We walk by faith, not by sight, and therefore we leave the physical form unknown and concentrate on the matchless glory of His work and the regal outworking of His person. All we need to know is that Jesus died for us and that by faith we secure His affection and eternal forgiveness. If you turn to Isaiah you read “He has no form or comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him”. Hardly a picture of envy. Enlarge the eye of faith and let this be your whole task; to see Him clearly in ascended power. Let not images of human creation detract from that noble and glorious Saviour. It is His glory that should enwrap us with wonder, and by diligent seeking through the pages of scripture we find out the greatness of His person.
Restoration
It is needful therefore to look for this glory. Read 2 Cor. 3 v 8, “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord”. The quality is rare because it is eternal. The things that are eternal are unseen, and if this glory is oftentimes outside our grasp it is because we are striving for the temporal things. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” II Corinthians 4 v 18.
For God did once send His glory on earth and there were few that saw and understood the divine intrusion. “And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,(and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth” John 1 v 14. What miracle of omnipotent love, so vainly treated! The only son, the manifestation of the Father’s glory was sent to bear the penalty of imputed sin.
Now also consider the relationship between truth and glory.
Our latest text joins them tightly. When men seek truth they are seeking nothing less than God’s glory, for truth is the very nature of God and therefore cannot be less than God. Christ was truth and in this He manifested God’s glory. Many miss God because they cannot face the truth!
Reception
While this age shall last and before Christ returns, the only means of seeing Christ’s glory is by that faith that also secures for us redemption. But this faith is not of man and cannot be encouraged in destitute sinners, except it be engendered by God. So have you faith? If you have, you have also the means of beholding the glory that comes of divine revelation. You may strive earnestly but you will not see or enter the inner circle of perception. Neither is it given to a select few. The promise of faith is to “Whosoever”; all men may come, but so few do come. God is not partial in His love; He bestows it upon everyone who comes to Him. God will not push glory on any man, but He longs that individuals will seek for a further knowledge of Him past the elementary scenes of nature, that only contain his natural greatness and goodness. Faith then is the key. It opens the door to God and leads us inside to further joy.
