When we speak of the glories of the Lord Jesus, we are on most blessed and yet holy ground. Surely His glories are unlimited, and we will spend all eternity exploring and enjoying them. Yet for a mere mortal to take up the glories of the Lord Jesus and seek to summarize them is somewhat like a man trying to number the stars or the sand on the seashore. However, if we as believers are able to read of, speak of, and enjoy something of those glories now, we may, with God’s help, bring out what His Word says about them.
What is glory? The simplest definition perhaps is “excellence in manifestation.” It is excellence displayed so that others may see and appreciate it. God’s purposes to a coming eternity are all centered in His beloved Son, and God delights to display all the glories of His Son. Eventually His glory will be displayed in both heaven and earth, but by faith we can see and enjoy some of those glories now!
Any enumerating of the glories of the Lord Jesus must be somewhat arbitrary, as they overlap and complement each other. However, I believe we can distinguish a number of these glories of which Scripture speaks.
Godhead Glory
The first one is His Godhead glory — that glory that is His by virtue of His being the Son of God from all eternity. In John 1:1 we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here we see the Lord Jesus as the eternal Word, before anything else was made. The glory that is His as God cannot be seen by the creature, as we read in 1 Timothy 6:1416: “Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” He laid this glory aside when He came into this world so that men could approach Him, but in His prayer to the Father in John 17, He asks to be glorified again “with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was” (vs. 5).
Personal Glory
However, if His Godhead glory was veiled, His personal glory shone out to those who were privileged to see it. John could say, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). At the marriage in Cana of Galilee, the Spirit of God records, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him” (John 2:11). We note here that only His disciples are said to have believed on Him, for although all saw the miracles He did, all did not recognize who He was. However, for those who were privileged to see, His personal glory was displayed in His words and His miracles. Thus Peter could say, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), while the Lord’s interaction with Nathanael also so impressed him that he said, “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God” (John 1:49).
Glory As Creator
His personal glory is closely connected with what might be called His glory as Creator. In Psalm 19:1 we read, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” In Colossians 1:1516 we read that He is “the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible. . . . All things were created by Him and for Him.” More than this, “All things subsist together by Him” (Col. 1:17 JND). He is the firstborn in virtue of His having created all things — that is, He has the place of preeminence. Called into being by Him, all things are upheld “by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). He is the characteristic power, the active instrument, and the end of all created things. All men see this glory in creation and are responsible to God in this way. We read in Romans 1:20, “The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen . . . so that they are without excuse.”
Moral Glory
If man could not see His Godhead glory and often did not see His personal glory, His moral glory in His walk through this world, like His glory as Creator, was visible to all. It could not be hid. However, the term “moral glory” is a broad one, and we may include several distinct but similar glories in the term. Moral glory is not material glory, nor is it circumstantial, but rather it is the display of that perfect combination of virtues that were seen only in the Son of Man. In this sense we can say that His moral glory was seen in His walk through this world, in His work of redemption, and in the glory displayed in the gospel. All are moral glories and yet can be distinguished from one another.
First of all, as to His glory in walking through this world, it was displayed in perfection for all to see. There was at the same time His willingness to take a low place before men, but His consciousness of who He was before God. In all the most intimate and ordinary details of life, His virtues tell us of His person. His dignity and moral elevation were such that all could see them, and His pathway all the way through was marked with this. What a blessed meditation for our souls! Now, we who by new birth have Christ as our life can display in some small way the moral virtues of that life in this world. As sons of God we should be conscious of the dignity of that position, while taking the place of voluntary humiliation before the world.
But this moral glory was realized in its fullness at the cross, for the Lord Jesus could say, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him” (John 13:31). In submitting to the death of the cross His moral glory reached its peak, for there was supreme submission to the Father’s will, while at the same time supreme consciousness of His intrinsic glory before God. As a result of this work, He is now glorified: “God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him” (John 13:32). Israel looked for kingdom glory, but the moral glory of the cross must come first.
Glory in the Gospel
This brings us to His glory in the gospel, proclaimed as a result of His work on the cross. Since Christ has died, all the fullness of blessing in the heart of God has been revealed. The heavens, once opened only to Christ as a man (Matt. 3:16), are now opened to us, and like Stephen, we can look up and see the “glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). In 2 Corinthians 4:4 (JND), Paul speaks of the “radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ.” God has not only been satisfied but glorified by the finished work of Christ, and in His face we can see all that glory revealed.
Leaving His moral glory, we can see a glory that is His because of His own who are now associated with Him. In Colossians we see some of the highest glories of the Lord Jesus, and there we read of “the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Christ and the church are a mystery that was hidden in God from before the foundation of the world, but now this mystery (secret) is revealed, and thus Paul could speak of “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). Believers are now united to Christ as His body and His bride, and the glory of that wonderful relationship is ours to enjoy. Paul’s wish for the Ephesians was that the eyes of their understanding might be enlightened in order to enjoy it more!
Kingdom Glory
Finally, we have the kingdom glory that will be displayed during the millennium. In that day the Lord Jesus will come back to this world in power and glory, as He foretold in Matthew 25:31 — “when the Son of Man shall come in His glory” and shall “sit upon the throne of His glory.” In that day “every eye shall see Him” (Rev. 1:7), and all will bow the knee before Him. The One who was rejected — who hung on Calvary’s cross in humiliation and suffering — will be vindicated in that day when He takes His place as judge and king. God’s purpose to “head up all things in the Christ” (Eph. 1:10 JND) will be realized in that day, and all His glories will shine forth! In that day we too will be “to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:12).
I am sure that these thoughts could be compared to sighting only the tip of an iceberg. The glories of His Person will not be exhausted in a coming eternity, but how wonderful to have the capacity to enjoy them now!
W. J. Prost