Fargo Memorial Day Conference-09 7 Aspects of the Glory of Christ — William MacDonald

Opening in John 17

This morning we were reading from John chapter 13, this afternoon we were reading from John 15. Now, you mathematicians, in a numerical progression, what is the chapter for tonight? Very good. Head of the class.

Please turn to John 17. A very sharp audience here, Jim. John chapter 17, beginning with verse 1. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you.

As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is life eternal, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

Verse 9. I pray for them, I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours, and all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Verse 22. And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one.

Verse 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 have loved me before the foundation of the world. Did anyone notice a common thread in the verses that we read tonight?

Pardon? Glory. Who said that? Well, you're ahead of the class. That's exactly right. Glory or glorify. Not every verse that we read, but most of them had that word. And tonight I'd like to speak to you on seven aspects of the glory of Christ.

Seven aspects of the glory of Christ. But before we get to that, I want to think about that word glory with you for a moment. Because once again, I put myself in the position years ago when I'd hear these dear brethren getting up and speaking about the glories of the Lord, and it really didn't form a very specific image in my mind.

I thought, glory, glory, glory. What do you think of when you think of the glory of Christ, or the word glory by itself? Any brother here, come on now, give me a definition of glory. That's very good.

Okay. You can't be wrong. I can polish anything you say. I'm naughty, really. Jim says, the excellent characteristics of a person are things, pardon, wonderful, okay, wonders. Anybody else? Pardon? Well, we were singing that, weren't we, about that.

I think that's valid. That's very good. Yes. We haven't exhausted it yet. One of the reasons that we have trouble with the word glory is because it has many different meanings in the scripture. For instance, it means honor and praise.

We sing, glory, glory, everlasting, be to him who bore the cross, don't we? What does that mean? It means honor him, it means praise him, it means pull out all the stops in your adoration of him. Glory.

And it has other meanings in addition to that. It has the idea of radiance, it has the idea of splendor. We think of the glory of the sun. What do we mean by the glory of the sun? We mean the bright shining of the sun, don't we?

Glory means that, radiance. The word is used for heaven, isn't it? The excellent glory. It's just a synonym for heaven. And then I think in connection with what Jim said, it means excellency, it means perfection.

For instance, to all have tinned and come short of the glory of God. Well, the glory of God there has to do with his perfection, his perfection, really. And we've all come short of his perfection. And then, of course, the word glory also means to boast, doesn't it?

That's kind of a little bit removed, isn't it? To boast. God forbid that I should glory, save on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It means to boast. So it's good, I think, when you come to a word in the Scripture, to try to get the various meanings of it, and you say, well, how do you know which one?

Well, the context usually tells you. You know? I quoted that hymn, glory, glory everlasting, be to him who bore the cross. Well, it tells you. I mean, just singing the hymn, you know what you're saying.

You're attributing praise and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we speak of the glories of Christ, we're thinking of his supreme excellency. We're thinking of his unspeakable perfection, whether it's in his person, whether it's his position, or his work.

It might mean his moral or spiritual perfection, and we'll come to that as we go along. And you see those by the eye of faith as you go through the word of God, the excellency of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or it may mean his physical splendor, like when he comes back again in glory, it's going to be a bright, shining, a radiance of glory at that time. And physical magnificence and splendor of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now actually, it's impossible to number the glories of the Lord Jesus, absolutely impossible. Eternity would not exhaust that subject. So we're just going to confine ourselves to seven aspects of the glories of Christ as they're found in the sacred scriptures.

Christ’s Original Personal Glory as God the Son

And the first, I call it his original, personal glory as God the Son. His original, personal glory as God the Son. And I would ask you to go back in your mind to the Lord Jesus in heaven, in a bygone eternity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And there the Lord Jesus is, absolute God, with all the attributes of God. Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, he has all power, omniscient, there's nothing he doesn't know. He knows the eternal story of every grain of sand.

And omnipresent, he's in all places at one and the same time. That's not pantheism. Pantheism says he's in everything, but that's not it at all. The Lord Jesus is in all places at one and the same time.

When we speak of his original, personal glory as the Son of God, in a bygone eternity, we think of his absolute deity, that's what we're thinking of. All the splendors and the radiance that go with his deity.

And this is a glory that is eternal and it's inherent. It's who he is. He's no less, the writer of the Hebrews tells us, than the brightness of God's glory. The express image of his person. And he was that, of course, in all eternity.

Now, the Lord Jesus could never empty himself of that glory. It's part of who he is. It's his personhood. Any more than you could empty yourself of yourself. You say, well, that's ludicrous, that's bizarre, why do you say that?

