Beholding the Glory of Christ
By Jay Wegter
By reason of original sin, the human race forfeited the glory of God (Rom 3:23). The disaster of sin cannot be calculated by mortals in terms of the magnitude of its ruin. For, sinful man became cut off from the very life of God. This plunged man into darkness—he became physically and spiritually ‘terminal’. And, in order for there to be the possibility of restoration, the sacrifice made would have to be fully sufficient in the eyes of God, the Judge. A successful sacrifice required that the nature that sinned must receive the full penalty of God’s wrath and justice. This is precisely what God has accomplished through Christ our Substitute when our Savior made atonement in our nature.
Because of the Person and work of Christ, the wealth of the Godhead may now be imported into the lives of believing sinners—granting them eternal life. This is matchless grace, for, outside of God, there is an ultimate loss of all life, light, blessedness, and truth. Thus, the glory of Christ is beheld in His work of reconciling believing sinners to God (2 Cor 5:18-21).
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (Jn 1:14-17).
How clearly we see the glory of Christ in His passion. For, His wounds are the very means of exporting the wealth of the Godhead into the lives of miserable guilty dying sinners. The death of Christ was necessary because our depraved natures erected an unbridgeable (from our side) barrier between us and our Creator. But now, with the full sufficiency of Christ’s propitiation which satisfied God’s justice, God takes endless delight in communicating His love, joy, belonging, righteousness, and grace into the lives of His adopted children. The wounds of Christ became fountains of infinite endless blessing from the Godhead to the believing sinner. Christ indeed is God’s ‘mystery’. “By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Eph 3:4).
To behold the glory of Christ is our vocation as “unveiled” believers (we have been un-veiled by the gospel). “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). Christ as the exact representation of God radiates the glory of God (Heb 1:1-3).
Christ’s glory is seen in His preeminence. For, the Father has determined that His Son shall have ‘first place’ in everything (Col 1:18). All things exist by Him and for Him. “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:16).
Christ’s incarnation is wondrous—for He became of no reputation for our sakes. The Son’s descent is man’s ascent. Christ raised human nature above angels (Heb 2:5). “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:8-11).
We see Christ’s glory in His willingness to bear our reproach. “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb 13:13). Because He bore our reproach, we will ‘gain His glory” (2 Thess 2:14). We see the glory of Christ in that the hypostatic union perfectly fits Him to be our High Priest. “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (Heb 7:25-27).
We see Christ’s glory in that all that God is doing is through His Son—thus we see God’s plan of the ages in the titles the Son has: Logos, Law-giver, Lamb, Lion, Lord of Lords. He has the power to subject all things to Himself (Phil 3:21). Christ is also glorious in combat. He will make all of the enemies of God into a footstool for His feet (Ps 110:1). He will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Rev 2:26-27). He will reclaim the ‘title deed’ to planet earth (Rev 11:15). And He will trample out the grapes of wrath (Rev 14). Christ is conqueror who makes war with the enemies of God and ultimately with the enemies of His church (Rev 19).
Christ inspires reverential fear—for He searches hearts (Rev 2:23) and all judgment has been given to the Son (Jn 5:22). “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb 4:12-13). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10).
Christ is glorious in that He will be the source of our endless bliss in heaven, for He will be the source of the unbroken communication of the Godhead to the creature—He is the light of heaven and its temple (Rev 21:22-23). For the saints, Christ’s rule is a ‘mediatorial kingship’—in other words, the One who rules over us is also our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 6:20).
Christ is glorious in that He is the Lord of the Church. All authority is given to Him that He might woo, win, redeem, sanctify, perfect, and glorify His Church (Mt 28:18). “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:22-23). “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Eph 3:20-21).
As Head of His Church, Christ walks among its ‘lampstands’—He corrects, supplies, examines —He ‘trims the wicks’ and provides the ‘oil’ of His Spirit to her. The vision of John of the glorified Christ in Revelation chapter one is awesome indeed. His eyes as flames of fire, His feet as of burnished bronze, His voice like the sound of many waters—this imagery inspires awe (Rev 1:12-18).
Christ is glorious; the saints have ‘shared life’ with Him. He is their life—He is their ‘Source Person’ for everything needed for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Col 3:2-4) (see also Rom 6:5-8; Gal 2:20). In Christ the saint has status, favor, sonship, acceptance, righteousness, glory, adoption, inheritance, sanctification (1 Cor 1:30).