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In Ezekiel, we read the tragedy of the glory of God in Israel. Yet, God was not done. A plan was still in motion that had been formulated since the beginning of time was still at work. It is estimated that 400 years had passed between Malachi and the Gospel events. In what seemed to be inactivity, Heaven was still active. One night, the glory of God shone:

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, (Luke 2:9)

God's glory had returned. As we look back on our journey concerning the glory of God, we have discovered that God's glory is found in His presence and in His presence is goodness.

Jesus is both.

The Gospel writer John writes these words:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

In the book of Hebrews, we read this:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Jesus is the radiance of God's glory. If you want to know God's glory, then you need to come to know Jesus. If you want to encounter God's glory, then you need to encounter Jesus. So now we come to the words of the hymn writer that we mentioned in the first entry in this journey,

"His glory forever I'll share" (The Old Rugged Cross)

Yes, the hymn writer is speaking of eternity when he penned these words, but I want to encourage you to see that experiencing and encountering God's glory is not something that we have to wait for eternity for. It is something we can experience today. As we come near to the time of Jesus' arrest, we see Him pray these words:

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, (John 17:22)

Jesus has passed His glory unto us and with that, He has poured His life in us. An abundant life. The Kingdom life. Then we are reminded of that request from Moses and the revelation of the Father. When we see God's glory, we are to be reminded of God's steadfast love. His hesed. As we piece all of this together, we see the final result of the puzzle:

Jesus is God's hesed (steadfast love)

God's glory. His Presence. His Goodness. On the journey to Christmas...we come to Ezekiel. Exodus had shown us the glory of God. However, in Ezekiel, we see the glory of God slowly departing from Israel. In chapter 10, we see God's glory being removed from the Temple. If your Bible lists headings of the texts, you will likely find this heading leading into chapter 10 (The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple - ESV). God never wants to remove His glory. Rather, He was put into this position due to the blatant idolatry that existed among the nation of Israel. This is the last time that we see that the marvel, the beauty, and the brightness of God's glory had been seen in any dwelling place in the Old Testament. But thankfully, God is a covenant God because as we continue to read the book of Ezekiel, we take comfort in that God is not finished. What a joy to know that no matter what we have done, God is not finished with us yet. Such a remarkable testament to the faithfulness, grace, and the mercy of God. He isn't finished. Because Ezekiel shares this vision of the return of God's glory:

And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, (Ezekiel 43:3-7)

God's glory will return. The hope of Israel rests in this prophetic promise of God. As we reflect on the brief summation of our journey to understanding the glory of God, we see the silence in the rest of the OT concerning the glory of God, including the 400 years of silence between the OT and the NT. And then one night...the silence was broken.

There is a name mentioned in the Bible and its meaning is very revealing about the glory of God. It is a name that most people are very unaware of but it is important in our journey in discovering and understanding the glory of God: Ichabod

And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” (I Samuel 4:21-22)

It seems to imply that the glory of God is tied to the Ark of the Covenant and to understand this significance, we need to understand the Ark of the Covenant. With that in mind, we go back to Exodus. Bear with me, we will get to the point about God's glory and Christmas. Here we go:

And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. (Exodus 25:21-22)

Did you catch it? God will meet with the children of Israel there. At the Ark of the Covenant. It symbolized His presence. As we come to the close of Exodus, we read these words:

Then 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 on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34-35)

So far, this is what we have been able to surmise and there are other verses that we can use to help us further affirm this realization:

The glory of God is connected to God's goodness and God's presence and they are often intertwined together. As we reflect on this statement, we may be seeing a connection to Christmas.

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5-7)

Hesed. There is no word that truly summarizes the concept of hesed. However many Biblical words relate to it. Words such as mercy, compassion, love, grace, and faithfulness. Or in the case of Exodus 34...steadfast love. It is not just a feeling or emotion. It is an action and it is an action done on behalf of someone in need. 250 times this word can be found in the Old Testament. As God revealed His glory to Moses, He reveals that He is "abounding in" His hesed. In other words. Plenteous. Abundant. Great. God's hesed is great. This word is often used in His covenant with His people. In Exodus 20:6, we read something quite remarkable about God's hesed:

but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:6)

God's hesed is extended to those who love Him and keep His commandments. However, there is something else that stands out about God's hesed throughout the Old Testament and it is rooted in our understanding of "steadfast." God's covenant relationship with His people results in His loyal love and faithfulness, even when His own people are unfaithful to Him. So how could we best describe "hesed?" One of the best definitions I have ever read describes it this way:

Hesed is God's consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained furious love of our Father God. It is the quality that moves someone to act for the benefit of someone else without considering "What's in it for me?"

As we continue our journey in exploring the glory of God, you cannot separate it from God's hesed. For when Moses had requested that God show His glory...God showed His hesed.

Some time ago, we had former NFL Denver Bronco great Vance Johnson attend our church and share his testimony. A common question that I was asked was this: "How did you get Vance Johnson to come to Gove?" My answer was simple: I just asked. Which is exactly what Moses did as we saw in Exodus 33. He simply asked, "Please show my your glory." God's response to Moses was quite revealing. He would make the His goodness passed before Him. When we move over to the next chapter, we see this goodness revealed. Let's read:

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5-7)

There it is. The simple, yet complex, understanding of His glory. It is complex because it goes against our understanding of how one must receive goodness. It is simple because it is not based on anything we do, rather it is based on the very goodness of His nature. As we peruse the description of God's goodness in these 3 verses found in Exodus 34, I want to spotlight two words found in this description. Why? Simple, because in this description and in these two words you will find the beauty of Christmas.