Because people say it. People say it. They say that the Lord Jesus emptied. He could not empty himself of this, it's who he is. And we'll go into that in greater detail as we go along. It's just an intrinsic part of his being.

And it includes all his marvelous attributes and qualities and virtues. And as we've said before today, in coming to earth, he veiled that glory. It's all there, he couldn't put it aside. He veiled it in a body of flesh.

Really shone out there at the Mount of Transfiguration, didn't it? We beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. But it was there all the time. I think that's wonderful.

Think of that baby in Bethlehem, and in that little body dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead's bodily. Marvelous. Come, behold your God, extended on the straw. Wonderful, wonderful. That's the first one.

Christ’s Positional Glory in Heaven

Then there's another one in connection with that, his positional glory in heaven. His positional glory in heaven. There's his personal glory in heaven, but there's also his positional glory in heaven.

From all eternity, the Lord Jesus occupied a position of indescribable honor, and I just don't have words to describe it. Think of millions, perhaps, of angels worshiping him all the time, endlessly in heaven.

And it was the daily delight of his Father, and really there was nothing in there, nothing in that scene to mar it in any way. It was a tremendous position that he held. But you know, when the question of the redemption of mankind came up, he did not think that that was something he had to hold on to at all costs.

And this is marvelous. Look, he could have stayed in heaven. He didn't have to come to earth. He didn't have to come to save you and me. He would have been just as much God if he hadn't come. But the Father, as it were, said, whom shall I send, and who will go for me?

The Lord Jesus said, I'll go. You know, to me, that's marvelous. It's just breathtaking that the only one in the universe, the only one in the universe who was qualified to come and be my Savior was also willing.

Huh? He was always, and so he was willing to just lay aside that position in heaven to come and to seek and to save that which was lost. He held the highest place above, adored by all the sons of flame, yet such as self-denying love, he laid aside his crown and came to seek the lost.

At the cost of earthly rank and heavenly fame, he sought me. Blessed be his name. It was a lonely path he trod from every human soul apart. Known only to himself and God was all the grief that filled his heart.

Yet from the crack he turned not back, though where I lay he stood in shame. He found me. Blessed be his name. I think this illuminates Philippians chapter 2, verse 7 very well. It's been a great point of contention among theologians and scholars, as you probably know.

Philippians chapter 2 and verse 7. It says in verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Listen, if that verse says anything at all, it says the Lord Jesus Christ is equal with God.

He is God. He's equal with God. But it says in verse 7, made himself of no reputation, and that means he emptied himself. The literal translation of those words is he emptied himself. And there's where the theologians and the scholars take off.

And they pry too much into the person of the Lord Jesus and they come up with rank heresies. There's a wonderful thing that God has given to common people who are immersed in the word of God. Something that a lot of the great ones of the world don't have.

It's something that's called wisdom. It's something that's called wisdom. And I love it. Love to see it in people. He emptied himself. What did he empty himself? Did he empty himself of aspect number one?

His original personal glory? No, you can't do that. He emptied himself of his positional glory in heaven. And I think if you see that, there won't be any doubt in your mind. He took the form of a servant.

It says that. He took the form of a servant and came in the likeness of man. And I think it was probably that positional glory that Charles Wesley was speaking about when he wrote in that hymn, Mild He Lays His Glory By.

I hope it was that. It's extremely important to realize that the self-emptying of the Lord Jesus refers only to his position, not to his person. A prince living in a royal palace can leave the royal palace to go and dwell in the jungle.

But he's still the prince. He's changed his position, but he's still the prince. He hasn't changed his personhood at all. And so in John 17, 5, which we read tonight, the Savior prayed, And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Now, which aspect of the glory of Christ is he speaking about? Who is he speaking about? Well, he's speaking about the positional glory. Because he never laid aside his personal glory. He's saying, Lord, Father, you just restore me to that position of glory in heaven which I had with You before the foundation of the world was laid.

That expression, how does it go? Father, glorify me together with Yourself. Together with Yourself. That means in Your presence is what it means. Nothing more complicated than that. Father, You glorify me in Your presence with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

His positional glory in heaven. And that, of course, refers to his ascension, going back to the Father's house, to the throne. Then you have, number three, the glory of the life of the Lord Jesus here as the Son of Man.

The Moral Glory of Christ’s Perfect Life

The glory of His life here on earth as the Son of Man. There never was a life lived on this planet like that. I tell you, once there walked the dusty roads of the Middle East there, a perfect man, a perfect man.

A man that never had a regret as to anything he ever said or did. Wonderful Savior that he is. One of whom it could be said he knew no sin. He did no sin. There was no sin in him. I think it's really marvelous to read in the gospel stories and you meet men there who weren't particularly friends of Jesus.

