Moses sought the LORD for revealing His Divine glory and despite yet not being redeemed through the blood of the Messiah, reflected the glory of God in His face. It pleased God to reveal His glory to us through His ‘only begotten Son’ who through His sacrifice made us children of God and joint heirs with Him. As part of that blessing we have been given the indwelling Holy Spirit to transform us into His image and likeness through repentance of sin and surrender to His authority. We have partaken of His authority and power to reveal the glory of God to others and lead them from darkness to light in fulfillment of what Lord Jesus started.
God created mankind to “fill the earth and subdue it” while he had been given authority over every living creature and the trees and plants were to yield their crop to him. God had separated the darkness from light and allowed it to be there whereas in New Jerusalem “there will be no night” (Revelation 21:25) for evil forces would not be there. Thus man was required to triumph over the evil forces and the daily visits of God during the ‘cool of the day’ were to train and equip him for this battle. After sin entered and only Noah and his family had been saved through the ark, their task was revised and reduced to ‘be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth’. God created mankind to operate as their representatives on earth and such a person operates in the power and authority of the sender. Thus mankind was made partaker of the glory of God from the beginning and it was this glory that they were to reveal to creation while being made a little lower than the angels whereas the same angels were to be ministering spirits to him (Hebrews 1:14). Once sin entered God covered man’s glory with ‘garments of skin’ while also providing him with protection from the fallen nature.
What was the purpose of Lord Jesus becoming man? – The mystery of redemption of mankind from sin was “hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints” (Colossians 1:26). This redemption was the mission of Lord Jesus from eternity “to bring many sons to glory” and as their captain “be perfected through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10). This glory was initially revealed in man by God and Adam and Eve were tasked to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). But there were only two of them while all animals and other things were already made subject to them, so what were they to subdue? Before God revealed His glory through His Word to light up the earth, darkness prevailed over the earth and it was not removed but only separated from the light. Adam and Eve were to subdue this darkness, Satan and his evil, in the power and authority of God to establish God’s kingdom on earth and rule as His Divine representative. However, Noah and his family’s assignment was changed and ‘to subdue’ was removed for sin had entered mankind and God’s glory in man was covered by the ‘garments of skin’ given to man by God to cover his nakedness. Moses prayed to God “Show me Your glory” and his face was shining after coming down from the mountain and the Israelites were afraid of him (Genesis 33:18 & 34:29-30).
The voice of one crying in wilderness was john the Baptist, who was to make ready a highway for our God and then “the glory of the LORD shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:3-5). And when “The Word became flesh (in Lord Jesus) we beheld His glory, the glory ass of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). And it was this glory of God that was then given to the believers by the Lord to ‘make us one with it’ (John 17:22). The glory of God thus given makes us one with Him and to act in His authority and power to reveal the same to others yet in darkness. The indwelling Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of glory and of God” that rests upon us, believers (1 Peter 2:14). It is this glory that authorizes us “to execute the written judgement on (the nations and people)” (Psalm 149:9).
When is this glory revealed in man? – It is taken for granted that Lord Jesus’ coming is to forgive our sins and take us into heaven and eternal life in His presence. The Psalmist reveals the purpose of the glory of God being revealed in man – to execute the written judgement and this can be carried out by God on the erring nations at any time. The Holy Spirit brings this glory into us and this then sets us in direct conflict with the evil, foe till then we were its slaves. But “the sufferings caused due to this are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). The glory that is in us is manifested to others through our actions or ‘fruits of our deeds’ while it will be openly revealed in the presence of God when we get fully engulfed by it.
What is the real identity of Lord Jesus? – Various names have been attributed to the Messiah – Savior, Christ the anointed one and the Son of God. Lord Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15). Lord Jesus reveals God to us and the reality can only be visible in an exact image and He as Word of God was with God in eternity past and being in and with God was God (John 1:1). Since the creation process was started by the spoken command of God, the Word was the firstborn as released by God from Himself to create everything else. After His ascension He is seen draped in a ‘robe dipped in Blood and His name remains Word of God’ (Revelation 19:13). God fills the earth with the ‘light of his glory’ to commence the creation process on the earth (Genesis 1:3). He then becomes the Creator for “All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made”, since life was in Him and the light of His glory – of God – was life (John 1:3-4). All visible or invisible things in heaven and on earth, thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). Since He is the Creator He alone has seen God for He was in His Divine bosom and He has manifested God’s glory to us and we have beheld His glory (John 1:18).
Once man was removed from the presence of a Holy God due to the sin of disobedience, God remained separated from man behind the veil and only the High Priest could go in His presence after an elaborate ritual of cleansing of sin. As Immanuel Lord Jesus dwelt among us and made us partakers of His glory through His physical presence and after ascension into heaven through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The tearing of the curtain separating the Holiest was a significant signal to humanity about the presence of God and free access to mankind. Zechariah, the priest and father of John the Baptist prophesied about his son, once his speech was restored by God, “You will be called the prophet of the Highest, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77). And John the Baptist then not only witnessed the presence of the Holy Trinity but also revealed the identity of the Lord as “Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:36). The Lamb of God blessed us with “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” and delivered us from the power of darkness into His kingdom (Colossians 1:13-14).
