Revealed and Protected

Ordinarily when one considers "glory" they may think of one or more of the following: accolades, brightness, eternal bliss, that little known Civil War movie from the late 1980s, God, or any of a number of other adjectives.

This Christmas season I propose we look at "glory" in a twofold manner: revelation and protection. The prophet Isaiah, some several hundred years before Jesus seemed to grasp this vital reality. In Isaiah 60:1-3 this is what he says “Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you. All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance." Though I won't take the time to paste all the verses from this incredible passage here, I challenge you to read them. Here's why...

The GLORY of God is a protection as much as it is a revelation. Our hearts were innately designed to worship (ascribe and assign glory to something or someone) and the ADVENT of Jesus secures for all of us the rightful final destination of our worship. The writer of Hebrews says it this way, "The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven." 

The choice is now yours. When you hear the word "glory" what will immediately come to mind?... "Man, what a great movie." 

Or...

"God thank you for sending You own Son, at infinite cost to Yourself, in order to reveal GLORY provoking my heart to worship Y-O-U! The one and only true God. Thank you that I'm not relegated to dig through the dumps of my own personal fancies to fashion a god that cannot save or be worthy of anything. You, God, have revealed to protect. And that's just kind, anyway I slice it."