Sharing In The Glory of Christ
John 17:22-23 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
When we discuss Glory we may think that the Glory Jesus bestows on us is somehow only a reflected Glory; sort of like the moon that reflects the light of the sun. I realize this is because we all know we would have no light at all if it weren’t for His extravagant grace. But, Jesus makes an incredible statement about the distribution of Glory in this passage.
The Glory He shares with us is the same Glory He Himself has received from the Father. We have been extended an invitation to share, to participate in the Glory of Heaven. How incredibly holy is the union that Believers have with their Lord! We have been granted access to the highest levels of divine revelation through Jesus Christ. Our oneness with Christ displays God’s Glory to the world.
Hebrews 1:1-4 NLT Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.
Colossians 2:9-10 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
John 1:16-18 NLT From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
To pursue Glory means we pursue unity. Unity can only be found while we are in relationship. I can have philosophical unity with the millions of Believers around the world, but of course, I don’t have to live with them everyday. It is the unity I have with those close to me that reveals God’s Glory to the world. When I have conflict and, instead of run away, I reach out and try to restore that broken relationship, only then is Glory revealed. The glue holding our unity together is love. Love is what exists within the relationships of the Trinity. If I want a seat with Christ in the heavenly places, I must receive the unity within which divine fellowship exists.
1 John 4:7-13 TPT
Those who are loved by God, let His love continually pour from you to one another, because God is love. Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of Him. 8 The one who doesn’t love has yet to know God, for God is love. 9 The light of God’s love shined within us when He sent his matchless Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 This is love: He loved us long before we loved Him. It was His love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins. 11 Delightfully loved ones, if He loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life! 12 No one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God’s splendor. But if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and His love is brought to its full expression in us. 13 And He has given us his Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that he lives in us and that we live in him.
READ
Psalm 26:8; Psalm 108:5; Psalm 113:4; Proverbs 25:2; Isaiah 58:8; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 John 3:14; 1 John 4:20-21
ACTIVATION
Please take an inventory of all your relationships. Do you have many relationships that have ended badly? (I don’t mean romantic relationships, primarily, I mean friendships, relationships with leaders, parents, children and professionally). How many of these are there?
If there are a few, welcome to the club. But, if there are several broken relationships in your past, you must begin to look for the common factors for all these past conflicts. In many cases, you will find that the common factor is you. Oops!
Not all broken relationships will be restored, but many of them can be restored to a place of health through our forgiveness, greater personal freedom and good faith efforts. Jesus will help us. When we treat all relationships as valuable we will work harder to preserve the ones we now enjoy. If we can appreciate that the unity we maintain everyday with our community is contributing to the greater unity we have been invited to participate with in the Glory, perhaps we will be willing to dig a little deeper in our commitment to love.
Rom. 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
When we discuss Glory we may think that the Glory Jesus bestows on us is somehow only a reflected Glory; sort of like the moon that reflects the light of the sun. I realize this is because we all know we would have no light at all if it weren’t for His extravagant grace. But, Jesus makes an incredible statement about the distribution of Glory in this passage.
The Glory He shares with us is the same Glory He Himself has received from the Father. We have been extended an invitation to share, to participate in the Glory of Heaven. How incredibly holy is the union that Believers have with their Lord! We have been granted access to the highest levels of divine revelation through Jesus Christ. Our oneness with Christ displays God’s Glory to the world.
Hebrews 1:1-4 NLT Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.
Colossians 2:9-10 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
John 1:16-18 NLT From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
To pursue Glory means we pursue unity. Unity can only be found while we are in relationship. I can have philosophical unity with the millions of Believers around the world, but of course, I don’t have to live with them everyday. It is the unity I have with those close to me that reveals God’s Glory to the world. When I have conflict and, instead of run away, I reach out and try to restore that broken relationship, only then is Glory revealed. The glue holding our unity together is love. Love is what exists within the relationships of the Trinity. If I want a seat with Christ in the heavenly places, I must receive the unity within which divine fellowship exists.
1 John 4:7-13 TPT
Those who are loved by God, let His love continually pour from you to one another, because God is love. Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of Him. 8 The one who doesn’t love has yet to know God, for God is love. 9 The light of God’s love shined within us when He sent his matchless Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 This is love: He loved us long before we loved Him. It was His love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins. 11 Delightfully loved ones, if He loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life! 12 No one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God’s splendor. But if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and His love is brought to its full expression in us. 13 And He has given us his Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that he lives in us and that we live in him.
READ
Psalm 26:8; Psalm 108:5; Psalm 113:4; Proverbs 25:2; Isaiah 58:8; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 John 3:14; 1 John 4:20-21
ACTIVATION
Please take an inventory of all your relationships. Do you have many relationships that have ended badly? (I don’t mean romantic relationships, primarily, I mean friendships, relationships with leaders, parents, children and professionally). How many of these are there?
If there are a few, welcome to the club. But, if there are several broken relationships in your past, you must begin to look for the common factors for all these past conflicts. In many cases, you will find that the common factor is you. Oops!
Not all broken relationships will be restored, but many of them can be restored to a place of health through our forgiveness, greater personal freedom and good faith efforts. Jesus will help us. When we treat all relationships as valuable we will work harder to preserve the ones we now enjoy. If we can appreciate that the unity we maintain everyday with our community is contributing to the greater unity we have been invited to participate with in the Glory, perhaps we will be willing to dig a little deeper in our commitment to love.
Rom. 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
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