Reflecting The Glory Of The Lord

Well, good afternoon again, brethren, and it's a delight to be able to see everybody. I'm glad to have all of you here today. I was thinking in regard to what I'm wanting to talk about here this afternoon for the sermon. It was interesting that we sang, as Mr. Urbom was leading, one of the hymns was entitled, We Will Glorify. And that certainly is a wonderful hymn that we commonly sing and are used to. Also in our special music, it was from an album called Majesty and Glory. And in a sense, that really ties in with what I want to discuss here with all of us this afternoon. You know, at the Feast of Tabernacles, as we covered last week in services, we often go over things that are pretty familiar to us in the book of Isaiah. And in Isaiah 11, verse 9, you find a summary verse that's clearly talking about the millennial rule of Jesus Christ. It talks about Him establishing a government, about giving teaching, about changing the nature of things there in Isaiah 11. But in verse 9, it says, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Now, that's a pretty familiar statement to us. I think probably all of us could probably quote that if we got started on it. We would know what it says. And yet, I'd like for us to think about what is that meaning? You know, what is that going to provide for the entirety of humanity who live into the time, the beginning, at least of the millennium? See, instead of like we have today, where people don't really promote God or even religion or the Bible, per se, you find a lot of opposition to that, even more so today than we did, say, for 30, 40, 50 years ago, it used to be a little more common for people to have some knowledge of God.

And yet, here in this verse, it talks about the knowledge of the Lord, the knowledge of God, and I will define this really as just an awareness of God, a realization that God exists. And then, we know at that time, since the law is going to go forth from Zion, then there's going to be teaching from the Bible that will be more and more available. And yes, we have some people today who have some of that as well. You know, there are people who believe in God. There are people who read the Bible on a consistent basis. But see, is that all that really is needed? See, this is describing what Christ is going to provide at the time of the millennium, a knowledge of the Lord, being an awareness of God, an understanding of the Bible, or at least a comprehension of the Bible. But I want us to also read another verse here in the book of Habakkuk, chapter 2, that seems to expand on this same theme. Habakkuk is a kind of hard-to-find book. It's in the latter part of the Old Testament. You can search for it, but you may not find.

If you have an index Bible, you can find it a little easier. But it's somewhere back there after Daniel and before Malachi, I know. But Habakkuk is not a very long book. There's only two or three chapters, three, I think. And most of the time you might not have a lot of reason to read Habakkuk. But you find one statement that God inspired to be written by Habakkuk that I think has some bearing. Here in Habakkuk 2, verse 14, it says something similar but a little bit different.

Than what we read in Isaiah. Habakkuk 2, verse 14, says, but the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Now, what's the difference between the knowledge of the Lord, just information about God, just somewhat maybe wanting to be religious, and actually understanding the knowledge of the glory of the Lord?

That's what I want to discuss here today because I believe God requires, He expects us to be reflecting the glory of the Lord. That could be the topic or title for the sermon, reflecting the glory of the Lord. Because see, there's a lot more to it than just simply believing in God or actually even reading the Bible. You have to be able to read the Bible with understanding, with God's help to be able, you know, to fully understand what He's talking about, about the glory of the Lord. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Because that really starts dealing with not just being religious as far as following biblical things, but really understanding God's purpose for human existence. And see, that's what all of us are learning. We grow in. We grow in understanding more clearly what is God's purpose for my life, for my existence. What does God want to achieve in the life of a Christian? A Christian who needs to continue to grow in understanding in the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. I want to point out several things. Glory is a word that's used quite a bit in the Bible. It often is referring to God. It's referring to His qualities. It's referring to honoring God. Glorify is another word that's used that, you know, we sang about and that we should glorify God. We should glorify God in our words, in our song, in our action, in the things that we do. But see, really understanding the glory of the Lord involves an understanding of the purpose of human existence. It's beyond just knowing a little bit about God. So first of all, I want to point out how that the glory of the Lord is described, it's stated here in the Old Testament, actually as a description. This is the first of several points. I won't tell you how many. I'll get confused. This is the first point about how the glory of the Lord is described as God dwelling with His people. See, now I think you could think about, well, how was it that God was to dwell with His people?

Well, He didn't deal with the Israelites in the way He's dealing with us today.

He dealt with them as a physical nation. He dealt with them as the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He had a purpose for them, but as we recall, you know, there was a tabernacle originally later there was a temple. That temple was actually rebuilt, and then God talks about another temple.

