My dear Covenant Partners and GEM Family
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Two passages from Scripture give us a satisfying glimpse into the glory of God. Isaiah 6: 3 makes an intimate connection between the glory of God and His holiness: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” God’s glory is the visible manifestation of God’s holiness. God’s creation is overwhelmed, so to speak, by His extraordinary Presence and is thereby suffused with the divine beauty, goodness, and truth. The Psalms continually allude to God’s glory as manifested in Creation, expressing praise, adoration, and gratitude for the holiness or Otherness of God. These sentiments clearly point to the Psalmist’s awareness of God’s holiness and goodness being manifested in creation. In some definite way, Creation gives us a sense of awe and amazement because we sense the majesty and goodness and beauty of the divine Creator! God’s holiness as manifested in Creation, or His glory, is understood and experienced, but cannot be easily described.
In John 17: 4-5, Jesus says, “I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.” Jesus is the visible manifestation of God’s holiness. In Jesus, we behold the divine Presence of God! As Incarnate Son of God, Jesus accomplished His Father’s will perfectly. Jesus is the Father’s glory, the visible manifestation of His holiness. In Jesus’ resurrection, the Father will bestow upon Him the glory that He had and shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit before the world began. Later, in His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus says: “And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one” (John 17: 22). Through Jesus, we have received a sharing in God’s eternal life. Through Jesus, we have been made holy or other than who we could make ourselves. Through Jesus, we can be one as His Body, in the same way as Jesus is one with the Father. Through Jesus, we have been made holy and have therefore become a manifestation of the glory of God. In praying the ‘Glory be’ we are committing ourselves to becoming holy, to becoming the visible manifestation of God’s glory through the action of the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus, we share God’s life as His sons and daughters, and we address Him as Abba, Father. As disciples of Jesus, we are being re-created by the Holy Spirit to share in God’s holiness. In this prayer, we ask that as disciples of Jesus, our lives will be a visible manifestation of God’s holiness or glory. God bless you! You are in our daily prayers!
