? Well, they saw the lamb with all the glory of Emmanuel's land there on the mount of transfiguration.

Peter tried to erect three tabernacles. One to Jesus, you know, but God wouldn't share that glory with anybody else. And Peter explained that the transfiguration was concerned with the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That means the powerful coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, his second coming. One other mention of the glory of Christ in his kingdom is found in John 17 .22. This is John 17 .22. He says, The glory which you gave me I have given them that they may be one just as we are one.

I think he's pointing forward here to his reign on earth as if it were already present. And when the saints will reign with him over the earth for a thousand years, they will share his glory in that time.

Christ's Present Glory as the Glorified Man in Heaven

At present, the world neither recognizes him nor recognizes his followers. But they'll see him then and realize the terrible mistake that they made. And finally, you have his present glory in heaven. His present glory in heaven.

Would you say that's the same as number one? I mean, you talked about his personal, eternal glory in heaven with God the Father. Now, he's back there again. One in seven. No, they're not the same. They're not the same.

Why are they not the same? Because he's in glory as a glorified man today, which he never was before. Not only the eternal son of God, but a glorified man, the right hand of God. John 17, 24 refers to his present glory in heaven.

John 17, 24. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. That's his present glory in heaven.

The man in the glory. And it's the same as Peter calls his eternal glory. He says, May the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

His present glory in heaven is a combination of all his glories. His eternal personal glory, his positional glory, his glory, the perfections of his manhood, his acquired glory, the glory of his resurrection, ascension, the glory of his coming again, they're all combined there in the Lord Jesus Christ at the present time.