The Brilliant Facets of Christ’s Glory
By Jay Wegter
The Deity of Christ
His glory is manifested in that He is God very God, Creator, Sustainer, Heir of all things (Col 1:15-20; Jn 1:1-3). He is the revelation of the Father on ‘human canvas’ (Jn 14:9-11; Heb 1:1-3). He is the eternal Logos—the Word. All the treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge are found in Him (Col 2:2-3). He is the source of order, design, teleology, and cosmology—thus He is the rationality of the universe.
The Offices of Christ
His glory is manifested in that He is Prophet, Priest, and King. He is the subject of God’s glory story, the Father’s glory plot unfolded in the book of Hebrews. And all three of His offices are exercised in the fulfillment of each facet of God’s overall program for redemptive history: Logos, Lawgiver, Lamb, Lion, Lord of the cosmos.
The Humility of Christ
His glory is manifested in His condescension—born of a woman, born under the Law (Gal 4:4). His lowliness, gentleness, humility, love, and compassion are exhibited in Holy Scripture (Mt 11:25-30). By His submission to suffering, He learned obedience. He became a merciful High Priest through His sufferings and temptations (Heb 2:17-18; 5:8-10). Though He is eternal Son and Lord, He became of no reputation that He might do His Father’s will in making atonement for our redemption (Heb 10:5-14).
The Two Natures of Christ
His glory is manifested in His incarnation—His taking on a human nature in which He would obey, pray, believe, heal, preach—and die and rise—and in which He would be ultimately glorified. He emptied Himself of the independent use of His divine attributes to live as a disciple and to do His Father’s will in making atonement (Phil 2:5-11). His meat and drink, and secret food was to do His Father’s will (Jn 4:34). He became the man of sorrows acquainted with grief so that as our suffering Substitute He would fully identify with our existential situation under the curse (Is 53:3).
The Equipment He earned to be our Great High Priest
His glory is manifested in the work He performed to obtain our redemption (Heb 9:11-12). He obeyed His Father to the point of death upon a Roman cross (Phil 2:8). He gave His flesh and blood for the life of the world (Jn 6:47-57). Christ Jesus alone is both Priest and sacrifice (see the order of Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews). His selfless work as suffering Substitute means that He is now equipped to save even the worst who come to Him in faith and repentance. He brought His own blood into the holy place, into heaven itself that we might have bold and confident access to God and have endless divine favor through Him (Heb 10:19-22). In laying down His life and taking it up again (Jn 10:17-18), He exercises the authority to distribute the eternal benefits of His sacrifice—He gives life to whom He will (Mt 11:27; Jn 6:37-40; 17:6-12).
His unfinished work of interceding as our Mediator
His glory is manifested in His intercession. By the priestly work He accomplished, He has been furnished with the equipment to save to the uttermost (Heb 7:25-28). He ever lives to make intercession for His own (Rom 8:31-34). We serve Christ who is our mediatorial King—He both rules us and intercedes for us as our Great High Priest. He represents us before His Father’s throne—He pleads the merits of His blood and His righteousness on our behalf, and thereby silences any charge against us.
His purchase of every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies
His glory is manifested in the wealth of spiritual blessings that He has purchased for His church by His blood (Eph 1:1-21). The life of Christ laid down for elect sinners is the most precious thing in the universe. For by His shed blood, He has purchased for His people: justification, pardon, sanctification, sonship, inheritance, sealing, spiritual gifts, reconciliation, glorification, and the indwelling of the Spirit. These gifts of infinite value do not exist apart from Christ but are the living eternal benefits of being united to Christ. As the apostle states in the book of Ephesians, these blessings are found ‘in Christ’—we possess them by virtue of living union with Him.
His exaltation for His obedience
His glory is manifested in His exaltation by the Father. “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). “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31; 2:36).
His glory beheld transforms the adoring church
His glory is manifested as its transforming power is beheld by the saints. “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). As believers behold by faith in His Word, the glory of the Lord they are incrementally transformed into His likeness. Such is the power of Christ’s virtues, that adoring Him and magnifying Him in our affections changes us. For, when we behold the glory of Christ, our blessed hope, we as believers are meditating on the destiny of redeemed human nature. How amazing that the saints will be conformed to Christ their Head that He might be the First Born among many brethren (Rom 8:28-30). We truly become like what we worship (also true in the negative, Psalm 115:8).
His glory as the Judge of every creature
His glory is manifested in His equality with the Father, for the Father has given Him all judgment that all may honor the Father as they honor the Son. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (Jn 5:21-23). God has fixed a Day in which Christ will judge the world (Acts 17:3-31; 2 Cor 5:10).
His glory as the One in whom all things are summed up
His glory is manifested in that He sums up and consummates history in Himself. “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory” (Eph 1:9-12). The unfathomable riches of Christ is the theme of Paul’s preaching. The purpose of the ages is bound up in Christ (Eph 3:8-12).
His rod of iron rule in the Messianic Age to come
His glory is manifested in His Kingly rule in subjecting all things to Himself (Eph 1:19 21; Phil 3:21). “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; ALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star” (Rev 2:26-28). Christ receives the nations as His inheritance, and His rule over the nations will be absolute (Ps 2:7-9). All His enemies shall become His ‘footstool’” (1 Cor 15:23-28; Heb 10:11-13; Rev 11:15; 12:10).
“But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, ‘All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all’” (1 Cor 15:23-28).
His glory in the glorified church around His throne
“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.’ ‘You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.’ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped” (Rev 5:9-14).