And yet three times, for instance, Pilate didn't find any fault in him. And Herod had to admit, I don't see that he's done anything worthy of death. And Judas, the betrayer, said, I betray innocent blood.

I mean, even the enemies of the Lord Jesus had to confess. A perfect life lived here below. I think it's wonderful. Even the officers that were sent to arrest him said, nobody ever spoke like this man.

It's really great, isn't it? The Lord Jesus was glorious in His perfect humanity. And this is known as the moral glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of you, I'm sure, are familiar with that book by J .G. Pellet.

Pellet, call that the moral glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it showed how everything in the life of the Lord Jesus was perfect. And in perfect confidence with the time in which He lived. Every answer He ever gave to a question was just a perfect answer.

A perfect answer. I often think of James Denning. James Denning, he said, the only perfect life ever lived on this earth. And he left nothing but the clothes that he wore. Yeah, that speaks to my heart.

The only perfect life ever lived on this earth. And he left nothing but the clothes that he wore. And then, a very wonderful study is the acquired glories of the Lord Jesus. Acquired glories? You know, you've been talking about somebody who's perfect in all his ways.

And there's no flaw in him. Nobody can find any flaw in him. And now you're talking about acquired glories. Yes, we're talking about acquired glories. The Lord Jesus acquired glories in coming down to the earth that He never had before.

You say, really? Yes, really. You'll see it. Had He remained in heaven, He never could have been our Savior. Saviorhood is an acquired glory of Jesus Christ. By going to the cross and rising from the tomb, He became perfect as Savior.

And that clarifies some very difficult verses in the book of Hebrews. Would you like to turn to Hebrews 2 .10? And maybe you've had trouble with this verse. Well, you don't need to. Just remember these aspects of the glories of Christ.

And especially remember here His acquired glories. 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.

Say, perfect. To make Him perfect. MacDonald, you've just been laboring the point that He was perfect in all His ways. He never did anything that He regretted. He never came to the end of a day and wished He had done something that He hadn't done.

Or was sorry He did something He hadn't. He never had any of those things that you and I have. And yet you're saying now He was made perfect. Look at the text. The text tells you how He was made perfect.

He was made perfect as the author of salvation. You know, I find in studying the Word of God that usually when you come to a difficulty, you don't have to turn back to Genesis to find the answer. Or some distant book.

The answer is usually right there. And you skip it. I was thinking of that this afternoon. God is not willing that any should perish. You should say people perish. I know, I read the rest of the verse.

But all should come to repentance, but a lot of people don't want to come to repentance. They don't want to come to repentance. They'd rather have their sins than have the Christ of God. So, His Saviorhood is an acquired glory.

Hebrews chapter 5 verse 9. Hebrews chapter 5 verse 9. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. What does it say? You know what it's saying? Just let me paraphrase it.

He became our perfect Savior. That's what He became. By going to the cross and suffering and bleeding and dying, rising again from the dead, He became our perfect Savior. Again, I say, if He had stayed in heaven, that never could have happened.

It was only because He was willing to lay aside His positional glory and come down here and take on this acquired glory. He could not be made perfect as to His person. He always was perfect as to His person.

But He could and did become the perfect Savior. And the Lord Jesus alluded to this acquired glory when in anticipation of Calvary He said, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. John 12, 23.

The hour has come that the Son of Man would be glorified. He was speaking in anticipation of the cross and of the empty tomb. And the Lord Jesus was glorified there at the cross of Calvary. He was glorified in His resurrection as we will see.

You know, there are a lot of other acquired glories that the Lord Jesus had received in addition to Saviorhood. For instance, Messiah. If He hadn't become incarnate, if He hadn't come as a man and a descendant of David, He could never have been the Messiah.

Because the Old Testament predicted that He would be a descendant of David, the seed of David. He could never have been high priest, mediator, intercessor, redeemer, the good shepherd, heir of all things, king, judge, or the head of the church.

If He hadn't come to Calvary, He could never have had the name that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess Him, Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Think of all of the crowns, the acquired glories the Lord Jesus had as a result of His work there on the cross. Another one of His acquired glories is found there in John 17 .10. John 17 .10, He says, All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

You know, that just about takes my breath away. I am the Lord Jesus. Look, you're here today with the mark of redemption, the brand mark of redemption in your forehead. You're saved by the blood of Christ.

Listen, He's glorified in you. He's glorified in you. It's rather humbling, isn't it? It's not about as humbling as His getting down and washing the disciples' feet, but it's there just the same. And I think I can see something of it.