Steadfast Love.

If you were to answer the question, "What is the glory of God?", how would you respond? When I have asked that question, the answers that I have received has been various. Exodus records a remarkable encounter between God and Moses. We are likely familiar with the one at the burning bush (Moses's call) and the one at Mt. Sinai (10 Commandments) but are you familiar with the one at the tent of meeting? With that, I want to direct our attention to Exodus 33. Here are a few basic things to know about this tent of meeting:

*It was temporary.

*It was pitched outside far from the tent (This is underscored by a broken relationship between Israel and God because of their worship of the golden calf)

*It was a place where people would seek God.

*It was the place where Moses communed with God face to face as one would with a friend.

I love that last one. Isn't that the beauty of our relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ? To be able to talk to Him as one would talk to a friend? (read Exodus 33:7-11)

It was at this tent of meeting that Moses makes a remarkable request of God:

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” (Exodus 33:18)

What happens next is an incredible response from God to Moses request and it is in this response that we begin to see a beautiful picture unfold that reveals that the glory of God is not just something we have to wait until Heaven to experience, rather it is something that we can experience today. I believe that once we understand what the glory of God is, we may be able to fully understand the meaning behind the phrase, "Heaven on earth."

And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. (Exodus 33:19)

His goodness. When Moses sees God's glory revealed, he will see God's goodness revealed. Dear friend, thankfully Moses shows us later what the goodness of God looks like.

His Glory (part 1)

This past weekend, I had the humbling privilege of sharing at a funeral. I was greatly encouraged by the invitee to simply share Jesus. That's easy. The difficult part is sharing the "what" or "who" about Jesus in a nice fifteen-minute package. As I prepared for the message, I listened to two of the songs that were selected for the service: Amazing Grace and The Old Rugged Cross. It was this moment that helped steer me into what to say.

To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true

Its shame and reproach gladly bear

Then He'll call me some day to my home far away

Where his glory forever I'll share

If you know me, you will know one of my favorite topics, especially at this time of the year: His glory. I love those last two sentences of this particular stanza but I must confess that after focusing on what the Bible reveals about His glory, I realized that the hymn writer left the message incomplete. Because you do not have to wait until "He'll call me some day to my home far away" to share in His glory. A careful examination of the Scripture shows that you can share in His glory today. Over the course of the next few days, I want to invite you on a journey as we discover the glory of God. To do that, we will go back to the book of Exodus where Moses's question becomes ours:

Show me your glory.

Read Acts 12

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. (Acts 12:23)

Do we take God seriously? It is easy to say that we do but do we live as though God is serious? From Genesis to Revelation, God has shown that He was serious about His commandments and expectations for the follower of Jesus. In Acts 5, we see that God was serious about the hypocrisy that existed in the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira. In this passage, we see that He is serious about making sure that He gets the glory. Do we truly give the glory in all things? If God does a good thing in your life, make sure you give credit where credit is due. He deserves the glory. Not you. God gives and God takes. No matter what you have be given. No matter what you have done. Your role in the life of His Kingdom is meaningless if you do not give the God the glory. God is doing great things. Make sure you use the opportunity to point others to the glory of His richest grace. It is our praise of thanksgiving and honor to the Sovereign Creator of the universe that helps to lead others to Him. If you need any other reason to glorify God, it is this: He has chosen to pour out His grace in your life and also to be a catalyst of the Gospel in the lives of others. Not because of your ability but because of His grace.

Read Acts 11

and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (Acts 11:26)

There are two primary names that the followers of Jesus Christ are called in the book of Acts. One such name is found in Acts 9:2: Of the Way. It is here in Antioch that we find the second: Christians. Antioch is the first time that it was recorded that the followers of Jesus were called Christians. To be fair, both of these names can be used interchangeably. As followers of Jesus, it is to be expected that we follow in the way of Christ. Following in the way of Jesus will defy the expectations and the demands of the world. The word Christian is said to mean "little anointed ones" or "little Christs." Some commentators believe that the word was actually used in a mocking tone as a form of insult. I imagine that it was taken as a badge of honor to those Christians in Antioch. That should also be the case today. As I meditate on this verse, I could not help but ask, "What is it about those in Antioch that motivated those who were watching to insult them by calling them Christians?" I believe the answer is simple, they were living in the way of Christ. May we live in such a way that when others observe us that they would have no choice but to call us Christians. Rather it is done in admiration or disgust. And when we are called Christians because we live in the way of Christ, wear it as a badge of honor. After all, you are representing Christ in this world.

Read Acts 9

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. (Acts 9:15)

Can we be honest? We are often like Ananias in verse 13. Or the people in the synagogues in verse 21. Or the disciples in verse 26. We look at a person in light of his or her past rather than their potential in Christ. We quietly watch with reservation rather than receiving them with open arms. We will look at them as "those people" rather than acknowledge them as our people. When we do that, we cheapen the grace of God. We question whether God can, when He already has. That is exactly what God was saying to Ananias. The past was forgiven in the eyes of God. He had been chosen by God to be the catalyst of the Gospel to the Gentiles. As we observe this testimony of a madman, we must ask ourselves this question, "Can God really save the vilest of sinners?" Or as Paul would tell Timothy, "the chief of sinners." If we say yes, then it must never surprise us when He does. Paul went from one of the most vicious persecutor of the New Testament church to one of its most passionate promotors. We must never underestimate the saving grace of Jesus Christ. After all, He saved us and we were the vilest of sinners since there is no such a thing as a better sinner or worst sinner. When vile sinners come to the grace of Jesus in their lives, we must be ready to receive them with open arms. Just as Jesus did with you.

That's grace.