He talks about a temple that all of us are supposed to be. And so I want to look at a couple of verses here in Exodus 40. Exodus chapter 40 is talking about the tabernacle. Now, Moses was directed to build the tabernacle and all of the different equipment that would be involved in the tabernacle, and he was to set it up in a certain way, and they were to move it around in a certain way. It was a tent. It was a tent that represented where God would dwell with the people of Israel. Aaron would go into the Holy of Holies once a year, or the high priest would, whoever that was later on. Moses would interface with God at this tabernacle. Here in Exodus 40 it says in verse 34, then the cloud, this is after the tabernacle had been erected and all of the equipment installed, verse 34, the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled that tabernacle. And whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their journey. If the cloud stayed there, they didn't set out until the day that it started to move. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and the fire was in the cloud by night before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey. So not only did Moses and Aaron know, but everybody knew. That if there was this huge cloud or this fire that represented God's glory, being in that tabernacle, then they knew how it was they were to move. Now, as I said, the tabernacle was used for a period of time, and ultimately you come to the time of David, and he wants to build a house for God. He wants God to dwell in the people of Israel, in the nation of Israel, and yet God wouldn't allow him to build a temple. He says, I'm going to allow Solomon to build a temple, and whenever Solomon built this glorious temple, it was in Jerusalem. It was beautiful. There were incredible wealth involved in putting together this Solomon's Temple. And I want to read here in 1 Kings chapter 8. 1 Kings chapter 8. I want to read about Solomon having built the temple, having put everything together as God had provided through David and then allowed Solomon to build the temple, all of the building, all of the furnishings. And here in 1 Kings chapter 8, it says in verse 9, there was nothing in the ark that was inside the temple there or inside the area where the Holy of Holies would be. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt. And so this was clearly a very respected place, this temple that Solomon had built. And it says in verse 10, when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. And Solomon said the Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness, and I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever. See, wherever you see, you know, the glory of the Lord descending on the tabernacle or descending upon the temple, that indicated God dwelling with his people. And of course, as we're familiar with the history of Israel, they really didn't do much to respect the God who was a jealous God, to tie this in with our sermonette. God wanted them to respect him, he wanted them to follow, he wanted them to obey, but they didn't. And so what happened? Both of them, the house of Israel, the house of Judah, went into captivity.

And yet after they were in captivity, God sent some of the house of Judah back to rebuild the temple. And you call this generally the second temple. It was another temple because Solomon's temple, a glorious temple, a beautiful temple, a gorgeous temple, had been ransacked and burnt to the ground. And so a new temple was going to be erected by the Jews. And they had, they struggled to do that because they could see, well, you know, we really just don't have, we don't have much impetus here. We can barely, we've got opposition on all sides. We can't hardly build even any defenses. We can't build the temple. You know, it's hard enough to build our own house. Sometimes they were sidetracked by doing that. And what do we read? And we can look at this in Ezra chapter 6. Ezra chapter 6. See, now we've seen where the tabernacle and where Solomon's temple were involved in a ceremony where the glory of the Lord appears. And the presence of God dwells among the people. But here in Ezra, the sixth chapter, you find beginning in verse 16 something a little unusual. This is different. You know, whenever there was a dedication of the tabernacle or the first temple, God was directly involved. And it says the glory of the Lord appeared. But in verse 16, whenever this second temple was completed and then dedicated, the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, in Ezra 6.16 and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. See, so here it talks about them celebrating and dedicating it to God. It says they offered at the dedication of the house of God a hundred bulls and numerous sacrifices as sin offering. Verse 18, they set the priests in their division and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. But nowhere do you read that the glory of the Lord resided then in this second temple.

See, what was indicated by that? Well, what was indicated that this temple, this second temple, was symbolizing a future temple. A future temple that would not be a physical building, would not be a tent or not be a temple that had been built with stone or by man, but it would be a temple that we read about in the New Testament here in 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians 3.

Down in verse 16, we see Paul describing the temple that God is really interested in, the temple that he is directly involved in. 1 Corinthians 3. Verse 16. He says, Do you not know, again talking to the people who were members of the church there in Corinth, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple.