Sometimes I'm at the break in the bread, and I look around, and I see the faces of some dear ones there, young fellows, and they were on drugs, and their lives were burned out with sex and alcohol and all the rest.

Here they are, clothed in their right minds, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and He's glorified in them. It is. It's glorifying to the Lord when something like that happens. I am glorified in them. That's an acquired glory of the Savior.

This is something that could only happen as a result of His work at Calvary. And when He comes again, He's going to be glorified in His saints. In 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 10, He says, When He comes in that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired among all of those who believe.

It's a wonder of wonders. Then there's the glory of His resurrection and ascension. The glory of His resurrection and ascension. We read in John chapter 17, verse 1, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you.

The Glory of Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension

What was He referring to? Look, He was going to go to the cross. He was going to suffer and bleed and die. And His body was going to be put in the tomb. In Joseph of Arimathea's sepulchre. And now He's saying, You glorify your Son, Father, by raising Him from the dead.

And God did. God did. Raised Him from the dead. The third day. That's what He's referring to in this passage. The glory of His resurrection. So that the Son, in turn, might glorify the Father. You know, it's wonderful.

Through the work of the Lord Jesus, more glory has come to God. And more blessing to mankind than if sin had never entered the world. People say, well, if God is so powerful, why did He let sin enter the world?

God has His ways. God has His ways of doing it. And more glory has come to God, and more blessing has come to you and me, than if He had stopped sin from coming into the world. In other words, where sin abounded and grace did much more abound, God got the last word.

I think that's wonderful. And you and I today are better off in Christ than we ever would have been in an unfallen Adam. As long as Adam lived on earth, he'd live on earth. He had no hope of heaven. Nothing like that.

As long as he didn't sin, he could go on living forever on earth. But whenever he sinned, that was the end of that. But he never had these blessings chosen in Christ. The hope of heaven before him. One day I shall be like Him.

We shall be like Him. But we shall see Him as He is. He never had anything like that. I want to tell you, we're better off in Christ today than we ever would have been in an unfallen Adam. Think it over and worship Him.

John 13. We're still on the glory of His resurrection and ascension. John 13, 31 and 32. It says, When He, Judas, had gone out, Jesus said... I'd like you all to turn to these verses. John 13, 31 and 32.

It says, When He, Judas, had gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God also will glorify Him in Himself and glorify Him immediately.

Anybody volunteer to explain those verses? Well, I don't blame you if you can't. They're difficult. It seems like a jumble of holy words. I mean that reverently, too. It seems like a jumble of holy words.

But it's not. And it all has to do with the subject that we're thinking about today. The glory of His resurrection and ascension. Let's look at it in detail. Now the Son of Man is glorified. Now, again, the Lord Jesus is speaking in anticipation of the cross of Calvary.

He's looking forward to the cross. The same as in John 17. The same thing. Father, the hour has come. Calvary. Now the Son of Man is glorified. And God is glorified in Him. No tree ever brought forth such glory to God as the cross of Calvary.

And God was greatly glorified by the work of the Lord Jesus there on the cross of Calvary. Make no mistake about that. It brought tremendous glory to God. Glory that He otherwise would not have had. It says, if God is glorified in Him.

The if is the if of argument, isn't it? It's the since. Since God is glorified in Him. God will also glorify Him in Himself. How? By raising Him from the dead. That's how. Glorify Him in Himself by raising Him from the dead.

And glorify Him immediately. And He did. Three days later. Immediately. He did not suffer His Holy One to see corruption. It's really wonderful. So when you put that verse together, it's really quite beautiful.

Now the Son of Man is glorified at the cross. God is glorified in Him through His work there on the cross. If God is glorified in Him, and He is. God will glorify Him in Himself by raising Him from the dead.

And glorify Him immediately. And immediately there refers to the three days later. Is that clear? I hope it is. He was speaking of His death as the way by which He would glorify God. And by which He brought great glory to God the Father.

Now let me read some. I'm just going to read them. We won't turn to some additional verses that refer to the glory of His resurrection and ascension. Luke 24, 26. The Lord Jesus speaking. He said, Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?

That's His ascension back to heaven. Entering into His glory. John 7, 39. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Before the Holy Spirit could be given, before He could come down to earth, the Lord Jesus had to go back to heaven and be glorified there at the right hand of God the Father. John 12, 16. His disciples did not understand these things at first.

But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him. And that they had done these things to Him. 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 glorify His servant Jesus.

Glorified Him by raising Him from the dead, taking Him home to heaven. 1 Timothy 3, 16. He was received up into glory. And finally, 1 Peter 1, 21. Who through Him, the Lord Jesus, believed in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory.

