What we can know about God's glory

God’s glory seems to be somewhat mysterious. We talk of glorifying the Lord through praise. We hear Sunday School lessons on the glory of God in a pillar of fire. But when it comes to understanding what the glory of the Lord really is, we seem to all fall a bit short. And for good reason.

You see, if the glory of the Lord could be fully understood, then it wouldn’t be that glorious, would it? Yes, we are able to marvel at facets of His glory now. But 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 speaks of an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison. Meaning, the full heaviness or worth of God’s glory is incomprehensible to us right now.

That being said, let’s dive into a few things that we can know of God’s glory right now through His Word, specifically in regard to His presence and what it means for our lives.

Old Testament glory

In the Old Testament, the glory of the Lord often (but not exclusively) referred to his physical presence. Exodus 40:34-35 recounts how the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, Israel’s mobile place of worship, upon its dedication. When the Israelites settled in the promised land and Solomon built the temple, 1 Kings 8:10-11 says that the glory of the Lord filled that place as well.

But when Israel continued in disobedience, Ezekiel 10:18 says that God’s glory left the temple. His glory, or physical presence, could not dwell with them any longer because of their ongoing sin. Even when the exiles returned from captivity and rebuilt the temple, we don’t hear mention in Scripture of that same type of glory returning.

However, God had promised to never leave his people, and he always keeps his promises. That fulfillment just may not look the way we initially expect.

In Haggai 2:5-9, during the temple’s rebuilding phase, we see God promising, “I will fill this house with glory” and “the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former.” In Zechariah 2:5, during the same time period, the Lord declares that he will “be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.”

Since those things didn’t ever physically happen (the wall of fire and the original cloud of glory returning to the temple), theologians conclude that the prophecies above were actually referring Jesus, who visited and ministered in that same temple while He was on earth. Which brings us to another facet of God’s glory.

New Testament glory

Oh, glorious Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 says, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” God’s glory — God Himself — in physical (human) form had returned to the earth and to the temple once more.

Not only that, Jesus performed miracles to further show the glory of God. For example, in John 11:40 he says, “if you believe, you will see the glory of God,” in reference to raising Lazarus from the dead. God’s glory manifested itself in the works that Jesus did — powerful works that could only be from God Himself.

After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension though, those Jesus-facets of God’s glory once again left earth, physically speaking. However, God’s glory remains. In Acts 2, we see how He now manifests Himself — through the Holy Spirit living in believers. Aptly, our physical bodies are called “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19), a reminder that God still dwells with His people as He once did in the Old Testament, just in a new way. A new facet: the glory of the Holy Spirit in us.

Experiencing God's glory in us

This isn’t meant to make us feel glorious in and of ourselves, of course. Just as the tabernacle was only fabric and the temple was mere stones, so we are still just dust. It was the glory of God filling the tabernacle and filling the temple that set them apart as glorious. Which begs the question, then: How do we allow God’s glory to fill us?

Make no mistake, this post is not meant to cover the question of whether or not a believer can lose their salvation or lose the Holy Spirit. Theologians have been debating that for years. But one thing that’s not debated is the fact that believers can be filled with the Holy Spirit to a greater or lesser degree. In fact, Ephesians 5:18 explicitly commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, indicating our active part in it.

Reject sin

One way that we allow God’s glory to fill us is by repenting of and refraining from sin. Remember, God’s glory could no longer dwell with Israel while they were in a continual, unrepentant state of sin. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit cannot fill us while our hearts are filled with sin. Galatians 5:19-23 makes it clear; we can’t have it both ways — we either choose to practice sin or we choose to let the Holy Spirit fill us and produce His fruit in our lives.

Remove hindrances

Other things beside sin may hinder us from experiencing the fullness of God’s glory through His Spirit. I experienced this myself during a season of struggling with panic attacks. While fear is a God-given emotion and thus not a sin, per se, an abundance of fear does hinder us from an abundance of God’s glory. I eventually found a tool that helped and was then able to be filled more fully with the Spirit. Many things can hinder being filled with God’s glory — “harmless” distractions, or even doing a lot of really “godly” things. 

Receive by faith

It would be amazing if we heard a rushing wind and saw tongues of fire when we were filled with the glory of God’s Spirit today, wouldn’t it? Though that hasn’t happened since Acts, we can know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit is filling us — because God says so. In Acts 2:38 we see the promise that if we repent and believe in Jesus, we can receive the Holy Spirit. We may not feel that gift of the Holy Spirit at all times, but by faith we know it’s true. 

Why does it matter?

The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is vital for living the Christian life. His roles toward us include Teacher, Comforter, and Helper. He convicts of sin, empowers our righteousness, and intercedes for us — among so much more. But I’d like to focus on one role specifically: The Holy Spirit in us is one aspect of God’s presence in the world today.

Believers, God’s glory in us matters, because we represent Him here on earth. We represent Him to nonbelievers; His glory in us either attracts or repels them as He wills. And we represent Him to each other; His glory in us ministers to other believers as we respond in obedience to His leading.

Let’s let the glory of the Lord fill His temple — the temple of us — so that He can be more and more glorified in the lives of others. We’ll never represent Him perfectly, of course. But what a privilege to let the Holy Spirit fill us and use us while we wait to spend eternity trying to comprehend the other facets of God’s glory.