See, now the glory of the Lord was described as dwelling among the people in the tabernacle and in the temple for a period of time, but then here Paul describes the people of God being the ones who were to be holy, being the ones where God would dwell, where the glory of the Lord could come to fruition, to where we, and see this is important for us to understand as the children of God, we are a temple that God is wanting us to recognize his involvement in bringing us to the point that we're at today. For some of us, it's been a number of years since God brought us into and a part of the church, others it's newer, and yet this doesn't change what God is saying about the temple of God being our body where we are of a recipients of the Spirit of God and we should understand not just knowledge of God, we should know that, we should be growing that, but we should know the knowledge of the glory of God, what it means for God to dwell in us. Now secondly, I want to go on and point out a few pictures. You find many of these in the book of John. Point out a few scriptures that are dealing with glorifying, glorifying, meaning to give honor or to give respect. Obviously, this would most of the time be toward God, and yet there are other times when our actions are supposed to glorify God. It's involving us. Here in John chapter 1, what do we read about regarding Jesus Christ? John chapter 1, you see, in the beginning was the Word, in verse 1, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and then down in verse 14, then the Word became flesh.

He became flesh and dwelt, lived among us, and we have seen, what? We've seen His glory.

The glory as of a Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. Here you see a statement about Jesus being glory, described as having the glory of God, and clearly as the Son of God, He is the one who personified that glory. He was the one who came and became flesh, and we see His glory, the glory of a Father's only Son. See, Jesus is unique in that way. He is the first of the family who will be a, you know, the captain of our salvation, the pioneer that leads the way, and that we follow Him to become like God. If we jump over to chapter 8, John chapter 8, Jesus actually mentions, as he's discussing with the Pharisees, you know, how it is that, you know, you should understand the whole topic of being glorified. Here in John chapter 8, verse 54, Jesus answered. They were criticizing Him, and they were saying, well, are you greater than Abraham? And, of course, He had to say, well, yes, I'm the one who dealt with Abraham. But He described it in verse 54. He answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.

It is my Father who glorifies me, He of whom you say He is your God. Now, He was explaining to them that I'm not taking glory on myself. That glory comes from God. That glory comes from the Father. And see, it's important for us, you know, to understand that. Since another page over in chapter 9, verse 24, whenever the blind man was being interrogated, you know, how did you get your sight? What happened to you? In verse 24, so for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to Him, give glory to God. We know this man is a sinner. They didn't want, chapter 9, 24, they didn't want to recognize Jesus as God. They didn't want to acknowledge that He was the Son of God and that He was the Messiah, that He was the Christ, the one that they were looking for, the one that they should have been even trying to identify more than they did. And yet, even the Pharisees said, well, give glory to God. God's the one who needs to be glorified. He's the one who needs to be praised, and that's kind of the way it's used here. In chapter 11, in a chapter about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, whenever Mary and Martha are calling Jesus, the sisters in verse 3, chapter 11, verse 3, send a message to Jesus, Lord, He whom you love is ill, Lazarus is really sick. He's dying.

And Jesus said, in verse 4, this illness does not lead to death. Rather, it is for God's glory.

So that the Son of God may be glorified through it. And so, of course, He was performing a miracle, or going to perform a miracle of bringing Him back to life, giving Him His physical life back again. And He said, this is to glorify God. This is actually to show that I am the Son of God. And so glory has to do, and the glory of the Lord has to do with God's presence and God dwelling in our lives. Another area, a third area here, you see, also different places where the glory of the Lord is described as God's power or His position.

Backing up here in John to chapter 2. Now, this is talking about a kind of an interesting miracle that Jesus performs, where He turns water into wine. You know, He turned plain H2O into, you know, what kind of good wine could you describe? Because that's what the stewards had to say. Well, we served other stuff, but this is a lot better than what we're providing, had provided earlier. But see here in chapter 2 verse 11, it says, Jesus did this. He performed this miracle, making this good wine. The first of His signs in Cana of Galilee, and He revealed what? He revealed His glory. He revealed that He was God. He revealed that He was the Son of God. He revealed His glory, and the disciples believed in Him.

And so clearly, again, glory can be used in a number of different ways, but it needs to be comprehended. A knowledge of the glory of God causes us to understand, you know, that God is the one who is at work in our lives to produce something that is impossible for us to produce. We cannot produce what God is producing in our lives. Chapter 5. Chapter 5, again of John, verse 44.