Not just raised Him from the dead, but took Him back to heaven and gave Him glory. And of course, the glory of His resurrection and ascension, they merge into His eternal glory. The glory that He will have for all eternity.

The Glory of Christ’s Second Coming and Kingdom

How much glory of the Lord Jesus do you think is mentioned most in the New Testament? What is the next one we come to? The glory of His second coming and kingdom. The glory of His second coming and kingdom.

If my numbering is right, that's 6, is it? Number 6. There are more references in the New Testament to this glory than to any of the others. Let me just read some of them. The Son of Man will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

When He comes to reign upon the earth. This is not the rapture. At least 7 years later, when the heavens are opened and the Lord Jesus comes, a tremendous display of magnificence and radiance and glory.

Actually, when He comes in the rapture, it's just all over in the twinkling of an eye, isn't it? Just over in the twinkling of an eye. But when He comes, every eye shall see Him. When He comes to reign, when His feet touch the Mount of Olives, every eye shall see Him in the world.

In that day, He will be glorified in His saints and admired among all those who believe. This is when He comes back to reign on the earth. He sits on the throne of His glory at this time. He sits on the throne of His glory and He'll reward the apostles and all His followers in that day.

And then He's going to set up the judgment of the nations when He comes. Did you read about that? Of course, in Matthew's gospel, don't you? Matthew 25. And that's when He will be ashamed of those who were ashamed of Him and of His words when He comes in His own glory.

James and John unwisely asked to be allowed to sit next to Christ in the glory of His coming kingdom. The kingdom is going to be a glorious event. I'd rather ask you, what's the most glorious thing you've ever exhibited, you've ever seen here on earth?

I've asked that in meetings. What's the most glorious thing that has ever happened on the earth that you know of? I'm thinking from a secular standpoint, leaving the Bible. What's the greatest display of splendor and radiance and majesty and magnificence that you've ever even read about?

Pardon? Okay, well, I can't deny that. I think of something bigger that covers more geography, maybe. The rainbow? Pardon? Alexander the Great. Well, he was the ruler of... I don't know. I don't know about the radiance in which he lived, but he conquered the world, didn't he?

He conquered the world. I guess I'm thinking of something more man-made. Everything that God made is magnificent. Pardon? The cathedral. You could have talked all day without saying that. I'm only teasing.

I'm only teasing. Well, I asked that once, and one lady said the opening of the Olympics, I think in LA. That was glorious, wasn't it? In a sense, as far as the world was concerned, it was glorious. The greatest glory I've ever read about, as far as man on the earth was concerned, when Iran had a celebration, an anniversary.

The Shah was still in power, and the money flowed, and it was really gorgeous. I wish I had kept the pictures. But I tell you, all of those things are just peanuts compared to what it's going to be like when the Lord Jesus comes back and sets up his kingdom on earth.

And we can't even begin to imagine it with these little minds of ours of the present time. The present time, we have five senses, and by then we'll be coming back with the Lord Jesus, and maybe we'll have 50 senses then.

I hope that we do. The transfiguration of the Lord Jesus was a preview of that glory of the kingdom. You remember that. And John says, we beheld his glory. Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

He's speaking primarily of the transfiguration there. He says, when Peter and those who were with him were fully awake, they saw his glory, and two men who were with him. And later, Peter referred to the transfiguration, and he explained that it was concerned with the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The power and coming means the powerful coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The coming and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not talking myths when we tell you about these things. We saw it with our eyes.

Another mention of the glory of Christ and his coming kingdom is found in John 17 .22. John 17 .22, quickly. It says, and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one.

And that could refer to the fact that believers will reign with Christ during that time. During the thousand-year reign on earth. They will reign with him. It's wonderful just to think about it. The Lord Jesus pointing forward to his reign as if it were already present.

At present, the world doesn't recognize us because it didn't recognize him. 1 John 3 .1, therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him. But when he's manifested in glory, the world's going to put its hand up to its mouth.

When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Beloved, now we are the children of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.

That we shall see him as he is. And then the world will see the oneness between the Lord Jesus and his followers. And they'll know that the Father sent the Son. And that God loves the saints as he loves his sons.

Isn't that wonderful? God loves the saints as he loves his sons. Which means God can't love you more than he loves you at this present time, if you're a believer. You like that? I tell you, we're millionaires, billionaires.

Christ’s Present Glory in Heaven

Finally, his present glory in heaven. His present glory in heaven. You say, well, don't labor the point, Bill. It's just what he was from all eternity. No, it isn't. No, it isn't. You'd think that, wouldn't you?

You'd think his present glory in heaven would be what he was before he ever came to the earth. But it's not so. Why isn't it so? Because he's there in a way he never was before he's there as the man Christ Jesus.