The prophesy about the Lord is confirmed as “the Light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). The morning star announces the coming of dawn and Lord Jesus’ coming proclaims fulfillment of the prophesies about Him being the Messiah. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, received this through declaration of the Lord “Today salvation has come to this house” and rising of the dawn changed his heart away from sin (Luke 19:1-10). Prophet Daniel saw a vision about Lord Jesus as Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven before “God the Father – The Ancient of Days” and dominion, glory, and a kingdom being given to Him, that all people, nations and languages should serve Him (Daniel 7:13-14). The Savior sought from the Father “the glory I had with You before the world was” and then bestowed the same glory on believers so that they may be one (John 17:5; 22).
Why was Lord Jesus born and not created? – Adam and Eve were given all authority and dominion over everything with the command to subdue the forces of evil and darkness while moving in the power of God’s glory. They, however, passed on this authority to Satan by succumbing to him and instead of Kingdom of God, satanic control over everything started. During the period of temptation of Lord Jesus in the wilderness, Satan took Him on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” with a promise to give all that to the Lord if He would “fall down and worship Him” (Matthew 4:8-9). Lord Jesus did not dispute Satan’s authority but refused to follow his suggestion while quoting the command of ‘Shema’ back to him. The dominion given to man was to pass to further generations and even if it was retrieved by some supernatural being man could not inherit the same being in sin. Sin caused death in man and the person entrusted with the task of restoration of lost authority must also overcome sin and death and lead man into a sinless state.
It became essential that someone must be born of a woman in a sinless state, lead a sin free life, suffer death and then overcome it as a proof of victory over sin and death to break the stranglehold of Satan. The prophetic curse on Satan about the “seed of woman” crushing his head while getting bruised in return revealed the whole process of redemption. Thus Lord Jesus was born of a virgin woman with the power of God without inheriting sinful nature of man and suffered crucifixion on the cross as “bruising of His heel by Satan” by becoming the Lamb of God as atoning sacrifice for mankind’s sins of past and future. His resurrection on the third day proved His victory over sin and death. Lord Jesus is the eternal High Priest in heaven for all believers and “He is able to aid those who are tempted (by Satan) for He Himself has suffered being tempted” (Hebrews 2:17-18). It was a counter to Satan’s claim of authority over all earthly kingdoms that Lord Jesus declared “ All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18) thus proclaiming His glorification in heaven along with His victory on the earth.
Death that had resulted for mankind due to sin was reversed by the Messiah through eternal life given “that they may know You (God the Father), the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”. It was in this redeemed state that mankind became joint heir with Christ of the glory of God which He passed on to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 17:2-3 & 22). The Holy Spirit becomes our Counselor, Guide and Empowering Agent to help us restart the process of “subduing the earth” and establish God’s kingdom in believers’ hearts to be finally made visible on the earth after Lord Jesus’ second coming to the earth.
The Israelites take pride in their meticulous record keeping and genealogies to confirm the tribal lineage right up to Abraham and these details are recorded about the Lord also. At no stage did the Jewish elders cast a doubt on the virgin birth of Lord Jesus, the miracles performed about healing the sick, exercise of authority over the demonic powers, raising of the dead to life, power over nature to calm storms, over natural elements to multiply bread and fish to feed the multitudes or to change the nature of these elements by turning water into wine. The fact of Temple curtain, a very thick partition between the Holy and the Holiest part and raising of the dead through opening of graves in Jerusalem and the dead being seen by many was accepted by all (Matthew 27:51). The Jewish elders posted a Roman guard with the Temple guards outside the sealed tomb where Lord Jesus was laid to ensure that false propaganda was not created by the disciples about His resurrection “So the last deception will be worse than the first” (Matthew 27:62-66). They were not only aware of the consequences of fulfillment but also of the claim of Lord Jesus to rise after three days.
When the expected resurrection happened and the Roman guards reported this to the Chief Priests “They assembled together with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept”. A Roman guard going to sleep on his guard was unbelievable for this resulted in punishment of death and the guards were assured of protection from this punishment by the Chief Priests through “appeasement of Pilate” and this fact became common knowledge among the Jews (Matthew 28:11-15).
Lord Jesus has been the only man born of a virgin, crucified, raised from the dead after three days, seen by multitudes in His risen state, caused opening of graves and raising of other dead and then ascended to heaven in an open area again witnessed by many. He alone authorized the followers to do “the works I do but greater works than these” and empowered them by making them joint heirs of His glory through the indwelling Holy Spirit – a process witnessed by multitudes and experienced by all believers to this day (Romans 8:17). It is through Lord Jesus alone that all believers become free from the slavery to sin and become sons and heirs of God (Galatians 4:7).
Lord Jesus became man to undergo all the sufferings and trials that mankind is subjected to and emerged victorious to be able to empathize with us and intercede for us with God the Father. He performed the final ritual of personal cleansing to become the sacrificial offering for mankind to take away our sins and provided us direct access to God. None other has ever claimed nor done all this to display His Divine authority over everything including death and Lord Jesus empowers all believers with the same authority. He does not assure us only of a seat in heaven but makes us partners in sharing the glory of God and thus displaying the same glory to others. All this is made available to us through faith in Him and not through any penance or special acts. Are you ready to believe and receive God’s glory and get empowered!