Chapter 5 verse 44. He asked the question, again, they were criticizing Him. But in verse 44, He says, How can you believe when you accept glory from one another? I think the King James says honor from one another, but it's the same word. He's talking about how can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? See, again, the glory of God has to do with His power, His presence, Him dwelling in us. Chapter 7.

Verse 18. We read part of this the other day, last week. Chapter 7 verse 18. Those who speak of their own seek their own glory. They seek their own honor. They want to be recognized. They want to be viewed in a positive light. But He says, The one who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, talking about Himself, talking about God. The one who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him is true, and there is nothing false in Him. So, again, He's connecting a knowledge of the glory of God with an understanding of what God is doing with human beings. What He is doing with the physical people over in verse 39 as well. At the end of the feast on this last great day in verse 37, verse 39, He said about the Spirit that believers in Him would receive as yet no Spirit had come because, what? Jesus had not been glorified. To hear this, obviously, glory has to do with Jesus. It has to do with God. It has to do with His presence, with Him dwelling with God.

So, let's move on. Well, we could also go to chapter 11 here again. Chapter 11 verse 40. Now, this is when Jesus was actually raising Lazarus from the dead.

And in talking to Martha, who was saying, well, Lazarus will already, he will be stinking after several days now in the grave, Jesus said, did I not tell you that if you believed that you would see the glory of God, you would see a miracle. You would see something that only God could do, in this case, raising Lazarus from the dead. Chapter 12 verse 16.

This is actually, in a sense, almost parenthetical because, as these things are recorded in the book of John, as he is writing what Jesus did and what the disciples did and what they said, it says in verse 16, the disciples did not understand these things at first.

But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things have been written at him and been done of him. See, again, you know, glorified in this case is used as Jesus once again resuming his role with the Father being glorified as the first begotten Son of God. He is that firstborn Son of God. So I want to point these things out because there are some other verses that should be very, very familiar to us. This next thing I want to cover, I think it's number four, the glory of the God kind. See, clearly that's what Jesus was. He was with the Father. He was the Word. He had always existed. He came in the flesh. He was here. He was once again glorified. We read this in John 17. John chapter 17, Jesus spoke to the Father in this prayer where he is praying. He's praying about a relationship with God. He's praying about how he had come to fulfill his mission, how he had been living a life of sinlessness, how he had achieved the goal that he set out to achieve. Right now he was on the verge of being crucified. And he says, here in chapter 17, verse 1, Jesus spoke these words to his Father. He says, the hour has come, glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. See, here Jesus was talking about not only himself, but about those disciples who were with him, those who were going to be making up in the next couple of months the initial start of the New Testament Church of God. He was talking about them.

And he says in verse 4, I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you have given me to do.

So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. He says, I ask that you in a sense, re-glorify me. Re-glorify me as a part of the God kind, not now limited. This is, of course, going to happen whenever he was resurrected from the dead, whenever he would return to the Father and be at the right hand of God, and be a part of the God kind. This is what we read over here in the book of Hebrews. And again, we read these verses quite often because they deal with the purpose of human life.

And yet, do we really understand the knowledge of the glory of the Lord? What it is to be engaged, involved, to have begun a process that will lead to being glorified with God as Christ is now glorified. Here in Hebrews chapter 2, we read about God dealing with man, you know, why it's important, why it's significant, what he is wanting. And he says right now, you know, man is still pretty limited, but in verse 9 we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, who is now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he would taste death for everyone. See, what Paul could say right now was that, well, man has not yet achieved what you are going to achieve in his life, in man's life. But we do see Jesus having now been glorified as a part of the family of God. And he's crowned with glory and honor. Now, this next point, number five, is the same glory. That same glory he wants to give to the children of God. The same glory that Jesus is glorified with will always be in subjection to Jesus Christ. He will always be the unique son of God. But he says, I want you to be glorified like I'm glorified. If we continue reading, it talks about Jesus in verse 9, about being crowned with glory and honor.

He's at the right hand of God, and yet it goes ahead in verse 10, it was fitting that God, for whom and through all things, exist in bringing many children, many sons, many sons and daughters, to what? To glory. To glory that you should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. See, what does God want for the children of God? What does he want? Well, he wants us to truly identify with him and to fully comprehend the depth that he has in store for us. If we go back to John chapter 15, John chapter 15, you see this is Jesus again talking to his disciples, but he says, I want you to be attached to the vine. You're the branches. I want you to be attached to the vine. He says, I call you my friends because you're not just my servants. You are people I dearly love. He mentions that about being their friends in verse 13. You are my friends if you do what I command you. Well, what I want to focus on is up in verse 7, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, then ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. Verse 8, my father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and you become my disciples. See, is the father glorified by my life or by your life? It says, when we bear the fruit that he wants us to bear the fruit of his spirit, then we glorify God. In chapter 17, again, again where Jesus is praying to the father, he's actually making some remarkable statements, statements we always read on the Passover, and yet statements that too many times we read over and we may not connect with knowledge of the glory of God being a connection that God himself has started in our lives for us to ultimately be glorified with Jesus Christ.

Here in verse 10, actually in verse 9, he says, I'm not asking on behalf of the world. He says, I'm not talking about most people that you are not yet choosing to deal with. Verse 9, I'm not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those that you've given me, because they are yours. And in verse 10, all of them, all of mine are yours, and all of yours are mine. And I have been glorified in them. See, he makes a connection with all of his disciples that God is beginning a work that will ultimately, you know, produce the children of God. And if we jump down to verse 20, I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word. And in verse 22, the glory that you have given me, the glory that, you know, we know Jesus was re-glorified. He was re-allowed to be a part of a God kind at a level that is incredible. He had come to the earth and taken on the form of a servant, but then he was, you know, re-glorified in heaven. He says in verse 22, the glory that you have given me I have given them so that they may be one as we are one. See, how important is it that God grants us a gift of the Holy Spirit?

That he begins a process of being born from above, that in our thinking, you know, it's something that, well, we're following God, we're doing what he says, we're trying to obey, we're trying to repent.

But see, God is involved, and he's the one who grants us a gift of begetting us to be a part of his family. And that's why we can say, as we read in Hebrews 2, that we've been called to be glorified. We've been called to become like God.

Now, exactly what that's going to be like, we're yet to fully understand that, but we can clearly see what he says about, you know, we're going to be glorified. The sons and daughters of God are going to be brought to glory. See, that's why when we read in John 3, verse 7, you know, we've read this a few times recently, as Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, he said, Verily, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they're born from above. See, what does it mean to be born from above? Well, that involves the Father. That involves God.

Calling people and justifying them and ultimately glorifying them. That's what the Word of God says.

See, and we have to comprehend, brethren, that even though we have our part in obeying God, and we have our part in agreeing with God, and following God, and of course, picking ourselves back up when we fall down, and whenever we need forgiveness, seeking that from God, we have a part to play. But I would say the part that involves glory has to do with the Father. That has to do with what He has done. And we can't take that to ourselves. That's why Jesus told His disciples, you didn't choose me. I chose you. I appoint you to go and bear fruit. That's what He told them. He says, I want you to bear fruit of the Spirit of God. That is God's doing. I want us to look in Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5, I think, is interesting because it points out how significant it is that God has seen fit to involve Himself in your life.

See, beyond having a knowledge of God, which we do have, and even many others have some knowledge of God, if they believe anything about the Bible or if they believe God exists, that's a level of knowledge of God that people can benefit from if they follow. But see, that's not the knowledge of the glory of God. That's not the knowledge of what He truly is doing because the Father is the one who initiates that process that leads to glory. And here in Hebrews 5, it talks about the high priest. And I'm not going to read through all of it, but you can read that if you want, and you can see how it was that Aaron was appointed the high priest, and then that was passed on to his sons and to their sons. So that was not something that Aaron took to himself, but it was something that God had appointed him to do. And in verse 4, Paul says, one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, as Aaron was. So Aaron didn't just pick to, I volunteer, I'll be the high priest, and Moses can be the, you know, the spiritual leader. That didn't the way it happened. God appointed Aaron, and he goes ahead to say, even as well. Verse 5, Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but he was appointed by the one who said to him, you are my son, and today I have begotten you. And he said, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Those were pronouncements by God. You are my son. You are of the order of Melchizedek. That wasn't something Christ just took to himself. It was something that the word and the Father had agreed upon long ago. And so that points out to us the fact that we don't just pick to be Christians. We are to be Christians, and we clearly are to follow God and obey God, but the Father is the one who initiates that process. That's why I mentioned being born from above. It's important to honor our Heavenly Father, understanding that he began the process of being born from above. And that's why we can read here in Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8 is a great chapter, of course, about many different things we learn about the Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8. And I think many of us would be familiar with verse 28, where it talks about we know that all things work together for good. Do those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. And in verse 29, those whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a very large family.

See, this is what God is doing. He's in the process of acknowledging the knowledge of the glory of God, of what it is to be glorified, like Christ is glorified, and to be a part of God's family. And this is what you read here. Those in verse 30, whom He predestined, those He determined who are going to be conformed to His Son, He also calls.

He calls, and those whom He called, He also justifies, and those whom He justified, He also will glorify. He glorified. See, that's the process that God is beginning to produce, to bear fruit, to bear children. See, He's going to be bringing forth the children of God, and that's why when we look back to Colossians chapter 1, again in this book, Paul is writing about what he says is the mystery of the ages.

He says, verse 24, I am now rejoicing in my suffering, and in my flesh I'm completely completing what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of His body, the Church. He says, I'm doing the job that God has missioned me to do. I didn't ask for it, but He gave it to me, gave it to me, and I'm here to fulfill it. And He said, I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me to make the word of God fully known.

Verse 26, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints to whom God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is He whom we proclaim. He goes ahead and talking about Christ, but verse 26 and verse 27 reveal that we have the hope of eternal life.

We have the hope of salvation. We have the hope of being a part of the divine family of God. And yet He describes that as a knowledge of the glory of God, a knowledge of not only what God has done in the past and what He did in the tabernacle and in the temple, what He is doing today through the recipients of the Holy Spirit and through the bearing of fruit that all of us are to be involved in. And we again do that out of simply a desire to glorify God. In Romans 8 again, I want to read one other verse here.

Romans chapter 8, you see a lot about receiving the Holy Spirit and you see a number of verses that would tie together to this. But we also see verses beginning in verse 18 about how the whole creation, this entire earth is awaiting an important time in the future, an important time that's spoken to be the time when the children of God are going to be glorified. See, in verse 18, I consider the suffering of this present time is not worthy to compare with the glory about to be revealed in us because the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.

Verse 20, for the creation was subject to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself, verse 21, will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the creation is groaning and we are groaning ourselves who have, in verse 23, the first fruits of the spirit groaning inwardly while we wait for that adoption, the redemption of our bodies. See, Paul writes, in many ways, he writes in long sentences and he writes, you know, might be a whole paragraph in two or three sentences or maybe a whole paragraph in one sentence and yet he makes a connection as we've read in numerous other verses how, you know, that the knowledge of God is one thing, but the knowledge of the glory of God is far more.

It's far more important to understand. It's necessary to understand if we're ever going to fulfill the purpose that God has for our lives, he wants us to seek. You know, we're told here in Romans 8 as well that we are to be heirs and joint heirs with Christ. That's another way of saying it. It's another way of understanding it, but understanding that we're going to be glorified as the children of God is what we look forward to.

You know, we can read other verses that talk about how, you know, that a spirit body would be given to us and how that salvation would be given and sometimes you can read those and not fully comprehend. This is talking about God providing the spark that began the process of being born from above. And so, whenever we read about the glory of God, whenever we marvel at the incredible miracles that Jesus performed and a mastery of everything that he was always able to have, and we want to recognize that God was clearly working with him as the Son of God and as the one who would be glorified again with him, but he also talks about his disciples being glorified as well.

And so we have much to look forward to, and certainly our relationship with our Heavenly Father. As I think about this, this, it strengthens my desire to give honor to my Heavenly Father. You know, we pray that as part of the Lord's Prayer. You know, it says to, you know, think about how it is that we can honor our Heavenly Father. If we understand his role, if we understand what he has done for us, well, then we have more of a reason to honor our Father who art in heaven.

You know, he truly is growing a divine family. He is the originator of that family because he starts the process of being born from above, and he will not only begin that process, he will bring forth that family. Now, he points out he's going to do that in phases. He's going to do that in times that are yet before us.

He's going to do that in a magnified way when Jesus returns. But then even beyond that, he's going to continue to reveal information about the knowledge of the glory of God to people so that they not only know the Bible and they know God, but they know what he's doing. They know what his purpose is. So he's going to give us birth into that kingdom and that family.

And so whenever we read, and perhaps, you know, we can understand more clearly what we read there in Habakkuk 2, verse 14. That the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the water covers the sea. Eventually, he'll make that information available to everyone, but to those of us who have ears to hear and eyes to see today. Well, then we have an incredible blessing of knowing that God is going to be bringing many sons and daughters to glory.